Super 8mm Film Transfer to DVD Referral Request

[Quantum]

Hello,

I hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving with their families. My time today with mine prompted me to do some research on transferring my parents old Super 8mm film (without sound) of us as kids from the 70's and 80's (about 20-25 3 inch reels). They aren't getting any younger and I think this year would be the perfect time to do this.

I want to have it professionally done. I've come across a couple places that I was hoping to get some opinions and/or referrals on as well as any other suggestions.

1. The first is movies-2-dvd.com. They advertise a frame-by-frame digital conversion process. It appears that they don't use a telecine at all. They also provide raw .avi of the film capture that I can edit and convert later if desired.

2. The second is homemoviedepot.com. They advertise a telecine method that projects the image onto a Sony camera directly. I like the thoroughness given to the description of the process, but I'm not sure how it differs from the movies-2-dvd.com method, if at all. They provide a MiniDV master too. They are also cheaper.

I am really most interested in obtaining raw digital video of the film so I can edit it myself and produce DVD's or VHS tapes appropriately, so I'm not interested in having anyone do editing or authoring with background music, ect.

My biggest concern is the safety of the tapes in both directions. So I'm looking for postive or negative experiences with either the two above places or any others. If anyone can comment on the different professional methods of transferring and which is best I would really appreciate it too.

Thanks for taking the time to read my message.

[edDV]

Hello,

I hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving with their families. My time today with mine prompted me to do some research on transferring my parents old Super 8mm film (without sound) of us as kids from the 70's and 80's (about 20-25 3 inch reels). They aren't getting any younger and I think this year would be the perfect time to do this.

I want to have it professionally done. ......

I'm in the same situation and am evaluating the claims of transfer houses.

I have those same places on my list. I've also had pros tell me you can get the top broadcast transfer houses to take your film, if you let them fit it into slow weeks (e.g. Monico Films in SF). Pre Chrismas is one of the worst times for them.

I do know this: Get the transfer made to MiniDV or better tape, not to a MPeg2 DVD. You want the best quality they can offer. You will then make DVD copies from that master DV tape. When better encoders are available in the future, the DV master will yield better results.

The next consideration is what quality the transfer house can offer. What is their reputation with critical customers?

I have two other families wanting to pool the project. Quantity (#feet 8MM) may yield a better bid.