FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Will My Digital Images Look Better Than My Originals?
No matter what options you choose for scanning and output, the images will only be as good as the quality of available source materials.
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Do I Have To Individually Label Each Item I Send You?
It is completely up to you. The archive can be as detailed or as simple as you would like to make it. If you would like us to scan batches of items with the same title or description, we make that simple too. Just add the identifier label to the grouping photos and add a single title to your spreadsheet.
Any item in that grouping will share the same title and associated data but scanned in sequential order. The files will be appended with a page, photo, or video number. For instance:
A group of photos from a family trip to Florida may be labeled as “Our Trip To Orlando, June 1977, Photo 1”, “Our Trip To Orlando, June 1977, Photo 2”, etc.
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What Resolution Should I Digitize My Printed Photos?
300 DPI is the “standard” used by most digitization services. If your intent is to digitize your photographs for viewing online and don’t foresee a need to create new prints larger than the original, scanning them at 300 DPI is the perfect solution, as well as the most budget-friendly. 300 DPI will allow you to make a future reprint the same size as the original print. For most people, 300 DPI offers more than enough quality and detail.
We usually recommend scanning your photographs at 600 DPI, this represents the best balance of quality and affordability. If you plan to make prints from your digital image, 600 DPI resolution is suitable for both editing and enlarging, 600 DPI will allow you to make reprints twice the size of the original print.
We also offer archival-quality digital images scanned at 1200 DPI which offers increased flexibility for enlarging, editing, and printing, however, is overkill for most applications. The file sizes are quite large, and we recommend this if you think there will ever be a need to create an oversized print for a poster, sign, or other special use.
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What Resolution Should I Digitize My Photo Negatives?
For the majority of us, resolutions between 600 DPI and 1200 DPI are more than adequate, and if you are looking for an image that is suitable for viewing on your phone, monitor, or TV in HD quality, these resolutions will bring out more than enough detail to produce great images, that can be reprinted in sizes up to 5” X 7” with decent quality.
We can certainly understand the appeal of a higher DPI such as 2400 but unless you are looking to create prints up to 8” X 10”, or have another specialty application that requires it, it might be overkill.If you are going to be making large prints (greater than 8×10), we suggest that you have us scan them between 2400- 4000 DPI. This resolution guarantees that all possible detail will be read from the slide, however, while slides can contain enough detail to justify 4000 DPI and can be enlarged several times the original size, scanning a negative containing a small photo will reveal a large amount of grain, and you would likely see better overall results with a lower resolution. We would recommend 3200 DPI as the upper limit to scan your photo negatives.
Exceptions obviously exist, and that is why we make the option of 2400 - 4000 DPI scans available.
The image size of medium format negatives are about 4X the size of the more common 35mm film stock, medium format negatives contain a much greater level of detail, so it can be enlarged and printed from the digital image without revealing excessive film grain or distortion. Medium format films are digitized at 2400 DPI, which is the “sweet spot” for this format.
Large-format negatives retain fine details and the quality is excellent when printed. Large-format films are digitized at 2400 DPI as there is no noticeable gain in quality at higher resolutions.
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What Resolution Should I Digitize My Slides?
Digitizing your slides at a resolution between 600 and 1200 DPI is often more than sufficient for most people’s needs. It is a budget-friendly solution resulting in digital files that are perfect for social media and viewing on phones, tablets, and computers.
Since the quality of the slide, and depending on if the slide is in color or black and white are often unknown, we will evaluate them when they arrive at our facility to determine the best scanning resolution between 600 DPI and 1200 DPI.
We recommend digitizing your slides between 1200 and 2400 DPI as it represents the best balance of quality, file size, and flexibility. When scanned at a resolution of up to 2400 DPI, you are able to create high quality prints up to 6” X 9”.
Since the quality of the slide could vary, and depending on if the slide is in color or black and white, we will evaluate them when they arrive at our facility to determine the best scanning resolution between 1200 DPI and 2400 DPI.
If you require a high-resolution scan for archival purposes, we recommend scanning the images at a resolution of 4000 DPI, which provides the maximum detail needed for enlarging, editing, and printing.
