For years I heard my parents had nine 8mm video reels stored away, but without an easy way to watch them. In the past few years I took a lot of old 35mm photo negatives they had in storage and embarked on a journey of organizing and digitizing them. In the past year, at the last mention of the 8mm videos, I decided it was time to take care of them as well, but having gone through the journey (and all the related research) with still photos, I knew I would be much better off just finding a professional business (with a professional scanning machine) than trying to do it myself. I explored a number of options in southern and Northern California, but eventually decided I'd reach out to Buck and Movette on the basis of their site and output options. I was so shocked to see that other vendors were still offering to master on 480p DVDs. Perhaps a good option for an elderly customer unlikely to buy better playback devices, but a shocking betrayal of the resolution and longevity of film, since 8mm can easily take advantage of full HD at a minimum. Initially, paranoid about losing the reels in the post, or the vendor misplacing them, I had hoped to see if they'd let me come a few times and stick around for the scanning but once I realized that wasn't possible and also that Movette was the best option I'd found locally, I made an appointment to drop off the reels and waited a few weeks. Upon pickup, one of the double reel containers which Buck flagged as a risk for off gassing and eventual vinegar syndrome had been moved to recycled tins, and the 2 TB SSDs I'd left with Buck were both fully loaded. He showed me a few snippets and explained what I was getting. In short, I received each of the nine reels (combined over 3 hours of footage) as: - cropped h264 compressions - cropped ProRes 422 (18 fps converted into 24 fps via duplicated third frames) - cropped ProRes 422 (18 fps retimed to 24 fps - meaning I could retime to 18 again in a video editor without issue) - ProRes 422 overscan masters (18 fps retimed to 24 fps) - ProRes 422 overscan one light safeties, basically straight out of the scanner, no touch ups (18 fps retimed to 24 fps) I was blown away at the quality of the scans, and the thoughtfulness with which the above package of files was decided on and organized. It means I could easily share the simple h264 compressions right out of the store, and I could also load the overscans into Resolve, retime to the original 18fps to play at the natural speed, stabilize (using the extra margins as a buffer), load those ProRes files into Topaz, use AI to interpolate frames up to 30, and if desired (though I've not opted to), upscale and enhance using AI. The scans are everything I'd hoped for, captured in a fidelity and with a thoroughness that ensures the contents of the reels are perfectly preserved forever, giving me peace of mind that the precious memories weren't going to be lost to entropy. I was especially happy to see how well colors had come through, but we've just generally the sharpness/focus and cleanliness of the scans is excellent. I paid a premium to bring them to Buck and not go to cheaper options, but if you're making this decision for yourself consider this: Movette uses the Lasergraphics Scanstation 5k, a scanner into the six figures. That resolution allows for the overscan at a quality that, even if you crop down to the video frame, you're well above full HD. Other local business seem to use the RetroScan, devices that can be had for a few thousands. Yes, there are laws of diminishing returns, but there are also some incontrovertible truths. Pay a bit more and have the job done on hardware unanimously considered the best for the work, or roll the dice and hope the film isn't damaged by whatever scanner is used. My thanks to Buck and Movette for their work and for staying in business in what I know is an expensive city to run one. If my parents unearth any more reels, or if any of my friends tell me they need something scanned, I know where I'll send them. read more

Buck is an incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful, and kind owner. We found a reel of film after my father passed away and Movette treated it with care and produced a variety of files, basic to high quality, for us. A first class business! read more

Buck and Anne Marie did a superb job transferring my wife's family movies from the late 1950s into early 1970s, to current digital format. We had taken on 'custodial' duties of many of her clan's photos, albums, and these 8mm treasures since her parents passing some years ago. I had passed Buck's storefront on Valencia Street several times over the past decade or so, admiring the display of vintage technology. The previous reviews are STILL spot-on. Buck is very technical but able to make his work relatable to 'lay-folks' like yours-truly. Buck & Anne Marie were able to turn around our + 12-reel collection, around in approximately three months' time; Aug 2024 to Nov 2024. Customers supply their own storage device(s). We were tasked with reviewing the finished product on our storage devices in a timely manner as Movette has to purge the work after a few days of taking payment. If you have reels and memories that need to be preserved and passed down, please consider sooner than later. Thank you Movette Team! read more

Movette Film Transfer - 50 +year old family movies, meticulously stored & documented by my father-in-law; RIP - Digitizing Services Near Me - San Francisco, California

