Blog
All You Need to Know about VHS Transfers
I transfer VHS on a daily basis at Advanced Media LLC in Hollywood and you can bet I’ve seen the world from the vantage of my office. I’ve been to Thailand recently without paying for air fair. The year was 1990 something and the weather was fine. But that’s another story. You probably have a box or two of old VHS footage and you may want to transfer that to DVD or to a file so you can edit the footage but you may need a little information to help you make a good decision. After all, it costs money and there’s no need to waste your resources. The main question is, “What’s the purpose of this transfer?” If your answer is, “To watch it on DVD because I threw out my old VHS player long ago,” then you should simply drop these tapes off with a professional to have the simple transfers completed. This method is cheap and easy and everything on your tapes will be preserved in DVD format which works on your computer at home as well as your DVD player. However, if you wish to cut out some of the bad bits and to omit relatives and friends or moments you do not wish to relive, then you want a file. A file is a single, self-contained version of your material that can be manipulated, cut and edited very easily. DVDs require an additional step if you wish to edit them for which you’ll need the appropriate software, the knowledge of the process to operate it and a bit of patience because in the digital world, things are not as easy as one would hope. Strange occurrences are often unexplained and that is generally why people let us deal with the headache of creating files and DVDs. Not to mention we can save you a lot of time and frustration. The other big advantage, is quality. A file can preserve the footage better with no-loss formats such as uncompressed and very little loss codecs such as Prores. Remember, a DVD is compressed and while it may not look any different to the untrained eye, it really is altered for the worse. After you have the file safely stored on your removable hard drive, you can plug it into your computer at home or in the editing bay and easily manipulate the footage, adding music, titles and cutting our anything boring or mundane. And when you’re done, bring it to a family gathering and watch the smiling faces. Nothing brings a joy like truly reliving our past triumphs and sharing that with the people we care about.
For more information check out our other site HERE.
PAL to NTSC Transfers Explained
Most people have no idea what PAL or NTSC formats are or refer to and that’s why I’m writing this article. As the Office Manager of Advanced Media LLC in Hollywood, I get a chance to meet with people from all over the world to discuss their media. It turns out that media from foreign countries does not play in our DVD players in the US and the need arises to view this footage here and that’s how people end up here. Just recently, a couple from India came in with wedding footage shot in PAL format which is standard in India and in many parts of the world and they wanted to cut together a DVD which could be viewed in India as well as here in the US.
The process of converting the 25 frames per second PAL to the 29.97 frames per second NTSC is quite involved and I won’t bore you with the technical details. In the end I cut the footage on a PAL timeline and used a special hardware component called a Teranex Converter to create the NTSC version. The Teranex gives the highest quality possible. Another gentleman came in with a DVD he ordered from England. He was surprised to find out that it didn’t play in his player and because it was simply for home use, I was able to do a very simple form of the PAL to NTSC DVD transfer in which I play the disc in one machine, run it through a converting device and run that into a DVD recorder. The quality is not quite as good as the original but it’s certainly just fine for viewing at home. Most people opt for this very inexpensive transfer over the Teranex, however, anyone wanting to broadcast their media on television or to display a film in a theatrical setting should opt for the high quality hardware solution. For more information on our Post-production Services click HERE.
EPK and Trailer Services
EPKs and trailers are an invaluable marketing tools for your video, film, web series, etc. They are important for creating buzz for your project as well as tease the audience into wanting to see your work without having to reveal too much.
EPKs show behind the scenes clips and interviews of the people who are involved with your project. When people see how much fun or the process of what went into the your project they will be interested in seeing it. We recently worked on EPKs for the feature films: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Shame, and The Decendants.
Trailers showcase the best and also teases the audience. Trailers are extremely important for marketing your film, Sadly these days with so much projects and ads out there, you only have about 3 minutes to catch a person’s attention. At a Film Market for example, buyers have to be constantly moving around looking for the next big hit. They only have time to watch a trailer here and there and if they are interested in your trailer then they will watch your film.
Advanced Media Provides Trailer and EPK Services. We have worked on several Feature Films including: Stone, Leaves of Grass, White Elephant, Labor Pains, The Expendables and many others! We are an LA based One-stop-shop for Video production and post-production services. Check out our other services HERE
Music Video Production
It’s difficult being a musician these days. Record Labels are slowly being phased out and illegal downloads have made it extremely difficult to make being a musician a lucrative career. The once great MySpace is now primarily for bands to post new music, tour dates and blogs to get that all important word-of-mouth out. How can you expect to compete with technology? By using it to your advantage.