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Is There A Way To “Guess” At The Number Of Photos I Have?
A good way to “guesstimate” the number of pictures you might have is to measure how many inches of the photos there are. One inch of photos equates to roughly 100 photos. If counting the exact number of photos seems like a daunting task, you can estimate the volume.
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Is There A Way To “Guess” At The Number Of Slides I Have?
A good way to “guesstimate” the number of slides you might have is to measure how many inches of the slides there are. One inch of photos equates to roughly 20 slides
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How Do I Know How Many Hours Of Audio or Video Footage I Have?
While we generally charge by the unit for print-based digitization, audio and video digitization is charged by the hour. A good way to “guesstimate” the number of hours you might have depends on the format of tape you have.
A standard VHS cassette can contain roughly 2.5 hours of footage.
The VHSc is a little trickier to estimate because unlike a standard VHS tape, VHSc cartridges and can contain anywhere from a ½ hour up to 90 minutes of footage
A Video8 or Hi8 tape will generally hold 1 hour of video
Not to be confused with Video8 (or Hi8), Digital8 cassettes have a capacity of only 1 hour.
If you have a Beta cassette, like the VHSc, it is a bit harder to nail down how much footage there actually is. Generally, the Beta tapes are anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes.
Umatic format is much less common, however, if you have one, it will contain between 20 minutes and 1 hour of footage
Knowing exactly how much video footage you have can be challenging, so making an educated guess based on the capacity of the format is the only option outside of watching each video with a stopwatch in your hand.
If you underestimate the quantity, we will contact you to discuss options to complete the project, or find a logical stopping point.
If you overestimate the quantity, we will provide you with a credit for the difference that can be applied to a future order, allowing you to add more material to your archive, or it can be applied to your "My History Archive" subscription.
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What Happens If I Over Or Under Estimate The Number Of Items I Have When I Place My Order?
If you underestimate the quantity, we will contact you to discuss options to complete the project, or find a logical stopping point.
If you overestimate the quantity, we will provide you with a credit for the difference that can be applied to a future order, allowing you to add more material to your archive, or it can be applied to your "My History Archive" subscription.
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Do I Have To Remove My Photos From The Albums?
If your photos are enclosed in sleeves, photo albums, or frames, we would request that you remove them and place them in envelopes, small boxes or containers, or even sandwich bags.
If you would like us to remove the photos from the albums or sleeves, we would be happy to help! We will remove each photo, note the location from which it was removed, scan the photo, and replace it in the original location. Please note your request on the Identifier Worksheet, and we will contact you with a quote for the additional labor required.
If the photos are stuck to the pages of the album, removing them from the album will cause damage to the photo. Can scan the album’s page or sleeve, and crop the individual pages manually, however, this will produce a lower quality digital image.
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My Slides Are Stored In The Carousels Used On My Slide Projector, Do I Need To Remove Them?
No, you do not. You can ship your slides in carousels or slide displays
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How Do I Ship My Materials To You?
We will send you sturdy boxes and prepaid return shipping labels once you place your order online. You will also receive a copy of your order, identifying labels, and instructions on matching your identifier labels to the identifier worksheet. you have downloaded from HistoryIsEverything.com.
Once you have labeled your collection, you will pack the materials in the boxes we supply, attach the shipping label, and either schedule a pick up from the carrier or drop the boxes off at their physical location. We will take over from there!
Shipping Tips & Suggestions
Begin by placing your materials in the box, starting in the middle, and working your way to the edges of the box. Do not overstuff the box, and leave an inch or two of “breathing room” between your materials and the edges of the box. This will help prevent any damage on the off chance a box were to be damaged.
After you put your materials in the box, try to fill any unoccupied space with a filler to minimize any shifting or movement during transit. Bubble wrap works very well, however, bunched up craft paper or crumpled newspapers backed tightly in the open spaces are effective as well.
Avoid using styrofoam “peanuts”, they don’t stabilize printed materials very well, and also create quite a mess when we unpack them and are not easy to dispose of in an environmentally responsible way.
