Creating Color High Res Negative from Digital

[nickandre]

I recall seeing at one point some sort of device which could expose a color negative for subsequent processing and enlarging. Ideally I could take a digital file and create a 6x6 or 4x5 color negative and enlarge and print it like normal.

Does this exist?

 

[fgorga]

I think what you are looking for is called a film recorder. They used to exist.

Good luck finding one (and software compatible with modern hardware) these days... film recorder technology is long past is heyday.

Also, even back in the day, I never saw one that used anything but 35 mm film.

 

[nickandre]

Actually seems like this is offered as a service. There’s a company that makes a calibration table editor for the Polaroid Propallette 7000/8000. Being SCSI it would be a pain in the butt although I do see one available.

The 8000 seems to have been available in a 4x5 configuration but didn’t work well for that purpose.

here’s a film output service: https://www.prepressexpress.com/pages/filmoutput/filmoutput/lvt.html

and here’s info and software for the Polaroid: https://www.philpem.me.uk/code/filmrec/start

 

[MattKing]

This is what the movie studios still use for the movies shot on film. They then edit the results digitally. They can still write the result back to projection stock film, for the very few, specialized or very remote theatres that still use optical projectors, but they rarely do.
It is unlikely though that you can access that equipment.
I actually have friends who own a film recorder that writes to either 35mm or 120. They used it for their own purposes, and did some contract work for others, but the pandemic put all that on hold.

 

[Mr Bill]

The gold standard used to be Kodak's LVT machines. I'm guessing you might still find some labs that have one. I think Durst may have manufacturered them maybe up to 2005 or so. I know that the Kodak machines could write at least up to 8x10" film.

 

[nickandre]

I see that there were some LaserGraphics machines that could do up to 12k lines. https://lasergraphics.com/lfr/files/lfruserguide.pdf

The software for these is still available from LaserGraphics, and they have parallel ports. There seem to be plenty on eBay but they're the 4k only versions and only include 35mm film backs. If one could dig up a Mark VI machine (the 12k version) and a medium format or large format back that would be pretty nifty.

 

[Kino]

There were many film recorders up to 8K in resolution as early as the 1990's. The first commercial motion picture to use the Digital Intermediate system was "The Last Starfighter" in 1984. Just be forewarned that these CRT based machines require software and computer interfaces that are almost impossible to find and get operational again. Most ran on Silicon Graphics workstations and used HIPI or very early SCSI interfaces.

IMHO it's simply not worth the effort; find one of the few remaining service bureaus that do still film output and pay the outrageous prices they demand, because you will pay much more in time, effort and frustration trying to get one of these units working again. I tried to get a 8K Solitaire film recorder working for over 3 years because it had the 35mm, medium format and 4x5 film adapters intact. The software was only available from the original author and, even though he had absolutely NO market remaining, he would not budge off his normal retail price of around $6K in mid 2000.

It's just not worth it.

 

[digital_archivist]

As recently as three years ago. I had an Agfa Alto film recorder with 4x5 and 8x10 backs; I had an old HP desktop with ISA slots to provide GPIB and SCSI support. I mention this not to make you feel bad, but to let you know that there was an inexpensive software package available that worked with my Alto: WERP. It's mentioned, for example, here: https://forums.ni.com/t5/Instrument...oard-see-pic/td-p/4042125?profile.language=en. Might be worth trying to track down a copy.

 

[digital_archivist]

Just found this in the archives. The link is dead, but it might be a start.

Congratulations on trying Werp!

Werp is supported by Med Graphix. If you have any problems or suggestions
Please contact them:

Med Graphix
26 Commerce Road Unit J
Fairfield, NJ 07004
(973) 244-8666
werpsupport@medgraphix.com
http://www.medgraphix.com/

Werp includes a manual and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file. The
manual is in Adobe Acrobat format. The Acrobat Reader is available from
Adobe Systems, www.adobe.com at no charge.

Werp requests a registration key. It will run without it and all features
are enabled, but the output images will show two streaks. It is provided
in this form only for evaluation.

Copyright 2000, 2003 Paul Young. All Rights Reserved.

 

[Valdecus]

At our SilvergrainClassics headquarters, we are running a perfectly maintained Agfa Alto film recorder. It is capable of exposing images with a resolution of up to 16K (16384 x 12288 px) - appr. 196 megapixe!s. We normally print at 8K (8192 x 6144 px) or appr. 50 MP resolution on MF or 4x5" film.

The software is running on a Windows 10 machine and we can output on B&W, color negative or reversal film.

Cheers
Andreas

 

[KangaJohn]

Just found this in the archives. The link is dead, but it might be a start.

Congratulations on trying Werp!

Werp is supported by Med Graphix. If you have any problems or suggestions
Please contact them:

Med Graphix
26 Commerce Road Unit J
Fairfield, NJ 07004
(973) 244-8666
werpsupport@medgraphix.com
http://www.medgraphix.com/

Werp includes a manual and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file. The
manual is in Adobe Acrobat format. The Acrobat Reader is available from
Adobe Systems, www.adobe.com at no charge.

Werp requests a registration key. It will run without it and all features
are enabled, but the output images will show two streaks. It is provided
in this form only for evaluation.

Copyright 2000, 2003 Paul Young. All Rights Reserved.

Hello, I have a copy of WERP but don't have the registration key. it works well but puts bars on the image without the key