MTV may not have aired a music video since the Macarena but that doesn’t mean Music Videos are no longer useful in getting your band noticed. It just means budgets are no longer that huge! This is great news if you don’t have deep pockets but still want to make a creative and professional looking music video for your band. Which is why we provide Video Production Services.
They don’t all have to be as clever and difficult as OK GO’s Rube Goldberg video for ‘This Too Shall Pass’. Look at the Black Key’s video for ‘Lonely Boy’. It’s as simple a music video as can be: one set up, one take and it’s simply a man dancing to the song and it has 7 million views and counting.
You need to get your video out there, and we can help with that. We provide affordable video production services in the Los Angeles area and we have a lot of experience in working with feature films and with MTV’s Lingerie Football League. Create a mini documentary with your band or a web series to tell a story about your band.
Video Production Services – Demo Reel
Advanced Media LLC recently started their own production company and our goal for 2012 is to have a lot of exciting projects that lead us to bigger and brighter things! Our recent projects included a Web video for a real estate company in Pallos Verdes! We also recently finished a video production job for the Eye Care Company, VSP. Last week we finished a demo reel in Studio City for an up and coming young actor.
At Advanced Media, we want to be your one stop shop for you post-production and now for your production needs. Along with video transferring, we also edit and produce demo reels for all our customers. We are new to the acting reel production game but our experience in Hollywood make us more than qualified to handle this time of job.
In studio city we shot a few scenes for an engaging young actor so that he may have a more full and complete demo reel. We provided the lighting equipment, camera and sound equipment as well as a small crew that were more than willing to help out an actor with their video production needs!
We shot one comedy scene that took place in a pizza cafe and another drama scene in an office setting. It was a pleasure working with everyone involved with the reel and we can’t wait for the next job! Afterwards the happy customers went to our office where we also cut their reels together and made duplicates of it for the casting agents around the LA area, of course we can provide this and more! Click HERE for more info.
Is Blu-ray here to stay?
Blu-ray is here
Everywhere you go these days, whether a retail bookstore, WalMart and even small mom and pop shops that carry DVD titles are giving way to Blu-ray discs.
DVDs are disappearing fast and are quickly reaching a collector item status.
With incredible recent developments in digital technology, is Blu-ray really here to stay? Or will it be a short-lived experiment, about to be written off as the last tangible “hard” media?
First, a few facts about Blu-ray:
The Blu-ray format was introduced in the late 2000, however, was only commercially released by 2006 (2003 in Japan, they are always ahead of us!)
Between the years 2006 and 2009, Blu-ray was immersed in the notorious “format war” with HD-DVD in a dynamic that vastly resembles the VHS/Betamax format wars of the 80s. Apparently, every generation need their own format war.
With the official retreat of HD-DVD, and the victory of Blu-ray, it was then settled and slowly penetrated the market.
Blu-ray titles sales in North America (US & Canada) have grown from 1.2 million in 2006 to 177.2 million in 2009. In addition, projections are forecasting that by the end of 2011, 50 million homes will own Blu-ray players. That will represent more than 40%!!!
In addition, the advent of Blu-ray 3D adds a whole new dimension to the equation, pun intended. Some projections estimates that by 2015, 3D TVs will be in more than 60% of US households and 3D Blu-ray players will be in more than 75%.
Now, that’s not too shabby for a format that just recently survived a war and that has been declared “dead” by many pundits time and time again.
So what is it in this blue laser technology that it just won’t quit?
While it is clearly open to interpretations, we at Advanced Media believe it is derived from 3 different aspects:
Generational – older demographics have more spending abilities and are used to buy tangible media (ownership). They want to enjoy their favorite films, as well as new releases in HD with cool interactive menus. These people will drive the market.
Quality – it is hard going back to DVD after getting used to Blu-ray. It is like stepping back from First Class to Coach in a midst of a packed flight.
Adaptability – people are still slow to embrace digital-only solutions. It is certainly happening, and we anticipate a day without any optical discs, yet we do not anticipate it any time soon.
We believe that the Blu-ray technology is here to stay for the foreseeable future. We have had no particular bias when writing this blog, and after gathering the statistics, we were left fairly surprised.
We like Blu-ray. It’s a good format. It’s clean and it’s available.
Thank you for visiting our site.
The reasons behind media preservation
Advanced Media, much like many nationwide media companies, has been seeing an increased demand for personal film and videos preservation to digital media. Some of the obvious reasons are the obsoleteness of analog VCRs and the relative inconvenience for the average individual to screen 8mm film, as well as the extremely accessible various forms of digital media, be it computers, iPods, iPads and the internet.
