Choosing the right format depends on your goal. If you want to be able to delete footage, re-arrange the order, add your own music, etc. then you need an editing format (see below). If you simply want to archive the film and be able to easily play it, then our archival DVD or Blu-Ray is the best format. We use Professional Archival DVDs and BluRays. These Archival disks will last 100 years under normal conditions (non-archival DVD-R and BluRay-R disks last about 10 years) . We do include easy listening music on our DVD and BluRay products. If you would prefer not to have music, please let us know when you order.

Editing Formats

We offer the following formats for editing purposes:

Platinum HD Process: 1080 HDV, HD-AVI (MJPG), ProRes 422HQ or DPX HD Files
Silver & Gold Process: AVI, MiniDV

Platinum HD Process:

HD-AVI master files. HD-AVI (Motion-JPEG or MJPG codec) files are considered a very good master quality format. AVI has been the industry standard for decades and HD-AVI follows in those footsteps. Our HD-AVI files are compatible with all Mac (iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express) and PC editing tools. If you need help calculating the disk space you'll need for the transfer, click here. Download a small (1 second, 12MB) example of typical 8mm film here. Download a larger (15 second, 170MB) example of typical 8mm film here.

Apple ProRes 422 HQ master files. Apple ProRes HQ 422 files are considered a very good master quality format very similar to our HD-AVI files. These files are intended to be used with Final Cut Pro only. If you only plan to edit in Final Cut Express or iMovie it is recommended that you order HD-AVI files instead. These can be imported without issue into Final Cut Express or iMovie. However, you can edit ProRes in Final Cut Express or iMovie with the right codec pack and Quicktime components. Please contact Apple technical support for details. If you need help calculating the disk space you'll need for the transfer, click here. Download a small (3 second, 39MB) example of typical 8mm film here.

HDV. We offer HDV tape also but they are not master archival quality. HD-AVI is a better quality format (is compressed 4 times less than HDV) and is supported in more video editors. In fact, many standard definition editors can read our HD-AVI files and will allow you to write out standard definition DVDs. You can't do this with HDV. In addition, if you are editing on a Mac, HD-AVI files require no conversion like HDV will. If you need help calculating the disk space you'll need for the transfer, click here.

DPX Uncompressed 4:4:4 HD master files. Working with DPX fully uncompressed HD files requires access to professional post production tools (Diamant, Film Fix, Moving Image Retoucher or Autodesk tools). DPX is an intermediate file format intended for further work (dust busting, color correction, etc.) at an editing studio. If you choose DPX, be aware that we do not perform any restoration (dust busting, color correction, etc.) for this format. These files are raw files right from the scanner. DPX produces 1 file per frame. It is not something that can be played or viewed on a PC or Mac computer. The Disk space required for DPX is 1TB per hour of film. You must ship us an external hard drive or purchase one on the order form if you choose DPX uncompressed HD files. If you need help calculating the disk space you'll need for the transfer, click here.

Writing DVDs. You will be able to write regular DVDs or Blu-Ray DVDs with either the HDV, HD-AVI or ProRes but not from the DPX files.

Silver & Gold Process:

MiniDV Tape, (Requires you to have a MiniDV Camcorder) and AVI files on an external Hard Drive. You must ship us an external hard drive or purchase one on the order form if you choose AVI files. Our AVI files are compatible with all Mac and PC editing tools. If you need help calculating the disk space you'll need for the transfer, click here.

DVD and an Editing Format

You may want to consider getting a copy on a playable DVD in addition to the format you choose to edit from. This way you archive the film and have a format you can edit. If you want to do this, choose the format for editing as the master format and the DVD as the copy format on the order form. Our copies are master quality. We go back to the master file and completely render the video to the copy format. We never make one format using another (making the DVD from MiniDV tape) like many other companies do. So, we charge a little more but the quality will be better.

Sample DVD/BluRay Music: Music