I'm close to completing a medium sized capture project of video8 and VHS tapes of family home videos using the advice on this forum. I need advice on what the next steps are in terms of future editing and archival.
Captured files were done on a C2D, AIW AGP System, Win XP integral, using
virtualdub 1.9.11 and standard
huffyuv 32bit codec in 720x480 NTSC format using YUY2 format 48KHz 16-bit stereo. I've done some basic trimming of the files on the capture machine using
virtualdub to trim the portions of video with black/blue screens. I am planning to get rid of my XP capture machine (maybe on the marketplace?) soon to move the files to my modern PC, unless any members can identify reasons why I would need to keep it.
Questions:
1) I have done reading on this site regarding editing of these
huffyuv AVI files on more widely used video editing software such as vegas and Adobe Premiere. I understand that the original pixel format of YUY2 is unfortunately converted into RGB when used on these other programs, which according to members appears to alter the look of the videos and kind of ruins the (lossless) nature of the format. How serious of an issue is this? If I want to edit the videos in the future on a modern PC, is the right way to use adobe premiere (and similar programs) or is running virtualdub or virtualdub2 on a modern OS such as Windows 11 the only known way to edit these videos truly losslessly without any pixel format conversion issues/loss?
2) While I may have access to the files in the future, the huffyuv codec may not be used years from now (even as it is today, support for huffyuv is pretty limited overall as it is a decades old codec - Apple ProRes seem to be one of the most popular codecs at the moment). Should I convert the huffyuv codec AVIs to a different codec now or in the future as new lossless codecs come about? If so, what codec and what software application should I be using to maintain the original files without loss? If I convert, is there a need to keep the original huffyuv files for any reason in that case as they take up lots of space? Should I be converting to lagarith (seems like this is not a popular codec these days overall).
3) These are home family videos that I want to store indefinitely, maybe at home and in a safe deposit box bank vault drawer. I have heard that unplugged SSDs over a long period of time are a no-go for storage. What are people's thoughts on a hard drive's viability for keeping contents over years and decades if stored in ideal conditions, but unplugged? Any suggestions for hard drive models - either internal or external that are good for long term storage? Would I have better luck with an enterprise drive like an Ironwolf or WD gold drive as opposed to consumer drive for long terms of disuse? Any thoughts on external hard drives like WD Elements, Lacie rugged, Toshiba Canvio, Sandisk Pro G-drive? What is the consensus on M-DISCs for long term storage? I am seeing lifespans of hundreds or up to a thousand years advertised with M-Disc (seems like blu-ray drives would wear long before then). I have an external pioneer blu-ray drive that is compatible with M-Disc I can use. I am considering cloud storage as well via the unusual players - iCloud, google drive, dropbox, etc but there are perpetual costs associated with those services with the increased storage size of huffyuv codec files.
Thanks in advance!