Sydney Perkins

I am a film preservationist with nearly 15 years of experience. I am a 2017 graduate of the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. I have worked and interned at numerous non-profit and for-profit institutions, including film archives and post-production houses. I have personally operated many film scanner models currently in use, such as the Lasergraphics ScanStation and Director, the FilmFabriek HDS+, the Kinetta, etc. I have presented panels at conferences such as The Reel Thing and AMIA.

Optical Track Restoration Origami Technique (OPTROT)

From 2024 to 2025, while unemployed and looking for work after completing my MLIS at the University of Toronto, I developed on my own a digital restoration process for bilateral variable area optical tracks that requires only some off the shelf software, such as Blackmagic Fusion. No complex algorithms are used, no AI is used.

To put it simply, I take image scans of a bilateral optical track, and I then fold the image of the track on top of itself in various ways, like origami. This eliminates the vast majority of surface wear on the element and/or the element it was printed from, and therefore eliminates crackle when I convert the image back to audio using AEO Light. I then do manual restoration of remaining wear.

After this, I employ very minimal audio signal processing, such as a small amount of declicking in the higher frequencies above the actual range of the optical track; this helps remove baked-in audio distortion created by the photographic process that created the optical track, which would normally be filtered out through equalization.

What is thus heard is a close approximation of the audio source used to create the optical track. The result is eerily similar to a magnetic master.

Benefits of this technique:

1. Can be implemented on any existing, sufficiently overscanned film transfer of minimum 2K resolution containing a variable area track.
2. For optical track negatives in particular, scanning and ensuring correct gamma and converting to audio in AEO Light results in baseline immensely superior fidelity compared to putting the OTN on a conventional sound reader, which is unfortunately common. OTNs are not meant to be thrown on sound readers, as the resulting capture will sound overly "splashy." This is a needless artifact that many have taught themselves to live with or stop noticing. That inferior practice prevents us from realizing an OTN's full potential and causes us to settle with garbage.
3. Extremely extensive, efficient, automated cleaning of surface wear pre-"capture" stage with easily reproducible results, using nothing more than incredibly basic optical tracking algorithms and blend filters. This is an elegant solution to a simple problem using familiar software.
4. Limited manual cleaning required except in extreme circumstances (like a tear, or heavy water damage). Manual cleaning is exponentially more limited depending on how many squiggly lines the optical track has - a duo-bilateral will be much quicker to manually clean.
5. No artifacts result from this process. This stands in stark contrast to other automated restoration processes, which often do create artifacts that we have tried to teach ourselves to live with or stop noticing, consciously or subconsciously. My process is a rare, new example of semi-automated film restoration that adheres to the Hippocratic oath, which many film preservationists try to aspire to. When I use this process, I have no fear that any signal is being created or destroyed.
6. Very fast - I have 18 GB of RAM and my total rendering time for a ~10 minute reel in Fusion is usually only a few hours. The ETA is therefore pretty easy to predict for a fairly clean reel.
7. Gives optical film audio restoration a much-needed overhaul, bringing it to the standards expected of picture restoration.
8. By protecting the original audio signal, I'm enabling insight into the audio recording and mixing process of any given film completed on an optical track, which will be a huge benefit to film researchers. For example, in experiments I conducted over the year it took to create this process, I worked from an optical track made from a mix that contained needle drops; a needle drop is audiophile terminology for a transfer of a vinyl source

Projects restored using this technique:

• 16mm electromechanical FMV games, including Wild Gunman, Sky Hawk, and Battle Shark. The first two mentioned were restored using an earlier, much more manual version of the technique. Collaboration with Ben Solovey using scans of 16mm prints that he provided.
• Manos, the Hands of Fate, an orphaned regional film produced in El Paso, Texas in 1966. Collaboration with Ben Solovey using scans of the 35mm optical track negative that he provided.

Samples will be uploaded here momentarily.

For a quote, send me an email at sydneyperkins.archivist@gmail.com.