Good workflow to convert Umatic, backup files?
 

I have a large umatic conversion job and would love to hear what might be an updated workflow to capture quality video and audio and then backing up those files on a pc. Any help would be awesome. thanks!

Umatic deck > Some kind of TBC > traditional capture setup.

Most serious folks are doing Umatic decks with DUB out > DIGITAL DPS units with TBC > Svideo out to a capture card. These DIGITAL units are getting very hard to find.

I personally go Sony 9800 > DUB > Keystrobe DUB optimizer > svideo > Datavideo TBC7000 > ATI TV Wonder 600 USB > VirtualDub and am getting good results.

If you aren't familiar with umatic workflows, the decks are all degrading so get ready to dive in. Ampex tapes need baked. Etc etc

Yes, certain rackmount TBCs were built with U-matic in mind, so use those for this task.

U-matic is not interchangeable with other formats like VHS, so don't treat it as such.

U-matic long ago entered the 35-65 year degradation window, so a lot of those need to be baked now as well, far more than just 5-10 years ago. I know some services have discontinued working on U-matic due to time/costs of it all.

The age and stock of the tape is a significant factor in determining your rate of progress.

Tapes that have to be baked and then left at room temperature for several hours before playback will consume a lot of time. Sony's not as bad on bake times, compared to Ampex/Agfa/Dupont/Switzerland tape. If you have Scotch or Fuji, you likely won't need to bake at all. I've had Sony from the 80s that took a few hours of baking, but also a Sony tape from the 90s that required no baking.

If a tape is sticky, it can squeak and clog your video heads to a snowy picture rather quickly. Stop tape immediately before it damages your player, clean the heads, and bake the tape. For some brands, it's an automatic bake and not worth trying to skip. Not sure if newer generations of Ampex ever got rid of the Sticky Shed problem, like Sony seemed to. Not enough experience there.

If you have a mix of good and bad, perhaps you can bake the bad tapes "in parallel" while digitizing the good ones.

A good reference is http://www.specsbros.com/white-paper...cassettes.html

Even when tapes are baked, they may still get your video heads rather dirty after playing just one tape. They still can shed enough to get the heads dirty, just not enough to clog and damage things.

Best of luck to you!

If you're wanting a frame TBC with Dub inputs, I've got one from For.A which works (aside from having to rock the power switch a few times for it to start up, though stays running once it is on), though I myself do not have a dub cable or a deck that has DUB output to test that feature specifically. If you're interested in buying, PM me.