June 13, 2008
Costco Video Transfer
If you are a Costco member, there's a new service you may want to look into: Costco Video Transfer and Costco Film Transfer.
This service fills an important role, because it’s estimated that 700 million home movies are stashed away in closets and basements, many of them degrading away because of the limited life span of film and video. If you don’t believe me, here’s a video my father took over thirty years ago – I can’t even make out my mother’s face anymore. Do you have your wedding video stashed 'safely' in a closet in your bedroom? Don’t end up like this faceless bride video.
Costco charges $20 for a video transfer and takes about three weeks. You drop them off at the same place you drop your photos, but unlike their photos that get processed right on site, these video tapes and film reels are sent off to California. That’s why the service takes three weeks. Some customers are uncomfortable about that, some don’t realize they get shipped offsite, some are okay with that.
What do you get back after 3 weeks? You get back a gold-plated DVD and on the cover of the DVD box, they put little thumbnail photos of what’s on the DVD to help you identify it visually. When you play the DVD, you’ll see those thumbnails like on on-screen index. Click a thumbnail to start the video right at that scene.
One more caveat: This service is only for families who just want to pop their DVDs into their player and do not mind watching raw video footage. I personally cannot stand watching unedited raw video footage. It’s like watching grass grow. In my last post where I listed reasons why your friends and family don’t watch your videos, this is what I’m talking about.
If do you want to edit your videos, you want to transfer them to a hard drive, not to a DVD. This is because it’s very tricky to edit videos already burned on DVDs, and since the videos have been compressed for DVDs, the quality of your edited video will be inferior compared to if you were working with original source files on a hard drive. To transfer your videos to a hard drive, consider the options I listed in my post Transferring your videos to a hard drive.
Anyway, whichever option you choose, digitizing your videos is the only way to stop the video degradation is important, so don’t wait to transfer your home videos and film, and if you are a Costco member, you've one fewer excuse to wait.
Comments
December 8, 2008
chuck said:
I have a Costco near me. How do I go about getting more specific and detailed information about the service. I need an estimate for transfer of Super 8 film, VHS and Super 8 cassette transferred to hard drive so I can edit it.
Thanks.
February 9, 2009
John Houseman said:
I have 11 (super) 8mm films spliced together on one reel, half with sound, half without sound.
Together about 550 ft of film.
I want three gold disks as a product. How much would this cost ?
I am near the Azusa, CA, store.
February 18, 2009
Big Red said:
I was ahead of everyone about 7 years ago. Sent off my film to Florida and apparently they got lost for 8 MONTHS!!! Ok, I started this company and my clients would NEVER send to a local store (I heard some of this stuff goes to Mexico and India!). Call someone local…trust me, the prices that the local stores have is not worth your lost memories!
May 26, 2009
Eden said:
If your looking for a better way to digitize your footage for editing purposes, check out http://www.digitallaundry.net.
May 27, 2009
Digitizing Home Videos at one iteration said (pingback):
[...] Service: Costco Video Transfer (Link) [...]
July 20, 2009
Ryan Graves said:
I provide this service as well for the same rate, including bulk discounts, custom packaging, multiple tapes to a single DVD, optimum resolution and incredibly quick turnaround…and I'm local! Feel free to look me up at http://www.seattlevideotransfer.com. Thanks!
October 8, 2009
TJ said:
It's a great service! If only people like Jeff Talbot would dig up his old VHS Videos & put them on DVD's, they'd be preserved for the kids & grandkids to see! VHS only lasts 15 years before they start to fade & crack. Then the memories are lost for ever! Come on Dad's, do it now!
October 28, 2009
Phil Thomas said:
Love Costco….but Yesvideo who they outsource to are consistently are not the best, it can take months and the quality of their film transfers is terrible. We see their DVD's all the time, dark, out of focus, cropped heads, it's so disappointing Costco didn't vet quality before bottom line.
We get a lot of referrals from our local Costco due to employees fed up of complaints. Our company is http://www.gotmemories.com (480)970-7690 Open M-F 10-5pm PST.
