Reliable transfer services in the 2020s?
 

Took a look around and not seeing any kind of thread. Feel free to close and point me in the right direction.

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.

I've seen some shops around the USA who seem to specialize in this. I'd rather point people in that direction than send them off to a mom and pop with an old camcorder and a DVD burner.

So, anyone have recommendations?

Obviously smurf here does this, but seems not always available? Would be good to get a list of others.

Members here and at videohelp can do an excellent job, I hope they PM you if they see this, I'm one of them but I'm really booked for a while since I have a full time job and other hobbies to do, Good luck.

Would be nice to get a list going, hopefully others can chime in. That way when people are asking, we can just link them here.

Hello, I do transfer work at home more or less as a hobby right now. I do use the high-end machines though, capture as uncompressed, encode and author if the customer want's that. Can of course also give it to them as MP4's on a jump drive. I have just purchased an AJA FS1 for a full frame TBC. Still working a full-time job but plan to retire in June, so I should have more time to do projects afterward.

digitalfaq already offers a transfer service.

Also, I saw that one a couple weeks ago
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/c...465698919.html

Seems to be using good hardware. And there is one guy I have in mind who's using a tbc-3000+JVC VCR in France (his capture card is a BM intensity shuttle)

https://www.paruvendu.fr/annonces/hi...573A1KBMUPV000

So what are people charging these days?

I'm still getting enough requests where I might entertain taking some paid work.

It's easy to screw yourself by not charging enough, or even having a one-size-fits-all "per tape" pricing structure. That's what the low-quality slop shops do, and they all eventually fail. I've been around since the 90s (00s professionally), and seen this situation implode on itself many times. I'm still here (we're still here), they're not.

And this is your hobby, don't ruin it for yourself. Working in video is also the #1 way to sap any enjoyment you have. For example, there are many actors that don't enjoy watching their own work, or even the work of others. Working in movies/TV makes them want to read a book instead, never watch TV, no Netflix, etc. This enjoyment vampire has often affected me, to the point where I'd not often even enjoy watching new TV shows. I'd even reach points of burnout where I had to reject projects for a time.

There's also a lots of scam-type behavior out there (I will not elaborate here), from the customer end. Some of it is baiting, and quite disturbing. Watch yourself.

I would say you need a little bit more of practice and experience, you were just looking for someone to transfer your tapes back in march, Take it easy learn the tricks and from the mistakes, Once you feel confident enough you can take other people's work. While it seems a straight forward process, it is not. I keep learning new things after years of doing it at the hobby level, and the learning never stops but you'll know when you are confident enough to take on other people's precious memories.

So what's your charging process? Looking for some ballpark here. I have no intentions of pursuing work. But I get enough requests where I can't point them anywhere else. I'd probably make it a point to way overcharge to make it worth my time, if i'm being blunt.

I wasn't originally asking for help in March. I was asking who's doing the work, so I can send them referrals. I get tons of people asking me to transfer their tapes and turn them all down. Just don't have anyone to point them to.

I do take requests but at the local level only, I don't like shipping tapes back and forth, plus I like to interact with customers and they usually bring their hard drive with their tapes and ask me questions directly. But I don't say no to a big job from a commercial entity especially if the tapes are non consumer stuff.

For me, for us, it really depends on what it is, who it's for. We've always tried to accept projects from John Q. Consumer, so everybody can get the benefit of high quality transfers, not just our B2B clients (filmmakers, archivists, museums, studios, etc). I knew of several post houses that are essentially closed to the public this way, B2B only.

But in recent times, it's literally been requests like "can you transfer my copy of Star Wars?" or "can you restore a tape I erased?" And for $10/15/20, of course! I don't know where that traffic is coming from, but I have my suspicion it's from the same place nicholasserra is getting requests.

@nicholasserra, that said, if you know of somebody with a decent project, somebody looking for high quality, usually lossless, no unrealistic low budgets (no 10/15 per tape type), please refer him/her our way, Contact Us. If needed, I can be requested.

That's the going Facebook Marketplace/Gumtree rate here. Obviously with a DVD Recorder, but how is the client to know that they could do much better with a better transfer? And then, would they be actually prepared to pay $30-40 for an hour of (well) digitised tape?

