What is the turnaround time?
Do you offer rush service?
How do I go about getting the film to you?
How do I pay?
Do you splice the film onto bigger reels?
Can or do you edit the film?
Do you supply the tape or DVD?
Isn't the Aerial Image system outdated?
After I get the films back from you, should I dispose of the old films?
Can I supply my own tape?
Do you make your DVD's from Digital Master or VHS?
How does DVD comoare to a VideoCD or VCD?
How many reels will fit on a 2 hour tape or DVD?
How can I put my materials in order?
Do you sell the equipment for film transfer?
Do you offer 'Wet Gate' transfer?
What quality can I expect?
Do you process film?
You price by the foot - aren't you a transfer mill?
A few quick notes regarding 'proprietary' processes.

What is the turnaround time?

Generally, depending on the amount of film that you have, 48 to 72 hours (not including weekends or shipping) is realistic. As we approach the holiday season, we see our busiest time, and sometimes we run a little longer on turnaround. Generally we can guarantee Christmas delivery if the order arrives here by December 15. (As we get closer to Christmas, we will insist on shipping films and videos back to you by Second or Next day services, to ensure your film arrives in a timely manner.) The best advice is, as always, get your orders in early to beat the holiday rush.

Doesn't your quick turnaround compromise quality?

No - it is simply a byproduct of a full time transfer service using professional equipment.

Do you offer rush service?

We can offer "rush" service (Guaranteed one day service + Next day shipping) for a charge of 50% of the final cost + express shipping costs. The film must be in our hands by 10 am to ensure same day shipping. Some orders, especially with multiple copies or an extreme amount of film, must run overnight but will leave the next day. DVD orders, due to complexity, cannot be 'rushed'. Once again, as we approach the holidays, this "rush" service is available on an occasional basis. Please call ahead to both check on availability and notify us that you are sending a rush order.

How do I get the film to you?

You are free to use any shipping service that you want, but be sure to package the film securely and insure it. Shipping instructions are available here. We strongly suggest that you use a service that provides for package tracking (i.e.: UPS, FedEx or USPS Express Mail).

Send it to this address:

Woodland Film Transfer
1508 Osage Ct.
Sioux City, Iowa 51104

A printable order form, complete with shipping label and packaging instructions is available here

Also, feel free to drop us an e-mail or give us a call (1-800-399-6470) to let us know that it is on it's way.

How do I pay for it?

Because we charge by the foot, and do not charge for blank film if it's in the middle of the reel, there is no way to determine the final charges until the job is complete in most cases. There are three ways to pay.

Credit Card: We accept Discover, Visa and MasterCard, and can charge your cards when the order is complete.

Prepaid: You could also consult with us regarding an estimate and enclose a check for that estimate with your order, and we can refund any amount owed to you at the time we ship the finished product back to you.

Postpaid: After transfer, we can notify you of the costs, and you can send us a check or money order to cover the costs.

Also note that we do not require pre-payment or a deposit to begin or complete work, unlike other companies out there.

Do you splice the film onto bigger reels?

Yes, we do splice the smaller 50 foot reels onto bigger 400 foot reels to better facilitate the conversion process, and so the film is more secure for your future storage. The film is always returned to the customer, however, if you wish to have the film boxes returned, please state so on your instructions.

Can or do you edit the film?

We limit our editing to removing obvious blank areas of the film before transfer. If you are interested in editing your own film, please visit our DIY Editing page for tips and links to help you get started in editing.

Do you supply the tape or DVD?

Yes. For orders going to DVD, the cost of transfer or duplication includes the cost for the blank DVD. For orders going to miniDV, Digital8, DVCam or professional formats the cost of tape is billed WITHOUT MARKUP. As the cost of blank tape varies depending on market forces, please feel free to contact us for current pricing information.

I see you are using an Aerial Image system. Isn't this outdated?

Although the Aerial Image system hasn't been manufactured in several years, what made the aerial image system so successful initially was the simplicity of it's construction. Like the film chain in any television station, there are three elements. The film transport, the biplexer (aerial image unit) and the camera. The biplexer consists of a first surface mirror, prime and secondary lenses, mounted in a steel frame Our unit was manufactured by Buhl, widely regarded as one of the leaders in optical design. Currently, Buhl manufactures some of the highest end lenses used in digital projectors in the industry. In our unit, the two elements of the system that contribute to the success of the film transfer process have been updated with new technology. The film transport is a current model with high output, color corrected lighting and 5 bladed shutter. The camera is a 3 CCD broadcast camera with component digital output that allows us to assure that the signal quality is of the highest order. So to answer your question, this is far from outdated technology.

After transfer, can or should I dispose of our old movies?

NO. Your films, especially after we have cleaned, inspected and spliced them, are in perfect shape for extended storage. Keep them in a cool, dry area. More information on long term film storage can be found at the Kodak site here. Further information can be found at the Library of Congress here. In short, keep your originals, if something happens to the transfers, you can still have the film transferred again.

Can I supply my own tape from an earlier transfer session or a new tape I just bought?

No. We supply the tape at no charge at cost to eliminate the chance of error in accidentally recording over an earlier recording.

Do you make your DVD's from a Digital Master or a VHS?

Our DVD process is completely digital, start to finish. Details can be found here. We do not take your film to a VHS tape before going to DVD.

How does a DVD compare to a VideoCD or VCD?

VideoCD's quality is not a true archive format since the resolution is often less than the original film or even VHS. DVD is a high resolution format that if done correctly, can preserve your precious memories for generations.

How many reels will fit on a DVD?

8mm and Super8 film generally runs about 900 feet per hour, but tends to drift a bit because all cameras seemed to run at a slightly different speed. Below are a couple of 'rules of thumb' to go by.

