Home Film to DVD transfers - I need advice on a good company

[CaveCanem]

I would like to transfer my family's old home movies to DVD, but I am concerned about mailing them out to a company I have never heard of.

The films are in pretty good condition considering their age, but there would have to be some color correction and slice repair done on some.

I have a couple 16mm from the 1930's, and some 8mm from 50's, 60's and 70's.

Any and All Advice is Welcome!

[Barnabas]

Wal-Mart has this service and the quality is great.

[daamon]

Any and All Advice is Welcome!

Tell us where in the world you are would be a good start - better still, update your location details in your profile.

Stuff from the 30's !?!? Wow... A real family treasure trove. I doubt many people are lucky enough to have that kinda stuff in their posession. Good luck...

[edDV]

Check out this discussion from a few weeks back

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=222267&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlig...20film&start=0

[CaveCanem]

That might help a little, I'm from Indianapolis, IN USA

I do want to edit these once they are transferred, so I completely overlooked the fact that MPEG-2 is not the way to go for this purpose. But I am not a big fan of storing tapes which have a shelf life of 15 to 20 years.

Is there a lossless format that can be stored on a Data DVD for editing to a Video DVD later via premiere or vegas?

Should I wait for Blu-Ray with its greater capacity for Data Storage?

Will the transfer company prepare the film for long-term storage?

Rank Cintel flying spot scanner is the best way to go? (edDV)

Thanks!

J.T.

[lordsmurf]

Wal-Mart has this service and the quality is great.

You've gotta be kidding me.

No.
No no no no no.
No.

[edDV]

...
I do want to edit these once they are transferred, so I completely overlooked the fact that MPEG-2 is not the way to go for this purpose. But I am not a big fan of storing tapes which have a shelf life of 15 to 20 years.

Is there a lossless format that can be stored on a Data DVD for editing to a Video DVD later via premiere or vegas?

The transfer houses mostly offer MiniDV or Digital8 as the prosummer master for editing. You might be able to custom contract for a hard disk with individual frames.

I'd go with DV tape.

Should I wait for Blu-Ray with its greater capacity for Data Storage?

My plan is to get MiniDV now and dub those (the transferred DV-AVI file) to Blu-Ray in a year or so for long term backup.

Will the transfer company prepare the film for long-term storage?

They usually clean the film. Ask about more.

Rank Cintel flying spot scanner is the best way to go? (edDV)

Other things being equal, yes.

CinePost, Atlanta, GA offers top end service.
http://www.posthouse.com/TELECINE_PAGE.html

Debenham Media Group, Pittsburgh, PA offers $0.27 per Foot transfers with minimum service.
http://3516.com/8mm.html

I haven't used either yet but the user reports for CinePost have been very positive. I haven't heard any reports on Debenham yet.

PS, I now see Debenham has added a hard disk option @ $125 extra.

[VideoVal]

I recently used Debenham Media Group's MyMovieTransfer.com for a transfer of old 8mm, super 8mm and 16mm films that my grandfather shot. I wanted the transfer to be very high quality because I did not want to do it again in the future. I was impressed by the courteous telephone contacts that I had with the company, the fact that they notified me when the film arrived and also when they shipped it. They took a lot of time with me on the phone and gave me very good information. I decided to try their free sample and I sent the same film to 2 other companies. There was no comparison. I didn't know there could be such a difference in color and sharpness. MyMovieTransfer did not crop my movies when they transferred them. I would not have known about this corpping if I did not see the other 2 tests. My finished product was beyond my expectations and I recommend them highly.

[canadateck]

if I did not see the other 2 tests. My finished product was beyond my expectations and I recommend them highly.

Who were the other Two?

[jlietz]

http://www.digitaltransfersystems.net/

Located in the Chicago area.

[cyflyer]

On ebay, if you search for 'cine projector' there is a cine to digital service for sale. Has anyone tried this, or know if they are any good. The price seems too good to be true.