If you ever need to throw together a quick slideshow, and already have your digital images ready to go, there is a unique service online that can accomplish this for you. The website is called Animoto, and they can provide slick looking videos using your own pictures with no technical experience necessary. Check out the video below to see some quick samples.

Of all the audio formats, the MP3 audio format is easily the most common audio format available today, arguably now more popular than CDs are and many people even convert their family memories recorded on reel to reel and audio cassette to MP3. However, there are other formats besides MP3 such as WAV, FLAC, AAC, AIFF, OGG and WMA that you can also use to encode your music. When comparing audio formats, they are typically broken down into two categories: lossless formats and “lossy” compression formats.

Lossless format means that little to no audio quality during the encoding process. This ensures that the digitial file will be nearly identical to the source audio. Lossless formats are typically much larger in file size, which although beautiful sounding, can deter some people if they have limited storage space. Lossless formats are becoming more and more popular as technology advances while the price of memory and hard drives continues to drop.

WAV – The WAV or Waveform Audio File Format is a true uncompressed lossess audio format developed by Microsoft. This means that the resulting digital file is an exact copy of the source audio. Most audio players and devices can play WAV files, but the resulting file sizes are so large, it’s usually not practical to convert your audio to this format unless you plan to do restoration or editing work.

AIFF – AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format, and is an uncompressed audio format very similar to WAV. The differences are that it was developed by Apple, and has a slightly different way file is created. You will typically see AIFF mentioned when dealing with Apple products.

FLAC – FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, and is the most popular lossless audio format today. FLAC is free, open-source lossess audio format which does use compression, which means that the file sizes are much smaller than that of a WAV file, but maintains the same sound quality as the source audio. FLAC is still not supported by all devices, but has been gaining traction in the last couple of years.

Compression formats are also called “lossy” formats because these formats save on file sizes by compressing the file which, in turn, lowers the overall quality to a degree. Lossy formats have been the most popular over the years, especially with portable audio players and cell phones, because music listeners could fit many more songs than they could with the same songs in lossless formats.

MP3 – MP3 is short for MPEG Audio Layer III. The MP3 format is easily the most popular format today as it’s the default audio format for many top music providers such as Rhapsody and iTunes. Many of today’s different gadgets like iPods to hand held game consoles, have the ability to play MP3 audio in some fashion. MP3 files are known for still sounding great, despite their small file sizes compared to lossless formats.

WMA – WMA is a microsoft proprietary audio format that stands for Windows Media Audio. It is similar to MP3 in ways, but is much less supported by other applications and devices. There is no real advantage in choosing WMA over the other formats.

AAC – AAC stands for Advanced Audio Encoding and is a similar compression to MP3, but is actually a bit more efficient, meaning that the file sizes are slightly smaller than MP3 files, but still sound as good. Apple’s iTunes have made the AAC format very popular in recent years, and is gaining much support around the world of technology.

OGG Vorbis – OGG Vorbis is a free and open-source alternative to MP3 and AAC. Open source basically means that the encoder is not restricted by any patents. Although it is open source, It’s not nearly as supported or popular as MP3 or AAC.

In the end, we suggest converting your audio to MP3 or AAC due to the vast amount of compatibility with other products, and if encoded using a high bit-rate the quality can be nearly identical to a lossless format. FLAC is also a great choice because it will keep your audio in a lossess format from which you can convert from in the future. If you’re converting reel to reel to CD, or audio cassette to CD, these files will be uncompressed WAV files after transferring, and can be converted to any format mentioned above.

Also, don’t forget to check out DVD Your Memories’ sister company, CD Ripping San Diego, which can help you transform and convert your collection of CDs into audio files such as MP3, WAV or FLAC that you can take with you on the go!

Sometime in 1889, Emile Berliner recorded the first album in the history of the world. Then, that record by the father of the gramophone was destroyed. Today, Patrick Feaster, a sound historian at Indiana University, recreated the album using just a printed photograph of the album. His technique defies belief…

Fester found an old photograph that happened to be of the very first gramophone record, made by the maker of the gramophone, Emile Berliner but had long been destroyed. This photo was printed on paper, so it was only two dimensional and didn’t show the three dimensional pits and valleys which make up the sound of the record. But Fester is an expert on resuscitating records and their original sounds from photographs. He scanned that photograph he found at a very high resolution. Then, using image advanced processing software, he managed to enhance the image to the point that he was able to restore the record and produce actual sound.

What he heard left him speechless: it was the voice of the father of the gramophone, Emile Berliner, reciting Friedrich Schiller’s ballad Der Handschuh.

To read more, click here

Our services of film transfer in San Diego can provide you with high quality digital copies of your 8mm film, 16mm film or Super 8 film film on DVD, Blu-Ray or DV-AVI video. This can be great as gifts, or as a way to store your family memories for years to come.

The first step in a film transfer order is the cleaning and repair process. To ensure the highest quality transfer, possible, every inch of your film is cleaned and lubricated using in-house equipment. The type of cleaning we perform will depend on the age and condition of the film, and we’ve even been able to save film that’s been heavily damaged or deteriorated from vinegar syndrome. In addition to cleaning your film, our film transfer technicians will repair any broken splices and re-splice your film onto brand new 400′ reels.

