Telecine Service UK?

Post by **dsam7** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:02 am

I have recently been let down by the company who has done my telecine in the past so I was hoping that any of you guys could suggest a reasonably priced and reliable alternative in the UK - preferably South East? Thanks in advance. ( I can't name the company who has caused problems for me due to possible legal action).

Post by **Muckymuck** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:29 am

The Widescreen Centre in London have done mine well in the past, though at Ã‚Â£15 per 50ft reel this may be pricey for some.

Post by **ronnoco** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:35 pm

I can understand why you feel you cannot name the company that has let you down....possible litigation !

However could you elaborate on how they let you down...what was the nature of the problem ?

Post by **Angus** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:40 pm

If you tell the truth, they cannot have legal recourse.

Post by **standard8** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:34 pm

http://www.videostation.co.uk/ Videostation in Essex do quality transfers all the way up to broadcast standard and do a lot of work for the TV industry and Celebs. They even hire out telecine projectors if you want to DIY.

They will send you a demo DVD of the services they offer and will even do a transfer of one film free of charge so you can see how good there transfers are before you make any kind of commitment.

they are not expensive either!

Post by **mondo77** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:05 pm

The Widescreen Centre in London have done mine well in the past, though at Ã‚Â£15 per 50ft reel this may be pricey for some.

I went into the Widescreen Centre about 6 times last year and every time I got the same poor service.

I had just come from a Tai Chi session - so I was relaxed. I walked into the Widescreen Centre and guess what: I was the only customer in there [[in case you've never been to the shop - chances are no matter when you visit you'll be the only person in there: they don't do McDonald's sell thru]]. Being the polite man I am, I say, 'Good afternoon" to the staff behind the counter (normally it's 1 or 2; I've never seen more). And get zero response in return. No "Good afternoon ", no nothing. Like I'm a piece of !@&$ - rather than a paying customer.

No matter who is behind the counter it's the same. Like they don't have time for you even when they don't have any other customers. The vibe is one of "I'm the boss. I ride you hard. Don't show any humour. No personality. Or you're gone"

I'll never use them again.

[[Edited: firstly, to delete/alter swear words x2 - albeit mild ones; and secondly, to remove possibly inflammatory last para]]

Post by **Muckymuck** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:33 pm

I did mine by post

Post by **dsam7** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:06 am

Thanks guys.

Ronnoco - the company lost my film!

Any other suggestions?

Post by **standard8** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:28 am

mondo77 wrote:
I went into the Widescreen Centre about 6 times last year and every time I got the same poor service.

I

[[Edited: firstly, to delete/alter swear words x2 - albeit mild ones; and secondly, to remove possibly inflammatory last para]]

i must agree i never use them they are very overpriced and their customer service is terrible.

Post by **Blue Audio Visual** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:29 am

dsam7 wrote:I can't name the company who has caused problems for me due to possible legal action....

....the company lost my film!

It's hard to see any better solution for you than that the company in question refund the cost of the film/processing/postage. Most companies standard terms & conditions will explicitly rule out 'consequential losses', limiting their liabilities to the cost of the material itself that they have lost.

There are loads of companies in the London/South-East area that do transfers. Larry from Videostation (as suggested above) has been in the game for years, and offers 3 different levels of quality, but it is hard to gauge from his ratecard how much (for instance) a single 50ft roll transferred to MiniDv would be.

At least from his website he is clear about which technologies he uses. Most companies that offer Super 8 telecine are cagey to the point of paranoia about which machines/methods they use. Presumably they don't want their 'secrets' to be known to the competition?

It would be a useful resource for the Super8wiki to list transfer services on a country by country basis, but it seems that the FAQ page has been locked for editing recently.

Post by **Angus** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:39 pm

The Widescreen Centre used to use the "chain method" (projector pointed at a wall/card). I believe they've got either one of Roger's or Clive's units now which ought to give perfectly satisfactory quality for most purposes.

The one time i visited the shop, Tony Shapps was still in charge. I met him and Jake, who was busy and had to stop serving me part way through and handed me over to Tony.

Post by **Blue Audio Visual** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:15 pm

Angus wrote:I believe they've got either one of Roger's or Clive's units

They've got a Flashscan

Post by **standard8** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:37 pm

Blue Audio Visual wrote:
Most companies that offer Super 8 telecine are cagey to the point of paranoia about which machines/methods they use. Presumably they don't want their 'secrets' to be known to the competition?

I had a scary email through my website recently a guy in the UK was going to set up a film transfer business but he didn't know the difference between the 8mm formats and was trying to feed Standard/Regular 8 film into a Super 8 projector - frightening! I wanted to tell him to do something else for a living but didn't think it was my place.

Post by **Blue Audio Visual** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:12 pm

standard8 wrote:I had a scary email through my website recently a guy in the UK was going to set up a film transfer business but he didn't know the difference between the 8mm formats and was trying to feed Standard/Regular 8 film into a Super 8 projector - frightening!

Don't worry, now that you've set him straight he can go and buy a Standard 8 projector. If he gets any 16mm to transfer he can simply fold it in half and put it through his new aquisition.

Post by **standard8** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:29 pm

Blue Audio Visual wrote:
standard8 wrote:I had a scary email through my website recently a guy in the UK was going to set up a film transfer business but he didn't know the difference between the 8mm formats and was trying to feed Standard/Regular 8 film into a Super 8 projector - frightening!
Don't worry, now that you've set him straight he can go and buy a Standard 8 projector. If he gets any 16mm to transfer he can simply fold it in half and put it through his new aquisition.

that wouldn't surprise me in the least! He was also going to do his transfers by videoing the projected image off a wall........i wonder how much he charges?