December 7, 2009
Jacob said:
If you're in southern California and are nervous about shipping your precious tapes away, there's a great company called DVD Your Memorieswhich can handle it in half the time with stunning quality.
Jane Shafron said:
Video transfer is a great first step towards preserving important family stories. However, a new industry is emerging: personal history documentary - or video biography. Integrating old film and video into a life story DVD creates a legacy that will become a treasure for generations. My business is one such video production company - http://www.yourstoryherehome.com - but there are others. Try Googling "video biography" and good luck!
December 11, 2009
xxx said:
Why would you ask a question like this? Furthermore, why do so MANY people ask questions like this? Do you really think you would get a more accurate and timely answer by posting such a detailed and specific question here and then waiting for someone to do what you could do by simply calling Costco and asking? How would someone reasonably expect that this poor woman would call their local Costco and price check services for them is beyond me. Have you no hands and no ears to do it yourself?
It frustrates me how many people won't do at least a little bit of their own legwork, especially when a person has already gone so far out of their way to provide information or techniques for others. Do people want every little thing on a silver platter?
January 6, 2010
wallace Martin said:
I need a live person to talk to. I am a Costco member and have numerous questions. Please call me at 760-384-6054.
February 2, 2010
Bill said:
You definitely have to be careful with places like Costco, Walmart, etc. They handle a high volume and are great at getting you low prices on paper towels, cereal and pretzels. But you might want to think twice before trusting them with your home movies. I can tell you from knowing COUNTLESS people who had their movies lost by these and other large chain stores. If you are in the Philadelphia/New York/Baltimore/Washington area, there is a FANTASTIC transfer facility that does EVERYTHING audio/video related ON SITE in Wilmington, DE, right on route 202. Their website is http://www.DDVF.com Very reasonable pricing, work is done on site and top quality. I speak from experience, as I had my movies converted there and continue to use them whenever I have the need.
(302) 888-2737
February 15, 2010
tom Schoffstall said:
We are in our 21st year of film transfers & dvd/cd duplication.
We service various locations in Ca, Nv, Az.
We are state of the art and can handle all of your needs or answer your question. We are friendly, reliable, and knowledgeable.
I would say our 21 years speaks for itself.
Transfers Unlimited:
1-800-463-3222
April 29, 2010
Zoe said:
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR WITH A DVD TRANSFER. This is very true! I would like to recommend an INCREDIBLE company called Timeless DVD for DVD and video transfer.
Keep in mind that larger transfer companies like YesVideo use an automated process for their transfers. This means that a minimum-wage clerk loads hundreds of tapes into VCRs and lets them run without ever checking for quality issues. Automation is why they can keep their prices so low. (It also enables them to outsource transfer work to India and elsewhere, which they often don't mention.)
Timeless DVD does not use an automated transfer process. They monitor every transfer to make sure that everything is going smoothly. This is a large part of why their conversions look so great, IMO. They also use broadcast/professional-quality decks and processors, while bulk-type companies use cheap VCRs to save on costs. And Timeless DVD works completely on-site, just outside of Philadelphia.
Timeless DVD can also transfer your video into AVI files so that you can edit your videos yourself on your computer. Larger companies will not offer this (as mentioned in the original post).
I speak from experience, as I have used Timeless DVD for both DVD transfers and computer files over the past few years. Trust me, they are awesome. Their website is http://www.timelessdvd.com
July 19, 2010
Don Payne said:
I am sorry to say I went with COSTCO. It was waste of time & money. No matter what is advertised the transfers are NOT color corrected that well. I had to have mine done three times. Finally gave up and took what was sent to me. The editing feature will not work on my computer. The DVD will only play on one segment at a time. I called the 800 # and got a web site. Went there. " NO LONGER AVAVALABLE" My advice, Save your money and go someplace other than COSTCO
July 27, 2010
Mike said:
I live in Las Vegas and found a great company for transferring my videos, NuFilez Media, http://www.nufilez.com The guys were really nice and even though my videos were almost lost to the Vegas heat, they took care of my tapes.