Below is an list of questions and answers about the film restoration process. Please be sure to read through the whole document, which should give you a good idea of what needs to be done before sending your master to us.
- General questions about our services
- Project-Specific Questions
- Miscellaneous
- General questions about our services
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Are your services for me?[top]
This really all depends on what you're trying to do. Frankly, if you're looking to clean up home movies, we're most likely not the best match. Our restoration services are geared towards the professional market, and are often well out of the budget of the average consumer. We take a different approach from most of the film restoration services offered by labs and telecine facilities - we work frame by frame on your film, minimizing the use of automated filters. this results in the best quality restoration you can get. Automated filters often create more artifacts than they remove, which is why we prefer to go frame by frame. As a result, our services tend to be somewhat more expensive than places that offer realtime hardware "restoration." -
What tools do you use?[top]
We primarily use the MTI CORRECT digital restoration system. Our setup can handle up to 2K footage, but is scalable to 4K when necessary. In addition to CORRECT, we're constantly evaluating new tools and working with the manufacturers to determine what best fits our client's needs. -
Are you a film lab?[top]
No. But we'll work with your lab, or recommend one to you for filmouts.
- Project-Specific Questions
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How much does it cost?[top]
It's impossible to say without seeing your film. The severity of the defects to be removed, the resolution you'll be working at, the intended output format and the extent to which you want to clean up the film all play a part in determining the cost. Before we'll give any kind of estimate, we need to see a copy of the film. Typically, we'll request a DVD-R with burned-in timecode, or a Digital Betacam master, along with a description of what you want to fix. We'll evaluate your film and send you an estimate or proposal. -
What kind of master can i submit?[top]
We can work with most formats, from film to HD Tape Transfers. HDCAM, HDCAM SR, HD D5 or Digital Betacam are the most common for video-based projects. We work with local telecine facilities to transfer your 16mm or 35mm film to those formats as well, or directly to a hard drive for ingest into our CORRECT system.
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Miscellaneous
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What payment methods do you accept?[top]
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Company or Cashier's checks or wire transfers. -
Do you accept purchase orders?[top]
We do, however payment terms will be outlined in our proposal to you. -
What are your payment terms?[top]
This depends on the scale of the project. For most smaller projects, you can pay with a credit card. For larger projects, we will require a 30% downpayment before work begins, with the balance due upon completion. Consult your estimate or project proposal for details.
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What payment methods do you accept?[top]