Step 1. Placing a Film to Video or slide Order

First, gather your 8mm film, Super 8mm film, 16mm film slides and photos.
Then visit our SHOPPING CART to begin building your order and getting an automatic price quote.

       
 Download a Film Transfer or Slide / Photo order form (47KB)
   Download a Film Archive Products (reels, splicing, etc) Order Form (78KB)

The next step is to create an account and place your order via the check out process.

After you commit your order, you will be taken to your account page where you can submit payment via PayPal, or print an invoice to ship in with your media.

Film Reels: Number your film reels by using post-it notes or round stickers with numbers to let Blue Cloud Video know your preferred sequence of your film reels. Place them into Ziploc Freezer bags and soft packing material and ship them to us using FedEx, USPS Priority Mail or DHL - a courier tracking service so that you know where your films are.
We also offer drop off service - Please call ahead to drop off your media.

Your 50 ft reels will be cleaned and spliced into larger NEW 400 ft reels at no extra charge.
If you prefer that your reels are returned to you as they arrived (unspliced), please let us know.

Slides must be removed from the carousel and in the sequence you would like them transferred. If you have many slides stored in carousels (800+) and you would like to drop them off, you can leave them in the carousels.

If the sequence is not specified, the order of the slides are not guaranteed. Some customers have shipped us slides in Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil boxes. The slides fit perfectly in these boxes - consider it an option.

However, we recommend placing the Reynolds wrap box inside of another box to avoid possible damage to your slides.

Photos used in photo video albums must be numbered in sequence (please use pencil or post-it notes - pen will eat through the photo!) and grouped in ziploc bags for the start and end of each music track. Include your music on CD's and provide detailed instructions with your intentions for the photo video album.

We will contact you if we have questions. Scheduled consultations are available.

Ship your items to our studio:

Blue Cloud Video
16815 Westbrook Street
Livonia, MI 48154
(734) 462-3592

If you prefer to order a prepaid shipping container with safe packing materials try this:

Safe Shipping Kit Includes FedEx from your home and back to our studio
at Blue Cloud Video SMALL - fits 8 to 10 tapes - approx 11" x 11" x 6"

 More Info 

Step 2. Receiving and Check In

Once a package arrives at Blue Cloud Video, we check in the order and confirm the pricing. Each order can be tracked online throughout the process by logging in to your account.

If you preferred not to create an account, we will email you your invoice and updates as your project continues.
If you did not pre-pay, please include a payment with your order. If we find that the counting was wrong, we will repay you the difference or bill you for the increase.

Step 3. Transferring Film, Slides and Photos to DVD, Hard Drive or Digital Tape

We digitally transfer your film, photos and slides.
Your film is first cleaned, spliced and then transferred frame by frame with 3CCD cameras.
 See samples here 

All DVD copies will be shipped directly to you along with your original films and empty reels (if your reels were spliced).
We return your films in archive quality cases (8mm/Super8mm).

Once at our facility, most orders take 2-3 days to process to the transfer stage. However, starting about 3 weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Christmas rush orders start arriving and the process time could take up to two weeks before your project begins. To avoid expediting charges, deliver your film 30 days prior to your event. If expediting fees are not paid, film delivery time is not guaranteed.

Our Film to Digital Mini-DV tape or AVI file transfer (hard drive or Data DVD's) allows you the flexibility to incorporate your own expertise in film editing with our superb 3CCD frame by frame film conversion process to customize your home movie DVD. You can choose to have your footage transferred to Data DVD AVI files, NTFS formatted hard drives, or MiniDV tapes. You'll get all of the film to video transfer benefits outlined in the standard film to DVD package, but receive a higher resolution video with the Mini-DV tapes or AVI files.

Start having fun with your memories and get started with the transfer process!

About the hard drives:

Blue Cloud Video uses Western Digital Passport external USB 2.0 hard drive enclosures with generic hard drives, NTFS formatted. The size of the drive will depend on the size of your order.

To calculate your hard drive size use these conversion factors:

2 hour VHS tape = 6.0 Gb
One Slide = 0.013 Gb
Film Transfer = 54.05 ft per 1 Gb

You may also provide your own hard drive to transfer your film.

Return Shipping

We will contact you when your project is finished and ship your items or have you pick them up by appointment.

Contact Us

16815 Westbrook Street
Livonia, MI 48154
(734) 462-3592