Let ARS Video Help!
For many people, photos, negatives, videos, and films of their loved ones are where all their memories are held. The idea of losing those memories is unthinkable. Fortunately, technological advances mean that these items can easily be digitized, preserving them in a convenient, safe, and shareable way.
The availability of devices that can convert film, negatives, and photographs to a digital medium may have some people thinking that this is a project they can tackle themselves. But there are several reasons why working with a reputable conversion service is ideal. Consider some benefits of using a professional company to safeguard your precious memories by making them digital.
Size Matters
Professionals use highly technical and precise equipment to convert documents, photos, negatives, film, and video to digital files. The devices available to the layman to convert digital files may be more affordable, but they may compress the size of files during conversion. This can lead to a lower resolution, fuzzier images, or – in the case of moving pictures – loss of clarity while playing. With photos, the higher the resolution, the better quality for any prints wanted in the future. Remember that sharing files will often cause further compression, so beginning with the best quality digital file possible is essential.
Staying Neat and Clean
Let’s face it, many items that need to be converted to digital files have not been kept in optimal conditions. Photographs may have tears or watermarks, and films or videos have likely not been kept in archival vaults. Add to this the problem with many video tapes — those plastic covers used by so many can contribute to causing more moisture to accumulate on the tapes. This can cause a gummy situation known as “sticky shed” that, if not handled properly, will make conversion impossible. Not only can sticky shed ruin videos, but it can also destroy any VCR used for conversion. Professional services, like ARS Video, understand how to deal with this issue. We have the proper equipment, materials, and expertise to deal with sticky shed and save memories on videotape.
The Out of the Ordinary
Film and video come in many different formats. Finding equipment to convert less popular film formats can take time and effort. Still, ARS Video can convert whatever format holds a family’s memories, including VHS, VHS-C, Hi-8, MicroMV and Betamax, MiniDV, DVCAM, HDV, Betacam SP, U-Matic Tape, and DVC Pro.
Color Us Happy
The chemicals used to show color in photographs, negatives, videos, and film can fade over time. The older the item being converted, the more likely that some form of color correction will be needed. If the plan is to convert files to digital and save the best version of each image, working with a professional video services company like ARS Video is essential. Professional color correction is nearly impossible to duplicate in a do-it-yourself effort.
Sounding Off
Just as preserving or enhancing color on converted items is a specialized skill, so is optimizing the sound for any film or video. Work with a professional who understands that memories should be seen and heard.
Staying Organized
Even the most organized do-it-yourselfer could get lost in a large digital conversion project. Working with a professional allows them to take their best practices and collaborate with each customer to develop a system that will allow for fast, easy retrieval of files once they are digitized. Since most programs that organize digital files have search capabilities, finding digitized pictures becomes much easier than searching through boxes in the back of a closet!
Memories In, Memories Out
In the process of digitizing, there are opportunities to edit and reuse those files. ARS Video can preserve the video of a child’s recital and edit out the reruns of Doogie Howser, MD, at the end of that tape. Plus, ARS Video’s expertise allows editing many memory files into one high-quality presentation that can be used to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, or other significant family milestones.
Why Digitizing is Important
Digitizing family memories has so many benefits. Years of accumulated photos, films, and videos can all be stored on a device as small as a flash drive. For additional safety, saving these files on the cloud means you’ll never have to worry about a fire, natural disaster, or de-cluttering to compromise your memories. Plus, you’ll be able to view and share these files from anywhere with an internet connection. Sharing family history becomes much easier on ancestry sites and social media. And with high-quality images, like those digitally preserved by ARS Video, anyone with access to these files can easily make their own prints in the size that works for them.
Memories are too significant and precious to trust to unqualified hands. Just because your uncle watched a few videos on YouTube about preservation doesn’t mean he can handle the scope of digitizing the most important memories for your family.
Why ARS Video?
Since we began preserving memories over 35 years ago, ARS Video has been a family-owned, high-tech company. Because of our experience, expertise, and focus on customer service, we understand the importance of every project entrusted to us. We stay current on the latest technology and use it to provide a quality product. Excellent customer service is a priority; our pricing is upfront and fair, with no hidden costs.

Since 1987, the ARS Video team has been preserving precious memories and valuable archival footage through video transfer, film digitization and more media services for customers across the USA. Our team is always watching for new technology trends and is proud to have been at the forefront of analog media conversions for many years. Committed to customer service excellence and to delivering a great final product for our customers – many of whom are repeat partners over the years – we blog about trends in digitization, high tech vs low tech, culture milestones, and tips for getting the most out of your valuable recorded media. Thanks for reading!
Leave A Comment