DVD Transfer - Answers to
Frequently Asked Questions
(An
Extreme Quality™ service)
Questions at a
glance:
I am not sure the exact length of the tape. How can I order?
Do you convert old Home Movies to DVD?
How much will you charge for . . . (transfer) . . . including shipping?
How long will the transfer to DVD take?
What If I send you a tape and it turns out it is a blank tape?
Do you sell PAL to NTSC converting equipment or software?
We have a few reel-to-reel video tapes. Can you convert them to DVD?
Do you handle VHS-C (or SVHS-C) tapes?
What happens if there are drop-outs on the tape?
What happens if the "tracking" goes out of adjustment?
I didn't know that my tape was of such poor quality. Why did you transfer it?
I am not sure what's on the tape. Can you tell me?
I do not live in the United States. Can I still order?
Your DVD does not play on my DVD player. Can I get a refund?
Can I order a DVD conversion and then use the DVD at home to edit the video?
Can I order a DVD conversion and then use the DVD to make more copies?
How do you change LaserDisc sides?
Do you convert to DVD interactive
LaserDIscs? How about still frame LaserDiscs?
Do you convert Karaoke LaserDiscs?
What about the alternate soundtracks on my
LaserDisc?
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I
am not sure the exact length of the tape. How can
I order?
Answer:
If you do not know the length of the tape, it is not a problem.
It is important that you familiarize yourself with our
pricing
structure. Place the order based on your best
estimate. In the "Special Instructions" box
of the Order Form, tell us to "make DVD of the correct
length for the tape". We will determine the length of the tape before we make the DVD and
will make the DVD of the appropriate length. After we make the DVD we
will run the Order Form again and charge the correct rate, depending on the
actual length.
In this type of situation it is best to use a Credit Card
for payment in order that we do not have to hold your order.
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Do you
convert old Home Movies to DVD?
Answer:
We do not offer a film transfer service at this time.
We only offer video tape transfer services, at this time.
However, we monitor the requests we receive and periodically add services that are most requested.
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How much
will you charge for . . .
(transfer) . . . including shipping?
Answer:
Please use the Order
Form (click HERE)
to calculate any pricing scenario. Feel free to use the order form as a calculator, and to try any price combinations. You can not "mess up" anything, you will not be charged anything. If you don't want to send the order through just don't click on the last "Submit Order" button.
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How long
will the transfer to DVD take?
Answer:
Most orders are
completed in about 1 week or less (at our studios). This is an average time, based on an average work-load.
"About" gives us some latitude. If the order is very simple, it may take less time to complete. If during a certain week we receive a number of orders that is way above average, it will take longer to complete your order.
- Large orders (such as 20 3-hour transfers to DVD) will take longer.
- Complex orders (multiple video sources, extra menu items,
multiple "enhanced graphics" transfers, etc.) will take longer.
- Peak ordering times (October-January), weeks preceding Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day and other holidays will lengthen our processing.
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NOTE: If your order is urgent and/or if this uncertainty is not acceptable, you may use one of our
RUSH Services and get your
project completed in 4 work days, 72 or 48 hours (time in our studios). |
- Please remember to add to that the shipping time, which varies depending on the shipping method you select.
- Use our own CVC Productions Order Tracking System to see the status of your order at all times.
- You will know the following:
- The date we received your electronic order
- That we received your recordings safely
- When the recordings entered admin processing
- When they are queued for studio time
- When they are being processed in the studio
- When the CD's are ready, and we are preparing to ship the order
- When the CD's have been shipped back to you
- If shipped by UPS, the UPS tracking number, so you can track the order back to your front door
- If shipped by US Mail, the USPS tracking number, so you can track the order back to your front door
- The CVC Productions Order Tracking System is available 24 hours a day, and is continuously updated.
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What If I
send you a tape and it turns out it is a blank
tape?
Answer:
We will not make a DVD
of a blank tape. However, if we set up to record your
tape and it turns out the tape is blank or unsuited for
producing a DVD, we will charge a "Setup Fee" of $14.25 plus return shipping. We will return your
tape unprocessed.
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Do you sell
PAL to NTSC converting equipment or software?
