Film Transfer FAQs

Is Frame-by-Frame transfer easy on my film? Yes. It is very gentle. Our 8mm and Super 8mm equipment does not have drive sprocket wheels that might damage the film. The absence of sprockets assures the most gentle handling of the film. Our 16mm equipment does have sprockets which are necessary due to the much heavier weight of the larger reels, but are still very gentle on the film. Both types of equipment are monitored constantly during the process, never left to run unattended. Equipments running in large transfer operatons are generally not continuously monitored.
How does the finished video run at normal speed on my TV? The Frame-by-Frame telecine system captures a full image of each and every film frame and sends those individual images to the computer. Next, software is used to apply a “pulldown” algorithm to convert the captured film frame images to the video frame rate of 29.97 frames per second used in the USA. The conversion process is nearly identical to the very expensive Rank systems used in commercial media and television. The pulldown process creates a perfectly smooth movie without the "Keystone Cops" fast speed effect and without any hint of flicker.
Will the finished transfer have any flicker? Absolutely not! That's our promise to you.
How much of the picture do you capture? The Frame-by-Frame equipment is fitted with oversized gates that “see” the entire film frame, just inside the sprocket holes. The movies you get back will show more of the original picture's image (side to side and top to bottom) than you ever saw with the old movie projector.
Do you clean and repair the film? Yes, your films are carefully inspected for tears, broken splices or other damage and are repaired. Then they are cleaned and lubricated. And finally, we do the transfer to the computer. The cleaning and lubrication methods we use are the same as those used in major motion picture theaters.
Do you re-spool my movies onto big reels? No. Commercial "transfer mills" servicing big-box and discount warehouses splice and re-spool movies onto large reels so that they can be mounted on transfer machines and then left to run unattended and unmonitored. We monitor the entire transfer process, so there is nothing to be gained by splicing your small reels onto large ones.
What’s the video resolution of the film transfer? All of our film transfers, 8mm, Super 8mm and 16mm, are initially scanned with High Definition resolution of 1080i. Then, for standard defintion DVDs we downscale with the computer software to 720x480, which is standard definition video. If you want a Blu-ray disc, we do not downscale. That way, every customer gets the benefits of a very high resolution initial quality transfer and the precise equipment that we use to make those high definition transfers.

What is Color Correction? Due to a number of potential problems with storage, processing, chemistry, etc., some old color movie film might have slowly discolored and may have become bluish or yellowish over time. We manually adjust and restore the quality of digital image of your transferred film in the computer before we burn it onto your DVD master. Obviously, we cannot fix all the problems such as exposure, focus and white balance that may have been caused by the camera operator when the movies were originally shot, but we can restore a lot of the richness of the original colors. We take the extra time to improve and restore your movies as faithfully as we can to the original colors before we make the final transfer to DVD or Blu-ray disc. This is a valuable benefit that you will not get from a low cost provider.
What is Gamma Correction? When film images are transferred to television, the dim parts in the picture that are in shadows are "squashed" or "crushed" into the black. In other words, you can no longer see the details that were filmed in deep shadow. We use gamma correction to pull those details out of the dark or black shadows so that you can see them again. Because is is done on a scene-by-scene basis, big box stores and transfer mills usually do not have the resources or the time to perform custom gamma correction. This is another valuable benefit that you will not get from a low cost provider.
How Much Fits On A DVD? Although a DVD will hold up to four or more hours of material, we recommend limiting it to two hours or less. We can pack a DVD with more material, but due to the way video is compressed to make it fit onto a DVD, the video quality begins to degrade. We think our customers appreciate good quality video, so we recommend the more conservative general guideline of under two hours per DVD. Oh, and slides? About 1,000 slides or pictures will fit onto one DVD and even more will fit on a Blu-ray disc.
What Type of Telecine Equipment Do You Use For Film Transfers? Our equipment is the best in the business. It is manufactured by the folks at Moviestuff. You can learn more about it by visiting their website.
Do You Add Music? Yes, a little background music makes the movie watching experience more enjoyable. The music is chosen to provide a smooth, appropriate background to the movies without drawing attention to itself. Of course, if you prefer not to have music, we can either leave it off or you can simply turn down the volume while you are watching the movies. There is no extra charge for the music.