Screen Time Images uses da Vinci Revival to restore 'Davey and Goliath' for DVD release

Screen Time Images relied on da Vinci's Revival image restoration system to renew the classic stop-motion animation series 'Davey and Goliath'.
Contracted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Screen Time Images restored all 65 original episodes and six specials from the popular children's show, which ran from 1960 to 1975.
The Revival toolset allowed Screen Time to correct extensive aging problems on the material, such as dye-fading, scratches, and dust debris.
"We are the oldest users of Revival, and it still never fails to amaze both us and our clients with the beautiful results we can achieve," said Screen Time Images Owner Sean McKee. "For this project, the client wanted today's children to watch the shows without realizing that the series is over 40 years old. So we were asked to remove the most distracting artefacts and debris, while still maintaining the nostalgic charm of the series.
"Like many old films, dye-fading was immediately apparent, causing the image to look red, dull, and washed out. Our da Vinci systems allowed us to bring the film to life and enhance the colours so they were as vibrant as the day it was shot. Although it was filmed in colour, the early broadcasts were in black and white, so this could be the first time many people have seen some episodes in colour."
Screen Time's archivist identified the best 16mm film elements from the ELCA archives and passed them along to colourist Peter Pyskacek for scanning and grading on the da Vinci colour enhancement system.
With da Vinci's Revival and other proprietary software, Screen Time Images then digitally corrected dirt, scratch, and splice problems on the film.
The team used Revival to perform a light grain reduction, as well as a semi-automated dirt removal that eliminated a large percentage of the random dirt and scratches. The interactive toolset allowed the staff to follow this with a frame-by-frame restoration of any large debris that remained.
"This is where Revival really shines, giving us tools not available on any other system, such as splice-damage repair tools, colour restoration, and the ability to automatically track motion in reference frames to recreate missing images," added McKee. "The ease and speed with which Revival lets us work allows us to clean up the most amount of film debris within the client's budgetary and deadline requirements."
Screen Time also restored the optical audio soundtrack, removing clicks, crackle, and hiss. Audio restoration and sweetening was performed with Cedar Audio hardware, Pro Tools, and an AMS-Neve Libra audio console.
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