LaserSoft Imaging

Apple iMac, 800MHz G4, 1GB RAM, 75GB HDD, 17" LCD monitor
Mac OS X 10.2.1 Jaguar
Nikon Super Coolscan 4000ED
SA-30 35mm film adapter
SilverFast SF-App v1.1.3
SilverFast AI (NikonM) v6.0.1d12

1. Insert the 36-frame film (which may contain blank film at either or both ends).
   
2. Launch SF App and select the NikonM plugin.
   
3. Click on the Overview button.
   
4. Click on the Refresh button.
   > SilverFast will rescan the film and recreate the thumbnails.
   > some of the frames will not be centred within the scan area.
   
5. One by one, select and prescan the frames which are not centred.
   
6. Use the Film Strip Offset tool to centre each of the frames.
   
7. When all have been centred, open the Overview window, select all of the frames to be scanned, close the Overview window and click Batch Scan to begin the batch scan operation.

Gregory C wrote:

Apple iMac, 800MHz G4, 1GB RAM, 75GB HDD, 17" LCD monitor
Mac OS X 10.2.1 Jaguar
Nikon Super Coolscan 4000ED
SA-30 35mm film adapter
SilverFast SF-App v1.1.3
SilverFast AI (NikonM) v6.0.1d12

Film Strip Offset

Problem: Not all frames are positioned in the centre of the scan (preview) area. Some frames may even begin or end outside of the preview area.

Goal: To be able to batch scan a roll of 35mm film with ease and confidence that each frame will be correctly positioned within the preview frame.

Procedure:

1. Insert the 36-frame film (which may contain blank film at either or both ends).
   
2. Launch SF App and select the NikonM plugin.
   
3. Click on the Overview button.
   
4. Click on the Refresh button.
   > SilverFast will rescan the film and recreate the thumbnails.
   > some of the frames will not be centred within the scan area.
   
5. One by one, select and prescan the frames which are not centred.
   
6. Use the Film Strip Offset tool to centre each of the frames.
   
7. When all have been centred, open the Overview window, select all of the frames to be scanned, close the Overview window and click Batch Scan to begin the batch scan operation.

Q. Does the Film Strip Offset tool affect only the current frame or every frame in the film strip?

Only effects current frame in SF preview window.

Q. Assuming that the Film Strip Offset tool affects only the current frame; will the offset positions as we set them in the preview for each photo be remembered during the film batch scan?

Good question: LSI will check this.

Overall, the film strip offset does not seem very accurate. Almost every time I insert a roll of film, at least one of the frames will not be positioned fully within the preview area. Is this a SilverFast problem or a Nikon MAID problem or a Nikon hardware problem? I don't know but it slows the scanning process down significantly.

I experienced myself such a "shifting-problem" when my film strip is not cut accurately. first Image too short/long. So this can be a cause.

The film strip offset tool is not very useful either. The other day, I had to use the tool 8 times in a row before the frame positioned itself correctly. What fun!!

True, it is not easy to handle as the behaviour is not a linear shift. That is the position where you set the coursor for offset correction is on al large pixel preview, but the actual movement of the film is a fraction of millimeters in reality, and this depends on how precise is the hardware.

regards
Gregory