Reliable transfer services in 2022?

[Gary34]

Phil from Got Memories goes into his pricing at 8:30 on this video. https://youtu.be/huEewOKBcK4?si=cJ0hGDcgs7I_krV8. He says that he charges 30 to 50 a tape and he will charge more than that if there’s mold or for other reasons. He gives some really bad advice for VHS-C. Telling people they need a bunch of consumer VCRs. He also says that he has orders of ten grand dollars sometimes.

At 8:45 he talks a little bit about his method in this video. https://youtu.be/VXMXW3Z90v0?si=4ZxnZjo41tF7rjkR He leaves a comment as to why he doesn’t use a FireWire for DV in the comment section of that video. He says in his videos that he runs that by himself. That’s a lot of transfers going at the same time for one person to watch. He’s using all crap gear.

Got Memories film transfers also look really bad to me. He compares his Tobin to a Wolverine in this video and the Wolverine looks better to me. https://youtu.be/xMdLn4RwjZE?si=drmNU2ARFL5cltoX. At 3:00 on that video he points out that the Wolverine looks good on that screen but once you play it on a big screen it will look bad and I’m thinking that’s the case with all of the videos that your transferring. With film people can go to someone that has MovieStuff gear for the same like 16 dollars per 50 feet.

That being said got memories looks way better than Legacy Box https://youtu.be/9iQc_qomHiI?si=sjHWqOIY-Wx80fuj. Got Memories says that he thinks LegacyBox just burns everything to dvd then rips the dvd and has no computer connected to view the transfer. I think he’s probably right. With Legacy Box and other big box companies they charge you for tapes that they don’t transfer. That’s a recurring thing in the Got Memories videos. He’s constantly doing redo jobs for LegacyBox. They bill you up front then when you finally get your tapes back you can’t do a charge back because it’s well past the 90 to 120 day window for that and even if you do like that guy and file a complaint with the BBB your not getting your money back. People commonly end up paying twice. They pay 25 a tape to LegacyBox then 30 to 50 a tape to Got Memories plus probably some other charges I don’t know about just to wind up with a bad transfer. The marketing really gets people.

[mbassiouny]

Quote:

Phil from Got Memories

Making angry videos to curse at Legacybox does not make you good...

I saw a funny video where he cursed them for being unable to transfer a PAL tape (in USA) for a client and returning it, so the client sent him the tape instead, and he suggested a bad multistandard VCR. A true proper Pal VCR from VCRshop is cheaper!

He also made another one about needing 100X (crap)VCRs for tracking issues, man... with a good device like my HS1000/FS200 u don't get tracking issues frequently, and even when it happens, with the arrows, you can almost always manually fix the issue.

I think he is a good guy, he seems to care about his customers, he puts effort and his heart into what he does, but his knowledge is just not quite there yet.
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Quote:

Anyone have a running list of businesses or people who provide expert/reliable tape transfer services?

I get enough folks messaging me on reddit asking if I can transfer tapes, and I always turn them down. But I feel worse that I can't even point them in the right direction on who to go to.

@nicholasserra,
On that note, I am shamelessly answering your questions to advertise my "services" in Europe. I am not exactly a professional service, but I will happily do small volumes of personal tapes VHS/SVHS, VHS-C, hi8, etc PAL/SECAM/NTSC all with native recorders, no big volumes, and no nasty dirty tapes.

My Gear (VCRs, TBC, capture cards, etc) are all on the recommended list JVC/Panasonic models with TBC, Datavideo frame tbc, ati 600, pinnacle, ES10 for bad tapes, etc. They came from Lordsmurf, a part from VCRshop or bought on my own from ebay, etc, but checked by them. I have multiple VCRs/capture cards and I try to get the best possible result.

[Gary34]

Quote:

Making angry videos to curse at Legacybox does not make you good...

I agree it doesn’t make you an expert. Really he is very bad but he tells people hey look at my google reviews and I’ve been doing this for 20 years and they think he is an expert. He tells people his videos are to help them if they want to do things themselves and they are not. They are free YouTube marketing. He even has copy cats that praise him and start up there own business doing everything just like him https://youtu.be/iaQUnZ-7zUc?si=3FibhdvgHg5wMKpu. I don’t see where I claimed Got Memories was good. I’m just saying he’s better than LegacyBox.

Quote:

He also made another one about needing 100X (crap)VCRs for tracking issues, man... with a good device like my HS1000 FS200 u don't get tracking issues frequently, and even when it happens, with the arrows, you can almost always manually fix the issue.

That’s the same thought I had watching his VHS-C video. My Panasonic 1980p ag doesn’t have tracking problems either.

Quote:

I think he is a good guy, he puts effort and his heart into what he does, but his knowledge is just not quite there yet.

If his knowledge isn’t there after 20 years then it’s probably not ever going to be. He could be really knowledgeable but it doesn’t really matter when you are choosing to use that kind of gear.

[mbassiouny]

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I don’t see where I claimed Got Memories was good

You didn't I never said you did, I was just commenting about his angry videos, It wasn't directed at you.

I never watched too many of his videos, but the 20 years of experience argument sucks, I hate when people justify doing things wrong, by saying I have been doing it for years. Well, you have been doing it wrong...

Quote:

they are free YouTube marketing

Oh, I might be naive, I never thought about his videos that way, I genuinely thought his intentions were "to teach". But you are right, these videos probably bring some cash. But the tricky thing is, with the same logic someone could use a reverse Uno card on this entire forum and call it "a marketing" forum for Digitalfaq's digitization service.

