8mm to DVD: FAQ

FAQ

(Frequently Asked Questions)

What makes Just8mm.com different from the rest?
Are you experienced?
How do I order?
Where are you located?
How many 8mm reels will fit on a DVD?
What if I want extra copies of my 8mm to DVD footage?
Can you transfer Super8 sound film?
What if I want music with my DVD?
Can I get my 8mm transfer on VHS or other formats?
Will your DVD play in my player?
Can I make copies of the DVD myself?
Can I edit my 8mm film transfer footage?
What customer service do you provide?
How long does it take to get my 8mm to DVD order?
My 8mm film is really old, how do I know it's still good?
My 8mm film is broken, can it be transferred?
My 8mm film is damaged, can it be transferred?
The box says my 8mm reels are 25 feet.
How long will a DVD last?
What is the cut-off date if I want my order by Christmas?
How do I measure reel size?
What about return shipping charges?
Do you have a minimum 8mm to DVD transfer charge?
Can I try you out before I send all my 8mm reels?
Are you still in business?

What makes Just8mm.com different from the rest?

We believe there are six main differences:

Our prices are simple to understand, all-inclusive, and very reasonable. Most others charge setup fees, splicing fees, per foot charges, and many other add-ons that make the whole process very confusing.
Our quality is impeccable. (see samples for yourself). There are many methods for transferring 8mm and Super8 film, and we've tried most of them out at one time or another. Many of these processes do not produce an accurate representation of what is on your film, and a couple of them produce similar results, but at 3 to 4 times the price. Our process, using patented equipment, yields a very high resolution picture, free of flicker, hotspots and halos, evenly lit across all regions of the screen and evenly focused. In addition, because we use a true "telecine" transfer, there is no screen texture, so you get very high resolution and accurate color reproduction.
We archive all of your 8mm footage at no extra charge, and file it under your name. This provides an extra layer of protection in case you lose or break your DVD, have a fire, etc. This also allows us to make additional copies at a later date without having to send anything to us.
We have an extremely fast turnaround time (6 business days or less from the time we receive an order until we ship it back out).
We are a Better Business Bureau Accredited business. We take customer service and satisfaction extremely seriously, and our record with the BBB shows that.
We have two retail locations where we offer our services to walk-in customers. We are not a home-based business or hobby business.

We have been transferring 8mm movie film to DVD, and before that to VHS, for over nine years. In 2007, we transferred over 3.5 million feet of 8mm and Super8 film, or approximately 4,000 hours of film. Yes, we are experienced.

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How do I order?

Our 8mm to DVD ordering process is very simple. First, print out our order form and fill it out. Next, put your reels in the order you want to see them on the DVD, and write a number series on the reels (1 through the end) with a Sharpie or other marker. If you want individual titles for each reel, either write them on the reel, or include a page showing each reel number and the title you want. Please limit reel titles to a total of 15 characters and spaces.

Next, package your 8mm reels and order form securely in a good box and send it to us. We highly recommend using UPS because of price, and the ability to track your shipment via the internet. Once we receive your shipment, we will complete your 8mm to DVD transfer within 6 business days, and then ship both your DVD and your original reels back to you. We will charge your credit card account using the number you provide us on your order form. UPS will also send you an email confirming your order has been shipped, along with a tracking number.

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Where are you located?

Our website operations are based in Longview, Texas at 1020 W. Loop 281. We have a walk-in, retail location at the Longview site, and another one in Tyler, Texas. We are a real business, with a real business location, not a home based business, hobby or second job.

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How many 8mm reels will fit on a DVD?

To provide the highest possible video quality, we use a 10-Mbps DVD data transfer rate, which means one hour of 8mm or Super8 footage will fit on a 4.7GB DVD. Depending on your format (8mm or Super8), you can get 15-20 three-inch reels, 4-5 full five-inch reels, 3-4 full six-inch reels or 2 full seven-inch reels. Once one DVD is full, we simply move on the next, and label everything appropriately ("disc 1 of 3", "disc 2 of 3", etc.). There is no additional charge if your order takes up more than one DVD.

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What if I want extra copies of my 8mm to DVD footage?

Simply indicate the number of extra copies you want in the appropriate space at the bottom of your order form. Copies ordered at the time of the original film transfer cost just $10 per disc. Copies ordered at a later date cost $15 for the first hour of footage and $12.50 for each additional hour.

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Can you transfer 8mm sound film?

Yes, if you have a sound stripe on your Super8 film, we will transfer any recorded audio. Same pricing as silent 8mm film. Note that less than 1% of all Super8 film has a sound stripe, and that some sound film does not actually have anything recorded on the sound stripe.

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What if I want music with my DVD?

