FAQ
Unknown to most people is that video tapes, cassette tapes, photos, slides, film, and all other types of audio and visual media deteriorate over time; without exception. Each format carries its own risk factors and some types, such as the most common form of 16mm Film, decay over time because of the very nature of how they were manufactured. Trying to preserve the physical items is a doomed prospect.
Instead, by preserving your media in digital format, you can render it immune to the ravages of time and circumstance; with as much security and redundancy as you deem appropriate.
Digital Memory Media is a division of Innovative Document Imaging, a digitization industry leader whose clients include the world’s top libraries, publishing companies, pharmaceutical companies, universities, historical societies, and businesses.
We maintain a state-of-the-art document conversion facility in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Our company mission is to supply the best service possible at reasonable cost for the digital conversion of film, tapes, photos, slides, audio, paper documents, newspapers, maps, books, bound materials, microfilm and microfiche. IDI balances price, quality, and speed in order to provide its clients with the digital assets at their specifications. We always meet their requirements and, where possible, exceed their expectations.
Your order is safe with Digital Memory Media. Over the years we have safely handled thousands of orders including hundreds of thousands of slides, photos, and tapes. We have never lost a single item. Upon delivery of your order, we inventory every order to ensure we have received all of your materials. From there, the order is never separated.
Furthermore, your material is processed on-site by Digital Memory Media’s own technicians. There’s no middle-man, call center or third-parties. When you contact Digital Memory Media, you’ll be speaking directly to people familiar with your order.
A full listing of the formats we convert can be found on our Services page, but for quick reference we can convert the following formats:
- Video: VHS, VHS-C, Hi-8, 8mm, Digital-8, MiniDV, Betamax, BetaCam, U-Matic
- Audio: Reel-to-Reel, Cassette, Micro-Cassette, Vinyl
- Film: 8mm, Super 8, 16mm
- Photos: Photos (all sizes), Slides, Negatives
Digital Memory Media’s conversion services are flexible. We most commonly convert media onto DVDs and Flash Drives; but we can adjust nearly every aspect of our digital conversion process to meet your needs. Whether you have specific requirements in mind for your project or you just want to know what’s possible, our technicians will work with you every step of the way.
Ultimately, there’s very little difference between the different digital formats your media can be converted into. The upside to digital media is that it can be easily converted from one format to another. A DVD today can just easily have its contents put onto a Flash Drive as a FLash Drive can have its files burned onto a DVD. The important thing is to consider what format is going to best meet your needs. For distributing to other people, DVDs still have several advantages. For long term preservation, a Flash Drive or External Hard Drive is usually the best option, followed by a couple of additional copies to act as a redundancy. Consult our technicians to find out more!
We recommend labeling your material before having it converted. It could be by dates, subject matter, locations; really any details that will help you identify the physical item later, just in case you need to. Of course, that’s not always possible. Rest assured, if our team receives material without any existing labeling, they’ll use a basic numeric labeling structure (#01, #02) for each different format, then label the physical items as well, so the digital and physical media can still be identified later on.
For Film, our technicians make use of patented, industry standard cleaning supplies and equipment for every reel of Film we convert.
For most other formats, we address the issue of cleaning the material on a case-by-case basis. Often, it’s more effective to use digital post-processing to tackle issues that arise from the age and state of the material than it is to attempt to physically clean it, particularly for tape based media, such as VHS or Audio Cassettes.
It is always best to digitize the original footage to digital. You would want to send the original film reels for the best quality conversion to digital.
Not at all. Our technicians will remove each photo, slide or negative from whatever container they’re in, then place them back in the same order they were found in. If you’d like us to convert whole album pages, rather than the individual photos in them, just let one of our technicians know and they’ll proceed accordingly.
You won’t be charged for any blank material that we receive. Nor will we accidentally register material with content on it as “blank.” Each tape, cassette, reel etc. is processed from end-to-end, so know matter where the content is, we’ll find it.
No problem. So long as you can identify to our technicians what content you don’t want converted, they’ll be able to edit it out of your converted media.
Yes, we can accommodate rush orders. If you have a rush order, please contact us directly at 800-380-9058 or email [email protected] Additional fees may apply.
We back up all orders for at least 90 days from when the order was completed. Within that time period, simply contact us at 800-380-9058 to order more copies. After 90 days, additional copies may still be possible. Simply contact us and our technicians will go over options with you for creating additional copies.