8mm, Super-8 and 16mm Films

Video Doc Productions electronically transfers your
old home movies to DVD.
 

Through our professional "Film Chain System" the 8mm,
Super-8 or 16mm films are transferred directly to the DVD*.
The film is synchronized to eliminate any flickering.
 

* A special projector called a "Film Chain Transfer Unit"
  processes a video signal from the projector directly to a
  Computer Hard Drive for a clean and crisp image transfer.
 

Once all the film is compiled, we then make and burn your Master DVD.
 

We calibrate the system before starting each job to verify
the system is in focused correctly.

 

The films are never spliced together.
 

You will receive your films back in the same condition
you submitted them to us in. 
 

All work is done locally and NEVER shipped to an outside source.
 

Turn-around time is generally 4-5 weeks, except Christmas orders.
 

The deadline each year for all Christmas Orders to be guaranteed for
Christmas is November 1 each year.
 

Undeveloped film may still be able to be processed. Click on this link to
visit their website:  www.filmrescue.com
 

Click here to Print A Film Transfer Work Order
 

Click Here For Frequently Asked Questions about Film Transfers

PROBLEMS WITH OLD FILMS
TIME  IS  YOUR  BIGGEST  ENEMY!

VINEGAR SYNDROME:  Technically "cellulose acetate decomposition" this self-catalyzing degradation of the
      film backing is more commonly known as "Vinegar Syndrome". 

Once film has vinegar syndrome starts, there is only a small window of time, months, before the film starts

to physically morph -- curl and stretch and then shrink.  Once the film shrinks, it becomes brittle, and bowed.

Vinegar Syndrome is contagious: Other film can be "infected" -- through the air.
If you can "smell your film" -- any smell like vinegar -- you are loosing it, fast!
If YOU can smell it, then chances are that ALL your other film -- stored with the film
that you CAN smell -- already has it, too.

Once Vinegar Syndrome starts, there is no way to reverse it.
Once film has vinegar syndrome detected, all reels sharing common air space
should be quarantined individually -- and digitized immediately. 

Converting your film to DVD s the only way to salvage the images on the film.

OTHER PROBLEMS WITH FILM: super 8mm film can go bad due to "bad baths"

during the original processing -- with a crystalline "snow flake" build-up with in the emulsion of the film ->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

which was not washed / rinsed properly at the time of development.

AGINGING  &  MOLD: Film is made of plastic "tape" (backing) and an organic "film" on the tape -- the "gelatin emulsion". Made from plant and animal by-products, all color and black-and-white information is stored in the gelatin emulsion, which cracks with age.

Even the color dyes "get tired". This "organic" media is vulnerable to mold that grows in dark damp places.

Film that "gets wet" will contact mold that will literally "eat it up". This appears a as blue-green mosaic in your film and occasionally as "black specks". Also, mold can grow in the scratches in the emulsion of your film, which discolor over time.

The gelatin emulsion: Moisture from the air on this organic material, stored in the dark, creates an environment for destruction -- by mold!

Virtually all old film is at risk of, if not already infected with, mold.

We see it all the time and we have to tell the families the bad news.
Ultimately all old film is in crisis and your memories with it.

Also, the plastic "tape" itself  on old "home movies" is becoming brittle -- easily damaged by old movie projectors.

Once the "pull-down holes", along the edge of the tape are damaged,
the "home movie" is dead.

DO NOT TO TRY TO VIEW THE FILMS YOURSELF ON AN OLD PROJECTOR!

Just bring them in for Video Doc Productions to convert to DVD to save them for you.

Only one bad run through an old projector could destroy your
priceless "home movies".