Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: Questions for Converting 8mm film  (Read 5956 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline GobanToba

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Join Date: Aug 2010
  • Posts: 18
    • Show all replies
Re: Questions for Converting 8mm film
« on: December 11, 2010, 04:49:53 AM »
Yeah, I did this for many years for a video production company (Christmas time was the busy season for film transfers).  I used a device like the one ral-clan linked to.  It's expensive to have film converted because it isn't just and automated process where you just run through and digitized. You to have a person sitting there playing/watching the movie and record it with a video camera (making sure no hair gets in the screen/stop and slice it when film breaks, etc). Then its edited all together.


You can do this at home however with good results.  You need a room that is dark and people won't be turning the lights on while you do the process.  And a tripod for your digital video camera.

Setup the projector to play the movie on a screen (white bed sheet) and set it close so the image is maybe only 12 to 17 inches across so that it is clear and bright.  Now setup the digital video camera close/zoom so it fills the viewfinder. (Might turn off auto focus if that is an option with your digital video camera and focus manually)

Now you just have to sit through hours of your 8mm tapes and record them.  Transfer the digital stuff over to your computer and edit with whatever software you can find.  Burn to DVD.
 

Offline GobanToba

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Join Date: Aug 2010
  • Posts: 18
    • Show all replies
Re: Questions for Converting 8mm film
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2010, 07:59:59 PM »
Quote from: Trev;598144
You could go the professional route with several vendors, most of which are in the Los Angeles area, and they'll clean the films, splice them together, and use the same telecine equipment used to transfer feature films.

My grandmother, however, took her reels to Costco. They transferred everything to DVD for her for something like $20.

Yeah, most places have someone that will do it professionally (just look up Video Production in the yellow pages) as that is how a lot of video companies make extra money, especially around the holidays.

Costco is another option as well.  Costco and most the other professional places with run some software on the digital files to clean it up/stablize and shaking.  Again, you can find similar software to do this your self.

The big thing comes down to price.  Costco for example is $17.99 for the first 150 feet, $.11 per foot per additional foot.  

150 feet is just over ten minutes of film.  If you have an hour of film that's going to cost you a little less than $100.  Which is a good deal for all you get.  

The other advantage of doing it yourself though is the ability edit just the parts you want, add text and transitions, music, etc.  All features like that are going to bump up the cost into the $100s from a professional.