We, as a media company, have invested a substantial amount of capital in the acquisition, testing and improvement of our fitting in order to be able to serve the growing demand from individuals, corporations and government entities alike. After completing large library projects for large organizations, such as the FBI, the UC educational system, various California state libraries and many others and being an approved government contractor, we have come to realize that beyond the obvious reasons that make our customers choose to convert, transfer, preserve, and restore the personal or intellectual content, history and memories, there are some more profound reasons at play.
Today, we live in what is called the “Information Age”, as well as “Digital Age”. We, as a society, are being accustomed to rapidly share personal and intellectual content, as well as monetize it to various degrees. Example in case is Facebook, which instrumental success is primarily based upon individuals need to share.
As time moves forward and technology becomes more and more ingrained in our daily life, our digital needs grow respectively. While in the not so long ago, we would typically store our VHS tapes on a shelf and watch them years later, today, they could be easily posted and broadcast to the entire world on free platforms like YouTube.
We are living at an age were sharing information can be done at the speed of light and for a relatively low cost. Today, it is becoming part of our identity and our need to preserve and share the past comes along with it.
Some can argue that we are becoming our own historians and documentarians. Perhaps in the near future, people would expect each other to have their own short biography on video, ready to view just a click away.
Thank you for considering Advanced Media is your primary choice of media services provider. It is always our pleasure.
Advanced Media.
Blu Ray Services
When you hear Blu Ray you think top end, Crisp quality and Jaw Dropping Graphics. Unfortunately, you also think it’s too expensive and unless it’s the Dark Knight on Blu Ray, you’d rather go without it. There are times, however, when you will need to pay the extra amount for professional Blu Ray Services.
Say you have a low budget Indie film that you would like to show at festivals. The Blu Ray Format would help your film gain attention! With the way technology is now, you have to go with the flow for your film to gain attention and credibility. Want even more? We also do Blu Ray 3D, so more than before you can get your movie to (pardon the pun) jump out of the screen! And the cost is a lower than you are expecting, especially if you we’re thinking an arm and a leg.
Advanced Media does affordable Blu Ray Services as well as Bulk DVD Duplication Services for any job you may have! We offer top notch Blu Ray Replication/Duplication Services in Los Angeles. We also provide video transfer services so if you want to Transfer your old family video to transfer to Blu Ray for a wedding, that is not a problem for us.
Visit our site: www.BluRayWizard.com for more information.
Los Angeles Trade Shows – New Media Content
Technology is moving at a rapid and nearly non stop pace. To keep up we go to various expos and Trade shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas that showcase the latest in Technological advancements in Film, Video, Media, etc. Here we meet with the reps of the Top companies including: Sony, Microsoft, Adobe, Avid, Samsung, LG, RED, etc. We see how we can implicate these technological advances into our business so that we may better serve you in Media Transfer, Post-production services and Video Production Services.
Examples of the events we go to are:
NAB (North American Broadcasters) show in Las Vegas. This is where the latest and greatest in Media Technology (cameras, TVs, Broadcast equipment, etc.)
LA Film Fest: The Premier Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Cinegear and Showbiz Expo: Los Angeles Based show for professionals within the TV, film, movie and actors.
American Film Market – Top Show for the selling and distribution of thousands of Films currently available and in development.
E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) – Premier show and Press/media professional expo in Los Angeles that focuses on the Video Game industry.
Comic Con (San Diego) – Worlds Largest Pop Culture Expo, the latest and biggest show that deals with Latest Hollywood Blockbuster and the Geek Obsessed culture!
BlogWorld and New Media Trade Show- New Los Angeles based expo with a focus on Social Media and marketing you business using the latest in New Media Content.
Check out our Sister Site for other Professional Media Services we provide Here
Why you need an Actor Reel
You just moved to LA after Theatre school with dreams of making it to the big screen. You’ve been in a few small made for TV Movies and shows and have a huge audition coming up soon. You memorized your lines no problem, your head shot make you look perfect for the role, the only thing…Your Demo reels isn’t as strong as you want it to be. With your audition so close how are you going to make a complete demo reel with such a short amount of time?
An Actor Reel needs to focus on your talent and showcase your range of emotions. An actor’s reel is an important exposure tool and Advanced Media Specializes in Demo Reel Production in Los Angeles. We offer package deals for Demo Reel re shoots and we have professional editors who can cut your reel together making Advanced Media LLC your one stop shop for Demo Reel Production! You can also sit in with the editor to make sure you get the professional reel that you deserve while we throw in our own creative and professional twists here and there.
We have worked with a wide range of actors/actresses on their demo reels, check our demo Reel website if you would like to see some of our work here at: www.VideoReelExperts.com or click here to know more about our Video Production Services: HERE
Call us now for a free quote: (323) 469-0707
← Older posts Newer posts →
