SAVE YOUR HISTORY!
Freeman Productions provides an opportunity to bring your old 8mm and super 8mm films back to life!
8MM FILM TO DIGITAL TRANSFER
These days everything is digital. You have a digital watch that displays digital time, you have a digital camera that takes digital pictures and you watch digital movies on your digital television. It wasn’t always like this, movies used to be captured on film. Yes, film, an analogue and mechanical way of storing visual information by shining a physical light through transparent images dozens of times per second to create the illusion of motion.
Why not take those old 8mm cine reels that you have lying around and update them to the digital age? They could be your grandfather’s very first steps or that holiday your great aunt took to Peru in the 60’s. Whatever they are, they deserve to be preserved and remembered for generations to come. That’s where we come in.
We at Freeman Productions can transfer your old 8mm film to digital formats which can then be played on any modern device. We can also convert 16mm film.
Our studio is located in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Why should I transfer my 8mm film to digital?
Conservation
Unfortunately 8mm cine reels will lose their quality over time when exposed to the elements.
Projectors hard to find
Projectors are very difficult to find these
days and even if you can find one, the bulbs
are almost non-existent.
Will last forever
When you transfer your 8mm film to digital, your new reels can potentially last forever.
publish online
Our 8mm film to digital service allows you to save your memories to the internet.
Easier to play
Using an old 8mm cine reel projector is quite confusing and can damage the reels if not done correctly.
You can share your films!
All your friends and family can now watch
your old movies!
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
I am extremely happy with the work Freeman Productions did for me. I trusted them with memories that are 70 years old and they did an amazing job of converting 8mm cine reels to digital format. These precious memories get a new lease on life. I would recommend Freeman Productions without any reservations.
Charles Nell
Freeman Productions have just digitized 8mm film footage of a voyage taken in 1962. They have taken the old reels found at the back of a dusty cupboard and breathed a new digitally enhanced life into them bringing out a level of clarity that I had not expected. Well done guys, very much appreciated, thank you.
Greg Crow
Had about 45 reels of 8mm home movies of family converted to digital files (mp4). Highly recommended. Remember that the longer you wait to digitise those 8mm movies, the more the film deteriorates.
Rayno van Zyl
Best customer service ever. Freeman productions converted all my old reel to reel family film onto usb. Went out of their way to make sure I got them back in record time because of December holidays. Highly recommended
Brenda King
RELIVE YOUR MEMORIES ONCE AGAIN
You can show your films to whoever you want.
We recommend that you make plenty of copies of your transferred films so that that can not get lost and so that your friends and family can enjoy them for generations.
Simply copy and paste the video files.
HOW WE CONVERT TAPES
REEL Labeling
The first step, in converting each 8mm film to digital, is to manually label each reel so when we are done you can correspond the physical reels to the newly digitized ones.
Capturing the reels
The second step is for us to capture your reels, this process takes the professional touch as we need to make sure everything is in focus and the reels are playing nicely without jumping.
Authoring
Next, we upload the recorded tapes onto one of our editing suits where we trim out all the parts of the video without content and make the reel look nicer by adjusting the speed, colour and sharpness.
Saved to storage
Finally, your reels are saved to a USB or HDD of your choice. You either bring your own or we provide one.
How does the 8mm film to digital process work?
CARE
We know how important these films are
- We take extreme care in making sure your conversions get the dignity that they deserve.
Google reviews
- If you need some more convincing, you can look at hundreds of our reviews on Google!
YOUR 8MM REELS WILL LOOK GREAT!
AFTER we have transferred each 8mm film to digital, you can play them on almost anything!
Can I play my reels on my TV?
Absolutely, so long as you have a USB port on the side or back of your TV, you should be able to play them. Not only can they play on TV’s but they should play on almost any device that accepts MP4’s.
Surely my old films from the 60’s are worn out?
While film does degrade over time, you will be surprised at the quality of film from as long ago as even the 1960s and earlier! However, if you are worried about the current state of your film, you can unwind it and look at it through a light source. If you can make out the images on the film then they are definitely worth the 8mm film to digital process. Click here to learn more.
History
- Film was a way in which movies were captured in the days before digital cameras.
- It works by light passing through the lens of the camera onto a photosensitive material.
- Many people argue that film is better quality than digital.
- The movie is played by attaching two little holes on the film to a projector. A light is then shone through the film to show the contents.
Example of film deterioration
8mm cine downsides
- Film does not last forever. So even if you have a projector, the film will eventually degrade over time.
- After being played multiple times, the film, has a chance of jumping or jittering as it is played.
- Film projectors are becoming increasingly harder and harder to find meaning that playing them could be incredibly expensive.
- Another rarity is finding those almost ancient globes, which when blown are very difficult to come by.
8MM & SUPER 8 FILM - IMAGE SCANNING
As a separate or additional service, we are able to scan individual images from your reels. This can be done to get pictures of loved ones that you might not have or to recover some content from severely damaged reels. Works best with close up images of faces.
1. LAB PHOTO SCANNING
We will take your reel and run it through out sophisticated photo lab scanning system and select the best frames to be transformed into images.
2. Photoshop enhancement
As an additional step, we can use Photoshop to colour correct and fix any issues with our scanned images, including scratches and other artifacts.
3. AI enhancement
Finally as another optional step, we are able to use advanced AI technology to increase the fidelity of the faces in your photos.
WE FIX 8MM REELS
We have a service where we can repair your reels. We will try and retrieve as much of your reel data as possible.
Mould cleaning
If your reels are dirty or covered in mould, we would be happy to clean them. It is best to not attempt this yourself as it can be dangerous.
FAQ
Some Other questions
Yes, you can get as many 8mm cine reels transferred as you need. We don’t only offer this service to individuals but we offer it to companies as well.
Yes, we perform the service for individuals and companies alike.
We do offer express delivery as an option, otherwise it will take between 10 – 20 working days to convert your reels. This is to ensure that they meet our high quality standard.
We can provide a USB as an additional part of the service or you can bring your own. If you do this, you just need to check that it has enough available space.
Contact us today to get a quote.
We transfer the old films by using one of our projectors and projecting the film onto a special screen that we record from. We then go through a tune up process where we fix the sharpness, contrast and other small details to make them look as good as possible.
We have dedicated engineers and studio for Cine transfers. That’s why we are a trusted brand in South Africa. We maintain the integrity of the time period or era by placing each of your reels as a separate High Definition video file onto your USB. What a wonderful gift, a fantastic way to share your incredible memories.
We also have a frame by frame capture system for archiving precious footage for use in TV documentaries.
High Definition all the way. We go through a tune up process to make sure the reels look as good as they possibly can, however the final result will largely depend on the current state of the film.
Yes, we convert both formats.
We can do this, no problem! We convert 16mm reels as well as other types of conversions such as VHS and MiniDV (as well as many more).
EMBRACE THE PIXEL
REVOLUTION
We at Freeman Productions love to bring people’s memories back. It brings us so much joy to be able to provide them with these lost moments. So what are you waiting for? Get those old 8mm cine reels out of your storeroom and bring them into the digital age!