I had my 40 year old reels transferred. Splendid service... one of a kind attention to detail. Owner Buck gives you in depth assessment of the optimal way to deal with type of your fil, throws in one light color graded copy of your transfer - very good eye - not too radical, ..I used it straight for YouTube upload ... the place itself is a reason to come just to see a museum quality showcase of the film projection and editing technoly, planning to take my class there for excursion next month. ... read more

Professional, informative, fast. Back in 2002, Margaret bought me a skydive for my birthday. I had two VHS tapes, one of my dive and one of hers. I wanted to transfer them to DVD. Buck asked me what my intended use was, and gave me the technical info I needed to make my decision. He also gave me the price options and the estimate without any attempt to persuade me. I opted to get a standard DVD image for $20, and a pair of mp4 files on CD-ROM for another $36. The total, with tax, would come out to $66.19. The whole job would be ready in two days. Three mornings later I dropped in, and he had the whole job ready to go. The images look great, and I can see that the technical info he gave me was straight up. The DVD has a nice menu interface to select between the videos, and the MP4 files viewed in Quicktime and uploaded to MySpace without any hitches. read more

Movette Film Transfer - Digitizing Services Near Me - San Francisco, California

I have utilized this business since its previous location .... The owner Buck is very kind and knowledgable !!! I simply get copies of my filmed events across the country and each time I think their works is better than the actual ... I am truly a happy customer each time I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE Parking is pretty easy at this location too !! Kudos to Movette Film a Transfer !!!! You ROCK !!!! Darryl Mckinnon read more

Buck and Jennifer did a stellar job transferring and organizing my partner's family's trove (approximately 30 reels) of Super 8 films. I live in Chicago so it was my choice to use them (in San Francisco) based on reputation, and I was not disappointed. Customer Service was excellent; I was updated about each process and advised about how to proceed when I didn't know the answers. To summarize, everything was ready as promised, reasonably priced, and meticulously presented. Highly recommended. read more

I sent a very old 8mm super 8 movie. Buck did a great job and keep me totally informed with all the options and needs to do the job. No surprises. I am sending more to have done. I would give more than 5 stars if the option were available. If you need movie copy's, this is the best place to go. Quality and price,,,, after using the service, I would never shop anyplace else. Ok 10 stars!! read more

I've used Video Transfer Center for all of my video needs, and I only wish I had found them sooner. 1. They get the job done. 2. They don't charge an arm and a leg. 3. They're not pretentious film types. They understand the work that they do and they know that you probably don't. read more

Just wanted to say thanks! I called asking for a service i found out they didn't provide, but they were extremely courteous and gave me a great place to find what I was looking for. A+ for customer service! read more

This isn't just a business; it's obviously a labor of love. Proprietor Buck fills this space with vintage move projectors, cameras, splicing equipment, and etc. I was surprised to learn all the cool vintage hardware was not for sale. It's just there because it's neat to look at. I brought Buck a reel of Super 8 film containing claymation and cut-out paper animation experiments I'd done when I was about nine years old. I hadn't seen these little movies since I was a child. Because my film reel was very short, and Movette has a minimum number of feet they charge you for, Buck encouraged me to go home and look around and see if I had any additional reels that could be covered by that minimum charge I'd be paying. So, obviously, he's not looking to extract maximum dollars from you. He'd rather give you the most for your money if he possibly can. Along those lines, there are several movie reel viewers in the front room, and if you have any film reels you're thinking about getting transferred to video, you're more than welcome to come in and use the viewers, free of charge. That's pretty neat. If you're not particularly computer-oriented, Buck can give you a DVD of your film reel that will work in any DVD player. If you're like me, and prefer a video file you can edit on your computer and/or upload to YouTube, you can opt to receive your movie as a video file. I got mine burned onto a DVD, but if you want to avoid paying sales tax, you're welcome to bring your own USB thumb drive. I'm totally happy with my experience here, and I look forward to bringing in some more film reels. I think I've got some that my grandmother or parents shot before I was born. Can't wait to see what's on 'em! read more

I wish I could give Video Transfer Center *six* stars. The service here was really exemplary, and the transfer from Super 8 to high definition video that they did for me was brilliant. These folks really care deeply about quality. The results of the transfer from their Flashscan HD was sharp, detailed, and flicker-free with crisp color. They go to great pains to discuss the specific issues that might arise from the transfer of films with various issues or artifacts of age, and seem to be committed to getting the most detail out the film as possible. They also go the extra mile to make sure that the output of the job fits the need of the client. They're not an assembly line, they're the kind of place where a layperson can just ask for their footage to be put on a DVD and get just what they're looking for, or where someone with more experience can discuss exactly what codec and settings will work best with the specifics of their project and their editing package, and get a hard drive with all of the HD files organized perfectly and ready to be loaded into the editor. A lot of these reviews have been by folks doing VHS to DVD transfers, but I was going the opposite direction, looking for a hard drive of HD files that were both of archival quality and could be loaded into Final Cut. I got exactly what I was hoping for, and the ProRes 422 files look great. I also had a really big job -- thousands and thousands of feet of family movies, some dating back 50-60 years. They were done before the estimated date they gave me, and all of the little 50-foot reels I gave them were beautifully bundled and clearly well taken care of. Thanks much, Buck and crew. This turned out really great. read more

