We're excited to announce that
our new 2K HD real time transfer system is up and running!
We can transfer 8mm, super
8mm, 16mm to: digital files, dvd, mini dv, dvcam and beta
sp.
Ours is a broadcast quality transfer. A partial list of longstanding clients includes: The National Film Board of Canada, CBC, CTV, CITY TV, TVO and the AGO as well as universities, film co-ops, archives, commercial production houses and independent filmmakers across North America.
Because we use a
real time aerial telecine system we are able to accommodate
fast turnaround times, the
quickest being a same day transfer. We also offer a 24 hour,
a 48 hour and an inexpensive 1 week
turnaround for the budget conscious. Students and co-op
members get a 10% discount on the 1 week turnaround price.
Even though we’re able
to achieve fast turnarounds it’s never at the expense
of quality. An experienced technician is with the transfer
for its entire duration, making colour and exposure corrections
as needed. All film is hand cleaned and assembled prior
to transferring.
Lately a few questions have arisen in the film community about frame-by-frame transfers and how they compare to our telecine transfer. Feedback from our clients who have tried both is that there is no difference in quality, but ours is faster and considerably cheaper than transfers offered by the frame-by-framers.
A lot of frame-by-frame transfer units are simply inexpensive, claw-driven machines that are constructed using old projectors and consumer grade cameras. Film is run at 6fps on the transfer unit and later colour corrected on a computer. It’s a time-consuming process, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that that makes it better quality. The excruciatingly long turnaround times on these transfers are not the result of special care being taken but of how slowly the unit runs.
Motion picture film is designed to run in real time.
We’ve purposely decided
not to show samples and comparisons of our transfer on our
website. We’ve viewed samples on other websites that
have been manipulated on a computer to look ‘bad’
and find the whole process insulting to the viewer’s
intelligence. If you’re interested in seeing a sample
of our transfer feel free to send
us a small amount of your film and we'll transfer it free
of charge so that you can see what we can achieve.