Transfer:
- Prepare the tape
- Play the tape in appropriate player
- Capture the output signal
- Convert the output signal to a digital signal
- Save the digital signal on a computer
- Edit the digital file
- Export it to DVD or final digital file
All Videotape Types Use the Same Process
The good news for videotape conversions is that all videotape formats use the same process as long as a player is available for the type of videotape being converted. In other words, VHS to DVD requires a VHS player, Hi8 to DVD requires a Hi8 player, miniDV to DVD requires a miniDV player, etc. The same is true, of course, for converting to digital files with regards to players.
Except for the players themselves, the process is the same for all types of tapes. (The one-minute variation is that VHS-C to DVD conversions require an adapter to play in a VHS player and are readily available).
Prepare the Tape
Most videotapes still play as is, although an increasing number have to be repaired first, play poorly, or won’t play at all.
Before playing, each tape should be fast forwarded to the end of the tape and rewound. This resets the proper tape tension needed for the best picture. Some tapes require more than one round. This is called ‘packing’ the tape. VHS-C and Hi8 tapes often require to be packed more than once.
Some tapes do require repair. The most common is a broken tape. In very fortunate cases, the tape breaks outside the cassette itself and is a simple splice to repair. Usually, if the tape breaks, both ends are inside the cassette and the cassette must be taken apart to access the tape ends to be spliced.
It is also common for the ‘door’ that protects the exposed tape from damage during storage does not open correctly when inserted into its player. Sometimes a piece is worn out, sometimes a piece is broken, sometimes somebody spilled some coke on it 30 years ago. In any case, the solution is to simply remove the door. This does not affect the playability of the tape, but it no longer has the protection outside of the player.
Finally, sometimes the inner spools are just worn out. This is the most expensive repair because the tape must be hand wound onto replacement spools before playing.
In any case, when any videotape needs repair, assume that it will never be played in a machine again after it is converted to digital. Something else is likely to go wrong again, soon.
Play the Videotape in an Appropriate Player
Videotapes cannot be played in any machine other than one designed for that tape. The tapes are different sizes and the technology to read them is not the same for each generation of tape. The only exception to this is that VHS-C tapes can be placed in an adapter and played in VHS players. In this case, it is the same tape as regular VHS in a difference cassette. For example, there is no adapter or other way to play a Hi8 tape in a VHS machine.
Capture the Output Signal
Regardless of which videotape is being converted, the player used must have a working output. Outputs are the connectors on the back of the player that used to be connected to the TV. This is an analog output that TV screens and electronics transformed into a picture on the screen.
The analog output is connected to a device that accepts analog input and produces a digital output signal. These converter devices vary from simple and inexpensive to high quality at professional prices.
Save the Digital Signal on a Computer
The digital output signal from the converter device is then connected to a computer (via USB or Thunderbolt port) via software that produces digital files from the videotape.
Edit the Digital File
Professional conversion projects always edit the converted file. The quality of cameras that shoot the video vary widely and rarely create a full, clean border, leaving black and flutter around the edges of each frame. While amateur conversions might accept this flaw, a true professional conversion will expand every frame by 3% to 7% as needed.
A second step is to remove blank video at the beginning and the end of recorded video. Again, amateur conversions capture the whole tape regardless of how much is actually recorded, but professional conversions ‘clean it up’. Optionally, for videos that have a lot of blanks between scenes, those can be cleaned up as well.
Color and lighting can also be enhance as needed, from basic enhancement all the way to scene by scene monitoring and adjusting.
Once the edits are specified, they can be applied, or encoded to a new digital file according to the final needs of the customer.
Export the Edited Digital File to DVD or Final Digital File
From the final digital file, DVDs are ‘burned’ to discs, preferably 50-year archival quality discs, and labeled. Discs can be copied without data loss that are the same quality as the original.
VHS to Digital can also be produced at the same time from the same digital file for transfer to a USB, external hard drive, or the cloud.
Copy VHS Tapes to a Computer or DVD: Next Steps
- Call or text Jamey (About Jamey) at 720 204-5464.
- Set an appointment (every project receives my individual attention).
- Drop off your tapes (and records, cassettes, slides, or negatives, too). Check Pricing!
- In a week or less, pick up your new digital conversions.