All the wonderful reviews are probably true. I made a trip there during their open hours and there was no one there. Made another trip. They only work with film. They only work with film. Video tape in one format to another? No luck. read more

Video Transfer Center will take your crappy ass amateur media and make it look like a pro finished it off. They do it quickly for a reasonable price and are patient with questions from the undereducated consumer. Plus they seem to like what they do. Who wouldn't support that? read more

I had my old VHS home videos transfered to DVD and a couple of my old journalism school demo radio tapes put onto CD. I was so happy when I put them in to play and Buck had organized the contents on a chapter menu. I highly recommend this service as a holiday or anniversary gift for anyone with parents who have stacks of VHS tapes laying around. I was a little nervous about handing over precious memories to a stranger but Buck is a pro. read more

Great service and definitely a place you will need sometime in your life! They can convert pretty much all forms of older media to a new format - be it your VHS of your wedding to CD, or maybe even to a compressed video file you can post online for your whole family to view! Buck and the crew here are excellent, and the prices are reasonable - you can't beat their turnaround times! read more

Just wanted to add some pictures of my favorite shop for videos/movie transfers..Buck and Jenny did a wonderful job on my old Supper 8 movies, formatting them to DVD so I could edit and release them. Seriously, go to them for quality work! read more

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Talented, hard-working folks who can transfer a bewildering variety of formats. I wouldn't be surprised if they could transfer Khirgiz 4-sprocket harvest updates into fiber optic telepathic encryption. They're pros. read more

I went into the Video Transfer Center to get seven super-8 films transferred to DVD. I will definitely come back here for all future video needs for several reasons: 1) The Price. Completely reasonable for what you are getting. 2) The Service. Buck and his crew are very helpful and turnaround for service was very fast! They even let me view all the tapes before I submitted them to determine the correct chronological order of them. 3) The Experience. Getting a perfect DVD copy of film that you haven't watched since the 1970s is incredible and I definitely trusted them when I handled over my films to them when I needed to transfer it. A practical note: If you are looking to get your film transferred to a hard drive in addition to a DVD, they recommend bringing in a hard drive that is compatible with a Mac. I'm so glad I listened to the previous 26 other YELP reviews and came here. read more

I recently used VTC for the first time to transfer some VHS to DVD and then a bunch of 8MM films. Buck and crew are super knowledgeable and very kind. Also, these are people you can def. trust with old film, they know their stuff. I just went back last week to get more work done. The price may seem a bit pricey, but consider the value of having this old film moved onto something you can watch for the years to come. The only bummer was that VTC didn't have machines to transfer some very rare 1/4" video tape (reel to reel) from my family archives. I'm still looking for a place, so this is not really a "bad" thing on VTC's part but just a bizarre request to fulfill. : ) read more

Movette is awesome! Jennifer and Buck worked on cleaning and digitizing a large set of 16mm family films from the 1930s through the 1940s - a project that spanned a few months - and did a fantastic job. They clearly have a lot of experience in film transfer and restoration, and I couldn't be happier with their work. The films that they digitized had been stored in average-to-poor environmental conditions, but the archival quality scans turned out very well nonetheless. Buck was very friendly and professional, answering a lot of my questions about film preservation and storage. He also made educated observations about the film stock and camera work that helped me better understand how the films were made (I'll be using the digitized footage in my research for a history PhD dissertation). Another reviewer mentioned that Movette is a labor of love - I totally agree. In working with them, I felt more like a project partner rather than "just another customer." I would definitely come back again with future projects. Thanks! read more

Excellent results with about 50 year old 8mm film. Films were returned to me in better organized condition better than when I gave them to them. Quality and color were much better than I expected. It was definitely worth the money to archive my family's history in this way. read more

At a family gathering I was gifted with a long ago stashed and recently rediscovered family home movie from 1965. I was well pleased indeed with the quality of the finished product. Movette and Buck's expertise were the right choice, and are highly recommended. Excellent job; way beyond my expectations! "You get what you pay for" and I'm glad that, in this case, I made the right choice. read more