Using plastic sandwich bags, particularly sealable bags, offer an extra layer of protection in the unlikely event of a box being exposed to moisture in the shipping to or from our facility.
If you would like us to send packing materials like bubble wrap, sleeves, or waterproof bags to aid in the safe shipping of your collection, contact us and we can send you some for only a few dollars.
Although we can not be responsible for damage or loss that may be incurred in transporting the documents, once they arrive, you can rest assured that they are in good hands.
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I Have Both Photos And The Film Negatives, Which Will Produce The Best Image?
When choosing a format digitize from, always select the earliest generation of the material available. In the case of photographic materials, if the negatives are available they will not only provide a higher quality image, but they are easier to organize, and often less expensive to scan.
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Will You Digitize The Back Of My Photographs If There Are Notes Or Handwriting?
We certainly can scan the back of photos and create a separate image from it, however, this would be considered a second scan, meaning that a single photo would become 2 files, one for the front, and one for the back, and would need to be taken into account at the time you place the order
Many people choose to keep the image of the back of the picture to preserve the handwriting, but some individuals prefer to only have the picture scanned, ignoring any writing on the back of the picture as they have already transcribed the writing into the
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What Type Of File Will You Send Me?
You can request either a JPEG, MP4, or TIFF, and additional image formats will be created and used for viewing online
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How Many Files Will Fit On The Free DVD or USB Flash Drive?
A single DVD will hold approximately 2 hours of video, or around 400 - 600 photos (depending on the resolution the images were scanned at), or around 4.5GB total.
An 8GB USB flash drive can hold between 750 - 1,000 images or 3.5 hours of video.
A 16GB USB flash drive can hold between 1500 - 2,000 images or 7 hours of video.
A 32GB USB flash drive can hold between 3000 to 4000 images or 14 hours of video.
You will receive as many DVDs or flash drives as needed for your collection.
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Can I Get My Files On A USB HDD?
We offer an optional 500GB or 1TB USB hard drives that can be purchased for larger collections. Due to its large capacity, storing your collection on an external drive is more convenient than managing multiple DVDs or if your collection is greater than 32GB. Depending on the resolution, these high capacity drives can store tens of thousands of images and days worth of video.
A 500GB USB external hard drive can be purchased for $100. Depending on the image quality and file size, a 500GB hard drive has the storage capacity for nearly 50,000 images or over 200 hours of video.
The price for delivery on a 1TB USB external hard drive is $150, and it can hold over 100,000 images or close to 400 hours of video.
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Can I Edit My Photos From My DVD, USB, or Hard drive?
Of course. These are your images to do with them as you see fit. They are not copy protected and can be edited with whatever software you have available.
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How Much Is A Subscription To A "My History Archive"?
Your subscription will be charged monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the package you choose.
Your first 3 months are FREE, after which you will be billed in accordance with the subscription you selected at the time you placed the order:
Monthly: $7.99
Quarterly: $18.99
Annual: $49.99
We accept VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, and debit cards. You can cancel your subscription at any time.
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How Can I Access The "My History Archive"?
You can access your digital archive from anywhere you can connect to the internet. You will be able to explore and view the past on Apple devices like the iPhone or iPad, Android-based phones and tablets, Kindle Fires, computers running Windows, Macs, Chromebooks, and streaming devices for your TV.
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How Many Videos, Documents, Or Photos is A "My History Archive" limited to?
As many as you want to add! There is no limit to the amount of history you can add or the size of your collection.
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Will My Archive Be Searchable?
Your documents will be indexed according to the instructions you have provided on the identifier worksheet you have downloaded from HistoryIsEverything.com. The indexing associates the necessary information with the digitized materials to enable categorizing, browsing and identifying your documents.
After the files are indexed, we use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to allow for search functionality so that you can explore and access your past via a "My History Archive", which literally puts your personal history at your fingertips.
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Can I Share My History With Others?
Yes. We have created tools that allow you to share your digital files, or clip portions of articles or photos for use in social media posts, blogs, or to email or share over a text. You also have the ability to create a Discoveries gallery that will allow you to create collections that you can send a link to the files you have curated through tagging.
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What Can I Add To My Archive?
