DVD Your Memories Blog | Film to DVD Los Angeles, San Diego, OC | VHS to DVD » film to dvd

Enjoying Your Old Film on DVD

Chris — Fri, 13 May 2011 23:18:33 +0000

Have you ever thought about converting your old 8mm film over to a digital format? Much of the film we have, hasn’t been seen for over 20-30 years and is perfect to bring out during a special family gathering or event. Being able to see footage of your family from 50+ years ago is an incredible experience, and it’s amazing that technology has allowed us the privilege to watch important events from the past.

Here is one example of an 8mm film transfer, taken from an amusement park. The screen has been split to show the original colors on the left, and the restored film on the right. As you can see the film had been heavily color-shifted to red/magenta.

At DVD Your Memories, we can even take your old film and restore it to it’s original colors and vibrancy. Now you can watch your film, digitized, and fully restored to it’s original quality. You can even combine your film with images from slide scanning, or photo scanning jobs as well. Watching this old footage will definitely bring a tear to your eye! This is truly a priceless service.

Technorati Tags: 8mm film, 8mm to dvd, film to dvd

Splicing Film to DVD in Los Angeles… No Power? No Problem!

Chris — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:22:22 +0000

Well a couple days ago, the power went out at our Culver City store for a short while. After some quick investigation, Neil discovered that the entire city block was affected by the outage. While other hundreds of other confused businesses and employees were wondering around and crowding the streets, wondering what to do, our LA team was quick adapt to the situation. We quickly re-routed the phone lines, updated the website, and got everything ready to go. Although there wasn’t too much we could do about image scanning or video to dvd orders, the team decided to stay ahead of the game and started the prep work on future Film to DVD orders. This mainly included cleaning and splicing of 8mm and 16mm film, preparing them for our film transfer process.

Ryan, Brian and Stephanie working through the power outage, cleaning and splicing film for an 8mm film to DVD order.

All in all, the workflow continues and our customer’s orders are right on track!

As you can see, a simple power outage will not impede the workflow of the DVD Your Memories! We will persevere through lack of electricity and finish our transfers, and have fun doing it! Come on down and pay a visit to our Los Angeles store!

Technorati Tags: culver city, dvd your memories, film to dvd, los angeles, power outage

8mm to DVD Los Angeles

Chris — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:40:56 +0000

Near the Los Angeles or Culver City area? If so, did you know that converting your 8mm film was right in your neighborhood? DVD Your Memories is now serving Los Angeles county and helping our newest customers transfer their precious memories recorded on film, video, audio and images. We actually specialize in transferring this type of media and we use dedicated technicians for each type of order!

8mm film is an older type of media that is still taking up room in many closets. Due to the nature of 8mm film, and the material it’s composed of, the images stored will not last forever, and depending on how it was stored, it could be at an advanced stage of decomposition. When it comes to precious memories such as your families archive of 8mm film, or 16mm film, you now have the option to digitally transfer these home movies to archival quality DVDs, or put them onto an external hard drive.

Over the years, film such as 8mm or 16mm will actually color-shift generally to either blue, purple, or magenta, depending on the material of the film. With the premium film transfer, you can have your film completely restored to it’s original colors, and make sure that your under and over-exposed scenes are corrected in real time. Take a look below for a couple of examples of some restoration work on some of our film to DVD Los Angeles transfers.

The Premium frame-by-frame film transfer is by far the highest quality film transfer available today, as each full frame of film is individually transferred one after another.

Our retrofitted projector is one of the few in the world that has a manually adjustable brightness control which can make under or overexposed scenes look much better. We use this machine for both 8mm Film to DVD Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Super8 to DVD orders. The transfer technician will watch your film on a standard monitor as well as a waveform monitor and adjust the back-light brightness accordingly. This type of brightness adjustment is a custom fitted attachment, and is not available at most other companies. With a frame-by-frame transfer, you are then easily able to manipulate the film once it’s been captured to your computer.

Technorati Tags: 8mm film, 8mm to dvd, culver city, film to dvd, los angeles

8mm Film vs Super 8 Film, What’s the Difference?

