MyMovietransfer.com 1-800-865-7172


ALL FILM IS DIFFERENT.



Originally, film starts out basically the same, but....





Over time storage conditions such as unfavorable humidity and temperature cause film to deteriorate with variation. Exposure to air, which at first thought, might seem risky is actually necessary. Film tightly sealed in a metal or plastic can with no possibility of any air exchange creates a negative loop of auto decomposition. Film slowly out gasses and those subtle gases must be allowed to dissipate. If those gasses do not dissipate film can develop vinegar syndrome which shrinks, removes plasticity, hardens, and encourages embrittlement of the film. Your memories and work can be lost to the past.


The initial quality of film and its development after exposure also plays a significant role in its long term stability. Some film stocks are based on chemistry that was much less stable than others. For example Ansco, inexpensive store brands and even Kodak Super 8 films produced in the 1970’s usually exhibit premature dye fade and failure which damages the color balance of the images.


Debenham Media Group and MyMovieTransfer has been transferring motion picture film for well over a third of a century and are very aware of these issues and what corrective measures can be applied to produce the best results for our clients. We’ve had a front row seat observing film decay and each year have developed countermeasures to produce even better results as the film continues to age.





THE IMPORTANCE OF A COLORIST



We noticed another company's site has a job opening for the person in charge of transferring media, and listed among the few requirements for the role was "Basic technology skills (start and stop a camcorder, VHS, scanner, or similar equipment)." Even if this company was using the professional, cutting-edge equipment (which they aren't), there is so much more to the job of scanning film than starting and stopping a scanner.



Our 720p, 1080p and Ultra 1080p HD film transfers are monitored by a senior colorist who will work with the film, make adjustments for light and color, and put in the care and attention to ensure that we are getting the most from your transfer.


All colorists on staff have at least 15 years of experience working with all types of film, from scanning features to digitizing home movies. They do the work that automated settings can't do. Content matters when it comes to improving images. For example, a film that would be classified as underexposed (too dark) will not be underexposed uniformly throughout the frame. There may be people in the foreground that are better exposed than the details in the background. If you add too much light to better expose the full picture, you will likely lose detail in the most important part of the picture.







Likewise, one-size-fits-all settings won't produce high quality results, because each reel of film will have different issues to address, as you can see in the sample stills above. Midnight at a New Year's Eve party will require different color and exposure settings than a baseball game filmed in the bright summer sun.


Our colorists have two points in the scanning process to make adjustments - once while the film is in the scanner, and then again using DaVinci software. This helps us ensure that the digital version we provide you with will look better than the filmed version we received. We'd definitely want to do more than just hit start and stop on a machine.







WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?



A high quality transfer process, tailor-made for old film.





It's important to emphasize this again - your films are priceless. Our entire process was designed with this in mind.


Our transfer machines are custom designed specifically to get the most out of old, archival film. We employ Ultra High Def optics and DaVinci software to tackle the issues that come from old film, all while boosting the quality of the images that we're reproducing.


We appreciate that trust that all of our clients place in us when handling their film. We carefully catalog everything that arrives in our studio, our film prep technicians and colorists work on one project at a time, and no part of the process risks damaging the film.



WHY IT MATTERS




Our studio is located in Pittsburgh, yet 98% of all the film that we transfer is sent in from all the over the country and around the world.


This is because quality matters.


We have established ourselves as an industry leader through decades of innovation. The quality of film transfers that we offer are not available anywhere else in the country at these price points. The images that we are currently able to create were not thought possible a few years ago.


If you're nervous about shipping your film, that's completely understandable. It's important to know, however, that shipping your film is totally safe and reliable. And even if you find somewhere local to you, the odds are good that they will be shipping the film to a third-party to scan (maybe even us)!



DEBENHAM MEDIA GROUP copyright 2026