Level 1: Full Manual Restore

Our manual process begins with a light touch of automated restoration tools applied with scene by scene settings, followed by frame by frame inspection and repair with no artefacts and is the most labour intensive workflow. Deliverables are given detailed Quality Assessments that will take considerably longer than the running time; usually 2-3 times the program time.

The grading time for a full manual restoration is scene by scene by our skilled colourists, usually with a digitised picture guide as a reference, but we are happy to work as the client intends as well. Full manual grades will often include multiple layers of colour tools with tracking and shapes if needed for example to correct for edge fading or to optimise the image aesthetics. The grading and restoration are carried out by different key personnel, who will work together and QC each stage of the process. Grading can take 3-5 days per hour of material

Level 2: Semi-Automatic Restore

The semi-automatic route is a great value package that produces excellent results at very competitive prices. Automated restoration tools for dirt, scratch, grain and stability are optimised and applied scene to scene and cached. Grading is performed on the cache files allowing the colourist to observe and adjust any problems created by the automatic tools. If there is time, larger damage may also be corrected manually

The grading time for a semi-automatic project is 1-3 days per hour of content. The whole program is then quality assessed with eyes on all the way through and any problems are addressed.

Level 3: Automatic
For an automatic pass, the material is assessed and optimised for a single setting and a basic grade. The grade and automatic setting are applied and then checked. If necessary settings can be trimmed and grades can change for blocks of content. The final program is spot-checked again before the deliverables are exported. The process is quick and cost-effective.

For image stabilisation during digital restoration, all our equipment (MTI Correct, DRS Nova, Digital Vision Phoenix, Digital Vision Film Master), has stabilising software and tools to correct splice bounces. We offer semi-automatic and manual options for DI stabilisation. For duplicate films and other assets where the usual tools do not give satisfactory results, we can track the edge of frame or image content and apply inverse track information to reposition the image. This process is slower and can correct camera vibration as well as film weave, so we would need confirmation from the client before proceeding.

For dirt removal - we can provide solvent and non-solvent based film cleaning if the asset needs it, and is deemed strong enough to withstand it. All our restoration equipment (MTI Correct, DRS Nova, Digital Vision Phoenix, Digital Vision Film Master) has dirt removal tools. We offer automatic, semi-automatic and manual levels of service. Our toolsets include temporal, spatial and clone brush tools with the highest level of flexibility available.

For scratch removal - all our restoration equipment (MTI Correct, DRS Nova, Digital Vision Phoenix, Digital Vision Film Master) has scratch removal tools. We offer automatic, semi-automatic and manual levels of service. Our toolsets include temporal, spatial and clone brush tools with the highest level of flexibility available

Finally, for mould damage and stains - we can provide solvent and non-solvent based film cleaning if the asset needs it, and is deemed strong enough to withstand it. All our restoration equipment (MTI Correct, DRS Nova, Digital Vision Phoenix, Digital Vision Film Master) has repair tools for mould. However, due to the large and irregular nature of mould and stain damage, we only use manual repair tools. Full segment metadata is stored about the original asset (e.g. where the original break timecodes occurred) so that the new asset which has these breaks removed can be understood in relation to the original timecodes.