All Movie Film is Transferred in our San Francisco
Bay Area Facility

About Movie Film:
Movie film is a motion picture film format developed in the 30's by Eastman Kodak. The film could be purchased at any camera store and was sold as a 50 foot reel. The film spools, before they were processed, actually contained a 16mm film and upon its first pass through the camera only half of the film was exposed along half of its width. After the first pass the spool was removed, flipped, and inserted back into the camera to then expose the other side of the film. During processing of the film the 16mm strip was then split down the middle to create two lengths of 8mm film. Common lengths of movie film are:

3-inch reel | 50 feet  
 5-inch reel | 200 feet
 7-inch reel | 400 feet

Why Should You Convert Your Movie Film?
Movie film deteriorates over time and in the span of a couple decades the quality of your movie film can become so poor that playing them back will become virtually impossible. Movie film becomes brittle over time and when exposed to natural elements like excessive heat or cold (are your storing your movie film in the non-climate controlled basement or attic?) the film starts to discolor and lose the properties that once made movie film so great. Colors fade and become blown out and if exposed to moisture the film can develop mold and result in damaged film. By converting your movies now you can be sure you are capturing the video in its prime before more damage is done.

DVD advantages are numerous. DVDs are digital and can be copied without any quality loss. You can easily playback DVDs making it easy to enjoy your home movies. DVDs don't have to be rewound so you can quickly and easily watch your favorite scenes over and over. Plus DVDs take up a lot less space than film so you have plenty of room to store more of your family memories.

Why Choose Denevi's Movie Film to DVD Service?
Denevi Digital Imaging has been in business since 1959 and with our decades of experience we understand the importance of preserving your movie film. Denevi's has worked hand in hand with the makers of Elmo film projectors (in fact, we hold the largest supply of Elmo projector parts in the country) and have modified our projectors with a high resolution camera to capture the video directly from the emulsion of the film. We do not project your movies on a screen and then record that screen. Before any of your film is transferred our highly skilled technicians will inspect, clean, and fix any broken splices that your film may have. This will insure the best possible transfer of your movie film.

At Denevi's we provide a way to preserve your old movie film by transferring them onto more modern and current forms of media storage such as DVDs, CDs, and hard drives. Not only are these replacements more practical in our technologically advancing world, they are also much more durable and longer lasting.

At Denevi Digital Imaging we use the most advanced technology to transfer your movie film to whatever format you need. Our motto is "Preserve your precious memories before they fade away!" and at Denevi Digital Imaging you don’t have to sit back and watch as your keepsakes deteriorate.

Frequently Asked Questions about Movie Film to DVD Transfers:

How safe is it to send my movie film in the mail?
This is the number one question our customers ask us. Being in the video transfer business for as long as we have we know the importance of your movie film. It is extremely safe to send your movie film in the mail; however, we do have a couple tips to assure peace of mind.

1. Use a credible shipping company (FedEx, UPS, USPS) and be sure to get a tracking number for your package (this way you can track your package from the moment it leaves your hands, until the minute it is received in our lab.
2. Make sure you pack your movie film in a box/bag with plenty of padding (whether it be popcorn, newspapers, or your old gym socks).
3. Be sure to include your name, address, and telephone number with your movie film.

You mentioned additional formats, what are these and why would I want them?
Within the last decade digital has been ruling our lives. Today the ability to share information via social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) is becoming more and more important as is the ability to create digital backups of everything we own. Here at Denevi's we want to make it easy for you to not only relive your memories captured on movie film but to make it easy for you to share those memories with your loved ones. Having your movie film converted to an additional format makes these files more accessible. For example, if you would like to upload your movie of Mom and Dad's 1962 Trip to Germany to Facebook we could supply you with an MPEG4 (the preferred media type for uploading to YouTube) to make the process easier. Or if you would like to edit your movie film on your own computer at home, we can convert your movie film to a digital file and transfer it directly to your hard drive. Digital files are considered an extra services and the formats available are: MPEG4, MPEG2, Quicktime H264, Quicktime Apple Intermediate, AVI, Quicktime Pro Res 422, and Quicktime Pro Res 422 HQ.
Don't know what Facebook, AVI, or MPEG4 is? Don't worry, DVDs are sufficient for about 85% of our customers.

Do I have to number my movie film reels?
No, we try and make the movie film transfer process easiest on you so just send us the reels as they are and we will take care of the rest! However, if Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa were organized and labeled all those reels be sure to number them in the order you would like them transferred this way we can be sure that Barry's 3rd birthday comes before his 6th!

How much film do I have?
Use the following information to determine the amount of film you have as well as the runtime of the film:

3-inch reel | 50 feet
 5-inch reel | 200 feet
 7-inch reel | 400 feet

I have lots of movie film reels, can all these fit onto one DVD?
When transferring movie film we can fit up to 1,600 feet of film onto one DVD (that is about 32 fifty foot reels).

I have Super 8, Regular 8 and 16mm movie film. Can these all be transferred to the same DVD?
We can combine these different formats all to the same DVD as long as the runtime for all the media is two hours or less. If the runtime exceeds two hours additional DVDs will be created. We cannot combine movie film with video tape.

Do I get my original film back once they have been transferred?
Absolutely! We will send you your movie film back (along with any boxes and containers) with your DVD order. If you send us 50 foot reels we will clean and splice the film together onto a larger 200 or 400 foot reel and you will receive these as well.

©2013 Denevi Digital Imaging