At Play It Again Video, we’ve been doing movie transfers for our customers since 1987. It is important to us to do your transfer the right way. What does “the right way” mean? Well, to us, that doesn’t just mean getting your order completed quickly and accurately. That is the bare minimum of the service you are paying for! But there are other keys to success we suggest you look for in a movie transfer business before choosing to spend money there.

• Local. Your movies should not be shipped off across the country or across the globe to be processed somewhere else, and then sent back. That is a recipe for disaster. It will take longer to process, since shipping is involved, and the shop you visit has little oversight as to how the work is done. If there is a problem with your project, you need to have someone able to correct the issue right away. For that matter, if their technicians have questions about your project, what are the odds they will contact someone on the other side of the world so that they can give you a call and ask you a question?
• Organized. We have a very clear system of organization so that customers’ orders cannot get mixed up or “fall between the cracks.” Every order has a number and is stored in its own container, and every sub-section within that order is also numbered (for instance, separate reels of film, or separate VHS tapes). We are rigorous in ensuring everything on the order we enter when you come in matches up with the labeled boxes and cases in front of us while doing your transfer.
• Transparent. We want to make sure you know what is happening with your movies when you leave them with us. We even have a 10-point safety checklist you can read on our site. Make sure any business you trust with your movies is transparent about their process and how they will ensure your movies are safe and sound.

Your movies are important to you! That means they are important to us, too. Make sure you only use a business that treats your movies with the same care you would give them (or better!).

So, you’ve decided to transfer some film to DVD. Great! We’re happy to help you with that. But maybe you want to make some decisions first about what to transfer, so you don’t spend your money on transferring a home movie you don’t want all that much.

Well, we can help with that too! We understand that not every old 8mm home movie is a gem, and some of them might have been poor quality or uninteresting subject matter. But unless you have a projector at home (and who does?), how will you be able to tell what is on a given film reel before you have it transferred?

We offer a free viewing service. You can bring in your old 8mm, Super 8, or 16mm film (or VHS tapes), and watch them for free right here at Play It Again Video. Then, you can decide just what you want to have transferred to DVD! To book the viewing station, give us a call at 617 332-3300.

8mm to DVD transfer seems pretty straightforward. However, there are actually a number of options to think ahead before you show up at the film transfer lab.

1. Background music – Most 8mm film is silent. There are some Super 8 film with sound, but the VHS came out very soon after Super 8 sound film, so it’s quite uncommon to find film with sound. Many customers ask to put background music as they anticipate the stroll down memory lane. Still, some customers prefer the silence – more authentic. That’s how they remember watching the film decades back with their family – in silence.

2. Leader between reel – If your film are in 50-foot reels, which are about 3 inch in diameter, the reels will be spliced together into one big reel. That’s because each 50-foot reel is only 3 minutes in length, it is not practical to put each reel on a CD. The choice you need to make is if you want a leader between the reels when they are spliced together. A leader is about 5 seconds of whiteness that separates the individual reels. Some customers like the leader because it tells them when one reel ends and when the next reel starts. Some customers find it annoying that there’s 5 seconds of snow every 3 minutes. We recommend no leader.

3. Sequencing – How do you want your film sequenced? Because the film reels are spliced into one DVD, how the film is sequenced matters. For some of you lucky people whose parents or grandparents labelled the film reels with dates, take the time to sequence them by date so what you watch is chronological. If the film reels have no labels, look for clues – postage dates, etc.

4. Transfer to DVD or transfer to a portable hard drive? I’ve seen customers labor over this choice at length. Here’s the simple answer, if you only want to watch your film, choose DVD. If you have plans to edit your videos, choose the portable hard drive. Please consult this post for a more complete discussion on transferring to DVD or hard drive .

If you are not sure what’s on your 8mm film, call and reserve our film viewing station.