No matter the format, size, or quantity, it is likely we have the tools and experience to ensure your past is preserved for the future, yet accessible in the present.
We can archive Printed Photos, Slides, Photo Negatives, Scrapbooks, Family History Books, Yearbooks, Journals, Diaries, Family Trees, Genealogical Research, Annuals, Census Records, Local History Books, Programs, Cookbooks, Newsletters, Record Books, Ledgers, Meeting Minutes, Directories, Manuscripts, Visitor Books, Muster Rolls, Documents, Marriage Certificates, Birth Announcements, Obituaries, Death Notices, Children’s Artwork, Postcards, Church Records, Correspondence, Handouts, Recipe Cards, Newspapers, Clippings, Memorabilia, Military Records, Drawings, Awards, Index Cards, Maps, Meeting Minutes, Heritage Collections, Property Records, Abstracts, Schedules, Bulletins, Immigration Records, Public Announcements, Transcripts, Oral Histories, Greeting Cards, Home Movies, Microfilm, Digital Photos, and almost anything else you can think of...
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Is There Anything I Cannot Include In My Archive?
Any content that is on Copyright, that you do not own, have expressed written consent, or is otherwise protected by US Copyright Law
Recorded TV or studio movies
Commercially copyrighted materials
Comics not part of a larger collective work
Photographs that the photographer has retained the rights to
Video, audio, or printed materials published or recorded after 1924 that are protected by copyright, and you have not received written permission of the rights holder.
Any objectionable material or content of “adult nature”, including nudity or pornography, as well as any materials promoting hate, racism, sexism, or other materials considered objectionable
Personally Identifiable Information
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What Is Your Policy On Copyrighted Materials ?
We strictly adhere to US Copyright Law and respect the rights to the creator’s intellectual and creative properties, therefore we will not copy, transfer, duplicate or digitize, without written permission of the rights holder.
We place the responsibility on you to obtain a release or permission waiver, signed by the rights holder if the images you would like to digitize have a copyright symbol (©), or are otherwise protected by the law. The written release must clearly state that you are allowed to duplicate, digitize, and/or make available online. You must include the document stating express written permission with the copyright-protected materials when you ship them to us, or we will be unable to fulfill that portion of your order.
A sample copyright waiver can be found in the download section on the HistoryIsEverything.com website.
This may include, but not limited to:
Recorded TV or studio movies
Commercially copyrighted materials
Comics not part of a larger collective work
Photographs that the photographer has retained the rights to
Video, audio, or printed materials published or recorded after 1924 that are protected by copyright, and you have not received written permission of the rights holder.
If you send us original materials we cannot digitize in accordance with US Copyright and international copyright laws or content we find to be objectionable, we will issue a credit for those materials, which can be applied to a future order, allowing you to add more materials to your archive, or it can be applied to your "My History Archive" subscription.
When you begin the checkout process on HistoryIsEverything.com, you will be presented with an agreement that must be reviewed prior to submitting your order. It states that you either own the rights or have written consent to use all the materials you will be sent to us for digitization and hosting. When you agree, it will indemnify and hold harmless the owners, management, employees, associates, and anyone that represents HistoryIsEverything.com or Advantage Archives Archive harmless from all costs, damages, liabilities, and expenses suffered by in relation to or arising from any misrepresentation or omission related to the copyright or violation of the intellectual property of the rights holder.
However, you CAN add any content you would like that you may not “own” if it lives in the Public Domain. “Public Domain” refers to works not protected by intellectual property laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever “own it”
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What Is Personally Identifiable Information?
We also request that you add no personally identifiable information that could potentially be used to identify a particular living person. Examples include Social Security numbers, driver's license number, bank account number, passport number, telephone numbers, or email address.
Some guidelines:
Assume an individual is living unless there is documentation available that demonstrates they are dead, or their date of birth is greater than 110 years ago. Avoid using any associated personally identifiable information for living individuals.
Generally, the following should not be made available online: information on students, medical records, trade secrets, and criminal files.
When it comes to records, use the “72 Year Rule”. Avoid including personally identifiable information about an individual to any other individual or agency until 72 years after it was collected for the decennial census. This "72-Year Rule" restricts access to decennial census records to all but the individual named on the record or their legal heir.