Answer:
No, we do not sell any
kind of equipment or software. We do not sell movies.
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We have a
few reel-to-reel video
tapes. Can you convert them to DVD?
Answer:
We do not offer a
reel-to-reel video transfer service at this time. We
do not plan on offering the service, due to the many
short-lived, incompatible formats for reel-to-reel video.
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Do you
handle VHS-C (or SVHS-C) tapes?
Answer:
Yes, we do. Same
price as the regular-sized tape.
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What
happens if there are drop-outs on
the tape?
Answer:
After we set up the
initial recording, we do not monitor for tape
drop-outs. If the master tape has drop-outs, the
drop-outs will be transferred to DVD.
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What
happens if the "tracking"
goes out of adjustment?
Answer:
We set the tracking
adjustment in such a way that MOST of the tape will track
correctly. It is
possible that parts of the transfer will show tracking
problems, if the recording deck mistracked on
recording. There is nothing we can do to fix this
condition.
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I didn't
know that my tape was of such poor quality.
Why did you transfer it?
Answer:
Determining the
suitability of a tape to be transferred to DVD is the
responsibility of the client. It is a subjective judgment
we are not equipped (or paid) to make. If we receive a
tape for conversion, we will convert it. The only way
we will not convert it is for technical reasons (such as
wrong format, tape does not play, etc.).
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I am not
sure what's on the tape. Can you tell me?
Answer:
Unfortunately, we do
not offer a tape logging service. In fact, such a
service would far exceed the cost of the transfer. It
is more cost effective for the customer to pay for a
conversion and do the logging at home.
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I do not
live in the United States.
Can I still order?
Answer:
Yes, we accept and welcome orders for International destinations.
Here's how to figure shipping charges for your country:
Go to the US Postal Service International Postal
Calculator.
Select <<A Package (No correspondence enclosed)>>
Select your country, in block 1.
Enter the estimated weight, in block 2.
Click <<OK>>
You will see a complete list of services and shipping charges.
- Select the service/price you prefer. Add $5.00 (to cover our packing costs). We normally use the cheapest "Airmail" service available. After you print our order form, replace the amount on the form with the amount you just calculated and re-figure the total.
If you do not want to use the Mail service, tell us what currier you prefer, and we will use that courier. You can go to their Web site and estimate the shipping costs. We will add a handling charge proportional with the number of items and total amount the courier charges.
Here is additional information about ordering:
- About the THE SHOPPING CART page (the one with the item amounts and total):
The Zip Code box only works for US Zip Codes. Leave the Zip Code field blank. The Order Form will not calculate return shipping. (See below how you can estimate return shipping).
- About THE CHECKOUT COUNTER page (the one where you type your address and payment information):
This page will require that you enter a "zip code" in the zip code box (even if your address does not have a zip code). If your address does not have a zip code, enter "12345" in the "zip code" box, and write your correct return address in the Special Instructions box, or on an enclosed piece of paper.
- For payment, it's best to use a Credit Card. An International Money Order in US funds
drawn on (or affiliated with) a US bank is also acceptable.
PayPal is also acceptable.
- Please note that client is responsible for additional credit card,
check or PayPal fees imposed by the banks for International Orders. At this time,
credit card and PayPal fees are 5%, which will be added to the
total. At this time there is no fee for International
Money Orders in US funds drawn on (or affiliated with) a US
bank. The fees for Money Orders drawn on a foreign
bank are quite steep ($40).
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Your DVD
does not play on my DVD player. Can
I get a refund?
Answer:
Sorry, but we can not
issue refunds if your DVD player can not read our
DVD's. We are aware that old model DVD players do not
read DVD-R's. We published this information on our Web
site and made available test DVD's for the purpose of
determining if your DVD player will play correctly our
DVD's. All modern DVD players will play our
DVD's. With the price of DVD players going down to
below $50, this is not really a major issue.
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Can I order
a DVD conversion and then use the DVD at home to edit the
video?
Answer:
Yes. You may
try editing directly from the Video DVD. The Video DVD's we
produce are written in the MPEG2 format, the standard DVD
format. We do not encrypt our
DVD's. Does your
video editing package import video directly from DVD's? If in
doubt, order our Test Video DVD
and run a test first.
