Welcome Transfers

Full-Service Digital Video and Multimedia Production Studio
Making YOU Look Good

Marsh Video Productions, 29247 Woodridge Drive, Easton, Maryland 21601

8mm, Super 8 (silent and sound), and 16mm (silent and sound) Movie, Photo, Slide, and Videotape Transfers

The very first thing to understand is what we are NOT. We are NOT a high-volume transfer factory. We process every item by hand, using equipment specially designed for the work. All the work is done right here in our Easton studio. If you are looking for somebody who will treat your family treasures with care and offers their service at a fair, competitive price to create a great and lasting value, read on.....

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Our Custom Movie Transfer Service:

We create beautiful DVD movies to play on your TV and PC from 8mm, Super8 (silent and sound), 16mm film (silent and sound), photos and slides. We can mix media on the same DVD (or videotape). Processing starts by digitizing each item on our edit workstations. We use true telecine equipment. For film, we trim each reel, adjust the brightness and contrast, color correct, crop, and mask each item to optimize image quality. For photos, we remove red-eye from photos, and perform minor restoration and color and exposure correction. Then we arrange all the pieces into a continuous video, and add transitions, plus titles and music, as specified. You may want to add custom personal narration to transform your piece into a family history. When everything is perfect, we transfer the results to the media of your choice, such as DVD, VHS, CD, or a Hard Disc Drive.. No job is too big or too small.

Our "CineMate" system, a true "Telecine" process, focuses directly on the film emulsion (not on a projected image), positioned in front of a perfectly illuminated background. A specially designed shutter reduces flicker to zero. The results cannot be matched by lesser film transfer technique. Our 16 mm system is very similar on a larger scale.

It's Not Magic--
We Just Make The Effort To Do Things Right

The pictures at the right are actual edit workstation screens taken from a 16mm film transfer job. Nothing about the original is correct, and together they illustrate several of the corrective tricks we routinely apply to film. The original had faded to cyan (very common) with poor contrast. In addition, it was on the reel backwards, which caused it to play upside down, mirrored and backwards. Using some editing magic, and suddenly the film looks almost new. Amazing!

Before After

The typical 2-hour DVD or VHS movie of your film and/or videotapes will hold about 1,800 feet of 8mm/Super8 movies, about 2,500 feet of 16mm movies, or about 1,000 photos. We do not recommend exceeding 2-hours on a single DVD, because at that point the image quality will begin to noticeably degrade as the length increases.

Movie Transfer Cost:

Our 8mm/Super8 movie transfer prices are similar two what you probably paid for the original film and processing, adjusting for inflation. Photo transfers cost less than you would pay for a machine-made enlargement. When you look at it this way, this is a wonderful bargain! And the cost per copy goes down as you make additional copies to share with family and friends (copies are "cheap." All our prices are very competitive with the transfer "factories."

19¢ per foot for 8mm/Super8, plus $2.00 per reel.
25¢ per foot for 16mm., plus
$3.00 per reel.

Call to discuss details and obtain a firm quote.

The cost is divided into four parts: Reel charge; per foot charge, special features, and per copy charge.

The reel charge covers the cost of mounting the reels in our equipment, splicing and repairing film needing work, etc. It's the same for every size reel, small or large, partially full or full. The per foot charge covers digitizing the film to our editing systems, trimming, filtering, color correcting, and the whole process of turning all the individual reels into a continuously playing movie for transfer to DVD, VHS or CD-ROM. The special features charge covers special music, music synchronization, titles, narration voiceover, etc., if any. There is a charge to produce each "first DVD" (master), then a much lower price for additional copies. To ballpark the final price, use the rule of thumb that the reel and per foot charges typically comprise 75% or more of the total project price. For a quote, please (Contact us).

35mm Slides and Photo Print Transfer Cost:

For straight digitization with standard image processing:
50¢ per slide, 1,500 dpi
75¢ per slide, 4,000 dpi.
Large quantities priced lower on a sliding scale. Other resolutions and enhanced image processing available.

Photo Montage TV Movies:
Std. charge $3.00 per photo
Large quantities special pricing.

Call to discuss details and obtain a firm quote.

We perform slide transfers using our Nikon Coolscan 5000EV system, which is the gold standard for slide work. We scan slides up to 4,000 dpi, but the most common resolution we recommend is 2,000 dpi.. Sophisticated Nikon software performs a number of optimizations that significantly improve the final image. For instance, it adjusts exposure and contrast, and reduces the effect of mold damage and embedded dust, etc.

Printed photographs are scanned or digitally photographed.

If all you need is a CD or DVD disc of scanned images of your photos or slides in jpeg or bmp format (for instance), we do no manual touching up in the basic price. You can view the pictures on your computer, crop and touch them up yourself, and print them, etc.

If you want a DVD of your slides and photos that will play on your TV as a movie, the price includes basic touch up, including color correction, red eye removal, and limited physical damage repair (like fold lines, tears, and cracking, etc.)

The bottom line for cost is determined by which type of end product you want. The cost to simply digitize the material for delivery on a DVD or CD in a standard image format (e.g., jpeg, bmp, tiff, etc.) is low. However, if you want the photos transformed into a DVD movie with music, etc., the process is longer and more complex, and the cost is higher.

As with film, the media cost is usually small relative to the digitization and editing cost. Final cost will depend on your overall requirements. (Contact us) for quotes.