Our DVD's can hold up to:

• 2200ft of 8mm or Super8 or 16mm silent film
• 4000 feet of 16mm silent film at 24fps

Sound film or film with added background music:

• 1800ft of 8mm or Super8 or 16mm silent film
• 3200 feet of 16mm silent film at 24fps
  

Therefore, a DVD will hold:

• 44 - 50 foot reels of silent film
• 36 - 50 foot reels of sound film
• 11 - 200 foot reels of silent film
• 9 - 200 foot reels of sound film
• 7.5 - 300 foot reels of silent film
• 6 - 300 foot reels of sound film
• 5.5 - 400 foot reels of silent film
• 4.5 - 400 foot reels of sound film

Or a combination of such. Generally we find that these figures are a little low in the real world, and sometimes it is possible to put as much as 2300 feet on a DVD.If you are going to a Digital8 or miniDV tape, these tapes hold only 1 hour of material, so figure accordingly. Also, we only record to tape in SP (fast) mode to preserve quality, compatibility and durability of the finished work. DVD's, since we author each disc, can hold more than a 2 hour tape. If you have no background music, or if it is silent film, than that frees up more space for film.

I have all this film and have no idea how to put them in order. Do you have any suggestions?

There are a couple of ways to do this. The first is to try to arrange them by the info that (hopefully) somebody has written on the box. Failing this, some 8mm films, especially those shot in the 30's, 40's and 50's were sent back to the customer through the mail. These boxes will sometimes contain a postmark. Lastly, on the boxes there might be a 'use by' date, which while might not give you an exact date of the film, it is better than nothing.

One note of caution, however, if you use an old projector to try to put the films in order, be very cautious as old projectors have a tendency to 'eat' the film, so take care with these sometimes fragile films.

Do you sell the equipment or know where to obtain the equipment to do film transfer?

No, and the heart of our film chain, the Aerial Image Biplexer, hasn't been manufactured in over 20 years. Your best bet is to try eBay or a broadcast supply house, but be prepared to spend quite a bit of money if you do find the equipment. If you are looking to go into the business or add film transfer services to your existing business, we do set up re-seller accounts for qualified vendors. Call us and we can set you up with a reseller account.

Do you offer wet gate transfer?

We do not offer wet gate transfer. Some transfer houses will offer what they call ‘wet gate transfers’ of home movies, however. This is not exactly right, nor is it good for the film. True wet gate transfers are done on a Rank flying spot scanner with specialized equipment that lays a thin coating of a liquid onto negative movie film to fill in scratches so that they can “hide” while being transferred. Wet gate should never be done to positive film. Most home movie film is positive, not negative. (It doesn’t need to be printed in order to view it, just like a color slide.) First of all, running wet POSITIVE film through a projector or transfer rig will not hide scratches or enhance color, but result in many more scratches than you had before. If you ever took photography in school, and processed film, remember how careful you had to be after we took the film from the processing tank and hung it up to dry? That is because the emulsion on the film is very fragile and easily scratched when wet. The film cleaning fluid that they are using which remains wet for some time softens the emulsion and as such, makes the film much more susceptible to damage as it passes through the rig. When we clean film, the cleaning fluid dries completely before the transfer process is done.

What quality can I expect?

To be perfectly honest, most of the work done to get a good-looking film transfer has already been done for us. Well-exposed, sharply focused film will yield a well-exposed, sharply focused transfer. Shots that are out of focus, over lit or overexposed, or under lit or under exposed will be the same on the video. Dark scenes are easier to salvage because in some ways the camera’s imaging chips are more sensitive to light than our eyes, however, highlights that have been blown out or have severely faded are more than likely gone. The same goes for poor focus, there is simply no way to focus film that was exposed out of focus. Not even in Hollywood, folks. If you are curious as to how your film will turn out, call us to arrange a sample transfer of your material.

Do you or can you process film?

Woodland Film Transfer is a transfer facility. We cannot process old film stocks. If you are unsure of whether or not your film is processed, please contact us by telephone and we can do our best to ascertain the status of you film. We do have contact information on file for several specialty labs which can process these old rolls.

I noticed that you price your transfer by the foot and post your prices on-line. I have read that this is a sign of a "transfer mill". Is this true?

To answer your question, NO. Woodland Film Transfer is not a 'Transfer Mill". To hear from some of our satisfied customers, click here. We price our services by the foot for a variety of reasons:

• By the foot pricing is a fair & commonly accepted way to price services such as these.
• By the foot pricing allows us to give fast and accurate estimates to our customers.
• Posting pricing on-line is a sound and honest business practice. Our customers, as well as our competitors, can both read our prices.

One quick note, beware of companies that will not give an accurate estimate over the phone or by email. Like any office of the Better Business Bureau will tell you, not being forward or up-front with pricing are simply bad business practices.

Also, beware of companies stressing a 'proprietary' process, or that are reluctant to discuss that they are actually going to do to your film. To be totally honest, there is nothing 'proprietary' about film transfer. There are only five different methods of film transfer, (in order of quality):

• Shooting it off the wall or screen (worst case)
• Using an inexpensive transfer box like one would obtain at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. (not much better)
• A rotating mirror system (like a Goko)
• An aerial image system (like what we use) by either Laird or Buhl.
• A flying spot scanner, like a Rank. (What Hollywood uses for major motion pictures.)

If you are interested in getting a Rank transfer, Super8 Sound in LA has a Rank with both 8mm and Super8 gates.

We believe that in being totally honest with our customers and prospective customers, we are truly offering the best value for their dollar as well as helping to preserve their heritage in a truly modern, state of the art process. Film transfer is our business, not a sideline, back room or basement part time business.

If you have any questions that are not answered by this FAQ, please feel free to call or write us.