Choosing the right format depends on your goal. If you simply want to archive the video and be able to easily play it, then DVD (or Blu-Ray DVD) is the best format. Video on DVD will not degrade over time. We use professional DVDs that are scratch proof. These DVDs are 100 times less likely to scratch and will last a minimum of 50 years.

Example DVD Menu: 5 minute chapters Thumbnail picture per Title Move quickly forward or reverse by chapter

Editing Formats

We offer the following formats for editing purposes:

Platinum HD Process:  1080 HDV, HD-AVI (MJPG)
Silver & Gold Process:  AVI
 

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. HD-AVI has about the same data rate as Apple's ProRes 422 format. If you need help calculating the disk space you'll need for the transfer, click here.

HDV. We offer HDV files 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.

Writing DVDs.  You will be able to write regular DVDs or Blu-Ray DVDs with either the HDV, HD-AVI.
 

Silver & Gold Process:

AVI files: 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.