We do not offer music accompaniment for four reasons:

First, each of your reels is a separate menu item on the DVD. Because the majority of 8mm and Super8 film in existence is on 3 inch reels, and these run from 3 to 4 minutes, most songs would be truncated (cut-off at the end). There would not be a continuous flow of music.

Second, remember that these DVDs will last many, many years. We have seen transfers done back when VHS first came out (circa 1980), and the accompanying music is usually so bad you want to leave the room. Musical tastes change over time, and you or your heirs will probably not like the music in 20 years and turn the sound down anyway.

Third, we respect copyright laws, and most popular music is copyrighted.

Finally, it would cost extra, and we are a low-cost provider of 8mm transfer services. We strive to keep our prices as low as possible, and adding music would increase our cost, and thus the price you pay

If you want music, we recommend playing your favorite CD in your stereo while watching your home movies on DVD.

Can I get my 8mm transfer on VHS or other formats?

Yes, just note that on the order form. We recommend you get at least one copy on DVD because it will last much longer than VHS tape or MiniDV tape. If you want to capture and edit your 8mm footage on a computer, we can provide MiniDV as well as Digital8 versions of your transfer.

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Will your DVD play in my player?

Our DVD's will play in the vast majority of DVD players. In rare instances where a customer can't play a DVD-R, we have a free re-burn policy, and will re-ship your DVDs in another format at our expense.

There are two types of DVD disks. "Replicated" DVDs, like the ones you get at Blockbuster, have all the video information included in them when the disk is manufactured. There is no "burning" process, and these replicated DVDs are 100% compatible in all DVD players. However, because of the very high cost of creating a master DVD for this manufacturing process, it is not cost effective to produce replicated DVDs unless you are making hundreds of copies of a particular DVD.

"Duplicated" DVDs, on the other hand, start out life as blank media. The video information is then burned/etched with a laser during the DVD burning process. This is much more cost effective for small quantities of disks, however, they are not 100% compatible. There are at least 8 different DVD formats and dozens of DVD manufacturers out there, all of which have varying degrees of compatibility with individual DVD players. We burn all of our DVDs on the DVD-R format, which is by far the most compatible. In addition, we always use Maxell or Verbatim name-brand DVDs which have been shown in separate tests to be among the most compatible duplicated DVDs. However, because we can't be 100% sure our DVD's will play in your player, Just8mm.com offers free re-burns of our DVDs if one won't play properly on your player. We include a pre-addressed return mailer with each shipment, and you only need to send it back to us for a prompt re-burn on another format.

You should be aware that this compatibility issue affects every single one of our competitors, as well.

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Can I make copies of the DVD myself?

Assuming you have the correct hardware and software configuration, you should be able to make copies of our DVDs. We don't add a copy-protection signal to our DVDs, or anything else that would prevent you from making copies. We copy our own DVDs for archiving purposes on a tower duplicator dozens of times every day.

Can I edit my film transfer footage?

Our DVDs are formatted as .VOB files, which is the most compatible file format for playback on standalone DVD players. Because you can't usually directly edit a .VOB file, you will need to choose among several alternatives if you want to edit your footage.

The most common solution (and highest quality) is that we can provide your transfer on a MiniDV or Digital8 tape. You can then play back the digital tape in a digital camcorder through a firewire to your PC in real time to create your own editable .AVI or .MPEG file. We recommend this as an addition to the primary DVD that comes with your order.

A second option is for computers with analog video inputs. You can connect a standalone DVD player to your PC and "re-digitize" the footage in real-time to create an editable file.

Finally, there are shareware programs available for free download which will convert a non-editable .VOB file into an editable file. You may find such programs at www.download.com or related sites. Note that we do not offer or endorse any specific program, nor are we responsible for their download, performance, etc.

What customer service do you provide?

We keep normal business hours, 9am to 6pm CDT Monday through Friday. You can call us toll-free during business hours at 1-866-331-3456 (331-FILM). In addition, you can contact us via email at just8mm@yahoo.com and we will respond as quickly as we can. We make a living by providing superior customer service, and don't plan on changing that anytime soon.

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How long does it take to get my 8mm to DVD order?

We will complete and ship your 8mm to DVD transfer within 6 business days of receiving you order. Assuming you use UPS in the continental U.S., we should receive it within 4 business days or less, and the return time to you should be 4 business days or less, so you can expect your order back in around 14 or 15 business days, or less.

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How do I know my old 8mm film is still good?

8mm and Super8 movie film, unless stored in very hot or moist conditions, is nearly always in good enough shape to do a transfer. Although the plastic leader sometimes becomes brittle over time, in most cases the filmstock itself remains in good shape.

There are a few things to look for if you have doubts. First, smell your film. If it has a very strong chemical odor, chances are it has damage of some sort. Check to see if the layers are stuck together. If not, check to see if the film has started to curl if you look at it edge-on. Finally bend the film and see if it is brittle. If your film is stuck together, badly curled or very brittle, we may not be able to transfer it.

