What we do ......

Film Evaluations

Assessment of film elements and documentation of physical condition is often the first step on the road of a film preservation project.  Film Technology offers considerable expertise in this area providing brief or detailed evaluations of most film gauges.  Evaluation reports are provided in printed or database form.

Film Preservation Masters

Master negatives or master positives from 35mm, 16mm or 8mm originals, color or black-and-white represent Film Tech’s core work in producing preservation masters.  Technicians skilled in the handling of shrunken, deteriorated or damaged originals, repair films to high standards before running them on printers specially designed to accommodate fragile originals.

Exhibition Prints

Archives and exhibitors continue to show film-originated subjects as film.  Film Tech offers quality answer prints and release prints in 35mm and 16mm.

Film to Video Transfers

The quality of film to video transfers can vary widely.  This quality depends as much on the expertise and experience of the people doing the transfer as the type and condition of the equipment used for the transfer.  High quality people and high quality equipment at Film Tech means you can expect high quality film to tape transfers.  Fully color corrected or basic transfers in either NTSC or PAL, standard definition, are available.

Video to Video Transfers

Video to video transfers are offered to make protection masters from original tapes, and access copies in the same format or different formats.

 Obsolete Film and Video

Two-inch, half-inch open reel, and various one-inch formats are largely considered obsolete today.  Film tech can handle deteriorating or hard to play tapes.  We maintain functional equipment to play these and other formats in order to transfer their content to contemporary formats.

Sound Transfers

Whether analog or digital, a motion picture soundtrack, a video soundtrack, or just a stand-alone audio recording, virtually all tracks are either stored on magnetic media or on film as an optical track.  The making of direct transfers from these sources to new media is done by Film Tech.

 Sound Restoration

Above and beyond basic sound transfer, tracks often require extensive cleanup due to age and use.  Film Tech provides comprehensive sound restoration services.

 Obsolete Film

Motion picture film has a long history as a means of producing and storing moving images.  In spite of aging problems with nitrate and acetate film bases, film has outlasted its “electronic” competitors many times over.  Today the wide use of polyester based film stocks in the making of preservation masters means even longer life, potentially hundreds of years when proper storage techniques are employed.

Motion picture archives throughout the United States, as well as outside America, have come to Film Technology with film preservation projects.  Archives include museums, libraries, historical societies, universities, governmental agencies, and foundations.

Film Technology has restored countless motion pictures for virtually all American film studios.  Film Tech’s work is seen in hundreds of feature films and television series shown by broadcasting organizations throughout the world.

With today’s growing awareness of the importance of preserving moving images, individuals with private collections, home movies or otherwise, routinely come to Film Tech for assistance in preserving their moving images.