What makes your scanning process different from other companies?
In film scanning, most companies have to make a choice: produce high quality film transfers for professional filmmakers at a price point that locks out the average consumer, or create a method of transfer to scan film cheaply by sacrificing quality. Not us. We have developed our scanning technology in-house. This has allowed us to use the same machines and optics on home movies that we use on the feature films and historical footage that filmmakers, archives, and museums have entrusted with us for decades - all at a reasonable price.
How long does it take?
Our usual turnaround time is two weeks in studio plus return shipping.
How do I pay?
Orders can be paid via check or credit card. We prefer checks. If you're looking to pay via check based upon your project's estimate, please make payable to: DMG. If you're estimate turns out to be off, that's no problem. We will send a check back for the difference in the project's balance if you overestimate your total. If it looks like you underestimated, we'll let you know right away when we receive the project. If you are paying by credit card, we accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. You can include your card information on your order form, or we can give you a call whenever your transfer wraps and take the info over the phone. Credit cards are not charged until the film transfer is finished and ready to ship.
We do not require a down-payment to get started on a project.
Can I just send my film to you and have you take a look at it and give me an estimate?
Absolutely! If you want to send in your film for an estimate, just check of the box on the order form that says "Please provide estimate." Indicate your recording media on the form, and we'll do the rest. We will email you a detailed cost breakdown based on our estimate, and once you confirm the estimate, we'll get started.
What do I get back when you return my project?
We can record your film to any combination of hard drive, flash drive, DVD and Blu-ray. In addition to the newly recorded media, we will send back everything that you sent to us. This includes your original film (in most cases spliced onto new archive reels), your old reels, and any notes or other ephemera that found their way into your old boxes or reel cases.
Can I receive my transfer via cloud service or digital download?
We only record to physical media, and we do not upload client projects to any cloud service once complete. We do this for a few reasons, including fact that most projects would exceed or strain the available storage capacity in most peoples' cloud accounts. But the main reason is privacy. The security of your data is extremely important, so we only store our client's files on computers not connected to the internet to keep them completely secure.
Do you offer rush service?
Yes, rush service is available upon request. The turnaround time for a rush project is within four business days, in studio. Please call us at 1-800-865-7172 to check availability.