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See What Our Clients Are Saying Job Detail: Digitizing various Video, Audio and Motion Picture Film formats from the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and World Archives Collections Media Transfer Service provided excellent service in preserving the media from the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and World Archives Collections. John was professional and helpful when drafting the grant and explaining the importance and details relating to this project. We were kept well informed of the progress of the project as well as were given the knowledge to make informed decisions on how to best care for the collection in the present and into the future. Media Transfer Service is a great choice for those looking to digitize media of various forms. Kathryn Whalen, Special Collections Supervisor, Richardson- Sloane Special Collections Center, Davenport, Iowa Job Detail: Optical Disc mass migration of 3,000 audio CDs – University of South Carolina’s Music Department We contracted MTS to help us transfer our CD recordings to cloud-based storage and are very happy with the results. Throughout the project, John communicated with us about every step of the process and provided regular progress updates, at times a daunting task given our lack of comfort in this area. The files are impeccable, and the quality of the work is outstanding. It was a joy to work with them, and we hope to do so again in the future. Ana Dubnjakovic - Head, USC Music Library Job Detail: Digitization of a large collection of VHS videotape and Reel-to-Reel / Cassette audiotapes for the State University at Geneseo through a CLIR (Council On Libraries and Information Resources) funded grant Since 1976, SUNY Geneseo Professor and ethnomusicologist, James Kimball, has documented traditional musicians of New York State, specializing in the Eastern square dance tradition. These include more than 500 unique interviews and community performances of notable fiddlers, square dance callers, dance musicians and community members whose knowledge bridges 19th century repertory to contemporary practice of the tradition. This collection supplies a rich, layered account of regional music and dance that connects to similar communities across the United States. As Kimball, SUNY Geneseo and local arts stakeholders discussed long term use of the collection, the need to digitize these fragile analog audio and video materials was immediately identified as a top priority. In our first contact with John Schroth at Media Transfer Service, it was clear that he led a professional and extremely knowledgeable company that was prepared to handle any and all of the work. We found his framing questions and discussions to be particularly helpful, enabling us to think through the totality of the project, which I believe made us more competitive when applying for grant funds. In the bidding process for vendors as we prepared (and then were awarded) a grant application to the Council on Library and Information Resources, MTS maintained its edge over other digitization services. The company paid careful attention to each file, adjusted to changes and discoveries of additional materials along the way, and completed the project on time--even through the upheavals of COVID-19. We couldn't be happier with the results and wholeheartedly recommend John and his team. Karen Canning, Director - Traditional Arts and Folklife Program Job Detail: Digitization of a sizable collection of ¾” U- Matic videotapes at Squeaky Wheel Film and Arts Institute through a CLIR (Council On Libraries and Information Resources) funded grant When we first embarked on digitizing our cherished Axlegrease 3/4” U-matic tape collection, there were many questions and uncertainties about how how to apply for grant funding and also how the medium was going to hold up in the preservation process. Axlegrease is a unique collection of video art and documentary films that were created by local and national artists and broadcast on a weekly basis in Western New York and on partner public access cable stations throughout the nation between 1987 and 1999. The collection contains work of significant historical and cultural value, and with every year that passed, degradation of the medium was a looming concern. There was no doubt that this process would require technical knowledge and equipment, and that each and every tape would need love and attention to make it through. Luckily, we chose to work with Media Transfer Service (MTS) to prepare the application for a grant request and then to digitize the collection. John Schroth and his team at MTS were not only incredibly professional and technically knowledgeable, they also had a sincere appreciation of the kind of independent cable access TV production that Squeaky Wheel’s Axlegrease program was and its historical importance. The value they imbued in the material was evident in the care and attention to detail they put into processing, repairing, baking, and digitizing each and every tape. Transparent and forthright about every step of the process, John consulted us with every question or decision that needed to be made when things didn’t go as planned; surprises and unexpected challenges were par for the course