Old film holds many families' most precious memories. Unfortunately, this material degrades with time and can become unplayable. The only solution is to transfer the film to DVD before this happens. Learn more about how tech support professionals will handle this intricate process below.

How Professionals Convert Film to DVD

1. Cleaning

Dust and debris impact picture quality and may damage the film reel. Professionals carefully remove particles with compressed air and microfiber cloths. They'll also lubricate the strip so it rolls smoothly. Some tech support experts can even repair tears in the film to restore damaged frames.

Never try to clean reels on your own. The wrong products could stain frames, and poor handling could lead to damaged, unusable film.

2. Splicing & Consolidating

Professionals can combine multiple small reels into a single, larger reel so all your footage can be transferred to one DVD. Consolidating also speeds up the conversation rate since multiple reels don't have to be uploaded individually. This process is called splicing, and like cleaning, it requires careful handling of the film.

3. Transferring

Film is digitized and stored on a computer before tech support professionals run the reel through a film converter. This device captures the video content and stores it on a local SD card, or relocates it onto a computer hard drive. These methods capture the highest-quality copy of each frame and digitize the video into various video files for future use.

4. Correcting

Loading film onto a computer opens a variety of creative doors. For example, editors can adjust the frame rate to remove the signature "flicker" of old film. They can also correct the color and carefully pair cassette audio with the video. Software even allows them to embed DVD features, such as subtitles and menu systems, so you can easily skip around the full reel and organize content.

Digitization also gives you the safest way to back up your video, as you can upload the file to a secure cloud service. If the film or DVD is damaged, you'll always have a backup that can be converted again.

If you’re interested in film-to-DVD transfer, contact SysQuick. These tech support professionals serve Parkville, Baltimore, and the Greater D.C. area of Maryland. They provide a variety of upgrades and repair services, including laptop repair, network maintenance, and general computer services. Explore their full scope of work on their website, or call (443) 231-5627 to speak with a technician.