- Gumtree = Craigslist here
- Don't forget eBay (fleabay).
- And for social media, maybe also Instagram or TikTok. I don't know, I use neither. But I would imagine those have low ROI, neither have the demographics that overlap with folks seeking conversions. What I see at Insta is "convert your VHS" profiles with almost no usage. Facebook doesn't really have ROI either, for that matter.

None of those are quality. In fact, it's so not-quality that the shops known for bad quality (LegacyBox, etc) look good.

A lot of those ads are not from video professionals (not even the local mom-and-pop wedding studio types), but people looking for "spending money" or even weekend "beer money", an apathetic side gig using thrift store DVD recorders (originally sold at Walmart), or Easycaps/Elgatos, worst quality possible.

It doesn't help that formerly reputable sites sites like Kim Komando tell users to buy junk from Amazon (with affiliate links, of course, the ONLY reason the "advice" exists). And those are the people who land here at this site, because we all know that stuff is Chinese junk that barfs out low quality. They then wonder why it looks bad, __ site claimed it was good.

Yet other sites treat video conversion like a cash grab (side gig, spending/beer money), and showcase the site with bad advice as good advice on how to run their mini business.

You get what you pay for.

When you charge $10-15/tape, you're making less than minimum wage. Yes, even if you try to spin up multiple instances, time is the limiter, overall still less, a point of diminishing returns is quickly reached. When you get to $20-25, you're a bit better off, but it's still not any sort of great wage, and no way to pay off expenses (not just the gear, but electricity, shipping supplies, etc).

Legacy Box and iMemories are two of the bottom-barrel services, and have pricing that start at about $30/tape. And it goes up from there, based on "addons", some of which are really basics that everybody will add. Both of those places hire minimum wage intern-type employees. Again, zero video backgrounds, no more than you would find from McDonald's employees (some might, most will not). Anybody that doubts this can read the Glassdoor and Indeed reviews, most are revealing, even shocking.

So also be careful who you trust with your tapes.

While some may consider this competition, it's mostly just noise. It's almost never here over the longer term, thus is the nature of side gigs.

I actually just spun up an account here because I've wanted to digitize VHS tapes for a long time. However, I can't afford a nice set up to do it myself so I too am looking for a service.

I tried getting someone to do it locally for me but they refused because they're Star Wars tapes (my childhood tapes in fact, complete with Phantom Menace stickers I added when I was kid lol).

I shot LordSmurf an email, I think, a couple weeks back and hope to hear back but I am open to any and all suggestions. I know ppl's hard work isn't "budget" but it's the best I can do right rn by getting a service.

Anyway, I hope this finds everyone well. I'm excited to be here and continue to read lol. Merry Christmas!

Stuff like that has to be more informal, user to user, fans helping fans, and is not something any business would touch.

But you're in luck, I'm a Star Wars fan, saw some of those first-run in theatres (yes, age is showing), and converted my tapes long ago. In fact, I've assisted several Original Trilogy members in years past. I may open your eyes to what exists, and you won't even need or want to convert the tapes. You've been PM'd!

Remember, I was a video hobbyist for a decade before turning pro. My hobby work turned to pro requests, and my pro requests (and some hobby) got me headhunted by studios. I'd still be there if health/MS had not plundered my body, ruthless disease that it is. Hobby video, and the video hobbyists, especially cartoons, are still very dear to me. I try to never turn my back on hobbyists, but it has to be informal contact directly to me.

Thanks for posting some dollar values. Sounds about right. I think i'm likely going to tell people $100 a tape. Not going to actually try to find work. But in the event people are messaging me desperate, there it is.

-- merged --

Getting more and more people asking for transfer services. What's everyone status for 2024? Nobody PMed me saying they're taking on work. I still don't have anyone I can send them for recommendations.

What companies are doing this these days? Seems it's the only option to go with the big brands. LegacyBox? I dunno.

Our backlog is almost zero'd out finally, and I'll be available again for new projects in mid Jan (about 2-3 weeks from today). But I'll also only be accepting a certain number of projects, not willing to overextend myself.

