Apple Cinema Tools 3 - Manual (Page 204)

204 Appendix A Background Basics
In the previous illustration, the actual key number for the center frame is KJ 29 1234
5678+00. The “•” following the number indicates frame 00 for that key number. (With
4-perf film—the kind shown in the illustration—there are 16 frames per key number
with the first one starting at “00”.) The frame to the right would be KJ 29 1234 5678+01.
The frame to the left would be the last frame of the previous key number, KJ 29 1234
5677+15. (16mm film places the “•” at the beginning of the key number.)
35mm film also has mid-foot markers halfway between the zero frame markers. These
help to identify a midpoint (the “+08” frame in the previous example) and reduce the
chance of a miscount. These markers use the same key number with a “+32” appended
(indicating the perforation number, not the frame number) in a smaller font.
Ink Numbers
Ink numbers, frequently used for workprints, are another method of encoding the
edge of film in order to track feet and frames. Ink numbers are added to workprints
and corresponding magnetic-stripe film soundtracks (called mag tracks), after the
workprint and the mag track have been synchronized. On transferred workprints, ink
numbers are easier to read than key numbers, and they provide a counting
mechanism that is synchronized for both the soundtrack and the workprint. Ink
numbers are sometimes called Acmade numbers because Acmade makes a machine
that is used to print ink numbers. Machines that print ink numbers are commonly
rented or owned and run by film crews.
The typical style of ink numbering is a three-digit prefix followed by a character or
space, followed by four digits representing the footage number, followed by digits
representing the frame offset. For example, in ink number 123 4567 +08, “123” is the
prefix, and “4567+08” is the frame number, indicating that the frame occurs at 4567
feet and 8 frames. The ink numbers encoded on the film do not actually include the last
part (the frame offset number). Rather, the frame offset is calculated by the telecine
and appears in the telecine log.
The prefix may be fewer or more than three digits, and the numbering technique for
the prefix is usually determined by an editing assistant. For example, the numbering
could be associated with the scene number, as in “042” for the footage in scene 42. Or,
the prefixes might represent daily roll numbers.
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