We just finished helping digitize Nicole's first super8 film. Nicole runs the Film & Analogue Department at Beau Photo. Check Nicole's comments about her experience in Beau Photo's August 2018 newsletter (under Nicole's section): http://www.beauphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/aug2018.pdf
9.5mm or Pathé Film
NOW HERE!
We have the ability to scan 9.5mm silent and optical audio film using our 5K Archival Film scanner.
Format: 9.5mm or Pathé Movie Film
Popular: Publicly available early 1922 and fade out by the early 1950s.
The 9.5mm format was more common in Europe. Optical sound tracks were introduce in 1938 by "squaring" the image a little. The 9.5mm image is almost as large as a 16mm image.
Transferability
These films contain many precious home movies, but due to the chemical and physically frail nature of film, they can be damaged or degrade over time. The main concerns are physical damage to the film (usually caused by malfunctioning projectors), and full decomposition of the film (sometimes caused by improper storage).
We are well practiced at preserving your memories by transferring them to digital in resolutions such as HD, 2K, 4K, or 5K. We can also digitize any audio that may exist on the film. The precious digital files can be further enhanced with colour and contrast correction. Our specialized process will ensure that your valued home movies will last for many decades to come, preserved in digital.
Our Specialized Film Transfer Process
Our archival film scanning process is gentle on your film and scans the film to bring out the best possible image and audio that the latest technology can produce. The resulting digital video looks and sounds better than it did when it was projected on a screen.
If you'd like more information on the film scanning process, click here.
Check out our 5K Archival Film scanning service and get the best in film scanning. Contact us today.
35mm Motion Picture Film
35mm film was introduced in the late 1800's and carries on until the present day. We can scan this film at resolutions up to 5K with or without optical audio.
Check out our 5K Archival Film scanning service and get the best in film scanning. Contact us today.
The output can be TIFF, DPX, uncompressed AVI, and many formats of ProRes. We also offer colour correction. The output can also be transcoded into many other formats.
DA-88 Tapes
DA-88 tapes are recorded by a digital multi-track recorder such as a Tascam DA-88 device. The tapes are very much like the Hi8 or Digital8 type of video tape except that the tape formula is better. These tapes could have up to eight tracks of audio.
DAT (Digital Audio Tapes)
We can help transfer your DAT tape. Digital Audio Tape or DAT tape is an audio record and playback media that Sony launched in 1987. The tapes are about the same size as miniDV video tapes, just a little larger and thicker; 73 mm X 54 mm x 10.5 mm. The tapes recorded in qualities higher, lower, or equal to CD’s. The tapes were recorded using 48 or 44.1 or 32 kHz sampling rates and 16 bits.
The intention of these tapes were to replace the audio cassettes but in fact due to expense they only seemed to stay in the realm of recording studios and high end audio systems.
Vinyl Records
Vinyl records, also known as gramophone records (phonograph records in American English) or vinyl record, commonly known as “a record”, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat polyvinyl chloride (previously shellac) disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. Phonograph records are generally described by their diameter in inches (12″, 10″, 7″), the rotational speed in rpm at which they are played (331⁄3, 45, 78), and their time capacity resulting from a combination of those parameters (LP − long playing, SP − single, EP − 12″ single or extended play); their reproductive quality or “fidelity” (“high fidelity”, “orthophonic”, “full-range”, etc.), and the number of audio channels provided (“mono”, “stereo”, “quad”, etc.).
Why?
We find that people transfer their records for two main reasons:
Preserve your valuable record to prevent further damage occurring to these treasures. Every time you play the record, the record player’s needle gradually damages the records grooves. This does not even consider the fact that records get scratched or damaged through means. I had one lady deliver a recording of her mother singing….she had wrapped the record in multiple layers of protection to protect this valuable memory of her mother.
Access to special recordings is the other reason people transfer their vinyl records to CD’s. Not many of us still own a record player and therefore playing one’s classic records may not even be possible. Once transferred to a CD, the recordings can now be played anywhere…. in an ipod, on your computer, and in your car (imagine a record player in your car).
Why Should You Not Transfer?
I sometimes receive inquires about transferring a LP record to CD and find that the LP record is commercially available on CD. In this case I highly recommend that the customer purchase the commercially available CD.
