Posted: 2-3-2012
Valentines day is quickly approaching, and our local stores are helping to spread the love! Check out a couple stores below, and don’t forget to stop in for a custom slideshow creation for your loved ones!
Posted: 2-3-2012
What is film made of?
Many of us have seen the traditional roll or reel of film. The most common type we see when we are doing film to DVD orders is 8mm film. There is also quite a bit of 16mm film out there as well. But of course we’ve all seen these things, but what is the technology behind them? How does a picture of what we’ve seen in the past appear on this material in a manner that allows to rewatch history at our leisure.
The film industry basically got it’s start after people were creating series of 2 dimensional drawings, and would display sequences of still pictures at sufficient speed for the images on the pictures to appear to be moving, a phenomenon called persistence of vision. The images that were being shown needed to be carefully designed to achieve the desired effect, and the underlying principle became the basis for the development of film animation.
Movie film was created shortly after celluloid film for still photography had been achieved as it allowed capture of images in real time. An 1878 experiment by English photographer Eadweard Muybridge in the United States using 24 cameras produced a series of stereoscopic images of a galloping horse, is arguably the first “motion picture”, though it was not called by this name. Check out what it looked like below.
The film industry basically got its start after people were creating series of 2 dimensional drawings, and would display sequences of still pictures at sufficient speed for the images on the pictures to appear to be moving, a phenomenon called persistence of vision. The images that were being shown needed to be carefully designed to achieve the desired effect, and the underlying principle became the basis for the development of film animation.
Throughout time, film and the art of filmmaking has been considered to be an important art form and a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for influencing ordinary people. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication, and can easily send a message to a large group of people which has even lasted to this day. Many families have fond memories recorded on this format, and we’re here to help you convert your 8mm film to DVD here at our local offices.
Posted: 1-31-2012
One exciting and fun thing to do with your old unused media, is to create arts and crafts from them! After people get their videos and VHS tapes to DVD, they often ask us what the best way to recycle these tapes are. Most people don’t want to simply throw their memories in the trash can, even if they’ve been transferred because they are the original master tapes. Instead of throwing them away, some people hold onto them by creating different arts and crafts out of them.
One creative way to use your old VHS tapes involves actually creating a picture frame out of them and mounting it on your wall. The easiest way is to find a VHS case that has the ability to hold an insert. You would then place your photo inside the insert flap (making sure it’s the right size). Once the photo has been inserted into the case, it’s ready to mount wherever you’d like. You could mount the tape on the wall a variety of ways. I would suggest using some mounting wax or tape for a semi-permanent solution. However, if you plan to keep your art on the wall for a while, I would simply screw it into the wall using mounts and screws.
This is just one of the many ideas you can create from old media after it’s been through our video to DVD transfer services. If you use your imagination, you could create a whole collection of arts from your old media. Ask your technician if they have any ideas of what you could create from your personal collection!
Posted: 1-27-2012
Each month, DVD Your Memories will send our customers a satisfaction survey provided that you have given us your email address. This survey will help us make sure we are providing optimal service, and the that you are getting the products you desire. We’re committed to monitoring the quality of the products and services as part of an ongoing improvement process.
When you receive the survey via email, We will ask you a series of questions depending on the type of order you had done with us. It isn’t a long survey, and takes about a couple of minutes to complete.
If you have been selected to take part in our satisfaction survey, you will receive an email in your inbox asking you to take part in one of our short surveys. The email will look something like the image below.
Keep in mind that the survey is completely optional, although we would love to hear feedback from you! If you follow the link in the email, you will be taken to the survey page. This page is where you will be answering a short series of questions about your time at DVD Your Memories, and how you liked the product. Be sure to tell us what type of media type you had transferred, such as if it was a video transfer, slide scanning, or a film to DVD order.
We use the data we receive from surveys to help us improve our systems, techniques and products. We encourage all of our customers to engage in the survey, as it will help us grow and remain the nation’s number one local family media transfer company!
Posted: 1-26-2012
Recently we’ve come across some awesome paintings created from vintage photographs. Creating what he calls “piggyback art”, Alex Gross has taken a hobby of transforming old photos and artworks into new works by adding certain elements to the original. He’s compiled a collection of works he calls the “Heroes, Villains and Monsters” series.
This would be great to do from home once you scan old photos to your computer. If you’re family has tons of old photos and vintage items, you could create similar works of art for your family! To see more cool paintings, check out the rest of them here.
Posted: 1-25-2012
One of the fastest growing trends we’ve been seeing is more and more people creating unique gifts out of their old media and memories. Gifts ranging from custom family videos, compilation tapes and digital scrapbooks are among the more common things people do with their old media. All of these options make a great gift, no matter the occasion. Plus, since these types of gifts are so unique and personalized, people will cherish them forever! All of this stuff is possible just by converting your old video tapes, photos and film to digital formats such as DVD.
