8mm Forum: Film To DVD. Need Advice

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Posted by Larry Brutt (Member # 1202) on August 12, 2008, 07:42 AM:

I inherited a bunch of old home movies from the 1950's and 60's. It seems like a good idea to get these family memories transferred to DVD.
So, I did a web search and found a zillion companies who do this. My problem is that I don't know who's who in this business.
If anybody can help, it's you guys. Do you have a favorite company you can recommend? I'd like to find somebody trustworthy at a reasonable price.
Thanks.

Posted by Larry Brutt (Member # 1202) on August 17, 2008, 07:47 AM:

Hmm... this isn't going as I'd hoped.

Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on August 17, 2008, 08:39 AM:

Hi Larry,

The problem with transferring home movies to video in good quality is that there is something of a gap between the technologies involved, and the prices reflect this.

You have a variety of the lower-end "camera-in-front-of a-projector" devices, ranging from homemade to somewhat acceptable cheaper commercial models, and then you jump to the "real thing" which is the professional telecine units which are the same ones feature films get transferred on.

I personally would never use the former devices, which is why I have yet to transfer my Super-8 family films; I am saving for the admittedly high expense of getting them done on a telecine, which will extract everything out of the image and make them as good-looking as they can be.

Just to give you an idea, check out these two facilities:

http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/Telecine.html

http://www.pro8mm.com/pdf/pro8mm.scanning.pdf

The prices aren't pretty, but it's the best you can get.

That said, I have yet to see anything transferred with a camera imager in front of a projector gate that could match this.

Now, someone out there may have a newer "in-between" device that could possibly be good enough; Smallfilm Magazine advertizes such services.

I don't mean to discourage you with this, because saving your films is important, but as always, you get what you pay for.

Good luck with it,

Claus.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on August 17, 2008, 07:22 PM:

Those fine establishment's services and prices are possibly overkill for most people's films and intentions. I guess Larry will have the be the judge of that, although it doesn't sound like he's had a means to evaluate what the films look like.

Here are two more recommendations based on positive personal experiences that will be a little less expensive:
1) Real-time analog film chain to mini-DV or whatever you need by people who know what they're doing at Yale Film and Video.
2) Here's a place that does full-frame scanning to computer, then outputs it to whatever format you want. The results are just lovely. To my eye it looks like Rank quality. Check out Digital Transfer System's frame-by-frame standard definition service. Also there's a sale going on right now -- see the August specials page.

There are other, cheaper ways to do it, but unless you happen upon someone who really knows what they're doing who has a good eye, you typically get what you pay for. I found a transfer place in a shopping mall near where I live and went in to see what they were using. I bit my tongue -- it was obvious that part of the image was cropped off and that one side was not in focus.

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on August 19, 2008, 11:55 PM:

I can do your transfers for a lot less and I guaranty you will like the results. I have a fairly lame website, but don't let that fool you. :>)

www.moviefilmtransfers.com

Posted by Larry Brutt (Member # 1202) on August 21, 2008, 08:01 AM:

I'd like to thank everybody for their replies. Here's how things stand at the moment.
Along with the movies, I also inherited an ancient projector and musty, yellowed screen. The light bulb didn't work, so I had to send away for one.
Last night, for the first time, I was able to actually view some of these home movies. Having never operated a projector before, I made every mistake possible and even had a pile of twisted, kinked film to unravel at one point.
Once I got things running right, it became apparent that this film had deteriorated over the decades. I plan to view every one and see what can be salvaged. Then, I'll contact somebody about transferring them to DVD.
Between cussing fits, all I could do was shake my head at the thought that, once upon a time, this monstrosity was considered "state of the art", "high-tech".
Thank God for all the recent leaps forward in consumer electronics!!

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on August 21, 2008, 11:30 AM:

Well Larry, I don't know what projector you inherited, but it sounds like a piece of junk. Believe me, people would not still be shooting and projecting 8mm and super 8mm , and this forum would not exist, if it were not capable of superb results. I am talking 6ft wide pictures with razor sharpness and intense color saturation. Another thing to remember is that the only film stock which has not faded at all in 75 years is Kodachrome. If your family shot their films using any other film stock, such as Ansco or GAF, they will be almost completely faded to pink.
Yes, modern electronic imaging is great, but don't knock super 8mm just because of your particular experience with the faded films and questionable equipment that you presently have.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 21, 2008, 11:58 AM:

I'll chime in with my standard "don't throw away the film!".

Video formats come and go like the tides and the players have pretty limited durability (We average something like two years on a DVD player in our house.). So whatever video format you choose will probably be useless in less than a decade.

Another factor is the fragility of video media. One good scuff and a DVD can become unplayable. Why trust your memories to something so easily damaged?

You need to be ready to do another transfer someday and that means the original source material needs to kept safe.

I've met any number of people that trashed the film after doing VHS transfers and now with that format dying and the film long gone they either lose their footage or accept a second generation transfer to digital.

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on August 21, 2008, 11:40 PM:

Larry. I second the sentiment to never throw out your film originals. You may be surprised at what can be corrected and salvaged when transferring your films. If you'd like, you can send me a roll as a test and I will transfer it to DVD for you for free. Then if you like the results, you will feel better about having the rest transferred.

Posted by Larry Brutt (Member # 1202) on August 26, 2008, 05:41 AM:

David,
I tried to send you a private message, but no dice. Let's try your very kind freebie offer. How do we get the ball rolling?

[ August 26, 2008, 07:05 AM: Message edited by: Larry Brutt ]

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on September 02, 2008, 11:40 PM:

Larry

Sorry for the delay in responding, been off the site for a few days. You can email me dmleugers@fuse.net. My website is
moviefilmtransfers.com. Contact me or get the address from my website and go ahead and send the film. I will take care of it and have it back to you quickly.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on September 04, 2008, 12:46 PM:

Larry I would highly recommend you not run any more film through that projector. Since you don't have experience with handling film, the worst thing you could possibly do is to continue to run those films. Films can be permanently damaged with one pass, and you may be doing it. Best to hand over the films to a reputable transfer house and expect to pay for their cleaning and lubricating fees...or to make friends with someone nearby on the forum who can give you a few lessons and check your projector over for you.

Posted by Larry Brutt (Member # 1202) on September 06, 2008, 09:39 AM:

Hey, thanks for all the advice and offers. I'm glad I came here. I've quit trying to run that projector. I'll let the experts take it from here.

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