In Early 2024 Daylight Productions started a project to digitally enhance both Santa Fe Salute I & Santa Fe Salute II. The original Santa Fe Salute was released in 1989 after having been edited onto one-inch video tape from various 16mm film-to-tape transfers and from original video tape. That one-inch Master tape still exists and was in good enough condition for it to be recaptured. Using specialty video enhancement hardware and software the program was digitized at a resolution of 1280 X 720p widescreen with a frame rate of 59.94.
Even though much of the 16mm film was recorded on state-of-the-art equipment, the standards for film resolution back in 1978 and before do not match the resolution of video cameras and still cameras of today. Much of the 16mm color film in Santa Fe Salute I was captured in 1978 or earlier, some dating back to the late 1960’s.
The original Santa Fe Salute was filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio (almost square) for television which was the industry standard at the time.
During the digitization process the television image is slightly stretched which yields a widescreen aspect ratio more appealing to television audiences today. The software used in the digitization process also sharpens and improves the image overall.
Santa Fe Salute II was released in 2000. It was edited on a computer using a non-linear editing software program. That computer and the hard drives in which the edited program was on are long gone. However a high quality Betacam SP master tape back-up was made following the completion of the editing process. This master tape was used to retransfer and digitize the entire production into a 1280 X 720p widescreen format with a frame rate of 59.94.
Some of the scenes in Santa Fe Salute II were captured on 16mm color film in 1978 with a few scenes dating back to the late 1960s. The remaining scenes were captured on 3/4/ inch or Betacam video tape. Again the equipment used for the original filming was considered state-of-the-art at the time.
With advancements in film and video transfer digitization software improving over time, older original subject matter now has a better chance of being seen years after it was originally recorded. So now Santa Fe Salute I & II are paired together available in widescreen on standard DVD’s or on Blue-Ray DVD’s offering a better and more enjoyable viewing experience. Check out the improvements to Santa Fe Salute I & II today, the new widescreen format is great!