Custom video creation has really taken off in the last several years. With rise in popularity of tons of new websites such as Youtube, video sharing has become as mainstream as television. This has prompted millions of people to create their own videos and upload them so their friends, family and the world can see. Another feature of these sites is that they also offer privacy settings so that only your friends and family would have access. Videos can be created out of any number of ways. You can create from old slides, negatives and photos you’ve scanned into digital images, or out of footage you’ve recently captured on a digital camcorder.
For the full effect, I highly recommend some form of video editing. With editing work, you can add music, sound effects, visual effects, title slides and many, many other neat features to make your video much more rich in content. Most video editing suites come prepacked with thousands of features you can implement on your own. If you combine powerful software with a creative mind and some tutorial videos, who knows what you can produce!
Aside from creating personalized videos, you could go the other route and make an online photobook, or a scrapbook that details important events in your lives. These can also be uploaded on family photo sharing sites like Facebook and spread across to other family members on other networks. Many scrapbookers from around the world have taken to digital scrapbooking for the ease of use and sharing features. Digital scrapbooks can easily be formed from scanning photos, slides or negatives into your computer, or using pre-existing digital images.
Looking for a photo slideshow to be created for you? Try one of our local stores:
Denver slideshows
Los Angeles slideshows
Orange County slideshows
San Diego slideshows
Posted: 1-23-2012
Missed out on CES 2012? Check out some of the cool highlights below.
Some of the coolest gadgets from the most innovative companies in the world have shown up to show everyone their latest technologies and patents. Unfortunately, no one from our staff was able to make it this year, but we look forward to making it next year! In the meantime, we’ll be busy upgrading our own technology for transferring video to DVD!
Posted: 1-22-2012
Looking for a place to scan your collection of old family photos? Our office in Denver is equipped with high quality flatbed scanners and photo scanning equipment to convert your photographs into digital images that you can keep and share for a lifetime.
If you’re planning on getting your collection of photos scanned, the whole process is actually easier than you’d think. The hardest part of the project is usually the initial organization stage. If you have a mountain of photos, you may not want to get ALL of them scanned, or perhaps you’d like to scan batches at a time. Once the organization is complete, however, the hard work is done, and they are ready to be scanned. Check the map below for easy directions to our office.
First, you’ll simply drop on by our store with your photos by either appointment or walk-in. One of our technicians (usually the one who will be working on your order) will ask a few basic questions to help guide you through the order taking process and come up with an initial estimate. Once the specifications have been decided, the technician will give you a completion date, and your copy of the estimate.
Here are some of the advantages of choosing DVD Your Memories for your photo scanning in Denver:
All your images are scanned and transferred to our 100-year archival DVDs. If you choose to place your images on one of our DVDs, we’ll place everything on our Taiyo-Yuden DVDs rated to last up to 100 years.
We don’t use document scanners to scan your photos. We only use high quality flat-bed scanners to digitize your photos.
All scans are performed in-house. We never outsource any of your media. All of your photos will be scanned here at our local office. In addition to photos, all of your media will be transferred at the location that you dropped your images off at.
We’ll make sure that each and every one of your images are cropped and rotated correctly. We even have a second technician check over your order prior to finalizing to make sure it is 100% accurate, start to finish.
Free custom folder and file naming, meaning that we will organize and name your photos to your specifications. For more details, check out our photo scanning page.
If you opt to place your photo scanning order onto one of our DVDs, you can title the disc however you’d like!
Many Rare formats supported such as photo albums and large format photos. In addition, we also support many rare and obsolete formats for slide scanning and negative scanning.
Contact sheets allow you to view your collection of images quickly in an indexed format. All of your images will be nicely indexed and placed into a custom binder with your images.
Slideshow creation services are available for Denver photo scanning orders that need a little more flair or touch. You can even sit down with our in-house editor to create something truly fantastic. The options are limitless!
Posted: 1-17-2012
1. Someone’s wedding is one of the most important days of their entire lives. What better way to show your husband or wife that you care than by transferring your wedding tape to DVD! Transferring the video to DVD will help prevent further deterioration and degradation, so that you’ll be able to keep a copy of this special event forever. Show your special someone you truly care by converting your precious memories to a DVD!
2. Slideshow creation is another great way to show family or friends a meaningful message. Gather up some photos and create a themed slideshow detailing the years events or the life of one of your own. Custom slideshows are great for parties, family gatherings and events!
3. Does someone close to you have tons and tons of old photos or photo albums? I’m sure they would just love to get all of their precious photos scanned and digitized at some point, but are probably having trouble of where to start. Spend a day with them organizing the photos, or even picking out the most important ones that can be used to scan into the computer later, so that you’ll always have a digital copy, even if something were to happen to the original image. Even mentioning to the person you love to get their photo albums scanned can be a huge motivator!
