Gather the film that you are going to transfer.  Begin by cleaning the film using your (hand operated) film re-winder and cleaning solution.  The cleaning solution can be obtained from an Audio/Video store as can most projector bulbs and other materials that you may need.  Use a clean white hanky, (or you can purchase cleaning cloths) with a drop of your solution to clean your film.  As you slowly wind the film from one reel to another, fold a small section of the hanky over the film and as the film winds, you are cleaning it with your solution.  You will have to change to a clean area of hanky about 3 or 4 times during this process as your hanky will become stained with "dead" emulsion, mold, mildew, dirt, etc.  After you have run the entire reel through the cleaning solution soaked hanky, you will let it sit for about 5 minutes.  Then you will wind it back to the original reel, or a larger reel if you wish to combine a number of reels of film.  As you wind the film to this reel, you will again use a hanky, except this time dry, to run the film through.  This will aid in removing excess solution.  How many times you change folds of hanky is up to you.  When you are done, you can repair any breaks or blank areas in your film.

There are many ways to transfer film to video.  There are machines made for this purpose, but they are expensive.  I'm going under the assumption that you are going to transfer your families home movies to video and for this purpose I will not discuss expensive equipment.  An affordable piece of equipment is a "transfer box".  I've tried these, and wouldn't recommend it if you want to achieve a quality transfer.  The least expensive screen material is a white pasteboard similar to what is packed with paper, or even a sheet of computer paper.  A flat finish, not glossy is best.  You can attach this to a wall close by with tape on the edges.  You won't film all the way to the edges, therefore the tape won't show.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR TRANSFER AREA:

You will set your video camera on a tripod approximately 3 feet from your "screen".  Your projector will also be about 3 feet from the screen.  You will set your camera and projector up in a "V" configuration, tight as possible at the top of the V.  You will be projecting to the screen and copying with your camera from the screen.  Your camera or projector can be slightly behind the other.  The reason for the tight "V" configuration is so that your copied image is pretty square on when viewed and not wider at one side than the other.

The best projector that one can use for transfers is one with a variable speed control.  The closer you can come to 15 frames per second the better your copied film will look.  16 frames per seconds seems to work quite well.  Viewing your converted film on a TV will have a lot less flicker, almost none, if copied at this speed.  A TV's image is shown at 30 frames per second.  16 MM projectors also can be found with variable speed.  Have your video camera hooked to a TV monitor and you can get your speed set pretty close.. watch as the flicker decreases as you adjust the speed.

EDITING:

Once your film is copied to the video camera you will want to copy it to your computer hard drive.  There are many software programs out there, but the one I've stuck with is Pinnacle software and the pinnacle movie box for transfers.  It will accept analog or digital.  Once your camera tape is saved to your hard drive, then you can use the Pinnacle software to add titles, music, narration, fades and dissolves and other effects.  A little bit of practice goes a long way.  Remember that a 50 foot 8MM film from way back when only contains 4 minutes of film, so if you copy from the old camera films you will be quite busy.

As for the Pinnacle software, read the help files on use of the software and you should be doing film director work in no time.

TIPS:

Movie making/editing on your computer causes rapid fragmentation of your hard drive.  I would suggest de-fragging before starting and after finishing your edit, before burning to DVD.  This will cause a lot less problems in the long run.  Also be sure your machine (computer) is fairly new and up to date with a good size hard drive.  Digital movies take up quite a bit of hard drive space.

You can get away with less, but I recommend at least 2 gig of RAM on your machine.  If you don't have that much memory, don't despair, you can always add memory to your machine.

DVD burners come in all flavors, from low end to high quality.  I don't suggest spending a lot of money on a burner as quality can be had for a low cost today.  I use a lightscribe burner that allows me to burn a label right on my DVD.  There are also special disks and printers that allow printing directly to the disk.  I don't suggest the stick on labels.  These can cause overheating of the disk which makes the aluminum separate from the matrix and then you have problems with your disk being read properly.  Again, good quality disks are also a factor.  If a project is worth spending this time, then it's worth the extra money for good disks and burners.

Prepare to make copies of your converted movies for friends and family.  Once they see yours, they will want one also.  It is fair to ask for re-imbursement for materials.

FAQ:

Where do I find film cleaning solution??

Answer:  This is just one place you might look.  I don't endorse any one solution, or brand over another, so be sure that what you choose is non toxic.

QUESTIONS?

OIL PAINTING PICTURE REPAIR.  Do you have an old oil painting that is torn or damaged?