Cine film transfer in HD or UHD
Cine film transfer in HD or UHD
8mm, Super 8, 9.5mm, 16mm frame scanning
£75 per 200 feet in HD
The Alive Studios Film Scanning Service
We transfer Cine Film to digital, for families, archives and museums all over the UK. We convert standard 8mm, super8, 16mm, super16 and 9.5mm. We use a true one-to-one frame scanner which takes individual photographs of each cell of your film which are expertly compiled into a movie, then edited and colour corrected. The resulting cine film transfer is sent to you on USB memory stick or hard-drive and uploaded to Karishma Cloud were you can share your films with friends and family. In 2019 we upgraded our scanner lenses to the new Sony Pregius CMOS image sensors for superior handling of dark, noisy films. See the new image sensor in action.
You can also purchase the individual photographs which are called an ‘image sequence’. You can choose to have your film scanned in 2K which is High Definition, or 4K Ultra High Definition.
Read customer reviews
Steven’s team turned 40 fragile, old, flickery movies into a wonderful HD experience that we can now easily share with family and friends around the world.
Service Features
Film Scanning in HD or UHD
DVD is standard definition (SD), which should never be used for film scanning as the quality is simply too low. We use HD which has 5 x the mega-pixels of SD, or Ultra HD which has over 20 x the mega-pixels of SD. Phew!
Supplied on USB stick
Choose MPEG for super easy to use files, that plug into your TV to enjoy on the big screen. Then pop it into your computer to re-order, re-name, and edit. Add your own titles, music etc. to create amazing films. ProRes 422 also available.
All films are cleaned
Before we scan your cine film, we always give it a thorough clean first. Partly to protect our scanners, but also to improve your picture, as cine film typically has a good deal of dust and hairs floating on the emulsion.
Colour correction
Cine film benefits hugely from expert colour correction. We use a variety of methods including colour correction, contrast enhancers and de-noise, which makes the picture smoother and clearer.
Free cloud account
All your films on the cloud. Karishma Cloud is the brand name for our cloud service exclusive to Alive Studios customers. Your movies are waiting for you and your family.
Learn more about Karishma Cloud ›
Free collection and delivery
Information on Cine film formats
- 3" dia. Holds. 50ft of film (4 mins)
- 5" dia. Holds. 200ft of film (16 mins)
- 7" dia. Holds. 400ft of film (33 mins)
- 3" dia. Holds. 50ft of film (3 mins)
- 5" dia. Holds. 200ft of film (7 mins)
- 7" dia. Holds. 400ft of film (14 mins)
Why scan film in 2K/4K and why no Cine film to DVD ?
Benefits of HD/4K Ultra HD, and why we’ve dropped discs…
All cine film benefits enormously from a high definition transfer. It may look like a tiny cell, but even 8mm cine film holds a surprising amount of data, and is not just equivalent to, but higher than, HD. To scan your film in standard resolution (SD), we would essentially disregard a huge amount of information resulting in loss of fine detail and colour.
Horizontal lines per definition type
- Standard definition 576
- High definition (2K) 1080
- Ultra HD (4K) 2600
Horizontal lines per film type
- 8mm 900
- 9.5mm 1070
- 16mm 1800
Horizontal lines per film type (approx.)
For reference High Definition (2K HD) is 1080 lines and Ultra High Definition (4K UHD) has 2160 Horizontal lines
In 2012, we went HD-only. As leaders in our industry, we have a responsibility to set quality standards, and the 1990s SD/DVD technology is simply not good enough. We have these amazing HD/UHD files in front of us, so to scale them down and reduce the quality for DVD is a step backwards.
Cine Film In 2016, we took another bold step by dropping disc formats. So there’s no more Cine Film to dvd or Cine Film to blu-ray. Instead, we send you a USB memory stick (or hard-drive) which play on any computer or TV with a USB port. You can re-arrange the films, change the names, and even edit the movies on your home computer (and make your own DVDs if you really feel a need to, but I doubt it). So much more versatile than discs, this truly is the way forward. Read more on 4K UHD Cine film scanning »
In 2019, we upgraded all our scanners by replacing the lenses with new Sony Pregius CMOS image sensors. We also replaced the scanner lights with 3 x brighter LEDS. These upgrades have helped us realize even higher picture quality than ever before, particularly when working with dark, underexposed films.
Digital output formats
MPEG-4
The most versatile format is the MPEG-4. Works on any computer, phone, tablet or TV. We give you one file for each reel, named or numbered as you like. So, if you send 22xreels of film you will get back 22xfiles on your drive. We deliver the files on a USB hard-drive/USB Stick. You can provide your own, or buy one of ours. from just £12.
- HD: (3.1mb per 50ft)
- 4K: (1.5gb per 50ft)
ProRes
This is the perfect choice if you wish to edit your cine film on a computer, ProRes is a high quality file which works with all the major editing programs. You will get one .mov file for each reel of cine. We deliver the files on a USB hard-drive/USB Stick. You can provide your own, or buy one of ours. from just £12.