Chris — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:20:37 +0000

8mm film and Super 8 film look surprisingly similar at first glance, which can make it difficult to figure out which is which, especially if you have both types of film. Fortunately, when you get it up close, it’s easy to spot a couple key differences which will make telling them apart much easier in the future. 16mm film should be instantly recognizable, as it’s twice the width of 8mm and super 8 film.

As you can see from the above image, Super8 film has much smaller sprocket holes, and they are aligned to the middle of the frame, versus in between the frames on the standard 8mm. You’ll also notice that the size of the frame is 50% larger on the Super 8 film. Super 8 was an upgrade to the standard 8mm film which offered a sharper picture. This sharper picture can be attributed to the much larger frame size. Lots of times, people will have the first of their films shot in regular 8mm, and then over time switching over to the superior Super 8 format.

If your film is stored in film cans with leader tape, you can easily spot which film you have by examining the leader tape. Like in the actual film itself, the sprocket holes are much smaller. The leader tape does not contain actual frames, so the sprocket holes would be the only clue as to what type of film it is. Our film to DVD technicians are very knowledgeable and can answer all your questions about your film transfer. We are also one of the few companies who transfer 8mm film that clean every inch of the film prior to transferring. This cleaning process using silicon cloths will give you the best film to DVD transfer possible.

Technorati Tags: 8mm film, 8mm to dvd, film to dvd, Film Transfer, super 8, super8

One of the Top Media Transfer Companies in the Country – DVD Your Memories

Chris — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:36:59 +0000

DVD Your Memories has risen to the top ten family media transfer companies in the nation! By continuing to provide our outstanding service, and quality media transfers, we are sure to be the top media transfer company in the nation! We dedicate ourselves to providing families the chance to preserve and protect their recorded memories for years to come. Below are some of our highlight services.

Video Tapes to DVD
Our video tape to DVD service allows you the chance to convert your old video tapes (VHS, Video8, MiniDV etc.) into an 100-year archival DVD movie that can be enjoyed by everyone on your home DVD player. One of the most popular consumer tapes from the 80s and 90s was the VHS tape. We can convert your VHS to DVD in San Diego and Irvine and we can even perform VHS repair and video restoration services as well! We do all we can in order to extract whatever data remains on damaged tapes.

Audio to CD Transfers
We can also transfer and convert your audio formats into audio CDs or MP3 files. Our expert audio technicians will inspect and clean your audio prior to transferring and make any repairs or adjustments needed. We can create custom mix CDs which incorporate audio from several sources, if needed. Our audio cassette to CD services has helped countless people hear the voices of the past once again.

Slide Scanning
Our skilled image scanning technicians have an expertly trained eye for proper colorization and image quality. We use the highest grade slide scanning equipment available, and we’re able to scan your slides up to 4000dpi to provide you with a crisp, crystal clear image that you can take wherever you go on with our slides to DVD or portable hard drive services. You’ll be amazed at how awesome your slides will look once they are digitized on our scanners.

Negative Scanning
In addition to slide scanning, we also offer our premium negative scanning services in San Diego and Irvine. We’ll scan your negatives using a high quality dedicated Nikon film scanner. Our scanning technicians are experienced in handling a wide array of formats and sizes in order to create perfect digital images from your negatives.

Photo Scanning
Just about everyone has loose photos laying around, many of them of important times in your life. We can take those photos and preserve them forvever onto our 100-year archival DVDs by taking advantage of our photo scanning services. All of your photos are scanned by hand using high quality flatbed scanners. We never use document feeders or any other automated equipment, as we manually scan each and every one of your photos, and make any adjustments necessary to provide you with the best possible scan.

8mm-16mm Film to DVD
Have old reels of 8mm, 16mm, or Super 8 film? We can take those old canisters of film and turn them into modern DVD movies! With today’s technology, we can bridge the technological gap between film and digital video in order to create a fully functional DVD movie that can be watched on any modern equipment. We also offer the option for color correction and contrast adjustment for all of your film. Forget that old projector, all you need to do is simply insert the DVD into your player, and watch the magic of our Film to DVD transfers!

