Find out a little more about our transfer service
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 any surface contamination that can often show up as hair or dust on the film during playback. A special formulation cleaner, restorer and lubricant is used that protects the film from scratching during projection, also giving the film slightly better colour depth for the transfer process.
Editing
Once the film has been captured to computer, 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. This editing work is not provided for the Regular Transfer option which is designed to offer a more cost effective solution.
Colour correction
Colour correction is applied to help restore original colour. 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 evident with some brands of film can often be reduced to a more acceptable level also. This service is not included in the Regular option.
Compilation to a digital file
The final process is copying the files to a USB drive, allowing you to enjoy your family memories on computer or any modern TV with USB input.
DVD is considered to be old technology now and will eventually be phased out over the next few years. We no longer recommend using DVD as a delivery medium.
Conversion Equipment and Transfer Options
Our workflow utilises frame scanning equipment and sophisticated software applications capable of producing transfer results often better than the original film.
Frame scanning equipment used by many of the Hollywood studios to restore ageing feature films is now becoming affordable for the domestic film conversion market.
The combination of new equipment and specialised restoration software provides stunning results for home movies, so there has never been a better time to convert your family home movies.
Two main conversion services are available to suit your budget.
REGULAR TRANSFER - Full HD 1080P resolution. This service is designed for those that want to perform their own editing and post production. Both Apple and PC computers have free software capable of editing mp4 digital files.
FULL PRODUCTION - 4K Ultra High Definition 2160P resolution. Full production including editing to remove blank sections of film or sections that should not be included like the white leader and bad splices. Grain removal and colour balancing restores the film to its original if not better than original condition. This process is highly labour intsensive but produces the very best transfer quality.
4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio
All transfers are performed in HD format and 16:9 aspect ratio. This will display black pillars to the left and right of the original regular 4:3 film format.
Viewer hire
Should you want to view your films before committing to have them converted, we can hire out a hand wind viewer for $25.00 + $50.00 returnable deposit. The viewer is suitable for both Super 8mm and Regular 8mm film. We don't have a viewer for 16mm or 9.5mm formats
Main film formats...
Our service includes transfer of the four main film formats, 9.5mm, 16mm, Standard 8mm and Super 8mm. Polavision is a variant of Super 8mm.
9.5mm format
9.5 mm film is an amateur film format introduced by Pathé Frères in 1922 as part of the Pathé Baby amateur film system. It was conceived initially as an inexpensive format to provide copies of commercially made films to home users, although a simple camera was released shortly afterwards.
16mm format
Eastman Kodak introduced 16 mm film in 1923 as a less expensive amateur alternative to 35 mm film. During the 1920s, the format was often referred to as sub-standard by the professional industry
Both 8mm formats
Standard 8 mm film, also known as Regular 8 mm film, Double 8 mm film, Double Regular 8 mm film, or simply as Standard-8 or Regular-8, is a film format originally developed by the Eastman Kodak company and released onto the market in 1932. Super 8mm emerged in 1965.