Videotape to DVD Conversions:   We can provide the following video conversions:       To   VHS or           From   Beta    VHS-C     8mm    Hi8  Digital 8    DVD  DVD (PAL) Beta         X      X      X      X      X      X VHS / VHS-C     X       X      X      X      X      X      X VHS (PAL)     X       X      X      X      X      X      X 8mm     X       X        X      X      X      X Hi8     X       X          X      X      X Digital 8     X       X        X        X      X DVD     X       X          X      X   DVD (PAL)     X       X          X      X     The table above is for video footage supplied in the American Television Standard (NTSC).    (Note:  "8mm" refers to 8mm videotape, NOT "Super8" (or 8mm) FILM!)   We also have the ability to convert European (PAL) format VHS tapes to a variety of American (NTSC) media formats.     We can also take your American based NTSC tape media and convert it to PAL formatted DVD's.   This is especially advantageous when wanting to exchange videos with relatives in countries that use the PAL TV standard.   Please note that we only work with "consumer" formats.     Most video conversions (except direct DVD-to-DVD copies) will sustain a "generational loss".   This usually manifests itself as the video image becoming slightly more "fuzzy" and the colors becoming more "glaring".   In order to perform some of the above mentioned conversions, it will be required to copy the footage to a hard drive first, edit the footage if needed (to take out bad sections, sharpen, lighten, etc) and then "rendering" it to a DVD.   Our DVD's are generally provided without being "region encoded" (ie: they are "region free" and can be played in any DVD player that supports the NTSC or PAL standards).    In addition to videotape to DVD conversions, we also provide the following services: Media card video (generally AVI or MOV files) conversion to DVD or VCD/SVCD Document scanning to Adobe PDF files 35 mm film scanning (both negatives & slides) to PDF files or self-running photoalbums on CD or VCD Digital picture (JPG, TIF, BMP, etc) conversion to PDF files or self-running photoalbums on CD or VCD   Price List:   VIDEO, SLIDE & NEGATIVE FILM SCANNING Cost per Beta videotape transfer to DVD $0.30 Minute* VHS videotape transfer to DVD $0.30 Minute* 8mm / Hi8 / Digital8 videotape transfer to DVD $0.30 Minute* Media card transfer to DVD  $0.30  Minute * Color Slide scanning $0.50 Slide Color Negative scanning $0.50 Negative Document scanning services $0.50 Page MEDIA CHARGES (in addition to the above costs)     DVD-R Media in a slim-line CD jewel case $4.00 Each DVD-R Media in a dvd case $5.00 Each DVD-R Media in a slim-line CD jewel case $4.00 Each DVD-R Media in a dvd case $5.00 Each CD-R Media in a slim-line CD jewel case $2.00 Each CD-R Media in a paper sleeve $2.00 Each *60 minute minimum  The Best Deal:  Direct-to-DVD Conversions (no editing & only automatic 5-minute chapter stops, up to 2 hrs per DVD) can be done for a flate rate of only $19.95 (+ applicable sales tax and shipping charges) per tape; additional copies of each DVD are only $5.00.   Note:  Shipping charges are additional and will depend on the weight & destination Applicable Texas sales will be added to all orders shipped to destinations within the State of Texas. All original media submitted will be returned. DVD or CD media will have disk information printed directly on them (no paper labels are used).   Before submitting your videotapes or other media, please print out the text below, fill in the requested informaton, sign it and then return it with your videotapes and/or media to be sent to us.    Questions?   Use the form on the "contact us" page at this website (see link at upper left).