Custom Slideshow Creation
Our experienced in-house editors will create the perfect slideshow for your occasion or give you their expert advice as to how to create one yourself! Think of all the times you’ve been to big parties, or nicely organized events with a custom video slideshow presentation. Maybe you wondered how to create such a beautiful video using your own personal photos, slides and negatives. Look no further, as you can now be the director of your very own movie!

The friendly, expert technicians at DVD Your Memories, Inc. promise to convert your media to digital format in our local, on-site facility with a commitment to one-on-one service, safe handling, and 100% order accuracy.

Technorati Tags: film to dvd, Film Transfer, media transfer, orange county, san diego

8mm Film Transfer Process – Film to DVD

Chris — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:34:57 +0000

When it comes time to transfer 8mm film to DVDs, you may be wondering just how it’s done, and what the best quality transfer is. The type of film transfer service that is performed on your footage can make a world of difference in the end. It’s best to your own research to determine exactly what you want to get out of your film transfer, whether it be quality or cost. Many of the companies out there today will use cheaper, lower-quality methods such as a real-time transfer.

Real-Time Transfer

Film is naturally around 15-18fps, and when it’s telecined to 30fps video, you will get some blending of frames, which often creates a fuzzy or soft look to the picture when watching in real time. Many times with older film, you’ll notice that there are much more color problems with a real time transfer as opposed to a frame-by-frame transfer due to the way film naturally shifts in color over time. Also with this method, your frames will often be cropped off so you lose a lot of image data, and you’ll also notice some flickering when watching due to the frames being captured in real time.

Frame-By-Frame Transfer

The Premium frame-by-frame film transfer is by far the highest quality film transfer available today, as each full frame of film is individually transferred one after another.

Our retrofitted projector is one of the few in the world that has a manually adjustable brightness control which can make under or overexposed scenes look much better. We use this machine for both Film to DVD San Diego, and Film to DVD Orange County orders. The transfer technician will watch your film on a standard monitor as well as a waveform monitor and adjust the back-light brightness accordingly. This type of brightness adjustment is a custom fitted attachment, and is not available at most other companies. With a frame-by-frame transfer, you are then easily able to manipulate the film once it’s been captured to your computer.

Check below to find out more information about our great Film to DVD services:

Film Transfer San Diego – Film Transfer Orange County

Technorati Tags: 8mm film, 8mm film to dvd, 8mm process, 8mm restoration, 8mm to dvd, film to dvd, Film Transfer

8mm to DVD, Premium Film to DVD Transfer

Chris — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:40:57 +0000

Throughout the years, millions of families have been capturing their memories and lives with hopes of preserving them for future generations. As most of us are aware, these older media types will not stand the test of time and last forever. Luckily, technology has progressed to the point where near complete restoration is possible on much of the older media people may have. With new advancements in digital video editing, whole new digital masterpieces can be created which could incorporate any combination of film, video, images, audio.

During the 80s and 90s, many people opted to have their 8mm and 16mm film transferred to VHS or S-VHS tapes. Due to the nature of VHS tapes, and the material it’s composed of, the data on these tapes will not last forever, and often the original film will outlast magnetic forms of media such as VHS tapes. When it comes to precious memories such as your families archive of 8mm film, or 16mm film, you now have the option to digitally transfer these home movies to archival quality DVDs, or put them onto an external hard drive.

Over the years, film such as 8mm or 16mm will color-shift generally to either blue, purple, or magenta, depending on the material of the film. With the premium film transfer, you can have your film completely restored to it’s original colors, and make sure that your under and over-exposed scenes are corrected in real time. Take a look below for a couple of examples of some restoration work on some of our film to DVD transfers.

Here is another example of a film transfer with heavy color degradation and blue color-shifting.

As you can see, the restoration process can make a huge difference in the end product of your film to DVD transfers. We perform these types of transfers and restorations on a daily basis in our San Diego and Irvine office’s and countless people have been amazed at the stunning quality of their DVD movies.

