A careful 8mm film conversion New York expects.

What we transfer

We transfer all standard 8mm, Super 8 silent, and Super 8 sound film, as well as all 16mm film, silent and sound. Our film transfer service takes longer than typical transfers. The slower, frame-by-frame nature of our transfer produces very sharp grain and strong colors, but requires that we transfer sound separately, which is an extra cost.

How we transfer

All materials are made digital right here in our high-end studio in New York City. Each reel is cleaned with a liquid solution, and then checked for damaged sprockets before transfer, which are repaired when possible. We splice together smaller reels on to bigger ones, in any sequence you have indicated. When transferring film to DVD, we separate the individual reels as chapters on the DVD, or as separate files if you order files rather than DVD videos. Every order is kept completely separate, and is processed from start to finish at an individual workstation with one technician. Our film transfer service is priced by footage, and the table below will help determine the size of your order:

Our frame-by-frame film transfer process is recorded directly from the lens of the transfer device through a full HD CMOS Sensor. There is no film screen involved at any point. This produces sharp, bright, high-resolution images when capturing, which are then reassembled by our computers into a DV format video file for editing standard-definition files, or to Motion-JPG files at a low compression for High-Definition files. The difference in resolutions is laid out in the table below:

After the film is made digital, our technician will then process the file at the correct framerate, giving the video a natural, human speed rather than the speedy look of old films people are used to with other film transfer services. The film is then digitally edited together with enhancements applied to correct any color or brightness/contrast imbalances and blank areas are removed and discounted. This leaves your transferred film looking better than before, illustrated by the 8mm frame captures before and after corrections are applied:

What you get

Typically, film to DVD orders are compressed directly to high-quality MPEG-2 files, which are standard for DVD Video, and to to H.264 High-Definiton files, which are standard for Blu-Ray discs. For 8mm every 800 feet contains about one hour, and for 16mm every hour is about 1,600 feet. A DVD holds 2 hours, so 8mm to DVD orders require 1 disc every 1,600 feet, and twice that for 16mm. We insert chapter points before each reel to allow easy access to them when viewing at home. DVD thumbnail menus are also available.

Customize

We can output the transferred film to any type of media you require. You can have the DV format files on a hard drive for your own editing and archiving at home, or we can compress the footage into files compatible with your iPod, YouTube, and others. Film to DVD orders can also be highly customized with titles and music integration.

Pricing

Film transfer services are priced per foot, with all basic enhancements included in the base price. The cost is doubled for transfers with sound, which must be recorded separately and synced back with the final digital file. Transfer cost does not include price of output to disc or a hard drive. Hard drives are necessary for larger scale conversion of film to digital files, such as Quicktime or AVI. Contact us for further details. To estimate the total of a potential order, you can use the order form, which calculates it automatically.