Alternatively, you may order a Data DVD Copy.
The Data DVD Copy is specially produced in a very
high quality and highly compatible format:
MPEG-4. ATTENTION: we do not provide
any technical support, warranties or assistance for
editing the Video or Data DVD's we produce. Please read
complete info about the Data
DVD Copies.
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Can I
order a DVD conversion and then use the
DVD to make more copies?
Answer:
If the DVD's have a
copyright owner other than yourself, the copying or
distribution by any means is strictly prohibited. If
you are the copyright owner, or the DVD has no copyright you
may be able to make additional copies. This is a
complicated technical issue, it depends on your hardware,
software and media. It is best to order a few
additional copies from us, at the time you place the
order. ATTENTION: we do not provide any technical
support, warranties or assistance for further duplicating
our DVD's.
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How do you
change LaserDisc sides?
Answer:
In order to keep the cost down, we use automated side changing. The screen goes black for a few seconds while the sides are changed. If this short pause is objectionable, it can be eliminated.
In order to do that, we must treat each side of the LaserDisc as
a separate "source" (at $10 for each additional source). To accomplish that, on the order form, select an "Additional Source" for $10. Also, in the Special Instructions box of the order form tell us to eliminate the pause between sides.
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Do you
convert to DVD interactive
LaserDiscs? How about still frame LaserDiscs?
Answer:
We do not convert
Still Frame LaserDiscs and Interactive
LaserDiscs. These specialized LaserDiscs require
a frame-accurate conversion and a frame-accurate DVD
player. At any rate, there are no consumer
frame-accurate DVD players on the market. Please
do not send for conversion Still Frame LaserDiscs or
Interactive LaserDiscs.
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Do you
convert Karaoke LaserDiscs?
Answer:
We do not specialize
in Karaoke conversions. However, we may still be
able to convert some Karaoke LaserDiscs. We will
have to produce a separate DVD for each sound track
selected (one DVD for full soundtrack, one DVD for no
vocals). |
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What about
the alternate soundtracks on my
LaserDisc?
Answer:
At this price level, we are not able to produce a DVD with multiple audio tracks.
What we do (and is more cost efficient than re-engineering a DVD with multiple sound tracks) is to make separate DVD's for each version of the LD:
One DVD with the main soundtrack, another DVD with the
alternate soundtrack. Some LaserDiscs have two
separate soundtracks on the two Stereo channels: one
soundtrack on the Left channel, one soundtrack on the
Right channel. We are able to convert to DVD
exactly in the same configuration. It will be
then up to you to separate the channels on your own
playback equipment. |
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The message below is
updated each time there is a change in the status of our service.
If you wonder if we are in business, the answer is: Yes we are, and this
is the status of our service:
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: PLEASE READ
Important Scheduling Notice
At this time we are booked with
work commitments until October 2008. New orders placed on this
Web site will be processed in the order received, beginning early
October 2008. Our Receiving Department will accept and date-stamp
packages received, for processing in order in which they were
received. The packages WILL NOT be entered into our Order Tracking
System until early October 2008 (please do not panic if you
do not see your order in the Order Tracking System). Email inquiries received after
July 7 will be answered October 2008. Phone support will
resume at the same time.
Should we develop any
available processing capacity before October 2008, we will update this
message. Please stay tuned.
Please feel free to
submit orders at this time, for processing in October 2008.
Please DO NOT PLACE AN ORDER if it must be processed before October
2008. We anticipate a heavy workload in October and November 2008. If
you have projects for Holiday Season 2008, may we suggest that you send
in your order as early as possible. Orders will be
processed in the order received. Wise customers order early
If you wonder "is it
worth submitting an order now and waiting for processing in
October", we think YES. We have hundreds of loyal customers
who would not think of sending their work to anyone else but to us and
they think that the wait is worthwhile. Submitting your order now,
early "in line", will ensure much quicker processing in
October. The closer you place the order to October, the longer the wait
for order completion in October/November.
We thank you, our loyal
customers and new clients,
for your tremendous support!
All the best,
Cristian Coban, Ph.D.
President, CVC Productions
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