My girlfriend has some old family films that she wanted transferred to digital format. This is the second place that we took our films. The first place cannot hold a candle to the level of quality, value, and satisfaction found here at, Movette. This is a really great place to have your old family films transferred to newer media...probably the best place, outside of a movie production studio. These professionals really know film as well as their customers' needs. Buck was very kind and took the time to go over the films we brought and explained to us exactly what we had, as well as the processes that could be performed on our films. We left our films in his care. When we picked up the results, at the scheduled time, they were ready and Buck took the time to show us how to navigate the digital files and media provided. They are very thorough and detailed! In our digital format we were provided several formats of the videos, each at different stages of the formatting process we ordered. Buck let us know what each stage entailed and provided examples of how those stages could be used for future development...like I said...very thorough. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. Go ahead and check the other guys... I don't think you'll find a better quality and value for your family film treasures than with the team at Movette. read more

They transferred some old 8 mm and Super 8 mm tapes onto DVDs as files I could use in iMovie. They did a great job and now I can enjoy my dorky childhood all over again in glorious color! But no sound, so I don't have to put up with nagging from the grown ups a second time. read more

First of all the man in this store is adorable. Its a warm blast from the past as soon as you walk in. I didn't have a very high tech job to do: I had my 6th grade musical VHS turned into a DVD. He did a lovely job with a great chapter menu. Now I can watch how talented I was over and over again. I would definitely go back, and I highly recommend Video Transfer Center. Easily accessible by the 22 and BART. read more

All the good stuff anyone has said is true. This place, and Buck, are the real deal. They won't tell you something will be restored when it can't be, and they will deliver all that they say they will, on time and budget. My experience with this friendly, local shop was so good, I want to dig up more old film from my mom's basement just so I can have another great experience with them! Having the old movies digitized was the best (much less than I anticipated spending) money I've spent lately. read more

I've only ever encountered one person there - Buck - but he has always delivered up DVD copies, edited and not, Windows Media files, etc. expeditiously and professionally done. He transferred a bunch of ratty old VHS's to DVD - the only video I have of my son as a baby, since our house burned down - and didn't give me a hard time about the condition of the tapes or the seriously silly content. We use him a lot at work, and he tries to accommodate even the most ridiculous time constraints, but tells you when he simply can't. Plus you can always hear the NPR story you'd been listening to in the car. read more

If you have a trove of 8mm, Super 8, and/or 16mm films that you want to have digitized, and if you are so emotionally attached to those films that you can't bear the thought of handing them over to Costco or sending them off to Los Angeles or New York, your best and only course of action should be to bring them in to Movette. You will have no regrets. I have been going through my grandfather's 8mm and my Super 8 sound films for a few years and have been thrilled to work with Movette on getting them digitized. The quality is superb; Movette now works in 1080p (I'm not sure the website is up to date). They tend to your films with loving care. They patiently work with your old splices. And they hand you editable, archival Pro-Res files to work with (they actually produce three files per film, two of which are likely for very serious editors and Buck can explain all the technical elements to you). I love Buck's passion for his work and for home movies in general and I wish all service providers could be this knowledgeable and this dedicated to their craft and to customer service. I actually regret that I think I've now digitized everything I need, because I will miss Buck and his staff! 10 stars!!! read more

I can not express how good my experience with Buck at VTC was. Amicable, responsive, knowledgeable, fast, high quality. After spending a frustrating and eventually fruitless 7 months waiting for my super 8 family film scans to come back from another scan service (which they unfortunately completely botched, requiring a rescan) I took my films in to VTC (Now Movette) which just happens to be walking distance from my house. Talked over the options with Buck about frame rates and splitting into separate files at tape splices etc.. and we worked out what made the most sense for how I was going to handle it and what extra costs might be involved in the more hands-on handling. This kind of personalized attention was perfect for me since I really didn't need any authoring on their part; just wanted the raw footage to sift and sort through (it was out of order) and convert for DVD and/or online distribution. Promised date was less than 2 weeks later (for 40-some rolls of super 8 spliced together onto 7 7-inch reels. About 2.5 hours of material total) and it was ready as promised. I walked in and picked up my originals and my hard drive (reformatted for MacOS, take note). As promised a separate mov for each reel (the originals were all spliced together with leader separating each 50ft). Couldn't be more pleased. Added bonus: when I dropped off my film Woody Allen was shooting on the corner. I was close enough to poke him. read more

