Film Transfer Service

 

Variety of Formats

We process 8mm, Super8, 16mm and 35mm film

Scene Detection

Easily find events with chapter points

Manual Repairs

Film spliced, broken sprockets fixed

Film Preparation

Cleaned and inspected prior to transfer


At ScanDigital, we convert film to digital to help people recapture long-forgotten family memories. After all, your 8mm film reels deserve better than living in a dark attic, basement, or closet aging and collecting dust. We breathe new life into movie memories by converting 8mm film to digital files you can watch anytime, anywhere. Most people have 8mm or Super 8mm film reels, both of which revolutionized amateur movie-making eons ago. If you own larger format reels of 16mm or 35mm film, we can also handle these larger formats.

These days, most people take videos on their smartphones, although it wasn’t long ago that people shot home videos on heavy camcorders. And it seemed like everyone flocked to Blockbuster stores across the country to rent the latest movie releases on video. While this sounds like ancient history, many people can’t part with old videotapes even when they no longer have a working VCR to watch them! If you count yourself among these folks and have the desire to revisit your favorite videos, you’ve come to the right place to digitize videos.

Converting Film Reels

At ScanDigital, we have professional equipment to digitize film reels in various formats: 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm film. When you choose us to convert 8mm to digital or transfer any other reels, you’ll be able to relive these memories in just a few weeks!

Digitize Your Home Videos from These Video Formats

Our professional decks are equipped with video stabilization to ensure the best possible playback. Our video transfer service can handle VHS, MiniDV, and BetaMax format.

 

Why You Should Convert Your Old Films and Videos

Many old home movies date back to the 1930s. At the time, home movies were considered a fantastic innovation because they allowed families to record motion pictures of everyday life. While 8mm and 16mm film is more durable than videotape, it is subject to deterioration, and home movie projectors are scarce. Even if you own a working one, trying to play brittle 8mm or Super 8 films is risky because they can break or burn, forever ruining treasured memories.

The ScanDigital Process

If you’re wondering how to convert 8mm to digital yourself, it can be done if you have the right equipment, time, and patience. Most DIY methods used to transfer film to digital are cumbersome, and the end results are typically mediocre at best. Although more people own old VCRs than movie projectors, you need to let videos play out in real-time to record them, and glitches in the process can be frustrating.

At ScanDigital, we delicately unwind your reels to inspect them before any processing begins. If we find bad splices and broken sprockets, we repair them and splice the film back together seamlessly. Then, we clean your film with an oil-based cleaning solution to lubricate it before processing. Our intensive preparation allows for a more flawless film to digital transfer process. We also try to repair videotapes at no extra charge. This is our process, step by step:

1. Cleaning and Splicing

  • All film is inspected, cleaned, and smaller reels are spliced together.

2. Inventory and Barcoding

  • Materials are entered into our system and given a barcode number.

3. Processing and Conversion

  • Film footage is captured with our state-of-the-art system.

4. Loaded to a Flash Drive and/or Hard Drive

  • All film footage is transferred to a digital file, and video files are loaded to an external USB drive.

5. Share and Enjoy

  • Watch and share old home movies that haven't seen the light of day for years.

Selecting a reliable 8mm film to digital conversion service like ScanDigital that also converts a variety of other film and video formats saves time and provides superior results.

Film Transfer FAQs