The process of inspecting and cleaning the film often takes longer than the transfer itself which is why film is a slightly longer process than transferring video to DVD. The cleaning process is something that many companies do not perform but is essential for this type of service.

Once the film has been prepped, it is time to perform the film transfer. Film is projected directly into the lens of a broadcast quality 3-CCD camera which captures your film digitally on our hard drives. With our premium film transfer service, we will restore your color film scene by scene and adjust for brightness and contrast in real time as the film is being transferred on our machines.

For information and pricing, please see our Film Transfer San Diego page.

Protect VHS Tapes and Other Media from X-Rays in Airport Security

The benefits of Blu-ray vs. DVD

For a while now, DVDs have been the standard format for optical media, as it holds much more data than CD-R and is more versatile by allowing the user to store data such as images and photos, but also create playable Movies and audio discs from DVDs. By now, most people in the country have a DVD player, or have access to one in their home.

The newest of optical media is called the Blu-ray disc. These discs were designed to supersede the DVD format by providing larger storage capacity and versatility than existing DVDs. Blu-ray discs are called such because instead of a red laser which is used to read DVDs, Blu-ray uses a shorter, more precise wavelength laser which is called “Blue” but is actually more violet colored. This finer laser allows for much more precise data reading when compared to the larger red lasers found in CD-R and DVD-R readers.

More and more people are getting the equipment necessary to view and enjoy Blu-ray discs and even have begun to transfer their memories such as video to Blu-ray, film to Blu-ray and high definition slideshows.

Storage Capacity
The main benefit of Blu-ray over DVDs is the increased storage capacity. This feature helps propel Blu-ray ahead of the competition because typically, higher storage capacity translates to higher video resolution and audio quality on your TV screen. The Blu-ray format offers as much as 5X the storage capacity of traditional DVDs, it can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc.

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Video Quality
Because of the enhanced storage capacity, higher resolution video is able to be placed onto Blu-ray discs with resolutions up to 1080p. This superior resolution is what really make Blu-ray video stand out from DVDs. A higher resolution image means the viewer sees more, sharper detail when they watch the screen. Blu-rays maximum resolution is 1080p, which is a far cry from DVDs 480p maximum. This is the main reason that Blu-rays look so much better than DVDs at a glance.

Audio Quality
More storage capacity also means higher quality audio can be placed onto the disc. Blu-ray movies can come with high resolution soundtracks like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio so you’ll be hearing things exactly how the filmmakers intended. Audio no longer needs to be compressed in order to fit onto the disc like it was with DVD movies.

Did you know that home movie film could contain sound? It’s probably been so many years since you checked that you have no clue if your family film has sound or not. Thankfully enough, it’s pretty easy to tell if your film holds audio just by taking a quick glance at it and knowing what to look for. Keep in mind that it’s generally pretty rare for family films to contain sound because in order for 8mm film to have sound, it would have to have been added in after it was developed. Super 8 with sound required special film and cameras and was more expensive than a silent film.

There are two types of sound that can accompany your film, either magnetic or optical. Most of the time, sound is recorded on a gold or copper colored magnetic strip along the side of the film and can be on either side of the sprocket holes depending on the format. This allowed for the sound to be heard while the film was running because the projector has built in heads that can output sound from the magnetic or optical strip. This ensures that the film and audio are in-sync at all times. Another common method to achieve sound was to have a separate soundtrack on a reel to reel or record that was played just as the film was beginning. This method required coordination as well as multiple components running simultaneously to achieve the desired effect and was often hard to keep them in-sync.

In order to determine if your film has sound or not, it’s first best to determine what type of film you have whether it be regular 8mm, Super 8 or 16mm. 16mm film is easy to spot because it’s so much wider than 8mm. If you’re unsure of what type of film you have, we have a quick reference guide here you can check out: 8mm Film vs Super 8 Film, What’s the Difference?

We also have good news in the fact that DVD Your Memories will always transfer your film to DVD with sound at no extra cost!

If you have regular 8mm film, the chances are actually very rare that it contains sound, but it is a possibility. To check yourself, just look for a small magnetic strip along the same side as the sprocket holes.

Sound is still rare on Super 8 film, but much more likely to have sound than compared to regular 8mm. To check your super 8 for sound, look at it closely, and look for a gold or copper colored magnetic strip on the underside of the film, opposite side of the sprocket holes.

With 16mm film, sound was usually placed on the film as either a magnetic or optical strip. Optical was more common on 16mm film, and is easy to spot because it looks like a band of clear film with an image of a audio wave running down the entire strip. Currently, we are unable to process magnetic 16mm film.

Here is a closeup shot of 16mm film with a visible optical strip on the right side of the film.

For more information on our film transfer services, check below for services near you:
Film to DVD San Diego
Film to DVD Orange County
Film to DVD Los Angeles
Film to DVD Denver