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Call us: 800 899 4766Did you know?
Acetate-based film continues to deteriorate even in standard cold storage. Iron Mountain's Below-Zero Vault effectively stops chemical decay, dramatically extending the life of your film collection.
Archival Digitization and Reformatting
Iron Mountain is the trusted partner for digitizing and reformatting media across every format — combining technical expertise and archival-compliant workflows to make your archive accessible, searchable, and ready for whatever comes next.
From audio, video, film, and photography preservation to artifact and fragile asset imaging and data restoration, we handle the full spectrum of digitization and reformatting needs under one roof, within a single unbroken chain of custody. Our technicians maintain equipment spanning decades, capable of capturing and digitizing most formats ever created, including rare and obsolete ones — and every workflow is executed to industry standards ensuring your content is preserved at the highest level of quality and delivered ready for long-term access, research, or production use.
Key capabilities
Global scale. Proven trust.
- 100M+assets protected and managed globally by Iron Mountain
- 30+years of media archival expertise
- 50+industry nominations and awards from client projects across film, audio, and broadcast
Services
Film services
Film is one of the most vulnerable formats in any collection. It is susceptible to vinegar syndrome, shrinkage, color fading, and physical damage that worsens every year if left untreated. We handle every gauge and era, and we make a meaningful distinction between access-level scanning and preservation-grade digitization — because your budget should reflect what each project actually needs.
Capabilities
- Film scanning — Creates access-level digital files for viewing, distribution, and content discovery without risking originals.
- Film digitization (preservation) — Frame-by-frame process at the highest possible resolution producing archival files for long-term preservation.
- Film remediation and restoration — Addresses vinegar syndrome, shrinkage, color fading, emulsion damage, and physical deterioration before digitization.
- Film inspection — Physical examination of each reel to assess condition and determine the right handling and digitization pathway.
- Film assessment — Collection-level evaluation to prioritize what needs to be digitized first based on condition risk and content value.
Formats we handle: 8mm | Super 8 | 9.5mm | 16mm | 35mm | 70mm | Nitrate | Acetate | Polyester | Negative | Intermediate | Interpositive | Print | Color & B&W | Magnatrack Sound
FAQs
What's the difference between film scanning and film digitization?
Film scanning produces an access-level digital copy suitable for viewing, distribution, and content discovery — it's faster and more cost-effective. Film digitization is a frame-by-frame process capturing a true 1:1 representation of the original at the highest possible resolution, intended for producing archival files for long-term preservation. We'll help you determine the right approach for your project and budget.
What if my film has already started to deteriorate?
Early to moderate deterioration is often recoverable. We assess every reel before digitization and perform remediation — including cleaning, stabilization, and treatment for vinegar syndrome — to maximize what we can capture. The sooner you act, the more we can save.
Video services
Magnetic tape degrades silently. By the time the deterioration is visible, recovery becomes significantly harder and more expensive. Our video digitization and transfer services address the specific ways tape fails — color distortion, dropout, image instability, audio sync issues — and restore footage as close to its original quality as possible.
Capabilities
- Video digitization — Transfer of legacy analog and digital tape to high-quality digital files. Delivered as archival master, distribution file, or both.
- Video migration — Migration of digital video files from obsolete formats and codecs to current standards, preserving quality and metadata throughout.
- Video remediation — Color correction, dropout repair, image stabilization, and audio sync correction for degraded footage.
- Video assessment — Collection-level evaluation to identify at-risk tapes and develop a phased preservation plan.
Formats we handle: 2" Quad | 1" Type C | ¾" U-matic | Betacam / SP | Betamax | VHS / S-VHS | VHS Compact | Hi8 / Video8 | EIAJ Color / B&W | Digital Betacam | Beta IMX / SX | HDCAM / SR | XDCAM 35 / 50 | HD | DVCAM | DVCPRO | DVCPRO 25 / 50 / 100 HD | MiniDV / DV CAM | D1 / D2 / D3 / D5 / D9 | And more
FAQ
What if my tape has already started to degrade?
Early-stage degradation is often recoverable. We assess and remediate before digitization — including baking for sticky shed syndrome. The sooner you act, the more we can save. Contact us for an assessment even if you're unsure of the condition.
