Have you ever watched those documentaries on television where they use archival film footage to help tell a story from our past? I don't think I could find an adult among us who has not seen at least one. Good directors of such documentaries take advantage of having the survivors who were a part of the event be a part of the documentary. Now let me tell you how this ties in with 8mm film conversion.

Film transfer to digital format is just something that needs to be done in order to preserve the memories. Film is a linear frame by frame recording of a live event from our history whether it be family or corporate. If there is a break in the film, there will be a few frames lost forever where the break is repaired. Movie film has become obsolete due in large part to its cost and ability to be archived for generations to come. Digital is all computer ones and zeros that take sound and images, and make them into something that can be archived forever. The ones and zeroes of a digital movie now will be the same ones and zeroes a thousand years from now.

The very act of checking out those old films with sound and the silent film reels can cause catastrophic damage to the film itself. Old projectors are tough to come by. Lamps are extraordinarily expensive and run hot enough to melt that old film in a split second. Old projectors use sprockets to drag the film through the projector. Old film is dry and brittle and can easily be destroyed in an instant by just doing a test run through a projector.

The safest way to preserve the memories recorded on film is to have a frame by frame transfer of the film into those ones and zeroes of pure digital. Then to make it easy to archive, re-archive, copy and share is to have that 8mm film conversion made into DVDs. And, to have it all done by professionals who use modern equipment, have the technical know-how, and will treat your memories as if they were their own.

So now you have all of those old films transferred to new DVDs. Okay, so now what can be done with them? Well, the DVDs can be copied and shared with friends, relatives, or associates anywhere in the world. No need for grandma to threaten to bring out the old projector to show the time dad did something dumb as a child. Grandma can pop in the DVD. Now what would be cooler than that? Let me tell you.

With some video editing software and a computer, a family or corporate documentary can be easily done. Oh, there are certainly some very fancy things that can be done with the raw film footage after it is put on DVDs, but it doesn't require much experience at all to use free software such as Windows Movie Maker to make a classic of your own that will be there for future generations.

Dad finally has a chance to do a voice over commentary of exactly what did happen, as opposed to just recording grandma's version of the events over the scene. A company can tell a story of their beginnings using old 8mm film footage. Grandma can bring to life the silent 8mm film reels of her once-in-a-lifetime trip to that far corner of the Earth she visited back in her prime. Great grandchildren who have not been born yet can not only see where grandma went, how she lived, Christmases of time past, and vacations from long ago, they can also hear the actual participants bring the images to life!

Don't take a chance with those old film reels. They are at the end of their lives. The question is not if the film will degrade, it is a question as to how much has it degraded already. Take advantage of those still alive who were there. Record their memories in your own documentary of what occurred on the old 8mm and 16mm films. Take the job upon yourself to preserve your very own history now before the films degrade any more, or those still living to tell the story are gone. Got Memories guarantees your 100% satisfaction.