when working with at-risk materials, and MTS took every step seriously and kept us informed. They were not just a service provider but truly became a partner in the preservation of the material. One of the highlights of our partnership with MTS was an educational site visit we conducted at their facilities. Along with project partners from Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State and Lumiflux Media, John allowed us to tour the site, interview the staff, and produced a video documentary about the project and digitization process. This, along with a best practices manual including everything we learned about this work is now available for students of preservation for the future. Thanks to Media Transfer Services, (and a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources), Squeaky Wheel was finally able to digitize its Axlegrease collection and to preserve it for future generations. Maiko Tanaka, Executive Director - Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center Job Detail: Digitizing 1/2” EIAJ, 3/4”U-Matic, Betacam and VHS format videotape for preservation and access for the State University College at Brockport’s Writers Forum Series MTS has been a real life-saver for the College at Brockport's Writers Forum video series. Our collection of studio recordings, dating from 1968, had been sitting on the shelves for years, unwatchable and in danger of loss. John helped us make a plan and has been generous with his impressive expertise, explaining each step in the process of preserving and digitizing these irreplaceable recordings. Thanks to MTS, our collection of interviews with some of the most interesting writers of the last fifty years--Rita Dove, Isaac Asimov, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Sexton, and many others--is finally becoming available online. James Whorton, the Brockport Writers Forum Job Detail: Digitizing 1,000 videotapes for Dharma Ocean Foundation It has truly been a pleasure working with you on this project. I reported on its completion to our board of directors two weeks ago. Everyone is very happy with the quality of the work you accomplished. I remember first calling you to inquire about what characteristics I should consider when selecting a good digitization service in Denver. By the end of the call I was convinced that you were the right person for the job, even at 1,500 miles away. Your attention to detail and sensitivity to our unique needs was incredibly appreciated. Initially we felt anxious about the risk we were taking in shipping irreplaceable archive materials. Your competence and professionalism set us at ease. Further, we were very grateful for the reasonable rates and your willingness to accommodate our budgetary timeline. Having almost 1,000 tapes digitized, has allowed our organization to breathe a collective sigh of relief in knowing that these video files are now safely stored with redundancy. Please let me know if we can ever serve as a reference. We would be more than happy to vouch for the quality of your work, equipment, systems, and expertise. There are few video archive professionals in America with your high level skills. Thanks for everything! Jonathan Daniel - Media Archives Manager, Dharma Ocean Foundation. Job Detail: Film, Video, Audio digitization for the Memorial Art Gallery John Schroth helped the Memorial Art Gallery survey its archival audio & video collection. Ranging from 16mm film from the 1930s to present-day audio & video, including many obscure commercial formats, John helped us identify what we had, and prioritize digitization in preparation for the Gallery's centennial in 2013. His large collection of playback equipment enabled us to preview material before deciding on digitization, and then he was able to adjust for noise and other quality issues to give us the highest possible quality masters and access surrogates. His knowledge of digital preservation standards & technologies assures us that these digital masters will be able to migrate to new formats in the future as technology changes. Lu Harper - Special Collections, Memorial Art Gallery Job Detail: Videotape conversion for a division of the University of Rochester As a Developmental Psychologist at the University of Rochester and Mount Hope Family Center, I am involved in extensive observational research with children. As a component of an NIH-funded research project, I needed to restore hundreds of 20-year old VHS tapes recording children playing, talking, and interacting within a classroom. When first considering utilizing these tapes I had serious concerns about the visual and audio quality. Some were so dark that you could not make out children's faces. Others were so audibly fuzzy it was impossible to hear what was being said. As I began searching for a reliable company to transfer these VHS tapes to DVD and file based format, I came across Media Transfer Service. After meeting with John Schroth, the owner of MTS, he worked miracles with these tapes. Not only did MTS transfer them to digital format at the most reasonable price available, but John was also able to adjust the visual and audio quality, separate distinct segments into chapters, and included a time signature. When they were returned, the recordings were in even better condition than on