So there is no easy way to know the intentions of a person...

[Gary34]

Sorry I misunderstood you. Anyways, Digitalfaq actually gives information you can use. They try to help and they really don’t market a bunch. If you type in VHS transfer services into Google there are a lot of other places that pop up before Digitalfaq. If you say that you are having trouble with your video to Got Memories he’s not going to help or give advice. This place really pushes to educate people. Got memories does a ton of videos and there isn’t really any useful information on them. It’s just him talking crap about LegacyBox and repeating his Google reviews. You’re right though I can’t know someone’s intentions I can just guess.

[latreche34]

The jobs of the kind of Got memories, legacy box and the likes can be done by any average person with a regular composite VCR, an elgato and the device's proprietary capture app spitting out mp4, The result will not be pleasant to the trained eye but doable, Their customers are ignorant and tech-unsavvy people who don't know what the video supposed to look like.

If you want a proper capture with a quality well maintained gear, done in lossless first and processed and encoded with tools at a frame level, in non real time process you have to invest and learn, not just how to capture and use different computer tools but also how to maintain your gear and repair it, Otherwise pay the premium price for someone who has gone that route so you don't have to.

[nicholasserra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbassiouny

@nicholasserra,
On that note, I am shamelessly answering your questions to advertise my "services" in Europe. I am not exactly a professional service, but I will happily do small volumes of personal tapes VHS/SVHS, VHS-C, hi8, etc PAL/SECAM/NTSC all with native recorders, no big volumes, and no nasty dirty tapes.

My Gear (VCRs, TBC, capture cards, etc) are all on the recommended list JVC/Panasonic models with TBC, Datavideo frame tbc, ati 600, pinnacle, ES10 for bad tapes, etc. They came from Lordsmurf, a part from VCRshop or bought on my own from ebay, etc, but checked by them. I have multiple VCRs/capture cards and I try to get the best possible result.

Thanks! Have any online presence I can point folks to you via?

-- merged --

I actually just sent up an instagram for all my tape stuff. More focused on finding more leads for concert footage. Some other friends in here have done the same.

https://www.instagram.com/nicholasserra_tapes/

Got a PM from a new member here saying they're ready to take on some transfer work. Apparently new to the whole process and only with a single VCR and a cheapo amazon capture card.

A bit terrifying that folks think they can hop in and take people's money having no experience doing any of this.

They're peeking in this thread, and i'm not gonna call anyone out. But...

I just wanna make the point that the folks i'm talking about recommending would be experienced in this process. Years of experience. And it takes tons of gear and tons of time and effort to get to a point where you might be able to provide this as a service without ripping anyone off or damaging their stuff.

I'm only maybe 6 years into doing this seriously, 20 years into doing it on a hobby level, and i'm still not wanting to take this on as real work. And i'm sitting here surrounded by tens of thousands of dollars in gear.

[nimbilus]

Hi, first time posting. I'm wanting to see if anyone's found any reliable transfer services in the Washington DC area (willing to drive 1-1.5hr). I'd prefer something in-person if possible before mailing my tapes to say DigitalFAQ in Dallas. They were already mailed once to me from my parents and I'd like to reduce any further risk if possible.

[latreche34]

Yes, from the gear he has, he does seem to use hardware processing, Nothing wrong with that, but I personally prefer software processing. Those equipement are aging and all of them are way overdue for service and calibration, There is no tools and test materials left to service them with, Even the testing equipment themselves have factory calibration every decade or so. With software all these problems are eliminated except off course the players and capture devices which can be kept in acceptable working condition with periodic maintenance.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimbilus

Hi, first time posting. I'm wanting to see if anyone's found any reliable transfer services in the Washington DC area (willing to drive 1-1.5hr). I'd prefer something in-person if possible before mailing my tapes to say DigitalFAQ in Dallas. They were already mailed once to me from my parents and I'd like to reduce any further risk if possible.

The key to shipping is
(1) sturdy box, even double-box
(2) proper packing materials, usually peanuts for tapes, at least 2" think between tapes and box walls
(3) speed on shipment, meaning Fedex/UPS 2/3-day, not ground

Trying to find "the local guy" ends badly more often that not. Fear of shipping too often supercedes the fear of low quality outcomes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by latreche34

Yes, from the gear he has, he does seem to use hardware processing, Nothing wrong with that, but I personally prefer software processing. Those equipement are aging and all of them are way overdue for service and calibration, There is no tools and test materials left to service them with, Even the testing equipment themselves have factory calibration every decade or so. With software all these problems are eliminated except off course the players and capture devices which can be kept in acceptable working condition with periodic maintenance.

Uh .... huh? I think you replied to the wrong post. Too many tabs open again?

[aisback]

Hello lovely people.

I'm hoping to find someone reliable who can transfer some tapes for me (mostly VHS-C Tapes)

I’m in the UK (Sheffield to be more precise)I’ve found a few websites like eachmoment and video99 who seems to have been around forever even though the website looks plain the information he shows makes him my first choice at the moment. Do you guys have anyone you can recommend who can do it for me.

Please note some of the tapes have the casing damage at the front.

[latreche34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

Uh .... huh? I think you replied to the wrong post. Too many tabs open again?

Good catch. Yes, I was unaware there is page 2 of the thread, I replied to this post, Sorry for the confusion.