A wet-transfer film gate, or wet gate for short, is a

film gate The film gate is the rectangular opening in the front of a motion picture camera where the film is exposed to light. The film gate can be seen by removing the lens and rotating the shutter out of the way. The film is held on a uniform plane at a ca ...

that is submerged in liquid, used for

film restoration Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wi ...

and

archival scanning An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

. Submerging the film in the gate in a liquid with a suitably matched refractive index reduces the effects of scratches on the film, by reducing the refractive effects which divert light that passes through the scratched part of the film. The liquid also acts to lift other forms of defects from the film.

Perchloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene, also known under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, or perchloroethylene, and many other names (and abbreviations such as "perc" or "PERC", and "PCE"), is a chlorocarbon with the formula Cl2C=CCl2 . It is a colorless liq ...

, a hazardous substance with multiple health and safety risks, is commonly used as the liquid medium in wet gate systems, requiring substantial precautions to be taken to ensure the safety of operators and to prevent pollution. Wet gate transfer is often preceded by other forms of

film cleaning A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, such as the use of

ultrasonic film cleaner Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...

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See also