Abstract / topic summary
This presentation by Digital Film Technology (DFT) is intended for archivists, film restoration specialists, and professionals preserving historically significant and physically compromised film collections. It addresses the challenges of digitizing fragile film materials—such as shrinkage, warping, and degraded perforations—and examines how technological developments are enabling safer and more accurate digitization of films onceconsidered too fragile to scan.
Key developments include optical registration systems capable of compensating for damaged or missing perforations and film transport mechanisms that provide greater flexibility and adaptability than earlier static designs.Drawing on archival case studies, the presentation shows how insights from archives have shaped the evolution of scanning methodologies. Advanced technologies support archival workflows by reducing the preparatory work required before the scanning stage.
The presentation resulted from a collaboration with Cinecittà in Rome, in which DFT and Cinecittà’s Archivio Luce scanned a very fragile film from 1938 without any prior mechanical preparation
Speaker summary
Michael Schneider
Michael is a graduated Engineer for Film- and TV-Engineering at Hochschule RheinMain in Wiesbaden, Germany, with 30 years background on film scanning, film production, digitization workflows, media asset management and IT infrastructure. He also gives lectures at universities in Germany, introducing students to film and scanning technologies.
Michael’s experience spans the intersections of film and media workflows, where he has focused on integrating individual disciplines into a coherent, project-wide perspective.Michael Schneider has already presented the paper “Resolution Test Scans of 35mm Motion Picture Film in 4K, Super 4K and 8K”, which was created as a collaboration between Kodak Europe and DFT.
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-schneider-1856567
