Sean B Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Hello, I have about 200 old home movies (sound silent, super 8 and regular 8) and I need to transfer them all to DVD. I just got the job done by a company in Chicago, but the botched the entire job VERY badly and I don't want to give them another chance to disappoint me again (they cropped the images so severely half the screen image is gone, the sound is screwed up, they failed to transfer some reels, etc). Can anyone recommend a GOOD company that can transfer 8mm to video? I am looking to have the silent film scanned frame by frame and the sound film, I suppose, must be projected. I got an original quote of $1800 for cleaning and transfer to DVD from this company in Chicago for about 200 film reels. But like I said, they screwed up the job and took almost 3 months to do it. If anyone can help PLEASE contact me or respond here. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my mother, but this company took from December until this past weekend to complete the job and I'd like to get it done fairly quick (but correctly). Thanks in advance! Sean thingmaker@comcast.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeremy edge Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Do a google search for telecine Or go to kodak's site under cinematography and theres a list of transfer houses. Try posting also in the super 8 only or telecine and trasfer forums on this board. You want to make sure you use someone that has a pro setup ,although Ive seen some diy guys do some amazing transfers with some skill. You may get an upcharge for restooration if its old film.....look for wetgate transfers.Those are suppossed to be good with old films.Not a requiement though . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean B Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 (edited) Thanks. I've posted before in the Super 8 forums before but never got any replies (hence my somewhat desperate tone now). That is why I had to look in Google before and take a chance on the company in Illinois who botched my job (a company that seems to be reputable, but obviously didn't try to do a good job on my project). I was just hoping for some recommendations from people who have found a decent film transfer company. Sean Edited February 23, 2005 by Sean B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Alessandro Machi Posted February 23, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 23, 2005 I would NEVER go straight to DVD from film. I'd either go to BetaCam SP, Mini-dv/DV-CAM, or even S-VHS before I'd go directly to DVD. Too much compression from the get go. DVD should be your destination, not your journey. Film and Video Transfers does good work, they are located in Northridge California. They can either Rank Super-8 or do a film chain and they wetgate! Perhaps you are best off sending one reel to two or three differrent companies and comparing the results. Yale and Pro-8mm also do 8mm work in the in the San Fernando Valley (LA, in California). Moviestuff also does transfer work. (Google moviestuff) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timHealy Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Hey Sean, a friend of mine who is a colorist, doesn't seem to think that post houses keep super 8 in mind and his company, Company 3 in LA, doesn't even have a super 8 gate anymore. Plus that is a really expensive way to go. But I recently came across these two links. One seems to have some sort of color correction software that goes along with some 16mm and supe 8 low budget transfer machines with ccd cameras. You don't have to buy the machines as they do transfers too. It might be worth checking out. I have not used them yet but was considering sending them something and check it out. http://www.alternaware.com/ http://www.moviestuff.tv/ Hope this helps Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timHealy Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 And I forgot to mention: http://www.super8sound.com/ Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean B Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 I would NEVER go straight to DVD from film. I'd either go to BetaCam SP, Mini-dv/DV-CAM, or even S-VHS before I'd go directly to DVD. Too much compression from the get go. DVD should be your destination, not your journey. Film and Video Transfers does good work, they are located in Northridge California. They can either Rank Super-8 or do a film chain and they wetgate! Perhaps you are best off sending one reel to two or three differrent companies and comparing the results. Yale and Pro-8mm also do 8mm work in the in the San Fernando Valley (LA, in California). Moviestuff also does transfer work. (Google moviestuff) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Alessandro, thanks for the info. So when getting the transfer, exactly what should I ask for? A transfer to BetaCam SP/etc, then to DVD? Or is there a term for this? I'm not familiar with any of these terms (wetgate, rank, etc). I am not sure how Digital Transfer Systems (the company I used) did mine, the quality of most of the images on the DVDs was ok, but there were other huge errors they had made (like cropping the pictures, etc). I asked Yale (as I am in LA) but they don't do the single frame scanning of silent film (which is best quality, rather than projecting). Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Marks Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Check out www.pro8mm.com (they used to be called Super-8 Sound). They have the whole Rank Cintel Da Vinci set up for 8mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Alessandro Machi Posted February 24, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 24, 2005 Alessandro,thanks for the info. So when getting the transfer, exactly what should I ask for? A transfer to BetaCam SP/etc, then to DVD? Or is there a term for this? I'm not familiar with any of these terms (wetgate, rank, etc). I am not sure how Digital Transfer Systems (the company I used) did mine, the quality of most of the images on the DVDs was ok, but there were other huge errors they had made (like cropping the pictures, etc). I asked Yale (as I am in LA) but they don't do the single frame scanning of silent film (which is best quality, rather than projecting). Sean <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Your instincts are right for wanting the quality of DVD but DVD is a really weird format to deal with. Because of the compression involved with DVD you are most probably better off going to a high resolution format such as BetaCam SP or Mini-DV/DV-CAM. After the film is transferred to a digital tape source you can firewire into a computer and do editing if it is required. You can also firewire in from the BetaCam SP tape by using a digital conversion device to transcode the signal to firewire, camcorders can even be used, although most camcorders won't allow you to do an EE firewire transcoding, you'll have to dub to mini-dv, then import to the computer. However you might be able to go S-Video from the BetaCam SP into the digital camcorder and then firewire out to the computer. The reason you may have to edit the 8mm footage after it is on video is to shift scenes so they match chronologically or to remove blurry, under and overexposed footage. It's quite probable that the footage you will have transferred will need to be edited, and at that point a higher resolution tape format will save you. When you are finished with your edit, then make a DVD, which should clone nicely from your edit master tape. The reason you don't necessarily want to edit the film footage ahead of time is it is more prone to getting scratched and dusted the more it is handled before it is transferred. Don't forget to ask about wetgating, as this can help minimize scratches and dirt that have built up over time on the film original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Alessandro Machi Posted February 24, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 24, 2005 By the way, if you are shipping your film be very careful to pack it well. Visualize the worst case scenario, the box is opened and water damaged, and plan accordingly. Label every reel and if you put it inside a ziplock baggy put a label inside the baggy as well. Worst case scenario is the package bursts open, is lost, then found, but no one can identify who's film it is. Overnight shipping minimizes the time the film is in "rush limbo" (and you always want to minimize rush limbo) so you can track the film better once it is out of your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean B Posted February 24, 2005 Author Share Posted February 24, 2005 Alessandro, as far as I know the company that I had my job done at has all the footage on firewire. So I am not sure what road they took to finally got it to DVD, I have a call in to them regarding the botched job the did for me but have not yet heard back. And I had all films numbered and arranged prior to sending them off, and I wanted all film transferred to video (blurry, overexposed, etc). So when ordering a project like this I should ask for a "tranfer to BetaCam SP, and then to DVD"? Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Alessandro Machi Posted February 24, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 24, 2005 Alessandro, as far as I know the company that I had my job done at has all the footage on firewire. So I am not sure what road they took to finally got it to DVD, I have a call in to them regarding the botched job the did for me but have not yet heard back. And I had all films numbered and arranged prior to sending them off, and I wanted all film transferred to video (blurry, overexposed, etc). So when ordering a project like this I should ask for a "tranfer to BetaCam SP, and then to DVD"? Sean <{POST_SNAPBACK}> While it makes sense to go first to a tape format before going to DVD, the DVD should still have looked quite nice. Do they advertise their service on line? If you have a link to this transfer company perhaps someone from this forum can check out the company and figure out the quality they offer from what they say on their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean B Posted February 24, 2005 Author Share Posted February 24, 2005 While it makes sense to go first to a tape format before going to DVD, the DVD should still have looked quite nice. Do they advertise their service on line? If you have a link to this transfer company perhaps someone from this forum can check out the company and figure out the quality they offer from what they say on their website. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, here is their website: http://www.digitaltransfersystems.net/ Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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