Questions & Answers.. Home Video with dvFlyer Productions

Please check DVD FAQ from Jim Taylor, author of the "DVD Demystified" book.

Also there is an excellent source of information at http://dvdrhelp.com We provide high quality service, our prices are very competitive. Below are what we believe our strong points:

highly customizable;
all major formats, variety of options like jewel case, titles, menu, animations, footage compilation video clip, web ready video, and others;
preview while in progress;
no prepayment;
10 days evaluation period, money back guarantee;

In case you would like to conduct your own research just go to Google, Yahoo or other search engine. Type in tape to DVD , or whatever keyword you think is better and hit search button.
There are few links at DVD FAQ as well.

You are always welcome to come back.

No. The primary purpose of the "Episodes" service is to preserve your footage. Although we insert transitions, add sound track, graphics, animations, titles, etc. we try to keep the original chronological order. We accept instructions in the form which scenes to include/exclude. However we will not iterate over scenario within the budget of the "Episodes" service. The law is both simple and quite complicated.
1. In case you would like to have copyrighted soundtrack you will need a license. We will need a license too in order to synchronize it.
2. The notion of "personal use" is pretty vague. Say, you show an episode with a copyrighted soundtrack at a party where other people beside your close ones were invited. Strictly speaking this is not for "personal use".

To be on the safe side we can add sound track to your footage out of the library we have. We will provide you with a copy of the license that will allow you to play your video in public places, Internet.
We will not synchronize copyrighted soundtrack for which we do not have a corresponding license. Some restrictions apply.

We are proud to offer preview feature. You can partially preview results while in progress over Internet.
We will prepare a web version and inform you how to access restricted area at our web site.
Make your remarks, we will do our best to make it the way you like.
Please note that for several reasons web version is reduced in size and quality. In case you wish to estimate the final quality we will offer you a short (5-10 secs) fragment download.
You will need a decent Internet connection (DSL/Cable) to preview/download video.
The number of copies you may order should be less than 20.

Our advice. For each disk have an extra copy of it. When a video tape is jammed you may loose part of the video. When a disk is scratched - entire disk is probably lost.

A copy is $10 CAD from dvFlyer Prods. Alternatively you can do it yourself. Use brand name DVD blanks only and please don't postpone it.

We do not provide neither duplication nor replication service. The number of copies you may order should be less than 20.
We do not provide neither duplication nor replication service. Under no circumstances will we reveal any material or personal information we may obtain from you. Never.

We keep a copy of video project for 10 days starting from the moment your order is ready and mailed back to you unless you instruct us otherwise. After 10 days we will completely purge all video data produced in the course of order processing. dvFlyer Productions will not process any copyrighted video/audio material for which you as a customer do not hold the copyright.

dvFlyer Productions will not process any material that contains expressions of abuse, offensive language, obscenity, or pornography, or any other material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability.

We accept VHS, VHS-C, SVHS, 8mm, Hi-8, Digital-8, Mini DV
We will process your order within 3-7 business days. Please contact us before mailing your order to get an estimate for your particular case.
Generally newer players (after 2000) should have no problems to play DVD-R. Please check DVD FAQ
Our prices have been reduced dramatically since 01/05/04. Our Pay-and-Save campaign is in action as well. Prices are very competitive (you did not expect an opposite statement here, did you? :-) Quality? You get back tape and disk first, you get 10 days to evaluate, you pay if you are satisfied. More than money-back-guarantee.

However the real benefit lies in customization. DVD is not just another media - it's a new way to organize your video archives. You are not going to run 60 minutes video at a party (tape or DVD - does not matter). You can instantly pick up from DVD menu an episode of 5-10 minutes without making it boring. If you have multiple tapes - give it a try with one tape and you'll be surprised how interesting the old video may look like.
No doubt, there is a risk.
That's why we ask our customers to pay proper attention to packaging when mailing their footage. We recommend to make a copy before mailing the original.

You may also want to know that we play your tape only once - to digitize it. It means that you can get back your tape practically on the next day - before your order is complete. If you have multiple tapes - don't send them all if you don't feel so. Give us a tape, get it back next day and so on. This way you'll minimize your risk considerably.
Sorry, it is not possible at the moment. We've tried it before and found it unacceptable because of time/budget ratio.
That's why we offer web preview - it is much more productive to discuss and correct something that already exists rather than speculate about possible directions.
It is possible to incorporate your still images - photo, pictures, graphics into the final video stream. In fact it makes your video more attractive. You may want to add titles over, animations, soundtrack - great additions to a wedding, anniversary disks. We can insert slide show of your still images into video stream in a various ways with smooth transitions, as picture in picture, etc.

We accept both hard copies (to be scanned) as well as image files. Once again we would like to stress the importance of proper packaging when mailing fragile and precious material.
Please contact us before sending your material. You may call or send an email.
We'll provide you with price and time estimates, we may be useful with some tips.

We prefer to get an email description of the task:
1) how many minutes, hours is your footage;
2) is it NTSC (North America), PAL (Europe) and do you need a conversion;
3) do you need DVD menu, titles, soundtrack, ...
4) do you want to cut out some scenes;
5) how many copies you think you'll want to have.
The questions above are just to help you in making decisions. You don't have to provide the information on your first contact. However we'll need it in case you decide to go on.