Film Formats
The majority of home movies were captured on Standard or Super 8 film, a format that became very popular in the 1950's and 60's due to it's relatively low cost when compared to 16mm film that had been around for many decades. Prior to 1965 all film was captured on Standard 8mm film having been created from existing 16mm stock and called Double 8mm film. Super 8mm was later introduced providing a slightly larger image area by reducing the size of the sprocket holes. 9.5mm film predated the 8mm format however this film size lost popularity in favor of the new Super 8mm format in 1965.
Pricing starts at just $0.20 per foot.
We can digitally convert the following film formats:
Standard 8mm - (Double 8) Both silent and with the added sound strip (first introduced 1932)
Super 8mm - Silent and optical or magnetic sound (first introduced in 1965)
16mm - Silent and optical sound (magnetic sound is not supported) Introduced in 1923
9.5mm - Silent only (Pathé Frères in1922)
Polavision 8mm Cassette - A Super 8mm format created by Polaroid (Introduced in 1977)
Film is generally contained on 3 different reel sizes, 50ft (75mm dia) 200ft (125mm dia) 400ft (175mm dia)
STANDARD WORKFLOW:
INITIAL INSPECTION:
Prior to transferring your film it is first inspected for any physical damage to splice joints and sprocket holes. Where possible any defects are corrected to ensure consistent projection.
CLEANING:
The film is cleaned to remove dust and surface contamination that can often show up as hair or dust on the outer film perimeter during playback. A special formulation cleaner, restorer and lubricant is used that protects the film from scratching during projection while also giving the film slightly better colour depth for the transfer process. Smaller 50ft reels are usually spliced onto the larger 400ft reels during the cleaning process. This provides a more consistent transfer eliminating the need to change focus and lighting after exchanging the smaller individual reels.
EDITING:
Once the film has been captured to computer, basic editing is performed to remove blank sections of film and obvious flaws such as shots of the floor or sky from unintentionally leaving the camera running.
COLOUR CORRECTION:
Basic colour correction is applied to restore original colour depth. This cannot be used when film has faded badly or the original capture is excessively over or under exposed. The red or purple colour cast often evident with some brands of film can be reduced to a more acceptable level also.
BACKGROUND MUSIC:
The final process is to burn the composition to DVD. This includes an opening menu to navigate through different sections of your home movies. The standard package also includes a tasteful background music track to suit the mood of your film.
RAW CAPTURE FILES FOR ARCHIVING:
The raw capture files are also available at no additional charge as an archive backup or for future editing should you want to create you own special projects at a later date. This is encouraged as DVD's also has a limited life span and can be damaged or will be replaced in the near future by some other playback medium.
STANDARD 4:3 AND 16:9 ASPECT:
Regular transfers are performed in Standard Definition 4:3 aspect ratio which is the same aspect ratio of all 8mm and 16mm film. Capture in High Definition is also available however this is in wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio resulting in some cropping of the original image area. Examples of the different capture results can be found on the Example page.
PROJECTOR HIRE:
If you first want to view your films to find out which reels to have transferred to DVD, we have a Dual 8mm projector available for weekend hire at a cost of $50.00 plus a returnable $50.00 deposit. This is helpful if you are unsure of the content of each reel and can also assist in placing the film reels in the correct timeline sequence ready for transfer.
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