the original VHS! MTS saved this study. Moreover, I have never experienced such personal and conscientious customer service. John was in constant contact with me as the work progressed to be assured that he was supplying exactly what I wanted. He walked me through tons of options and really worked through the pros and cons so we could decide the best way to maximize my limited budget. I don't think there's any other company out there that would go to such great lengths to give tremendously helpful, honest, and accurate customer service. I highly recommend John to all of my colleagues and will definitely go only to him for any future projects. Meredith Martin - Mount Hope Family Center, University of Rochester Job Detail: Conversion of 3/4" videotape and 16mm motion picture film Graduating with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in film production from UCLA, through to my current position as an Associate Director at the University of Rochester, I have over 35 years experience in film and video production. I worked with Media Transfer Service to convert some personal film and video materials I had produced in my earlier school years. It's hard to say what impressed me more: the helping attitude, the fine grain attention to detail, the technical sophistication or the personal interest and enthusiasm for the digital restoration of my films. Anyone who entrusts their materials to MTS can be assured of the highest quality service and results at extremely reasonable rates. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Charles Tashiro - Rochester, NY Job Detail: Educational Institution conversion of diverse media library at St. John Fisher College You took our request to look over our collection of aging and archival media, in different formats and condition, and soon presented us with a viable, multi-format, long term solution for old and new media. You explained all the cutting-edge technology in such a way that the whole project made sense to those of us who are unfamiliar with all the options and technology available. Your professionalism and commitment to service was evident in the quality of the conversion and additional services you provided. This whole project has been a pleasure. Diane Lucas - Head of Reader Services, Lavery Library - St. John Fisher College Job Detail: Videotape and Regular/Super 8mm movie film to file format and DVD We previously took our family movies to another transfer company here in Rochester to make them into a DVD. The results of that were pretty poor - the speed was wrong, the image was fuzzy and the colors were very faded looking. Also, the DVD kept stopping while it was being played back. All in all, we were very disappointed. Luckily for us, we decided to try another transfer company and found you. The DVD and files you made from our 40 year old movie film is like night and day. The colors are very bright, the speed is perfect and the playback on our DVD player never misses a beat. The production qualities are outstanding, from the cover to the indexing of scenes, it was just great. The other DVD's and files you made of our VHS tapes were just as good. They were done in an extremely professional manner - we're completely happy with them. Thanks for doing such a great job with all of our families memories. We were lucky that we made the change and found you. Thanks again. Mike and Cathy Thorpe - Rochester, NY Job Detail: Media conversion, reformatting and archival material coordination for a PBS documentary Hiring John Schroth and Media Transfer Service for my most recent PBS documentary was one of the best business decisions I've made in years. I desperately needed someone to coordinate a massive research of archival material based on a very demanding post production schedule. From tiny, obscure college archives, to the NBA, to the National Archives, John not only efficiently managed two professional researchers in gathering together print, still images and film footage from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, he also digitally enhanced the quality of much of this material, which is an MTS expertise. John's exemplary assistance gave me the confidence I needed to concentrate on the task of editing without worry of where the material was coming from, or when I could have it. He also reviewed and logged countless hours of original video, film and still images we obtained from the personal collection of the subject in the documentary. For items that made the final cut, John digitized the media and prepared it for the final edit. In short, I could not have done the documentary without him. Anthony Machi, President - Machi & Machi Communications, Inc. Job Detail: Corporate conversion of large audio and video media library for Roswell Park Cancer Institute In conjunction with the New York State Archives and the Office of the New York State Attorney General, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute obtained a library collection of over 3000 videotapes and audiotapes from the defunct Tobacco Institute, with the job of converting this library to digital archive for preservation, reference, presentation and use on the web. After contacting both local and out of town transfer companies, we chose your company as you could provide both the knowledgebase