My first experience with this fine business was five years ago. I was preparing to move to New York and I came into the store with about 15 super-8 video cassette tapes to convert to DVD, each one full of precious home videos, many of which contained footage I'd never seen of my late father. Buck, the owner, was friendly and clearly competent. But the proof is in the pudding and I was thrilled with his work. The DVDs were clearly marked and the quality of the video was excellent - there was no indication that these tapes were 20 years old or more. I treasure them and I think this is an invaluable service. While in town visiting last week, I returned with a much more simple job, to have a DVD transferred to a digital file manageable enough for a thumb drive. Not only did he end up reducing the file size while maintaining the integrity of the image, but he first advised me that this is something he could teach me to do for free. I'm a big fan of any business that first educates the customer that he needn't necessarily part with his money. I've read about the adverse effects that Silicon Valley's tech boom is having on the city and its culture, with scores of nouveau riche douchebags taking over the place, slowly driving out old, beloved establishments and invading public bus stations with their own sleek shuttles. Movette Film Transfer bucks this trend, in my view. A true storefront shop run by a personable owner and master craftsman. read more

These guys are really great. Extremely knowledgable and professional. Very helpful in every respect. Highly recommended.

I had some VHS tapes transferred to DVD. While my family memories are like most family home made memories - best remembered in therapy and at drunk toasts at family weddings- I wanted to make some dvd copies for family. Great support at this space! One of my movies was embarassingly copied over by the REAL WORLD. Buck called me to let me know that - well - something didn't look right : ) He wanted to know if I wanted to continue the transfer or stop it up until that point. So kind of him! Because - no - I didn't want someone's weird copy of the real world. While my order wasn't particularly fancy I felt that my family tapes were in good hands. Unlike that friend of mine somewhere out there that put THE FREAKING REAL WORLD OVER THEM. thanks video transfer center! read more

Amazing place- they went out of their way to get my urgent tape done in time for Fedex! Best service in town!

We all have childhood TV shows and cartoons that we remember fondly. It's always fun to find these old videos in attics during vacations at home and want to watch them again, reliving our earlier days. This Christmas, i found such a video of some recorded TV shows on VHS. I don't own or know anyone who owns a VCR anymore, so I contacted Video Transfer Center to inquire about getting a DVD made of my video. At first, the girl who answered the phone was haltingly squeamish about telling me that I could transfer my video. I told her how much I loved it when I was a kid and it would mean a lot to me. She mumbled something about copyright issues, but I assured her it was only for myself, a piece of nostalgia. When I asked about pricing, she said it was 24.99. At first I was a bit shocked at the price. The video was only 25 minutes long; a dollar a minute seemed a tad steep. She was then very short with me and I could tell questioning the pricing was upsetting her a great deal more than it would a normal person. The following conversation took place (I remember it well since I just got off the phone with her a couple of minutes ago): Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 2:48pm Me: "25 dollars for a half hour tape? Is that the price for all DVD transfers?" Customer Service Lady: "It is for rude fags on the phone." She then hung up on me. Beware nostalgic folks who question Video transfer Center's prices, or inquisitive 'fags' who may seem rude to a homophobic VCR lady. I plan on reporting Video Transfer Center to as many business regulation agencies as possible, citing discrimination to seemingly homosexual customers. I also plan on informing as many people as possible that this is not the kind of business worth supporting. Beware. read more

Used them years ago. Its a small place with some funky old projectors and camera around on display which was cool. The super-8 film came out alright. I've since used frame-to-frame transfers and seen pro wet gate film transfers, nothing to fancy with my transfer here. Better than an old Elmo but was probably a modified 5-blade projector. Gets the job done. They are friendly and an all around good service. They might have better equipment these days. Nice to know they are still around. read more

Fantastic place! Buck took care of transferring my 2 VHS tapes onto DVD. I couldn't seem to make it there during business hours, so I wound up FedExing the tapes to him and then I stopped by to pick them up. The footage is amazing to watch - it may seem a little expensive, but it's so worth the little splurge! Makes a great gift. :) read more

I took 2 old VHS tapes for work over to the VTC and got them converted into DVDs. Okay so maybe I don't have the most exciting job? but it was def. worth my time to take them here. The pricing was fair and they were ready in just a couple of days. I will certainly use their services for any future VHS-DVD needs! read more

This place and Buck and Jennifer rock. I used to use their services for years when they were Video Transfer on South Van Ness and just came onto Yelp tonight to find them and see where they had moved to. Professional work, niiiiiiiiiice, niiiiiiiiiice people. 3 thumbs up. read more

I haven't used Movette since it was back on South Van Ness but I should have written a review then. They transferred Super-8s and a few other media for me and did so very professionally. Great communication, great job. I was delighted to find that they're now around the corner from me (and that the space was not taken by another clothing shop, restaurant or coffee roastery). read more