About the only other thing that can ruin your film is water. If the film is stored in wet conditions, or if it is submerged, the emulsion layer will run and your images will be turned into red and blue blobs. Again, there is not much we can do in this case.

The good news is that far less than 1% of all the film we see is damaged so badly we can't do a transfer. We regularly transfer film dating back to the early 1940's, and occasionally from the 1930's and even the late 1920's, and it is generally in good condition.

Of course, there are small problems that affect the look of your 8mm or Super8 film, but won't stop us from doing a transfer. These may include slight fading, debris that is part of the film image, burns from prior play (note our method of transfer makes it impossible to burn or scorch your film), poor framing due to using a movie camera without a "through the lens" viewfinder, snagged or ripped sprocket holes, deteriorated sound quality on magnetic sound Super8 film, crystals that are part of the image, and many other little problems that annoy us, but you probably won't notice or care about.

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What if my 8mm film is broken?

It's no big deal. We will repair it (free of charge) and you probably won't even notice the break as you watch your film on DVD.

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The box says my reels are 25 feet.

Your film was originally purchased as a 25 foot long reel of unexposed film about an inch wide. When it was exposed (shot) it was flipped over in the camera after one edge was exposed, then the other edge was exposed. When it was sent in for developing/processing, the film was split down the middle to create 50 feet of developed film about a half-inch wide.

How long will a DVD last?

To quote from the US Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology Publication 500-252, Page 13:

"Among the (DVD) manufacturers that have done testing, there is consensus that, under recommended storage conditions, DVD-R discs should have a life expectancy of 100 to 200 years or more."

In addition, many DVD manufacturers openly make the same claim on their own websites. Given the massive liability that would result if DVDs would suddenly start to fail in 15 or 20 years, it is highly unlikely that the manufacturers would exaggerate their claims. If you understand that a DVD is a solid-state media, not reliant on magnetism to store data, and encapsulated on all sides, such a long life makes sense. It really is more similar to a record or album than anything else (obviously DVDs are read with a laser beam instead of a record needle). Store it in a case in normal conditions and handle it carefully to prevent scratches, and it will last for generations to come.

Of course, nobody can say for sure how long DVDs will survive as the dominant media format. Just as records and albums are no longer the dominant audio media, there will come a day when DVDs are replaced with another format. HD is on the horizon, but because of the ongoing HD (Blue Ray vs. HD-DVD) format war, and because most players of HD formats are backwards compatible with existing DVDs, the DVD format will be around and relevant for many, many years to come.

The important thing to remember is that you will have digitally archived your film, and it will be very easy and inexpensive to transfer that digital information to some other digital format at some point in the future.

Note that transferring your film in HD (high definition) is absolute overkill, and there is no visible difference in an HD transfer and an SD (standard definition) transfer. The reason is that 8mm and Super8 film is relatively limited in its image detail (compared to the resolution of HD video). The image itself measures only a few millimeters across, and grain of the film is the highest level of image detail that can be achieved. Once a transfer method is able to pull out the grain detail, as our method does, adding more video detail doesn't pull out any additional film detail. Think of scanning newspaper print on a flatbed scanner. Once you have increased your dpi (level of detail) to a point where you can see the little ink dots that make up a picture, going to a higher dpi will not add detail to the picture. You can't add additional detail where none exists.

I want my order by Christmas, what is the cut-off date?

We get unbelievably busy during November and December. Orders arriving to us between December 11 and December 13 can be returned by Christmas if you agree to pay expedited UPS shipping charges if necessary (2-day, overnight, etc as applicable) Orders arriving in our office after December 13 will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

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How do I measure reel size?

Simply measure the diameter (the total width) of the 8mm reel itself. Most reels are the 3-inch type, but there are three larger sizes of reels: 5, 6 and 7-inch. We prorate (reduce) our prices if your reel is not full, and will charge only for the actual amount of film.

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What about return shipping charges?

For orders over $150 (most orders), we will pay for return shipping. For orders under $100, we will add $12 for UPS ground shipping back to you.

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Do you have a minimum 8mm to DVD charge?

Yes, it is $15, not including shipping.

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I have a lot of reels. Can I try you out first before I send them all?

You bet, customers do this all the time. Send us 2 or 3 reels to transfer, which will cost you $27 or so including shipping, and try us out for yourself. When you send the rest of your reels, let us know and we'll add the original ones to your disc at no additional charge.

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Are you still in business?

Believe it or not, this is the most common question asked when people phone us. They just want to make sure there are real, live people on the other end before they send in their family 8mm film reels. Yes, we are still in business and will be for years to come, but go ahead and call us if it makes you feel better...we don't mind!