FAQ

Our Most Frequently
Asked Questions

Can I send my films/tapes through the mail?

We prefer for you to drop these tapes off in person for your sake, but if you are going to send films through the mail we encourage you to get tracking and pack everything carefully. We are not responsible for lost or stolen packages

How long will it take to digitize my films?

If there are no other orders ahead of you, it will typically take at least 1-2 weeks for smaller amounts. For a larger amount of tapes (i.e 10+ VHS tapes or 20 3" / 7 5" / 4 7" 8mm films) please reach out to us for an estimated time.

Are there any risks to digitizing my films?

We do our best to take care of your films like they were our own. We use a highly safe & controlled method for digitizing 8mm film that involves capturing the contents of each individual frame, which takes longer than other methods but provides a high quality and safe outcome. As for VHS tapes and video cassettes we capture these by playing the tape and capturing the contents on a screen player so the risk is if the VHS player/camcorder malfunctions with your tape inside of it, which has not happened to us at all so far. Even if this were to happen it would not necessarily damage your tape, but there is a chance so we want to be open and honest about these risks.

How does using a USB work?

We digitize your films and put them onto a USB stick (and return your physical copies). These work with any device that has a USB port (which is currently a standard). By having your files on this USB stick, you can easily watch on the connected device, or copy files. We recommend copying your files to at least one other device or storage device after receiving it from us

What if I lost my USB stick?

We keep a backup of your digitized files for 30 days so please let us know as soon as possible if you lose your files if it is within that timeframe. We encourage you to make multiple copies of your files when you receive them just in case.

How do you digitize our tapes?

For old films like super 8 reels we have a safe and slow frame by frame method that takes an HD (1080p) image of each frame then converts it into a video .mp4 file. For most other tapes like VHS, video 8, miniDV we use equipment that connects to our computer and we play the tapes while they get digitized from software we use. We provide one free USB per order

Which format will they be in?

Video files will be in.mp4 format and pictures are in .jpg format for easy viewing, sharing and editing on virtually all makes and models of devices (mac/pc/smartphones/tablets/etc)

Can I copy the files once I get them back?

Yes, these files are in .mp4 format which can be copied easily from the USB we provide to other devices, and also to the cloud. If you have questions about how to do this please ask Liam and he can help you.

Can I edit these once they’re done?

Video files will be in.mp4 format and pictures are in .jpg format for easy viewing on virtually all makes and models of devices, these formats are also editable on PC and mac!

Will I get my films back?

Yes, we give your tapes back after everything has been digitized

Can I preview my tapes before digitizing?

We don’t offer viewing before hand, do you have any labelling on your tapes that would suggest if there’s footage you want to keep? If not we can start with a couple and see if these tapes have what you are looking for

My film is very old, will it still be possible to digitize?

We can’t say for sure until we try to play the film, but based on our experience of digitizing thousands of tapes, we have had less than 1% of tapes be unplayable. A large factor is how they were stored (sealed in an air tight container in a dry, temperature controlled area). The only reasons we haven’t been able to do 8mm reels in the past was because the sprocket holes were damaged or the tape was sticky/melted from the heat of old projector light bulbs

Can I have this put onto a DVD?

We digitize films onto USB sticks instead of DVDs to allow for further preservation of your films since that file can be easily copied, uploaded to the cloud, and viewed more conveniently on more modern computer/phone media players. We make sure to organize all file names on the USB. Video files will be in.mp4 format and pictures are in .jpg format for easy viewing on virtually all makes and models of devices 

Do you guys look through all of the footage?

We monitor the tapes occasionally to make sure the transfer is going well, but we don’t look at all the footage.

What if some of these are blank?

Since it is a slow mechanical process to look through tapes, we still charge half the normal price if a tape is empty since we make sure there isn’t any footage on it

We are here to serve you and your family

How can we help?