General Notes & FAQ's:

• The video/audio footage on the beta (or other) tapes that you submit to us HAS to be your copyright!   We can not legally duplicate any sort of pre-recorded or store-bought videotapes, nor any footage or programs that were taped "off-the-air" or from cable TV or satellite stations.   Basically, this means that the only footage that we can transfer is "home movies" type of footage.    For any other types of footage (such as corporate videos), you must provide a signed statement from the copyright holder giving you permission to copy the footage to another medium.   We can not be held liable for any copyright infringements of material that you submit to me for transfer from your beta or other videotapes to DVD.   You must print out the "disclaimer" (see below), fill in the required information, sign it, and submit it along with your videotapes or media.
• Generally speaking, DVD-R media is more compatible with older players than DVD+R media.
• We do not use DVD-RAM, DVD "DL" (dual layer), DVD+RW or DVD-RW media.
• DVD brands that are used may vary, but we will only use DVD's that are directly "printable" (so as not to have to use adhesive labels).
• Either DVD-R or DVD+R media will be used at our discretion; if you have a preference though, please let us know.  We generally prefer DVD-R media though.  If you're not sure whether your DVD player works with certain media, you may wish to check at this website: www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.
• We can not guarantee that your beta, VHS, 8mm, Hi8 or Digital8 tapes will play properly in our systems nor the quality of footage contained on your tapes.   We can work with tapes recorded in all 3 consumer speeds of beta I (fastest), beta II (standard), beta III (slowest), VHS SP, LP or EP speeds .   For comparison, a beta L-750 tape can hold up to 1.5 hours in beta I, 3 hours in beta II and 4.5 hours in beta III speeds.    Beta I & II speeds provided the best quality.   Tapes with Beta III speeds do not always hold up so well over time (as our personal experience has shown and can have severe tracking problems with age).   VHS SP is generally the best quality; EP (sometimes known as SLP) was the slowest speed and while it can provide for 6 to 8 hours of video, the quality is not very good. 
• Unfortunately we can NOT work with the following formats:
• "betacam SP" 
• U-matic
• DV (digital video) camcorder format 
• PAL formatted tapes for Beta, 8mm/Hi8/Digital
• We will endeavor to protect your original media to the best of our ability while in our care (we can obviously not be responsible for damage or loss occured by the shipping company or the US Postal Service and thus recommend their insurance, which will unfortunately only cover the cost of the media).   We prefer to ship with DHL though and will use Ground (2 - 5 day) or 2nd day service.
• Basic Chapter stops, transitions, menus & titles are free of charge (and will depend on the nature of the video footage submitted).  If natural chapter stops can not be determined from the provided footage, then basic stops will inserted every 5 or 10 minutes depending on the length of the video.   Flat-rate conversions will only have one main menu and 5-minute chapter-stop intervals.
• For comparison, we have seen prices of $ 30.00 to $ 90.00 per hour or higher being quoted for basic transferring of videotapes to DVD, so our costs should be well below that, as well provide more personalized service!  
• We can not work miracles, the resulting DVD (or tape) quality is based greatly on the quality of video & audio on your original videotape or media.  DVD's are provided for viewing purposes and not for further editing, which would degrade the image quality (since MPEG, the standard by which DVD's are encoded, is a "lossy" format, meaning that everytime the footage is re-encoded for a DVD, it losses in quality).   If you need to do final editing of your footage you will generally need a so-called digital video master, which is something that we can not provide with our equipment; this is generally done only by companies that have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into video equipment.
• All DVD's are provided on standard NTSC (USA TV Standard) disks; if you need PAL (European TV Standard) disks, we can provide those as well (see matrix above for availability).  While we do not have an actual PAL compatible DVD player or TV, we have sent some PAL disks to relatives in Germany who reported that the disks played ok on their equipment.
• Standard quality will allow for approx. up to 2 hrs of video on a standard DVD.   In some instances, we have been able to squeeze in up to 3 hrs of video, but we do not recommend that unless the original video quality is very good to begin with.   What to do if your video is, say, 2 hrs 10 minutes long?   It is easy to adjust the video quality to be able to still put that on one DVD without a major impact on quality.   Flat-rate conversion will be recorded in a set DVD quality depending on footage length (ranging from 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 hours).
• Got film (Regular 8mm, Super8 or 16 mm)?   Unfortunately we can not work with moving picture film media at this point.  While we do have a Super8 film projector available, our method of transferring film would result in less than desirable quality.