- HD: (3.7gb per 50ft)
- 4K: (10.7gb per 50ft)
Optional extras
Image Sequence
Image Sequence is an exciting format which utilises our scanning method to it’s fullest by giving you, our customer, the individual cells of your film as individual photographs or ‘images’. If you look closely at your cine film, you’ll see it’s made up of thousands of photographic cells – a small 50ft reel of 8mm film contains approx. 4300 cells! When we transfer your film, we scan each of these cells individually, and we’re now able to give you these as separate JPEG image files.
- HD: 1920 x 1080px (2.1Gb per 50ft)
- 4K: 3840 x 2160px (5.62Gb per 50ft)
Super 8 Colour Negative Processing
For those still shooting on Super 8, we offer a processing service to get your films dark-room developed. This includes Kodak Vision 3: 50D, 200T, 500T. For other stock please contact us first. Through our partnership with the leading Film Lab in Europe, we post weekly shipments to Germany to get our clients films developed. We charge a set price of £30 per cartridge. This includes shipping to and from Germany, and VAT. Please allow up to 14 days for this part of the service.
Your cartridges will be returned as negative spools, which we will scan in positive to HD or 4K files. This Film Processing service is only available as part of a digitising order with Alive Studios.
Film processing is available on our cine film order form » under “Other Services”
Free Karishma Cloud account
It's Netflix for your home movies
Karishma Cloud is exclusive to Alive Studios customers – where all your home movies are waiting for you and your family to access and enjoy Anytime, Anywhere…
Log in via your computer, or download the free APP to your phone or tablet so you can take your memories with you wherever you go. We also have the Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon and Fire TV APPs making all your home movies available onDemand from the comfort of your living room. It’s as easy as calling up Netflix – only with Karishma Cloud, you are the star of every episode!
them. You get 60 days free, then you can extend for just £22/year.
Featured Stories
Super 8 film scanning with 2 sound channels (2020)
Here’s a demo of some super8 cine film which was originally recorded in stereo sound using dual track film. The cine film has two separate
Hot Property – shot on 16mm film
Another awesome film by one of our customers. Film-maker Bob Lorrimer used Alive Studios to digitise this 400ft reel of 16mm film shot in 1969.
Sir Winston Churchill’s Farewell to Parliament 27th July 1964
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVRmXk-PTQw Alive Studios recently had the privilege of being sent some wonderful 8mm cine film of Winston Churchill in the 1960s. Our customer, British author Edward
16mm film transfer for Andrew Morton’s book
Alive Studios spent some time recently working with Andrew Morton on the images to be used in his latest book – 17 Carnations – a
1920s cine film for the BBC
Alive Studios have been chosen again this month to work with the BBC in scanning and restoring some incredible 16mm film shot in and around
1959 Cho Oyu expedition Historical 16mm film
Alive studios were chosen this month, to re-scan an historically important 16mm film for an upcoming BBC program. Alive Studios customer, Tim Healey has been
Serving over 21,000 customers worldwide
Ordering is so easy!
Build your order using the ‘Order and quote form’ button below.- Print off the order-form.
- Wrap your films securely and place in a box/Jiffy bag with your order-form.
- Send at the post office, or use our FREE courier collection service.
Or order by Phone
Or order by Phone
Speak to one of our friendly team at the studio who do everything for you.
Lines are open 9.00am to 5:30pm weekdays, and most Saturdays Tel: 0800 0830561
FREE Collection Service
We are happy to arrange our courier to collect your cine films from your work or home address. We’ll provide you with a convenient one hour time slot by text and/or email. Collection is completely free for any size order. (UK mainland only, Scottish highlands & Islands at extra cost).
FREE Delivery Service
Delivery back to you is completely FREE on ALL orders, no matter how large or small. As with our collection service, we even provide you with a precise one hour delivery window so you don’t have to wait in all day.
Get a quote & build your order
Use the handy “save for later” feature to return anytime
- Print off the order-form.
- Wrap your films securely and place in a box/Jiffy bag with your order-form.
- Send at the post office, or use our FREE courier collection service.
Or order by Phone
Or order by Phone
Speak to one of our friendly team at the studio who do everything for you.
Lines are open 9.00am to 5:30pm weekdays, and most Saturdays Tel: 0800 0830561
FREE Collection Service
We are happy to arrange our courier to collect your cine films from your work or home address. We’ll provide you with a convenient one hour time slot by text and/or email. Collection is completely free for any size order. (UK mainland only, Scottish highlands & Islands at extra cost).
FREE Delivery Service
Delivery back to you is completely FREE on ALL orders, no matter how large or small. As with our collection service, we even provide you with a precise one hour delivery window so you don’t have to wait in all day.
Get a quote & build your order
Use the handy “save for later” feature to return anytime
