Video Conversion Experts

Professional film scanners have long been available to the professional market for years. These professional movie film scanners were typically scanning Hollywood 35mm or 16mm film. They could do 8mm or Super 8 film if they had the right gate but many times these gates cost $100,000 each or more and they didn’t have enough volume to warrant the costs.

Recently some lower cost ($100,000 plus) film scanners have come available for Regular 8mm and Super 8 film. These machines have many of the same benefits and quality of the professional film scanners of the past but are focused on smaller gauge formats like Regular 8mm and Super 8 film.

Compared to a real-time or frame by frame machine, a professional 8mm or Super 8 film scanner can many times get 30-50% better quality from the same film. So, it is definitely worth scanning your Super 8 or 8mm film with a professional film scanner that can truly archive your film.

Something else to consider is that some 8mm film transfer processes include a high definition version. In addition, some include restoration as well for color, exposure and scratch elimination. So, do your homework to find the best 8mm film transfer company to archive your film.

Generally, an 8mm film to DVD transfer will only allow you to watch the DVD or copy the DVD. The video on a 8mm film to DVD is highly compressed. In addition, video on DVD is only 480×720. If you multiple this out, you get 0.34 Megapixels (MP). This means that each frame of video is only 1/3 of a MP.

Digital cameras started out with 1 MP and today are at 10 MP. If you’ve ever looked at a 1 MP digital image you know that is doesn’t look good at all even at a small size like a 3×5 picture.

In order to get a decent picture from film you need to transfer the 8mm film to HD video and bring into a video editor. HD video will be 1440×1080 or a frame size of about 1.5 MP. This is about 6 times better quality than a frame from a 8mm film to DVD transfer. You should be able to get decent 4×6 pictures provided the film frame you choose is clear and in focus.

So, if you are looking to print some pictures of your film, have your 8mm film transferred to HD video. Don’t transfer your 8mm film to DVD unless you just want to be able to view it or make copies of it.

8mm Film holds up pretty good over time. However, each time you play your 8mm film in a projector, you take the chance of scratching, burning or tearing the 8mm film.

If you look around at all the 8mm film to DVD companies you find that over 99% of them are using a sprocket driven machine if not an old projector or modified projector. This means that each time you transfer your 8mm film to DVD you take the chance of scratching, burning or tearing the 8mm film.

Another factor in deciding how many times you can transfer your 8mm film to DVD is the age of the 8mm film and the way in which it has been stored. 8mm film can last up to 60-70 years if stored properly. In general, if the 8mm film can be played in a projector, it can still be transferred.

Less than 1% of the companies out today use a professional roller based 8mm film to DVD film scanner. These machines don’t use the sprocket holes or an old projector to transfer the film. So, these professional 8mm film scanners can’t scratch, burn or tear the film. In addition, these 8mm film to DVD film scanners can better deal with fragile or warped 8mm film. If you have a choice, choose to transfer your 8mm film to DVD using a professional 8mm film scanner.

Yes, we can transfer Super 8 and 8mm film to DVD. There are many different ways to transfer film to DVD. We have a real-time, frame by frame and a professional film scanner to transfer your film to DVD.

In general, most film can last up to 70 to 80 years if stored properly. If you can play the film in a projector is can be transferred without any problem. If you can’t, you still might be able to run the film through our professional film scanner. It is roller based and does not touch the film to move it forward or during the scanning.

Most film to DVD companies today still use a real-time based transfer system. This is similar to using a project and camcorder to record the film. They normally charge around 10-12 cents/ft. With this type of film to DVD transfer, the film will look about 50% better than the video. Some companies now use a frame by frame film to DVD process. It still uses a projector and camcorder but it able to get a 20-30% better video. Frame by Frame film to DVD process usually costs around 20 to 30 cents/ft. The best film to DVD process uses a professional film scanner. A professional film scanner will create video as good as the film. There are only a few companies using a professional film scanner. They normally charge around 40 to 60 cents/ft.

This is a good question and one that comes up often. 8mm film can last up to 70 or 80 years if stored properly. It should be stored in a cool dry place. Today they recommend storing your 8mm film in vented cans to allow the gases that build up over time to escape. This can make your 8mm film last longer.

There are two tests you want to perform to see if you can transfer your 8mm film to DVD today. The first test is to take the first 3-4 feet off the 8mm film reel. Try to lay it flat on the table. If the 8mm film lays flat or relatively flat then you pass this test. If the 8mm film is warped and doesn’t want to lay flat, it may just be the first 20-25 feet of the reel. Unroll 20-25 feet and then perform the test again. If it passes the test, then at least some or the majority of 8mm film can be transferred.

The next 8mm film to DVD test is to see how fragile the 8mm film is. If you take about 6 inches of film and hold one end with your left hand and the right end with your right hand. Now, move you hands together pushing the film in the middle up into a loop. This will show how flexible the film is. When you do this, look for any cracking or breaking film and watch the sprocket holes to see if they crack or break as you do this as well. If none of this happens then you pass this test.