Technorati Tags: 16mm restoration, 8mm restoration, film restoration, film to dvd, Film Transfer, premium film transfer

Film Transfer to DVD – Ways to Preserve Your 8mm Film

Chris — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:40:02 +0000

Years ago, the process of capturing important memories on film often meant a time-consuming and expensive process. In addition to using heavy, awkward equipment, you had to then get the film developed at a facility, and then, most of the time, you had to splice everything together onto a larger reel for continuity. On top of all this, it was also a challenge to store all of the media, while keeping in mind the potential hazards such as moisture or heat can pose to your film. Having an old box of film in your attic is one of those “out of sight, out of mind” kind of situations, where people simply don’t think about it until it’s too late. Over the years, people have slowly begun to realize that their film is not going to last forever. Unbeknowst to countless people worldwide, their precious film is suffering from severe degradation at this very second, and before long will be destroyed without them ever knowing about it. Even today, thousands of people across the country are still holding onto boxes and boxes of old reels that could benefit highly from a service such as an 8mm film to DVD transfer in Orange County.

Transferring 8mm film to dvd or hard drive is currently the best way to preserve your film, and to stop the degradation dead in it’s tracks. Typically, film transfer services will capture each individual frame directly into the lens of a broadcast quality 3-CCD camera, and then specialized software will interpolate these individual frames into a movie and remove the flickering effect, in what’s called a “frame-by-frame” film transfer process. Frame-by-frame film transfer will provide you with the highest quality film to dvd in transfer in San Diego available, often looking much better than when shown on a projector. In addition to having a smooth, seamless capture, you can now perform color enhancements and restoration or editing with video editing software, if needed. When comparing film transfer companies, be sure to always ask about the method of transfer. There are still some companies who will project your film onto a white wall or screen and simply record the image with a camcorder. The quality of this method comes nowhere close the that of a telecine transfer descibed above.

It’s often wise to have a specialized film transfer company handle the transfer of your old film. Quality telecine transfer units typically costs thousands of dollars, and for most consumers, it just isn’t worth the cost to transfer a couple thousand feet of film. However, if you do plan on transferring your film yourself, a cheaper alternative would be to project the film onto a high quality screen, and record it using a quality digital camcorder such as Digital8, MiniDV, or a Hard Drive camcorder. Just know that the results of this method simply do not compare to the quality of a frame-by-frame premium film transfer.

Here at DVD Your Memories, we use a unique retrofitted projector with a built-in manually adjustable brightness controller to adjust over and under-exposed scenes in real-time, which can provide the highest quality film to dvd in San Diego.

Next time you’re going through the old attic or closet, please keep note of the box of family memories on film in the corner, as it simply won’t be there forever!

Technorati Tags: 16mm to dvd, 8mm to dvd, film to dvd, Film Transfer

Top Ten Reasons To Get Your Media Transferred Sooner Rather Than Later

Chris — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:19:15 +0000

10. Ease
With the advancement of technology at the consumer-level, it’s now cheaper and easier than ever to get your old video tapes converted to DVD, photos scanned, and film digitized. Nearly all work is now captured directly into a computer’s hard drive, which allows for relatively easy manipulation of your video, images and audio with no quality loss from the original. You can now think about adding chapter markers and interactive menu screens for your kid’s birthday parties instead of sifting through 2 hours of raw footage.

9. Production and Editing
With advancements in technology propelling us to the ‘digital era’, producing quality media from the comfort of your own home or office is now a reality. Once your media is digitized, nearly anything is possible from putting together a new scrapbook, creating a graduation slideshow for your children, or even a new commercial for your business. People no longer have to pay outrageous production fees in order to create a viable video for them.

8. Celebrating a Special Event
Do you have a special event planned in the near future? Would you like to create a San Diego custom slideshow or video montage to incorporate into an event? For the next party or get-together, instead of dusting off the old slide projector, you can show off your fully-edited custom slideshow movie for everyone to enjoy. This is a great way to show off you latest product or idea, while getting everyone in attendance involved.