The "big brands" let "no experience required" people (often low-paid/unpaid interns) handle videos, and the quality is what you'd expect from somebody that never used a VCR before. Others just send your videos to whoever gave them the cheapest bid for the year, including boat shipping your videos to mills in India or Philippines that often lose/damage videos. Read Glassdoor/Indeed reviews, aka the current/former employees, some of it is shocking stuff. Quality is such crap that a thrift store VCR with an Easycap is not really any worse, and way safer. But neither is desirable. Either do quality DIY with recommended hardware, or pay a quality business/individual that is using recommended hardware (and knows how to properly use it).

Well, aside from you, I don't see anyone else chiming in. There's a legit place in florida that seems to know their stuff:

https://www.facebook.com/thevideolabofsouthflorida

You and them are the only ones I can think of these days.

They seem a lot different to me. Video labs uses DPS TBCs. He does hardware upscaling. I wouldn’t put them in the same category https://youtu.be/rE0Ki69XceM?feature=shared. Anyways atleast he’s not like gotmemories charging 30 to 50 dollars a tape to transfer peoples DV tapes with an El gato capture device using the El gato software instead of just using a FireWire.

-- merged --

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.

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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@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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Uh .... huh? I think you replied to the wrong post. Too many tabs open again? :wink2:

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.

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

I’ve had good luck with a local archivist in my city, he used a JVC SVHS deck with line TBC and an external frame TBC, captured lossless, then delivered ProRes or MP4. For rough tapes he charged closer to $100 per cassette, clean SP stuff was more like $40–60 per hour. I always ask for a short test capture first. If you can’t find someone nearby, try university media labs or photo labs that list archival transfers.

This was an AI-written spam post.

It's a fair price considering the amount of labor going into the process, Most people think of capturing is like getting a haircut, it has to be cheap or they will just get it done at home, It's not the case with capturing, it requires a lot of knowledge of video equipment, time and tweaking to get a decent capture with the right hardware and software not just any hardware. and most importantly, unlike a haircut, capturing is a one time thing, so you have to make sure it's done right in the first place to avoid doing it again in the future when the tapes have already begun to degrade, plus memories on tapes are more valuable than someone's hair.

Yes it's not just the equipment but also often tweaking for best capture especially at time of tape capture. Tapes can have been originally recorded misaligned and the best capture, (sometimes with digital tapes getting a capture at all), requires temporarily misaligning the capture VCR to the misaligned tape. There is often no other way. Then tapes with physical damage such as stretched tape edges can require special treatment to achieve stable picture and/or or audio. This can involve use of custom tools and techniques.

One of the most important skills is identifying why a tape is playing poorly. Is the machine at fault, is the tape at fault, or is it some interaction between tape and machine? The skilled person knows how to diagnose the cause(s), and if possible fix the problems either partially or fully. Sometimes a tape is beyond help and nothing can be done, but that can only be established after ruling out all other possible problems as the culprits.

The mark of a good digitizing service is their ability to excellently capture difficult tapes such as above. It's what "separates the men from the boys".

Whereas capturing undamaged tapes recorded to standard alignment, as many tapes pretty much were, can be a walk in the park and this is where expert skills are often not needed. The work can be delegated to a junior. But even then the junior must have some skills and should consult their supervisor the moment something doesnt seem right.

And unfortunately from my own experience, just because an institution is doing the work is no guarantee their staff and equipment are up to the task and working to "archival standards". So it can be difficult to advise on reliable transfer services.

Hi my name is Tony.. I know this is an older thread, but I often read them regardless of age. I am the owner of Cisco Studios and have been a member of the Digital FAQ for over 10 years. I absolutely love this site, reading the post and the dedication to producing a quality result that all the members share. While my company only does transfers of consumer media on a local level, we offer transfers of professional media nationwide. Betacam, MII, Umatic, almost every tape based format analog and digital, prior to HD. Also all former professional radio media. Yes, even radio cart tapes..We take what we do seriously and handle every video as if it's destined to be professionally broadcast or streamed as part of a professional project.
Personally the only other company that I know of, from viewing their videos, that appears to do professional media the right way and using the right equipment is The Video Lab in Florida.
I don't mind giving them a plug, because this is the kind of business you do for the love of it, not because you think you're are going to be a millionaire. Having said that, please visit our website ciscostudios.com and get to know us. Thank you for allowing me to plug my business, but I often see people talking about Got memories, legacy box, etc., and I just wanted everyone to know there are still a few of us commercial operations that care about quality like you do.