From pristine studio elements to film long classified as extinct. 8mm to 35mm, cleaned, scanned, and restored to a single exacting standard.
Film is history made visible. The faces, the places, the moments that tell us who we were. But film doesn't last forever.
Over time the medium itself fades, and the record it carries fades with it. Digitizing film is how we save it: moving each frame safely from photochemical to digital, so the visual history held inside endures.
Regular 8mm, Super 8mm, Regular 16mm, Super 16mm, and 35mm, silent or with sound.
Captured at a resolution sufficient to preserve all useful image detail in the original.
Audio tracks captured in sync with the picture.
Preservation masters as DPX sequences, with ProRes production masters and MP4 viewing copies as needed.
Shrunken, warped, or brittle film with damaged perforations is exactly the kind that defeats a conventional scanner. The patented Reflex scanners were designed for it, moving even severely deteriorated film gently through a transport that never contacts the image area and is designed to minimize stress on the film. The result is a high-fidelity, preservation-grade scan of every recoverable frame from film that was, by any other standard, considered unscannable.
How much prep a reel needs depends on its condition. Some are near-perfect straight out of the can; others need real work by hand, mending broken splices, lifting old tape and debris, and adding fresh leader.
We clean every reel, too: fragile originals by hand with a Kodak-approved solution, the rest by gentle wet-cleaning machine.
Because condition varies so widely, we quote preparation case by case, once we have seen the film.
The patented, sprocketless scanners carry the film through in one smooth, continuous motion. Because nothing grips the perforations, the film is spared the stress that sprockets would put on it, and every recoverable frame is captured individually at the selected resolution, preserving the available image detail. Digitization always comes first; color correction and any deeper restoration are a separate step we handle afterward, whenever you want it.
The Reflex scanners create 16-bit DPX files with exceptional tonal and color latitude, providing ample information for correcting faded or shifted color. Even badly faded or magenta-shifted film can often be brought substantially closer to its original processed appearance, to the extent that surviving dye information allows. Deeper restoration, repairing tears, stains, and missing frames, is a separate service we quote case by case.
Regular 8mm, Super 8mm, Regular 16mm, Super 16mm, and 35mm, silent or with sound.
In most cases, yes. Our scanners move film gently and do not depend on its perforations, so we routinely scan reels conventional machines cannot even thread. We have successfully scanned film measured at more than 25 percent shrinkage. Many conventional transports begin encountering serious registration or transport problems at only a few percent, depending on the scanner and the condition of the film. Send us a photo and we'll let you know what is possible.
Protecting the original is the entire premise of the process. The transport never contacts the image area and is designed to minimize stress on the film, so your film is handled and returned with the utmost care.
Yes. Cleaning and repair, what we call preparation, is an essential first step, and how much a reel needs varies enormously. We bill it by the hour and quote it case by case.
Preservation masters are available as DPX sequences, with ProRes production masters and MP4 viewing copies supplied as needed. We can recommend the right deliverables for how you plan to use the footage.
HD, 2K, 4K, or 8K, depending on the gauge and how the footage will be used. We recommend a capture resolution sufficient to preserve all useful image detail in the original element, and we are glad to advise.
Usually a little. Difficult film is scanned at a much slower speed, which takes more time, but it is a modest difference, not a multiple. Every project is quoted individually based on the condition of the film.
Yes. Restoration and color correction are available as separate services, quoted by condition. We digitize first, then restore whatever you want restored.
“Reflex resurrected films we had no hope of saving.”Eric Davis, Institute of the American Musical