Across most U.S. states, birth records are restricted from public access. In selected states or jurisdictions, birth records are closed until specified periods have elapsed; this may range from 25-100 years. Please research your state’s law on your ability to make these available online.
In most U.S states, marriage records are public information. However, U.S. public record laws prohibit the dissemination of identifying information to members of the public. As such, public marriage records often exclude sensitive information pertaining to the registrants including birth dates, current addresses, and social security information.
Divorce records are usually public information unless otherwise deemed by a court. Like marriage records, there are also restrictions on the information available to the public.
More often than not, death records are open to the public
Generally, records created by employees of the Federal government as part of their routine duties works for hire created under contract to the Federal government, and publications produced by the Federal government are all in the public domain.
A good resource for determining what records you can use is the Reporters Committee For Freedom Of The Press. They have created the Open Government Guide and can be found here: https://www.rcfp.org/open-government-guide/. This Guide is a complete compendium of information on every state’s open records and open meetings laws.
We reserve the right to remove any content at our sole discretion which we discover or has brought to our attention to be inappropriate or violate the rights of others.
If you send us original materials we cannot digitize in accordance with US Copyright and international copyright laws, or content we find to be objectionable, we will issue a credit for those materials, which can be applied to a future order, allowing you to add more materials to your archive, or it can be applied to your "My History Archive" subscription.
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Is There A Backup Of My Archive?
As part of your subscription to your "My History Archive", we will maintain backups of your digital collections on our secure servers. You may request a copy of your archive be sent to you in the event your DVD, HDD, flash drive has been lost or damaged. You will only be charged for the replacement media.
The price for a replacement DVD or USB flash drive is $15 each
The price to replace a 500GB USB hard drive is $100
The price to replace a 1TB USB hard drive is $150
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Aside From The Online Backup, Are There Other Ways To Protect My Collection?
We recommend you always maintain at least one DVD, flash drive, or HDD copy as your “archival” backup, which should be stored somewhere where temperatures do not fluctuate, or they are subject to extremes of hot or cold, and where humidity is limited. We also recommend that this “archival copy” be handled as little as possible, and the media remain in their case, holder, or sleeve.
We also would encourage you to upload the digital files containing your history to a cloud service if you don’t intend to use the "My History Archive" platform, or if you cancel your subscription.
Finally, we strongly suggest that every few years, you create a duplicate of this backup, to ensure there is always a viable copy of the digital files that represent your past.
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Do I Own My Digital Images, Video, & Audio?
Yes, this is your history, and you retain all ownership rights. We will not sell, use, or feature your digital files without your expressed written consent.
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How Do I Cancel My Subscription?
You can cancel your “My History Archive” subscription online or by calling (855) 303-2727 at any time.
Your cancellation must be received by 5:00 PM CST prior to the day your subscription is set to expire. If this day falls on a weekend or holiday, then the refund period is extended to include the next day that is not a weekend or holiday.
If your subscription is not canceled by 5:00 PM CST prior to the day your subscription is set to expire or canceled at any time prior to the end of the subscription period, no refund will be issued for unused subscription periods, and you will enjoy full use of the archive until the end of the term, at which time your account will be closed and no new charges will be applied.
If you feel you are entitled to a refund, please see our Refund Policy to see if you qualify, or contact customer service at (855) 303-2727 Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM CST to discuss
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What Happens To My Digital Files If I Cancel My Subscription?
Upon cancelation, we will remove any of your files from our servers, and dispose of the backups so you retain full control of your materials. If at any time you would like to resume your subscription, you can simply send us a copy of your DVD or USB Hard Drive, and we will ingest it into your "My History Archive" for a small charge determined by the size of your collection.
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Can I Get A Refund If I Cancel My Subscription?
If you cancel your subscription due to a failure of Advantage Archive to provide the services advertised, a breach of the Terms & Conditions by Advantage Archives, or a violation of your user rights, we will provide a refund prorated for the time remaining in your subscription period. If your subscription has been terminated by Advantage Archives due to a failure to comply with the User Agreement.