Micro-Cassette
A Microcassette (often written generically as microcassette) is an audio storage medium introduced by Olympus in 1969. It uses the same width of magnetic tape as the Compact Cassette but in a much smaller container. By using thinner tape and half or a quarter the tape speed, microcassettes can offer comparable recording time to the compact cassette. The original standard microcassette, the MC60, gives 30 minutes recording per side at its standard speed of 2.4 cm/s, and double that duration at 1.2 cm/s; an MC90, giving 45 minutes per side @ 2.4 cm/s, is also available from a few manufacturers. Unlike the Compact Cassette, a choice of recording speeds was provided on the original recorders and many others; the tape also spools in the opposite direction, from right to left. For transcription purposes, continuously variable speed was provided on many players.
APS, IX240, or Advantix
Let us help you get the film out of those special cartridges and onto CD’s or DVD’s so that you can share or print the images.
IX240 Film Cartridge – Fuji’s APS System
Kodak’s APS System
What Is Advantix or APS or IX240 film anyway?
APS (Advanced Photo System) or IX240 or Advantix film are three different names for describing a special method of managing negatives that is supposed to make it easier for the customer. Kodak and Fuji are two brands that I’ve seen and there may be more. The film comes in cartridges similar to the style of most 35mm still camera film. The film is 24mm wide, unlike the standard 35mm film. Once the film is exposed, the cartridge gets sent in for developing as per normal 35mm film. The difference is when the film comes back from the developer. The customer will get back the cartridge with the negatives inside and a prove sheet or index sheet of all the photos. Unlike other 35mm film, APS or IX240 or Advantix system does not provides the customer access to the negatives. You need a special device that can pull the negatives out of the cartridge if you want to do anything with the negatives.
We can scan those negatives into digital and provide those images on CD or DVD or harddrive.
Ideas
We’ve had a number of customers that have theses APS or IX240 or Advantix negatives and do not own a computer so we’ve put the images onto a memory card and they play the pictures in a digital photo frame.
Contact us today to see how we can help you.
Betacam IMX or MPEG
MPEG IMX was developed in 2001 as part of the Digital Betacam format. Digital video uses H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 encoding at a higher bitrate than the Betacam SX, 30 Mbit/s or 40 Mbit/s or 50 Mbit/s. This format stores video using a 4:2:2 colour space.
The tapes come in small and large sized cassettes and are a muted green with IMX label. S tapes will hold up to 60 minutes and L tapes will hold up to 184 minutes.
How can we help?
We can digitize your tapes onto a harddrive or flashdrive so you can view them or re-purpose them. Contact us today.
DVCAM
DVCAM is a variation of the DV format aimed at the semi-professional market. DVCAM uses the same type of tape and compression as DV and miniDV but at a higher speed.
Following is an image of the different size of DV tapes that we transfer:
Digibeta or Digital Betacam
Digital Betacam or DigiBeta or Digi was launched in 1993 and it supercedes Betacam and Betacam SP. S tapes can hold up to 40 minutes and L tapes can hold up to 124 minutes.
Digital Betacam format records 10 bit signal YUV 4:2:2 sampling in NTSC (720×486) at a bit rate of 90 Mbit/s plus four channels of uncompressed 48 kHz / 20 bit PCM digital audio. The format was and is popular with broadcast facilities.
Video8
Video8 or 8mm video followed the VHS tapes. These 8mm cassettes are 10 cm X 7 cm X 2cm. 8mm video tapes are better quality than the old VHS tapes. The 8mm video cassettes were common from around the mid 1980′s to the early 2000′s. During these years the 8mm video cassettes started as 8mm video or Video8, then Hi8 was introduced, and finally an 8mm digital format called Digital8 was introduced. These 8mm video tapes were almost exclusively used in camcorders. Very few 8mm video decks were ever made and those that were made were not cheap. The lack of 8mm decks has caused a major problem for consumers. Most consumers used their 8mm video camcorders to show their videos. However, as time goes on, very few of these camcorders are still in working order and therefore the 8mm video tapes can no longer be viewed.
How can we help you?
We can transfer any 8mm video format to DVD, Blu-Ray, or harddrive. Although, the urgency to transfer these onto new media is not as great as VHS tapes, one should still consider transferring these as soon as possible. 8mm video or Hi8 or Digital8 are all made of magnetic tape and magnetic tape does deteriorate over time. Many of these Video8, Hi8, or Digital8 tapes contain treasured memories that should be shared.