• We can also transfer media card videos (such as those recorded by digital cameras) to DVD.  We can work with all major media cards such as SmartMedia, xD, Compact Flash, MMC, SD and Memory Stick.   Keep in mind that the video & audio quality recorded by most digital cameras is not anywhere near as good as on a camcorder for various reasons, ranging from video capture quality to frame rates.

Additional slide, negative & document scanning information:

• We can scan all standard size 35mm photographic slides (with regular thin cardboard or plastic holders).  If you have older slides with thicker mounts or that are glass-enclosed, then our scanner unfortunately can not handle these without having to remove the slide from the mount first (resulting in additional labor charges).
• Slides in formats other than 35mm, such as 126 or 110 film sizes can be done as long as they are mounted in standard slide mounts (2" x 2").
• We can scan all standard size 35mm negatives.
• 35 mm Negatives can only be handled if in strips of 4 or longer (up to an entire uncut roll of 36 negatives).  
• Individual negatives can work, but will require temporary mounting in a slide holder, resulting in additional labor charges.
• We can NOT work with the following photographic film formats:
  • 126
  • 110
  • APS
  • Any sort of professional film formats 
• 35mm slides and negatives are generally scanned at 1800 dpi.   We can go as low as 72 dpi (which is screen resolution) or as high as 4800 dpi (extremely high resolution, great for very large prints).   1800 dpi is approx. equivalent to 4 megapixels and should result in excellent 4x6 or 5x7 prints and even decent 8x10 prints.
• Scanned slides and negatives will be supplied as JPG files.   Other file types, such as TIF (tagged image file) or BMP (bitmap) are also available on request. 
• File sizes will vary depending on the image information and scan resolution.  As an example, a slide scanned at 1800 dpi will result in a 22 MB TIF file (uncompressed) or approx. 2 MB as a JPG file.
• Slide, Film & document scans can be provided in a variety of different viewable CD & DVD media:
  • Plain CD (just JPG files on a CD, viewable on all PC's, Mac's and some DVD players
  • Plain DVD (just JPG files on a DVD, viewable on PC's & Mac's with DVD players
  • VCD/SVCD (also known as "Video CD"; this is a specially formatted CD that can be played on some, but not all DVD players as an automatic slide show; see the website www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers for more info about your particular DVD player's compatibility with various CD & DVD formats).
  • FlipAlbum (a virtual photo album on CD.   Playable on all PC's or Mac's with OS-X.  There is nothing to install, the CD will run automatically when inserted into a PC and appear a photo album on your monitor.  You can use the mouse to click on pages to turn them or you can simply set the album to "auto flip" at set intervals).  You will receive a basic FlipAlbum CD; if you require additional editing & customizations, an additional fee of $95/hr applies.  
  • Standard DVD (pictures will advance at a set interval).
• There is no extra charge for providing your scans in any of the above media types, it is part of the price per CD or DVD.   If you want copies in multiple media (such as a plain CD & a FlipAlbum CD, then you simply pay the additional media charge)
• Generally speaking, JPG images played on your home TV set via DVD players will not look anywhere as good as on your computer monitor.  Why?  Well, the USA (NTSC) TV standard is only about 240 vertical lines of resolution across the entire height of the TV screen.   The height of a typical 27" diagonal TV screen is about 16 inches, therefore, 240 lines of resolution equates into a lowly 15 lines per inch (even worse when you get to larger TV's...).   For comparison, a typical computer monitor displays at 96 dots per inch.   Now, if you have a digital TV, that is, LCD or Plasma, generally they will have resolutions similar to your computer monitor.

Audio tapes:

• If you have an audio tape (standard cassette), we can also transfer those to an audio CD.   Please note that we can only do this if you hold the copyright to the content.  Generally speaking this would be great for transferring interviews that you have had with family members or music that you (or your band) have personally recorded.   Anything recorded or copyrighted "off the air" audio from a TV or radio station, pre-recorded or personally compiled music cassettes are off-limits due to copyright laws!  Please don't even ask...
• We can NOT work with reel-to-reel or other tape media (such as 8-track).
• Prices per minute are the same as video footage conversions shown above; as are CD media prices.