Any questions I am going to ask him then post his answer on here.

If anyone wants to tell me how to get rid of metadata that would be cool.

The warehouse they have is not climate controlled at all and tapes set in there for like 6 months. That would get to 95 degrees easy. Temperature swings of 40 degrees days after day not to mention the humidity. Mold would get worse in there care and any tapes that were shedding would become completely unplayable.

I know how to nuke metadata. I need some details.. Will followup reply. Don't do anything yet.

I removed it on windows 10. It’s easy to remove on there just don’t do it on your iPhone. I just wanted to be fair with that guy he’s been cool with all of this. I’ll upload everything tomorrow. I got my one year old running around today and I gotta go to work.

LS I will PM you about getting rid of the metadata. Thank you.

Apparently, it looks like Sean has offered VWestlife the chance to go “speak with him on a podcast” if that means anything… is it some sort of twisted joke? It’s worth noting Sean has said in the comment section of one of his newest videos that he (and I’m paraphrasing) “Will set up a high quality transfer option just to prove that the average person can’t tell the difference and would never pay extra.” Extra? He’s already charging “extra” prices!

I have attached a screenshot of the VWestlife/Sean from ECD comment chat and one of his recent comments on Phil’s newer VHS-C video essentially making fun of Time Base Correctors as legitimate signal improvements devices for posterity:

What, somebody wanting to take on somebody else who's criticising them? Shock Horror! And I thought it was quite decent of Sean to even offer to fly Westlife out for the chat! That's pretty ethical in my books.

So what would people pay for a "high quality" transfer?

I had a chuckle when I read that Latreche put a "lot" better in quotes. And another chuckle at Westlife who said DV would do a "far far better job" than the Elgato.

People who directly and vehemently criticise equipment should put up comparisons proving it.

The fact of the matter is that ECD and GM are operating at a price point that works for them and their customers. And I note ECD even made his own tape cleaner. He's not a shonk like Legacy Box (if it is bad as you say). And what's all this complaining about red stickers? Then people are saying "it's probably because of the mould". Well, der. Now if LB is keeping money over red stickered-tapes, that's different, but merely rejecting tapes that are mouldy would appear to be a sensible move in it's situation.

Ranting and raving on DigitalFAQ will achieve very little. Posting screenshots of YT comments is pretty silly too, IMO. And you can criticise all you like but if you're not prepared to offer a "higher quality" service that people will pay extra for, then it's a bit rich criticising people who are digitising with "lower quality" gear.

Put it another way: if you lot had your way, everybody would be forking out $3000+ to convert tapes which, quite possibly, will be viewed once or twice and that's it. And that's not to mention the hundreds of hours trying to work out how to actually do it properly. O hang on "it's in the forums, just search". None of the experts has written any concise guides. Do you seriously think that Joe Bloggs, with 10 or 20 Video8 tapes, will do a better job than ECD or GM?

..........

https://youtu.be/w8myFNS0CY4?si=wReVCuH1G0EpDf08
https://youtu.be/9iQc_qomHiI?si=FzJI8Oez9ckdgNRi

Everyone thinks Legacybox uses Elgatos and they actually use Haugpauge HDR PV 2s. They order directly from Haugpauge and they don’t order everything that goes in the package they just order the power pigtail and unit.

Yes. They’re not doing anything special.

That ex Legacybox employee that sent me those photos sent me well over 100 photos. I downloaded them all in a zip over google photos yesterday. I may not send them all. Some seem redundant.

What's your point, Gary? We know LB is no good. You're preaching to the converted. As for posting photos of the internal premises of LB, I'd be careful. Your mate might just have agreed to some obscure clause when he was employed there about that.

I know if I posted a bunch of photos of my ex-workplace and sledging the company it'd have my guts for garters.

And what exactly is the problem with anyone saying "sorry, I can't do your tapes" and sending them back?

The point is to educate those that do not know. :wink2:

VWestlife literally did show a comparison in his video of how it compared to a somewhat mediocre sony dvd-recorder. Like these people could do some very simple changes like use a gv-usb2 (or even the hd-pvr2 for that matter if you want something that just outputs finished h.264) instead of the elgatos to get a bump in quality that cost basically the same as the elgatos, or put in a cheap dvd-recorder inbetween at least for some stabilization. The elgato cards (and other cards with the same video chip) are just dreatful when it comes to handling video direct from vcrs giving you a wobbly mess so it really pains me to see anyone using them that way as a commercial service.

it's fair enough be doing a cheaper service and not use expensive gear like SVHS decks for everything if you are clear about it - but it feels like they're not even doing the bare minimum of effort on the capture side when they could do much better for hardly any extra cost. (I've not looked at the getmemories person but at least the emerald one also seem to be using vcrs that pop up the VCR OSD on the output or at least not turning it off?) I'm sure a lot of customers are probably fine with what they are getting still but they're being rather scummy about it.

They’re keeping people’s money when you get those stickers. Those are completely playable tapes. Ask the OP about it. It’s not like they’re saying ow here’s your full refund for the tapes we couldn’t convert.

Consumer awareness is really awful when it comes to this topic. This site attempts to educate. Any post that raises consumer awareness is good.

Even a lot of us think of Legacybox as at least a bunch of easycaps and a Mac hooked up to each one. You don’t think of it as software they had someone design that can run 16 different capture cards off of one computer at the same time. Then the condition of the decks they use is ridiculous. The way they store your tapes is a big deal. When people don’t know any of that and they just see adds that say 10 dollars a tape or w/e it creates a false economy.

Which until about 2016 they would put everything on a DVD then batch rip the DVD but then around 2016 they switched to digital and started using the method they have today.

Yes, I mentioned that "Now if LB is keeping money over red stickered-tapes, that's different".

Unless it states in the terms and conditions that they will bill you for that, LB wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they did that here. Consumer Protection/Fair Trading would have a field day.

Man you’re clueless on this. Just go look into it.

Anyways my wife saw all that about the suing stuff you put up and she is freaking out now. I’ll take a little bit and idk if I am going to be able to post that stuff now or what.

Also Hushpower if you don’t like this site leave, if you don’t like the gear don’t buy it, if you don’t wanna learn scripting then don’t. Everything is your choice and I appreciate the help of the people that know more than me helping voluntarily.

Here's this. It's of the outside of the building so nobody well get offended. I have 183 pictures/videos though to be exact. This video shows pallets of people's tapes that were left outside for days. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Management is the king of not giving an F.

You know I kind of don’t think Legacybox is going to go try to sue me on this one. Plus I am basically kinda being a journalist here and we do have freedom of press.

My wife doesn’t give a crap about that though lol. Anyways I might post some pics eventually.

Point taken, I wasn't aware of the VWestlife video, though he doesn't do himself any favours ranting about the wobble/jitter, as if the Elgato is causing that. Though it is good to see someone showing a real-life assessment, so well done in that respect.

Interesting comment from video99couk re using the ADVC 110. That will be raising a few hackles around here, no doubt. :wink2: He sounds like he's pretty naïve when it comes to analogue digitising.

I suspect one reason that the Elgato is popular is because it comes as a package; push a button and off it goes. Something like the GV-USB2 wouldn't fit because post-capture is a little more involved.

I really am surprised Legacybox hasn't been taken to the cleaners re payments for those stickers. Phil (GM) mentioned that.

I am too. Also sorry if I was rude earlier. It does surprise me they get away with that. The issue is they charge you up front then 6 months later you have to try and go to the BBB or something. The wait time to get the BBB on the phone is like 16 hours. People have to be getting totally robbed to want to go to the BBB.