Perforation step
In film technology, the perforation step is understood to be the number of perforation holes by which the exposed film is transported per frame in the film camera . For this purpose, only the perforation holes on one side of the film strip are counted (even with double-sided perforated film, such as 35 mm film or 70 mm film).
Examples of different perforation steps:
- 8 mm : 1 perforation hole
- 16 mm : 1 perforation hole
- Super 16 : 1 perforation hole
- 35 mm : 4 perforation holes
- 35 mm - Techniscope : 2 perforation holes
- Super 35 : 3 perforation holes
- 35 mm - Vistavision : 8 perforation holes
- 65/70 mm - Panavision Super 70 : 5 perforation holes
- 65/70 mm - IMAX : 15 perforation holes
The perforation step is often identified by the prefix “x /” or the suffix “x-perf”, where “x” stands for the number of perforation holes. For example, the film format of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey - shot in Panavision Super 70 - is often given as "5/70" or "70 mm 5-perf".