Purpose
This informational guide
was created to help you understand everything you need to know about
transferring your old filmed home movies to DVD. We attempt to offer
you the latest up to the minute information in this booklet that will
help you regardless of whether you are planning to convert 8mm film
to DVD or transfer 8mm film to video on your own, or are searching for
a company to have it done professionally.
Contained in this booklet is a wealth of information to give you a
better understanding of the history of filmed home movies. You’ll also
learn how to determine what type of format you have, the general condition
of your film and what steps to take to preserve your film so that it
will last as long as possible. In addition, you will learn the importance
of preserving and saving your 8mm film transfer even after you convert
it to another format. In most cases we use the terms 8mm or super 8mm
interchangeably except where noted.
Any and all links and product information provided in these pages
do not constitute any endorsements what so ever and are an attempt to
provide you with all the information that you need to decide to transfer
your film yourself or seek a professional company to do it for you.
I receive no consideration of any kind from any sites or products mentioned
herein.
The Why of it!
Let’s get down to business and start off with the why of it. Why should
you bother to transfer your filmed home movies to DVD?
It’s always nice to be able to look back at precious moments in our
lives. After all that’s the reason you or another family member filmed
various events in your life, to be able to review old home movies at
your leisure, share them with family and friends and remember the good
times. These are priceless family heirlooms that need to be preserved.
Many of us don’t realize their full value or their significance. Those
special events, birthdays, holidays, the travel you did together as
a family that you documented like a family diary or journal.
The truth is that once we film special events we tend to put the film
away and forget about it. We tend to store old movie film in shoeboxes
and forget where we put them. Then when we want to see them again, we
go through the hassle of trying to find them and usually have to search
high and low for them. Do the kids have them? Could they possibly be
hidden away in the basement or in the corner of a closet? Hopefully
you didn’t put them in the garage! It’s possible that you may have just
put them on a shelf and let them sit and collect dust.
Once you do finally find
them you may even wonder if the film is still viewable. Time as well
as the environment that they are stored in do take a toll on them because
they weren’t preserved properly. Deterioration of older home movie film
is inevitable. Preservation is the most important reason that you would
want to consider transferring your old movies to DVD, pure and simple.
You want to be able to look at them years from now and still see the
quality of the movies as if they were taken yesterday.
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