Audio services
From original master recordings and oral history collections to institutional archives and music libraries, our audio digitization and preservation services preserve analog and digital audio in preservation-grade digital formats. We use well-maintained vintage decks and carefully customized workflows to ensure safe transfer without playback damage, and remediation is available for recordings affected by noise, distortion, dropout, or physical damage.
Capabilities
- Audio digitization — Preservation-grade transfer to high-resolution digital files, capturing the full fidelity of the original.
- Audio migration — Migration from obsolete carriers to current, stable formats with full metadata preservation.
- Audio remediation — Noise reduction, distortion correction, dropout repair, and equalization for damaged recordings.
- Audio assessment — Evaluation of your audio collection to identify at-risk formats and recommend a preservation pathway.
Formats we handle
- Analog tape formats: ¼" Full-Track Mono | ¼" 2-Track Stereo | ¼" 4-Track | ½" 2-Track | ½" 4-Track | ½" 8-Track | 1" 4-Track | 1" 8-Track | 1" 16-Track | 2" 8-Track | 2" 16-Track | 2" 24-Track | Compact Cassette | Microcassette | Audio Compact Cassette
- Digital and other formats: | DAT | ADAT | DA-88 | MiniDisc | DSD | Vinyl Records | Lacquer Discs | Rare & Proprietary
FAQs
Can you restore damaged or degraded audio recordings?
Yes. We assess every recording individually and provide a clear picture of what's recoverable before any work begins. Remediation addresses noise, distortion, dropout, and physical damage. In most cases, more is recoverable than clients expect.
My format isn't listed — can you still help?
Very likely yes. We maintain an extensive inventory of vintage playback equipment and are experienced with rare and proprietary audio formats. We've never encountered an audio format we couldn't work with.
Imaging services
High-resolution, preservation-compliant archival imaging and document scanning for photographs, documents, manuscripts, maps, and print materials at any scale. From access copies to full archival masters.
Capabilities
- Archival digitization — Preservation-grade scanning of photographs, documents, and manuscripts. Learn more.
- 3D imaging — Three-dimensional capture of physical objects, artifacts, and three-dimensional archival materials. Learn more.
- X-Ray imaging — DICOM/DICONDE-compliant digitization of medical and industrial x-rays. Learn more.
- Records management imaging — High-throughput scanning of business documents and records.
FAQ
Do you work with fragile or damaged photographic materials?
Yes. Fragile materials are assessed before imaging and handled by trained technicians with appropriate equipment and environmental conditions. We can recommend stabilization or encapsulation before scanning when needed.
Data services
Not all media degradation is physical. Hard drives fail. Optical discs become unreadable. Early digital formats grow inaccessible as the software and hardware to open them disappears. Our legacy data recovery and migration services recover files from deteriorating or obsolete digital media and migrate your content to a current, stable format with full metadata preservation and an unbroken chain of custody throughout.
Capabilities
- Data restoration — Recovery from failing hard drives, LTO tapes, optical discs, and legacy proprietary storage formats.
- Data migration — Migration from obsolete formats to current standards with full metadata preservation and chain-of-custody documentation.
Formats we handle: LTO (All Generations) | Floppy 3.5" / 5.25" | Iomega ZIP / JAZ / REV | 8mm Exabyte / AIT / DLT / SDLT | 9-Track Tape | DDS / DAT | NT Backup / Veritas / Net Backup | BLU-RAY / DVD-R / CD-R | QUIKDISK | RAR / TAR | RETROSPECT
FAQ
What if I don't know whether my data is recoverable?
We assess the media first and are upfront about what's realistic before any work begins. Recovery is often possible even from drives and discs that appear to have failed completely — and we'll tell you what we expect to recover before you commit to the project.
Decades of content brought back to life.
From docuseries to museum streaming platforms, our clients trust us with content that exists nowhere else.
There are many companies that have the capability to digitize older tapes, but we knew we needed the best partner to help us restore and care for the Sun Records collection. Iron Mountain Media and Archival Services has the history of success, the experts, the facilities, and the unique processes that ensured the successful preservation of these fragile, priceless assets.
I’ve worked with other archive houses, and they’re all great. But Iron Mountain probably has the most capabilities. If you’ve got something weird, you take it to them.