In order to receive a refund, you must contact customer service at (855) 303-2727 Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM CST.
You forfeit the right for a refund if:
Your archive contains something that you do not own the copyright or have written permission from the rights-holder
Your archive contains anything, at our discretion, deemed offensive, inappropriate, or defamatory
You break the law, including libelous content or comments, or by submitting content or comments which result in a criminal offense
You Share the personal information of living people without their permission
You falsify or misrepresent your identity, or impersonate another person
You collect or use any information from any “My History Archive” or other Advantage Archives web property with the intent to harm, discredit, harass or prejudice any other person
You circumvent, scrape, mine, crawl, or otherwise impact the service, security, or performance of our archives and related servers
If we terminate your account, your archive will be taken down, and no further charges will apply, however, we will not offer you a refund in part or in a whole.
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My Tapes Or Films That May Have Commercials, Or Television Shows. Can I Digitize Them?
We can’t digitize recorded TV, movies, or professionally produced video or audio you do not own the rights to, or have not received written permission to copy it. We strictly adhere to US Copyright Law and respect the rights to the creator’s intellectual and creative properties. If your tapes or film contain a mix of home videos and recorded TV, we will just skip over the TV parts. Don’t worry, you won’t be billed for those parts of your tapes.
With all that said, if there is recorded TV or a movie that you want digitized (say, because you’re in it), talk to us and we can explore options to use the media within the framework of US Copyright Law.
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I Think Some Of My Tapes Might Be Blank Or The Reels Might Be Damaged. Is That A Problem?
Not at all, in fact, this is not uncommon. If we find any blank or damaged tapes, we’ll set them aside and move onto the next tape. For all blank tapes, or media we can’t digitally transform for you, we will provide you with a credit for a future order, allowing you to add more material to your archive, find copies of the media that can be converted, or it can be applied to your "My History Archive" subscription.
If your tapes contain some video but have large blank sections, we will skip over those parts and if a tape is over the one-hour minimum due to the “dead space” between audio or video tracks, we will provide you with a credit that can be applied to a future order, or to your "My History Archive" subscription. That is to say, if your tape has one hour of content followed by five hours of blank tape, you will only receive and be billed for the one hour of content.
Short blank snippets in between shots or scenes are not skipped and will be included in your files.
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What Video Formats Will I Receive When The Project Has Been Completed?
First of all, unless you specify otherwise, you will get your original tapes and reels back.
You will receive your digital files on a DVD, in addition, to access via your own "My History Archive", however, you have the option to either have them delivered on a USB hard drive or download them from an FTP. Each tape or reel is its own file. The files will come to you numbered, with numbered stickers on the corresponding tapes (that is, file number 001 will be the digital file of the tape with sticker number 001). In addition, the Access Plus and Archive packages will have the tape’s original labeling included in the file name. You can rename the files to anything you want; we just use the numbers to keep things simple and consistent.
The digital files we deliver are high-quality MP4 video files. These files play on most devices and are perfect for most people. They play on Windows PC, Mac, Android (Samsung Galaxy, Pixel, and others), iOS (iPhone and iPad), and most Smart TVs.
We also offer preservation quality uncompressed files as part of our Archive Package. ProRes files, which are special files designed for video professionals, are available as an add-on for all packages.
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Can You Enhance My Video Footage Or Audio At All?
For all orders, we process your tapes using studio-grade equipment. This helps bring out details that would otherwise be lost.
In addition to this, we offer color correction and audio clean up as an add-on to any package.
Color Correction: $20 per hour of video, with a one-hour minimum.
Audio Clean-up: $15 per hour of video or audio, with a one-hour minimum.
ProRes files: $10 per hour of video or audio, with a one-hour minimum. These are 422 LT files and are delivered along with your MP4 files. Need 422 or 422 HQ? Talk to us.
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What Are The Audio & Video Technical Specifications?
First and foremost, if you have a special request for the types of files you would like to get back from us, let us know. We can deliver just about any video format under the sun.