If your film passes both tests, then you can transfer your 8mm film to DVD and may proceed with a 8mm film to DVD order.

Today, there are about 3 different types of 8mm film to DVD film transfer machines. At the low-end we have the real-time 8mm film to DVD machine. It uses a 8mm film projector and a camcorder. As the film plays, the images are bounced off a mirror and recorded by the camcorder. As you can imagine, this is the best way to capture all the details from your film.

At the middle-end we have a frame by frame 8mm film to DVD process. In this type of process, the same projector and camcorder are used but the camcorder is pointed right at the film in the projector. As a new frame enters the gate, a sync signal is sent to the camcorder and computer to take a picture of the frame. In this type of 8mm film to DVD process, the results are about 20-30% better than a real-time process.

The best 8mm film to DVD film transfer process uses a professional 8mm film scanner. There are older professional scanners like Rank Cintel but these scanners use technology from the 1980s and can only scan at standard definition resolution. There are a handful of new high definition professional 8mm film scanners. These scanners typically cost over $100,000 each. These professional high definition film scanners provide the best possible 8mm film to DVD quality available.

So, the best 8mm film to DVD company will be using a professional high definition 8mm film scanner for you 8mm film transfer.

8mm film usually runs at 15 to 16 frames per second. 8mm film on DVD runs at 29.97 frames per second. In order for the 8mm film to DVD to play at the right rate of motion, new frames must be added. When those new frames are added they can added as duplicate frames to keep the video progressive or as blended frames for interlaced video. Most 8mm film to DVD transfer companies will add blended frames. This can cause a ghosting type affect because you have 2 film frames blended together. It looks like a double exposed 8mm film. We try to keep the video progressive at all times. So, when doing a 8mm film to DVD project, we only add duplicate frames to keep it progressive.

If you get editing files back in addition to the 8mm film to DVD, you’ll notice that you can step through the video frame by frame. You’ll see a new frame and then see a duplicate. Then a new frame and another duplicate. This keeps the rate of motion similar to the original 8mm film while converting it to a format that requires 29.97 frames per second.

In addition to speed that your 8mm film to DVD will run at, you should also look into 8mm film to DVD film transfer types and the capture resolution. These two aspects can dramatically change the output quality you get on DVD.

If stored properly, 8mm film can last 50 years or even longer. Most DVDs only last about 10 years. So, if you decide to transfer your 8mm film to DVD, make sure that you do the film transfer to DVDs that will last more than 10 years. Some film transfer companies use archival quality DVDs which can last 50 or 100 years. In addition, some film to DVD companies use archival DVDs that include a hard coating to protect it from scratches.

Even though most people want to convert their 8mm film to DVD, you should also consider transferring your 8mm film to HD. 8mm film does have about 900 lines of resolution. DVD has 480 lines. So, in order to really archive your 8mm film you should consider transferring your 8mm film to HD instead of transferring your 8mm film to DVD.

8mm film has about 800 to 1000 lines of resolution. DVD has 480 lines. A HD scan of your 8mm film will capture 100% of the details from the film. An 8mm film to DVD transfer will only capture about 60% of the details from your film.

But, there are different ways to perform an 8mm film HD transfer which can make a huge difference. There is a real-time HD process, a frame by frame HD process and a film scanner HD process. A real-time HD film transfer process uses a HD camcorder and records your film as it goes by in real-time (the same speed it would play on a projector). Because it uses a camcorder in a real-time fashion, this process will produce video that is about 40-50% worse than the film itself.

A frame by frame HD process still uses a HD camcorder but the equipment stops at each frame and the camcorder is used to take a picture of the frame. This produces slightly better quality than a real-time HD film transfer process.

The best process is a HD film scanning process. The film is scanned using a professional broadcast quality film scanner used by the movie studios. An HD film scanner will produce video is that about 30 to 50% better quality than a HD frame by frame process.

In general, if you’ve had a 8mm film to DVD transfer done, no, ,you can’t post it on the web or utube. A DVD can only really be viewed or copied. So, instead of doing a 8mm film to DVD transfer, transfer your 8mm film to a format like AVI files. Then you can edit the AVI files and generate a web friendly format like Mpeg4.

In addition, when you transfer your 8mm film to DVD, the DVD comes out at a resolution of 480×720. It is a fixed resolution that can’t be changed. Alternatively, when you transfer your 8mm film to AVI and edit it, you can resize the resolution when you encode it to a format like Mpeg4.

So, if you are interested in a portable or online video of your film, instead of doing a film transfer of your 8mm film to DVD, transfer your 8mm film to AVI so you can edit and produce your own web friendly video. For posting video tape material, we recommend 8mm to AVI or 8mm to DVD if you don’t plan on posting it.