Have you found decades-old 8mm or 16mm film reels in your grandparents’ attic? There are precious family memories in those film reel cans – perhaps your dad as a toddler, or your grandmother who is long gone, or maybe the 1960’s car your father drove …

Before you hurry to the video transfer lab to convert your old film to DVDs, be aware of seven warning signs to look for in a video transfer lab.

Red Flag #1 – The work is not done in-house. Even if the lab is a brick and mortar store, because of the complexity of film transfer, some labs outsource the work and ship the film out, so make sure to ask. If you are not comfortable having your 8mm or 16mm film packed, shipped, choose a lab that does the work in-house.

Red Flag #2 – Disorganized work space – Look around the store, does everything look organized and in-place or is the trash can spilling over? Is each separate family’s order stored in clear, marked bins to minimize mix-ups and loss or are they piled up on counter tops in a disorganized fashion?

Red Flag #3 – Careless handling of film reels and tapes – Note how the technician handles your precious media. If they simply toss slides, film reels, tapes into a bin without much care, that’s a big warning sign. If they can’t even handle your home movies with care while you are still in their face, what do you think will happen when you are not there.

Red Flag #4 – Receipt of exact counts – you are not dropping off your drycleaning, leave 7 shirts and get 6 back situation. A shirt is replaceable, a VHS tape is not. So make sure the lab gives you a receipt stating the exact count of each type of media – VHS/VCR tapes, 8mm film reel, or audio cassettes – that you leave behind. If they brush you off with , “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of it.” that’s precisely when you should worry. It suggests a lack of systems and procedures.

Red Flag #5 – Items not tagged with a unique ID – VHS tapes all look alike. Your 8mm film reel may have precious footage of your long-gone grandmother, but sorry, it looks just like the other hundreds of film reels in the lab. If the lab does not tag each item with some unique identification, how will they know if your tapes get mixed up with another family’s? If I choose not to run out of the store by then, I would insist they tag it while I’m there.

Red Flag #6 – Customers not asked to verify ownership at pickup – While you are waiting at the counter, try to observe how other customers come in to pick up their orders. Is their pick-up bag clearly labeled? Does the receptionist ask them to verify that the film reels or vhs/vcr tapes in the bag belong to them? Mix-ups can happen and the responsible, experienced video transfer lab has good habits like verifying ownership when a customer picks-up her order.

Red Flag #7 – Open beverage containers or trash bins – When coffee spills on your keyboard at work, at most, it costs you the price of a new keyboard. But, if a lab technician spills coffee on your VHS tape, or your childhood photos, you cannot replace it. So, although this sounds silly, trust me, if you see open beverage cups around in the lab, or unlidded trash cans, you ask them why they don’t take more caution with your precious, irreplaceable media.

Watch this entertaining video about how our Newton, MA video transfer lab does to protect your tapes and film reels against loss, damage and mix-ups: Do No Harm Video

James Sullivan, Boston Globe’s Correspondent’s article on Steven Spielberg’s new Super 8 Movie that just came out on DVD talked about the Super 8 film transfer business and included a very nice write-up of Play it Again Video in Newton, MA

Here’s an excerpt of his article. You can find the full article here:
http://articles.boston.com/2011-11-27/news/30447866_1_film-footage-dvd-transfers

In “Super 8,’’ just out on DVD, some young teenagers become embroiled in an extraterrestrial mystery while filming their own low-budget zombie movie. The year is 1979.

It turned out to be a pivotal time for the format that gave the movie its name. Introduced in the 1960s as a user-friendly variation on the older 8mm film, Super 8 was quickly embraced by home-movie buffs. But its popularity was fleeting; by the early ’80s, it was already being pushed aside by the emergence of videocassettes. Yet Super 8 film, like movies about E.T.s and zombies, has retained a certain appeal. There are far fewer film labs working with old small-gauge film stock such as Super 8 than there were three decades ago. But those that remain still do considerable business with filmmakers, art students, and walk-ins from the general public who have uncovered troves of family footage. Click here for the full article.