By default, we deliver H.264/AAC MP4 files. They are YUV 4:2:0 progressive, baseline, at level 3, or level 3.1, depending on the type of tape. For these files, we use a bit depth of 8 BPC and a variable bitrate maxing out at 6.5 Mbps, although sometimes we go higher if we think the transfer will benefit it. We will never drop the bitrate lower than that.
All analog capture is done in 10-bit 4:2:2 interlaced lossless. This means that our computers are capable of discerning over 1 billion unique colors coming from tape. In addition, we capture the full range. This means we are able to capture the darkest and brightest colors, even those so dark or so bright older TVs couldn’t display them.
Audio is captured at up to 24-bit 96khz/sec, although sometimes we will capture at a 32-bit floating-point if we think your tape would benefit from that. Some lower fidelity tapes are captured at 16-bit if their noise floor is high enough to not benefit from a higher bit depth. All analog video tapes are time base corrector.
For born-digital tapes, such as HDCAM, DVCPRO, DVCAM, Digital Betacam, or others, we use a fully digital pipeline. Our competitors often will use the analog outputs from digital tape decks and do an analog capture. Not us. We capture DV25 tapes (which includes DVCAM, DVCPRO 25, Digital8, and standard MiniDV) directly over Firewire/i.Link to get the exact bitstream off the tape. For all other digital tape formats where this isn’t an option, we capture the raw SDI stream right out of the deck to V210 or a similar lossless codec.
Our Archive Package includes an uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit file. This is sourced from our 10-bit 4:2:2 interlaced lossless capture (or digital captures for digital tapes). We wrap v210 data in a Quicktime container with the lossless PCM track. We give you uncompressed v210 instead of our lossless capture to adhere to video standardization guidelines put in place by the Library of Congress, even though both the uncompressed v210/PCM and our original capture are visually, audibly, and mathematically identical.
For our ProRes files, we default to ProRes 422 LT. We use 422 LT because most tapes are standard definition. According to the ProRes White Paper published by Apple, visual artifacts from compression are very rare for SD content at 422 LT unless they go through many generations of transcoding. For HD tapes, we use ProRes 422. That said, let us know if your project requires 422 HQ or something different. We’re happy to help. All ProRes files are sourced from our 10-bit lossless capture.
Color correction, when requested by the customer, is performed on a ProRes 422 or 422 HQ transcode due to Resolve’s inability to read our lossless captures. As soon as Resolve offers support for it, we will switch to doing color correction directly on the lossless capture.
DVDs are burned onto solid white, single-layer DVD-Rs. The DVDs are NTSC (unless you ask for PAL discs) and are region free.
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Who Is Advantage Archives?
History Is Everything is a division of Advantage Archives, a trusted partner of libraries, museums, educational institutions, government agencies, non-profit organizations, historical societies, and genealogical organizations across the United States. We truly value our long-standing partnerships in the hundreds of communities where we have been privileged in helping them preserve and provide online access to their local history.
We have created countless Community History Archives, unlocking millions of local historical documents that were previously limited in their availability. They provide the community an easy-to-use resource, by converting local newspaper microfilm, records, maps, atlases, and other historical documents, to a fully-searchable digital archive.
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How Do I Know My Materials Will Be Safe At Your Facility?
Our advanced document imaging center has been designed for historic preservation services, digitization, and document scanning. Our building features an ANSI/AIIM compliant microfilm storage vault, certified film lab, and a Firelock Fireproof Modular Vault.
The building is equipped with motion detectors, magnetic locks, smoke and heat detectors, glass break detectors, a high-density fire suppression system, and surveillance cameras.
All of our associates are insured and bonded, having completed a background check at the time of employment, and are bound by a confidentiality agreement. They have years of experience handling delicate materials for libraries, museums, and institutions across the country, and have prepared and cared for documents that are centuries old. They are trained in the safe handling and care of all materials, including the invaluable collection you have entrusted us with.
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Will My Materials Be Shipped Out Of The USA?
All aspects of our scanning, quality control, and data entry processes are performed in our facility, and both it and our data center are located in the United States. At no time will your physical collection or digital files be sent out of the US, and we do not use any 3rd party or offshore resources like some digitization companies rely on.