Get contact details and addresses of companies that offer film-to-video transfer services around the Tampa, Florida area. Inquire about their rates and packages, and choose the best deal that fits your budget and your more specific needs for the transfer. Your choice of company may also depend on the length of the digitizing process, digital media choices offered, film cleaning options, shipping options or the available resolution of the video after digitizing the film source.
A number of production services around Tampa and nearby areas in Florida include the following: Anchor Video Productions, Hernandez Video Services, Feldman’s Photography and Sago Networks.
Inspect the films for transfer to see if they are physically damaged. The most common problem encountered by improperly stored films (films not stored in a professional archive room where the temperature and humidity are fully controlled) is getting molds.
Unless you are very knowledgeable with films and you have your own equipment, don’t attempt to clean the films on your own. Just note that the films have molds, scratches or any other physical problem when you send them to the servicing company. Take note that there is a possibility that cleaning the films would cost additional money.
Prepare the films for transfer, along with the other required materials. You may simply ship the materials or bring them straight to the company’s office. Depending on the arrangement you have with the company, either they provide the storage materials for your digitized version as part of your package deal or you provide the DVDs and any other storage media like Mini DV tapes, hard drives or flash drives for the digitized copies of the films.
Ship or personally bring the films and the rest of the required materials to the company. When choosing a shipping method, make sure you disclose the materials as fragile items. Take note that although you can get insurance for the package at an added cost, the risk of losing the films would actually cost something beyond the financial concerns. In such case, you may lose the films forever and just get a certain amount from the insurance without any chance of replacing the lost footage.
Wait for the processing of your film-to-DVD transfer request. This usually takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. If there would be required cleaning and restoration of the films, the process will take much longer. Depending on your arrangement with the company, the materials are either shipped to you or are picked up personally.