4. Turning old images from photos, slides or negatives into personalized photo items and gifts has been popular for years. Nearly any kind of item can be created from a photo. We’ve seen quite a variety of items to choose from and the most popular include coffee mugs, t-shirts, charms and mousepads! This is a great way to show someone you care and to keep them thinking of you!
5. Framed picture enlargements are great for Mom and Dad, especially after a family photo shoot. These are wonderful gifts that can be hung or displayed in just about every room of the house. If someone’s walls are little lacking in the artwork department, try gifting them an enlarged photo.
6. Similar to a framed picture enlargements are the canvas prints. You can convert slides, negatives or photos to a canvas printed image! These are awesome decorating pieces that are gaining a lot of popularity. It will essentially allow you to turn any image into an exeptional work of art. These are also great gifts for your child’s prized drawing creations.
7. Got an entertainer or a music lover in the family? Try recording a family music video and sharing it with friends! You can film all sorts of sequences and blend them to the music using video editing software. Once finished, it’s easy to upload to Youtube, or other file sharing site to watch with family or friends. You can set the video as private, or public for the whole world to see.
8. Creating a digital scrapbook out of photo albums is a great way to share all of your cool photos, without having to lug around severl photo albums. If you scan photo albums to CD or DVD, you can take the digital images, and insert them into a slideshow or scrapbook creation software to make the perfect piece to show off to all of your friends.
9. Create a custom calendar from your photos. Calendar creation is a great gift, especially towards the end, or beginning of the year. Many people use traditional calendars to track their day to day activities, despite the prevelance of web and smartphone calendar apps. This is especially true if you craft a cusom calendar with your own images. You can even print special messages on certain days to remind your loved ones of important events.
10. Start up accounts on a family sharing site is a great way to keep up with your family’s activity and media. It’s like a central hub that contains all of your family history and media– where everyone can upload funny pictures, videos and short messages to each other. If the whole family uses a site like this, it can get even better, since multiple people are providing content and uploading the site on a consistant basis.
Posted: 1-13-2012
Before film is viewed, or ready to transfer to DVD, it must first be properly cleaned and inspected for breaks in the film. If no cleaning is done, the film will appear dark, grainy, and often times much harder to watch. To properly clean and lubricate your film, you’re going to want to get some manual 8mm film rewinders. These can be mounted to ply wood, or other wood base to help with your project. In addition to the hand cranks, you’ll also need to obtain a spare reel, or tak-eup reel. The photo below shows a typical pair of film rewinders. If you’re a hardcore DIYer, you could probably fashion something similar out of parts you find around the house.
The materials you’ll need to clean the film are some silicon cleaning cloth, and some film cleaning solution, which can be purchased from our friends at urbanskifilm.
Once all the pieces are gathered, and assembled, it’s time to begin inspecting and cleaning your film. Make sure you’re hand cranks are mounted properly.
1. Use the right winder as the take-up reel Load the film into the reels so that the emulsion or dull side is facing up and the sprocket holes should face you.
2. Use a small amount of cleaning solution on the silicon cleaning cloth.
3. Fold the cloth over the film and pinch it between your fingers.
4. Slowly load the film onto the take-up making sure some gentle pressure is applied to the cleaning cloth and the film. Change cloth frequently as it will gather lots of dirt.
5. Repeat the process and load the film back onto the original reel.
6. Repeat if film isn’t cleaned entirely.
During this cleaning process, it’s common for splices to break which puts a halt into your efforts. When a break happens, you’ll need to splice them back to gether. If at all possible, you want to avoid using tape to splice the film back together. For best results you’ll want to use a splicing kit, and some film cement. Use the picture below to see what the splicer looks like. The splicing process isn’t complicated, but needs to be pretty precise.
1. Place the film on the splicer, spocket holes facing you and line them up in the pins.
2. Raise the lower and upper left arm and upper right arm. Place film on the right of the registration pins, dull side up, and clamp it in place with the upper right arm.
3. Press the left arm down, which cuts the film. Then raise the upper and lower right arm.
4. Place the film to be spliced on the registration pins on the lower left arm, dull side up, and clamp it down with the left arm. Then cut the film using the right arm.
5. Now dip one end of a small cloth into some water, and moisten the film protruding beyond the left arm. Scrape all of the emulsion from this portion using a scraping tool. Wipe away all emulsion with a cloth. Make sure surface is dry, and apply small amount of film cement.
6. Bring right arm down over the cemented portion and wait at least one minute for the cement to dry. Lift all arms and remove film and inspect to make sure splice is complete.a
This is obviously a lot of work and setup involved, but is an absolute must for the ideal film conversion. For small amounts of film, we recommend simply taking it in for a 8mm to DVD transfer or hard drive conversion. Prior to each film to DVD transfer, we clean every inch of your film and make sure it is spliced together neatly.
Audio Transfer
Film Transfer
Negative Scanning
Photo Scanning
Slide Scanning
Slideshows
Video Tape Transfer