7. Portability
The newer they are, the smaller they get. This can apply to most media throughout history. Just think about how much easier it would be to do a little bit of 35mm slide scanning, and condense your 35 carousels of slides into a single disc. With video, for instance, VHS tapes were the standard for several years until laser discs and DVDs hit the market. As many people know, the more VHS tapes you owned, the more storage space you needed to allocate to them. When digitized however, you can save a remarkable amount of space. Instead of holding onto hundreds of old VHS tapes, you transfer them to some easy to maintain DVDs or even to hard drive to save more space.

6. Entertainment
Reflecting on past events can be entertaining as well! It’s always a treat to catch a glimpse of your vacation from years ago, and re-live the time you spent there. This is also great for family get-togethers or parties especially if multiple people attending are featured on the video! If you decide to go with a video transfer to hard drive, you can do some simple or advanced editing to create a new video for everyone to enjoy.

5. Reconnecting With Lost Friends
15 Years ago, you and your friend may have taken a video camera on that awesome trip to Europe. As time goes on, people change locations, and connections are missed or often lost. Without watching that video today, you may never ask yourself, what happened to this person? Where can I find them? Not only is it much easier these days to transfer your media, it’s also become much easier to find and locate people! Sometimes a little reminder is all you need.

4. Family Time
Everyone has busy schedules with school, work, football practice, church, etc. and often, time spent with your own family is overlooked. Once your media is digitized, it provides a great opportunity to spend and share time with family or close friends. People can relate to what they’re watching and can spark up some interesting discussions of the past, and connect with new friends.

3. Technology Changing
Technology is constantly evolving into “smaller” and better things. A closet full of old videos can now be placed onto a plastic drive the size of your thumb and your desk drawer full of photos can now be replaced with archival-grade DVDs. Now that most of the older formats are obsolete and often difficult to see or watch, it’s best to get them digitized sooner than later. As time drags on, it will only start to get more difficult to obtain the equipment needed to perform the video transfer, or image scanning that is right for you.

2. Degradation and Deterioration
During the 80′s and 90′s, most of us were under the assumption that our precious memories stored onto magnetic tape would be safe forever. Recently, however, more and more people are realizing that this is simply not the case. Magnetic tape is great for short term play back of our fondest memories, or to relive a historic event. Video tapes deteriorate every year even if you don’t view them. Your precious memories painstakingly caught on tape WILL someday be unplayable. Most VHS tapes, with proper care, can last up to 20 years with only minor degradation issues. However, since VHS tapes have been obsolete for nearly 10 years now, the timeline is running thin! If you want these images to last, it’s best to get the VHS transfer to DVD done now, before it’s too late. DVDs can last you hundreds of years with absolutely no degradation, as the laser never makes direct contact with the disc itself. I’ve seen where people have, unfortunately, waited a bit too long to get their tapes transferred, and as a result they’re left with a fraction of what they once had.

1. Archiving/Preservation
Archiving your family’s media should always be in the back of your mind. Older media types, such as slides and video tapes, were never designed or meant to last forever. It has now become much easier to archive your tapes and images by simply capturing them to a hard drive or DVD. While most consumer DVDs typically last anywhere from 5-10 years, there are a few high-grade brands that will last you 100 or more years with proper care. Virtually all recordings from the last 40 years are in jeopardy, whether it be unique mastered audio recordings or news broadcasts. No tape is safe from the multiple threats that range from physical loss due to disaster, accidental erasure, or the increasing disappearance of equipment needed to play them back. Realistically, most of the inventory of tapes are duplicates of other materials, but many others are originals, masters, or unique content that cannot be easily duplicated. The amount of tapes needed to be restored is so huge, that it would take decades, even if facilities, techniques, and funding were readily available.

If you have any questions regarding the media transfer service, give us an email: info@dvdyourmemories.com

Technorati Tags: audio, film to dvd, Film Transfer, Photo Scanning, scanning, Slide Scanning, vhs to dvd, video, video editing, video transfer

DVD Your Memories Blog | Film to DVD Los Angeles, San Diego, OC | VHS to DVD » film to dvd

Enjoying Your Old Film on DVD

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