BetacamSX
Betacam SX was introduced around 1996 as a digital version of Betacam SP and positioned as a cheaper option to Digital Betacam. The MPEG format compressed the video signal to about 18 Mbit/s. This format stores video using a 4:2:2 colour space.
The tapes come in small and large sized cassettes and are a bright yellow with BETACAM SX label. S tapes will hold up to 62 minutes and L tapes will hold up to 194 minutes.
As recent as 2011, SX tapes were still being used in some broadcast environments such as CNN, CBC, and CTV, etc.
How can we help?
We can digitize your tapes onto a harddrive or flashdrive so you can view them or re-purpose them. Contact us today.
Betacam & BetacamSP
Betacam was launched in 1982 and Betacam SP in 1986. Betacam used an analogue recording format. The original small shell of the tape was the same shell used with Betamax tapes. The small (S) tape will hold up to 30 minutes and the large shell (L) will hold up to 90 minutes.
DVC-PRO
DVCPRO, also known as DVCPRO25, is a variation of DV developed by Panasonic and introduced in 1995 for use in electronic news gathering (ENG) equipment.
Unlike baseline DV, DVCPRO uses locked audio and 4:1:1 chroma subsampling for both 50 Hz and 60 Hz variants to decrease generation losses. Audio is available in 16-bit/48 kHz precision.
When recorded to tape, DVCPRO uses wider track pitch – 18 μm vs. 10 μm of baseline DV, which reduces the chance of dropout errors when video is being recorded to tape. Two extra longitudinal tracks provide support for audio cue and for timecode control. Tape is transported 80% faster compared to baseline DV, resulting in shorter recording time. Long Play mode is not available.
Betamax I, II, III
Betamax tapes were a competitive tape to VHS tapes. Betamax is a consumer tape that was primarily used outside of North America. Betamax quality is superior to VHS tapes. The Betamax tape cassette is smaller than the VHS tape cassette. The Betamax cassette measures 16 cm X 9.5 cm X 2.5 cm, which is about 3 cm shorter and 1 cm narrower than the VHS cassette. Betamax should not be confused with the professional broadcast version, Betacam or Betacam SP.
Betamax comes in three different versions, BI, BII, and BIII.
How Can We Help?
We can transfer your Betamax video tape to DVD or harddrive or whatever. Like VHS video tape, Betamax tape is also degrading and we strongly recommend that the Betamax tape be transferred now. Many Betamax tapes we transfer are showing their age and once the quality is lost, it is gone forever.
Please don’t wait, contact us today to see how we can help.
VHS-C
VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter. Though quite inexpensive, the format is largely obsolete even as a consumer standard and has been replaced in the marketplace by digital video formats, which have smaller form factors.
The magnetic tape on VHS-C cassettes is wound on one main spool and used a gear wheel which moves the tape forward. It can also be moved by hand. This development hampered the sales of the Betamax system somewhat, because the Betamax cassette geometry prevented a similar development.
Digital8
8mm video followed the VHS tapes. These 8mm cassettes are 10 cm X 7 cm X 2cm. 8mm video tapes are better quality than the old VHS tapes. The 8mm video cassettes were common from around the mid 1980′s to the early 2000′s. During these years the 8mm video cassettes started as 8mm video or Video8, then Hi8 was introduced, and finally an 8mm digital format called Digital8 was introduced. These 8mm video tapes were almost exclusively used in camcorders. Very few 8mm video decks were ever made and those that were made were not cheap. The lack of 8mm decks has caused a major problem for consumers. Most consumers used their 8mm video camcorders to show their videos. However, as time goes on, very few of these camcorders are still in working order and therefore the 8mm video tapes can no longer be viewed.
MiniDV
We transfer magnetic video tape in the miniDV cassettes. These tapes can be recorded in either DV (standard definition format) or in HDV (high definition format). We can transfer these to either Blu-Ray, DVD, or harddrive.
S-VHS or SVHS
S-VHS (for Super VHS) is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level analog recording videocassettes. JVC introduced the new standard in Japan in April 1987 with the HR-S7000 VCR, and in certain overseas markets soon afterward.
S-VHS may have two different channels of stereo audio, the standard stereo and a Hi-Fi stereo.