MyMovietransfer.com 1-800-865-7172


ABOUT US



OUR TRANSFER METHOD



Film scanning is part science, part art.


Our design and engineering work on scanning technology is the science part. We take Rank Cintel scanners - long used in Hollywood to transfer feature films - and rebuild them entirely from the ground up using the scanning technology we develop here, in our studio and machine shop. These 1-ton machines were built in a different era, manufactured with an attention to detail that gave them an incredible reliability. Our machines really are a combination of old-school heavy manufacturing and 21st century precision technology, as the scanner's frame provides incredible stability for us to put our imaging technology to work.


Every aspect of creating the images in our machines comes from technology that we developed. We machine our own optical components, which has allowed us to continually innovate the way we transfer film. With these components, we're now able to scan at 2400% above the resolution of the scanner's original design. With our custom-designed light engine, we can produce a rich, even and wide spectrum of white light that faithfully reproduces colors from the original film. We're able to control the film's exposure time to this light down to the nanosecond, with custom written software that works in conjunction with all of the other imaging components we built into the machine.


The transfer of the film itself is where the art comes in. Each of our colorists has over 15 years worth of experience in transferring film. This experience is invaluable given the nuance of film. Our monitored scans don't involve automation or one-size-fits-all picture settings. To get the most out of your scan, you need an experience hand behind the wheel, making the right decisions for your film. Having a skilled technician monitor the scan will ensure that the right adjustments are being made specifically for your film.


Film is incredibly complex, with organic qualities unlike any other medium. That's why the scanning method matters. Consumer-grade transfer equipment can show you what's on the film, but if you want to replicate it faithfully or improve on its current quality, the only way to go will be scanning with professional equipment.


By designing the technology ourselves and staffing our team with experienced pros of film colorists, we've been able to offer film transfers that will fit any budget without sacrificing the quality that our clients in the film and television industry have depended on us providing for over 30 years.



SOME OTHER BENEFITS TO OUR PROCESS INCLUDE:





CUSTOM DESIGNED ULTRA-HD OPTICS



Every aspect of our machines that involve capturing and digitizing the images from your film has been upgraded using our own custom-designed components that we machine on-site in our machine shop. These optics have been specifically designed to transfer film in its current state. They have been optimized to improve color, light and sharpness in order to breathe new life into your images.



INITIAL COLOR CORRECTION PERFORMED IN SCANNING



Performed by our senior color technicians in our monitored scans. Our colorists will adjust for light and color to enhance the images to make your film look as good as possible. Initial adjustments are made in the scanner, which gives us a greater range of light and color and allows us to target specific areas of need, rather than make one-size-fits-all changes.



ADDITIONAL COLOR CORRECTION USING DAVINCI



Our colorists will adjust for light and color to enhance the images to make your film look as good as possible. Additional color processing is performed in DaVinci Resolve, software that is the industry standard for feature films. DaVinci Resolve requires skilled colorists to get good results, so all color correction is performed by one of our senior colorists, each of whom have over 15 years of experience.



FILM INTEGRITY



Your films are priceless, and safe digitization is paramount. Our scanners are not like projectors. There is no hot bulb that can burn the film, and we use a sprocket-less capstan servo system that does not apply stop-and-start pressure on the film. Your film will scan in a smooth, very tightly controlled constant velocity throughout the entire process.



ACCURATE FILM PLAYBACK



Our film transfers are regulated by Meta Speed Digital Servo System, which can regulate the accuracy of your frame rate within .001 a second. Not only will your film will be transferred with the accurate speed at which it was shot with absolutely no flicker, but it will be scanned with a constant velocity which will ensure a safe transfer.



ZERO PULLDOWN



Your film will be delivered at the frame-rate at which it was shot, with no added half or repeated frames (known as a pull-down). This means that each frame in your digital conversion will correspond to an individual film frame, creating a smooth playing image. You can even isolate an individual frame to create a still print. This progressive scanning is the only serious option for preserving the original integrity of your film.



DIRT, DUST AND SCRATCH REMOVAL



Available with our ULTRA 1080p Transfer.We digitize and color correct your film, then take the digitized files and run them through DaVinci. If you've watched an old movie in the past 10 years, you've probably seen the results of this process from DaVinci software. Every frame of film will be analyzed, and the appearance of dust, dirt and scratches will be removed or greatly reduced. This process also reduces grain and noise in the picture. The film will still retain the quality of its format, but the transfer will play smoother and cleaner than ever before.



OVERSAMPLING



We scan film in Ultra HD. That's up to 5x higher resolution than High Definition. Our scanner's new imaging system captures the film at 24 times higher than the original design. Then we output your film to 720p or 1080p. This is called oversampling. The result of oversampling is a sharper image with lower noise than what can be delivered by scanning at the same resolution of the output file. For example, we scan 16mm at 5K to create a 1080p transfer. This is exceptionally rare. Most companies that offer HD transfers are scanning film at just the level of High Definition (or sometimes below).



AUDIO TRANSFER



We are one of the few studios in the country with the ability to transfer and sync PROFESSIONAL sound tracks and home movies. We have the capacity to handle both types or audio tracks - optical and magnetic - and we can handle rare formats, including Regular 8mm Fairchild audio film.





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.





An industry leader for over 30 years.



OUR STORY



Debenham Media Group was founded in 1987 from a love of creating high resolution images. Our company's founder, Stuart Debenham, has always been driven by the desire to push image quality forward.


The company began as a broadcast television studio, shooting commercials on 35mm motion picture film. We fell in love with those images, but we weren't able to transfer them ourselves early on. Other companies' transfers were fine, but we saw enormous potential that was being left on the table.


Transferring film accurately is an enormous challenge, which energized our company. We moved away from broadcast and production, and focused on transferring professional film. The number of companies providing professional-grade film conversion is small, and the chance to democratize the industry a bit was an added incentive.


Over the years, we've worked with countless filmmakers, documentarians, broadcasters, archives, universities, sports leagues, and museums. Films from all over the country - and the world - have come to our studio in Pittsburgh, and our work has been screened in movie theaters and at film festivals, as well as on broadcast television and streaming platforms


Early on, we realized we could extend our services to the everyday consumer, looking to keep their family history alive. The fact that we were designing our own optical, software, electrical engineering and mechanical systems allowed to us to offer professional-grade quality at a price that didn't lockout folks looking to transfer home movies to digital. That's how our unique company came to be.


Whether your film is a Hollywood feature or a home movie, it is priceless. That's why we've stayed committed to reproducing it in the highest quality that we possibly can, while giving it the care and attention that it deserves.



MORE LINKS





35MM FILM

FEATURE FILM TRANSFER

CLIENT FEEDBACK

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

SOUND FILM



LOCATION





Debenham Media Group

416 Mill St

Coraopolis, PA 15108



CONTACT





Phone: 1-800-865-7172

Email: info@mymovietransfer.com



DEBENHAM MEDIA GROUP copyright 2022