What do I have to consider finishing for a print to film (35mm) project?

[spinnerlys]

Hello.

I'm a little bit new to film processing (motion pictures).

I have a small job at hand, in which I have to create a short (30 seconds), made out of graphics and text.

I'll use Motion for this.

I know that the most used resolution is 2K for film projection: 2048x1556.

What I want to know is, what colour depth I have to use, what colour space (RGB, LAB, ...), what pixel aspect ratio, as 2048x1556 is obviously nearly 4:3 and not 1:2.39 or 1:1.85.

Can anyone put me in the right direction (other fora, articles, .....) or give me some hints what else I have to consider doing this job?

Thanks in advance.

 

[KeithPratt]

This is pretty advanced stuff for MacRumors. I don't know enough to answer all of your questions, but I can pose a few.

The first being, are you going to film-out? I'm not sure if it's purely speculative or whether the wheels are in motion. If you definitely are, there's a short-cut: ask the post house. They will answer all of your questions better than anyone here — mainly because they'll be able to tell you exactly what they want based on their equipment and workflow.

Some of your questions may be moot anyway. What software do you have that can work in or output to any variant of CIE? I don't think Motion can. What are you monitoring on? The post house may be able to provide you with a generic LUT; but this may end up being more hassle than it's worth. Post houses know what they're doing with REC.709 1920x1080, and it'll certainly be easier from your end. It may be nice, but do you need the wider gamut and bit-depth?

Aspect ratio is the choice of whoever is producing the piece. That said, it may once again be a case of practical considerations. For 1:1.85, for example, 1998x1080 is pretty standard, but logistics may make 1920x1080 the sensible choice.