and care for quality that we required. You listened to our needs and provided the vital information that we needed to fulfill our project goals. The price was very fair, less than what we expected to pay for these services. I would be the first to recommend Media Transfer Service and look forward to spreading the word on your services. Anthony Brown - Project Coordinator - Roswell Park Cancer Institute Job Detail: Slide scans to file and DVD video with restoration services I hired Media Transfer Service to transfer 1400 family slides. The owner, John, told me that they had harsh mildew contamination, where the mildew had actually eaten into the film emulsion effecting the image. I saw comparisons before and after and he did a fabulous job in restoring my family slides. I am recommending John to everyone I know, because he has top-of-the-line equipment, is very knowledgeable and is just a nice, honest guy to do business with! Carol Stahl - Fairport, NY Job Detail: Corporate audio archiving and editing of instructional audio CD series I have now worked on a number of conversion jobs with Media Transfer Service involving converting some of our old analog audio media to digital file for our library archives as well as audio editing projects for several seminars that we plan to sell as instructional CD's. In each instance, Media Transfer Service has been excellent. I have found that they were willing to go that extra mile for a superior finished product. I most definitely intend to use their services again, both for our company and for my personal family tapes. Judith Warner - Director, NY Office, Aiki Works, Inc. Job Detail: Regular 8mm movie film to DVD and preservation files (client ran quality comparison tests) My parents had shot regular 8mm movie film from 1945-1973. We wanted to preserve these treasured mementos of our family's history before they were lost. After some research, I soon discovered that the quality of the finished product can vary significantly depending on the skills of those doing the transfer and the technical level of their equipment. Anyone who cares about preserving the original beauty of their films should not simply drop them off at their favorite photo store or just any transfer service they happen to find in the yellow pages or on line. After contacting many different companies, I learned that most photo shops and video stores have neither the skills nor special equipment needed to transfer movie film so they outsource it to media transfer companies often run like factories geared toward quantity rather than quality. I had the same test reel transferred by Media Transfer Service and two other prominent companies, one local and one out-of-state. The transfer done by MTS was far superior to the other two. The images were sharper, more detailed and brighter. The colors were richer and more natural. Surprisingly, the film transfers done by the other two companies ran at an abnormally fast speed while the MTS transfer ran at an accurate speed. John Schroth of MTS is a consummate professional who brings expertise to each and every project. He has an impressive array of sophisticated equipment and knows how to use it to achieve the best results possible. Most importantly, you can rest assured that John will treat your family's films as though they were his own. Michael Berezney - Rochester, NY Job Detail: Videotape and film archive conversion for ERCN TV-12 First with Kodak in high-level classified photographic imaging, then the Station Director at ERCN TV-12, I have a combined experience of nearly 50 years in both traditional photographic and video mediums. We commissioned John Schroth at Media Transfer Service to transfer our aging videotape library archive for both preservation and rebroadcast over the airwaves. In total, we have now archived roughly 1000 shows, 800 hours of content time. MTS has also transferred over 15,000' of motion picture films of historical significance ranging in age from the early 1930's through the 1970's that we have edited into TV shows for broadcast at the station. John's level of quality, ability to transfer almost any video, photographic or audio format, and the ability to enhance our materials has been very helpful in delivering the best end-product to our viewership. We have been overwhelmed with the quality and innovative modifications that MTS has provided to our work. We are very pleased with all the services Media Transfer Service has been able to provide and highly recommend the company. Joe Russo, Station Director, ERCN TV-12. Job Detail: Videotape formats to DVD and preservation files Words cannot express my gratitude to John at Media Transfer Service for the recent services he provided to me and my family. I came to him with boxes of old VHS, 8mm and digital videotapes, none of which were labeled or dated, hoping to somehow find an order out of all the mess. John diligently worked to categorize, timeline and transfer 20 years of video into a library of DVDs and files. In this day and age, it is a rarity to find someone who truly cares so much about customer satisfaction. He was meticulous in all aspects of the service. I highly recommend anyone thinking about preserving their family memories for further generations. Thank you again, Jeanne Piersa - Spencerport, NY