Need help planing my VHS to DV project
 

Hello all,

So I have been reading a lot and some things are going over my head. I think there is too much information and varriables that are confusing me. I have about 30-40 vhs tapes that I want to convert to dv. I would like to get the highest quality possible from the transfer.

Question: Would that mean I should just let a professional do it?
if yes then....I will address that later
if no then....I would like to try and practice till I get it as close as possible

I know time and practice is a factor if I want to get it to be as professional as possible but I kind of don't trust anyone =(

I don't know where to start....please advise

Thank you in advance!!

Rodeeze

I want to give this a good long answer, and will do so tomorrow.
I have one quick question, which will help: What sort of budget do you have? That's really important for a decision like this.

budget answer
 

Thank you much!

I can't answer the budget question till I know how much we are talking here. I want to say that I have a budget that I would create once knowing the cost. I assume the budget just determines quality.

Thanks for your time!!!

Rodeeze

Sorry for the slow reply to this -- I claimed the question in the queue but was then sidetracked (ask in private, if it matters). :(

So let's get to your question... :)

Digital video is hard. Digital video is complex. I've been doing this since the 1990s, and there are many times when I feel just confused as you do. I could probably write several books on what I do know, and a book discussing the things I know I don't know. That doesn't even begin to cover the things I don't know I don't know! (As much as Donald Rumsfeld was a schmuck, he had a great wisdom over the concept of "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns".)

The price point for digital video conversion, when VHS is the source, runs well into the realm for $1,000 to $2,000 -- plus time to do the work, and knowledge on how to do it. When you have less than 50 tapes, maybe even less than 100 tapes, your best course of action is to pay a service that meets your reasonable budget. In this case, "reasonable" is a figure that somewhat matches the costs of hardware/software to DIY, or maybe a small percentage higher (25-50%). It will look better, it will go quicker, it is effortless for you. In some cases, it can actually be cheaper to pay a good service! (Many of our clients feel this way. A handful of tapes can cost less than the gear that would have been required.)

As well you shouldn't! There are many, many "services" online -- and especially in strip malls, or attached to big-name companies like Walgreens or Wolf Camera -- that have no idea what they're doing. You get charged a big rate for them to use lousy equipment, and give you lousy DVDs that you could have made with any old piece of junk bought from Best Buy or Walmart. In some of the saddest cases, these "professional" services (hack jobs, quacks) are using gear bought from a local consumer retailer! There's at least one SBA (small business) forum online, dedicated to video services, where members boast about using cheap crap and charging high rates! It's disgusting. Your memories mean nothing to these people, and you're just a sucker that equals $$$ when they see you.

Thankfully, there are a few of us still around that like to do good work. We value the principles of archiving memories and history, and have built businesses around those philosophies for decades. The Digital FAQ is one such business, and then we do have a short list of competitors (who we're friendly with, and keep in contact with).

I think you started with a perfect mindset. :)

Too many people come here closed-minded, insisting they do it all themselves. While that's great, most admirable -- and above all, something we'll even help with! -- it's often misguided. DIY for a small box of tapes is simply overkill and a poor use of your time.

I like to compare it with changing the oil. I'm perfectly fine with admitting I don't know a lot about the under-the-hood workings of my vehicle. While I could try to learn, it would take a lot of time, and buying oil/filters on my own from the auto parts store won't necessarily be a massively lower cost than simply taking my car to the shop and paying $20-30 for them to do it. I don't get dirty (ruin clothes), I don't have to spend lots of time learning something (that takes me away from real work, family time, etc), and it gives business to a service that deserves it. They know what they're doing, their rates are not unreasonable, and I know I'll get a quality product. The worst aspect of letting somebody else doing it is that you have to "wait". Of course, you quickly forget that DIY would have taken much longer. (Thankfully, my oil change place has free wifi! So I take the trusty iPad along for the trip. In this case, you're waiting at home/office, so the inconvenience factor is nil.)

Something to consider.

If you do decide to let a professional handle your project, it would be great if you consider our services. Regardless of your decision, DIY or not, who to choose for services, etc -- we're glad to help. It's part of what we do on the side, when not sitting in front of computers editing or encoding video.

Thanks.

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. Where shall I start, I don't have a problem paying someone to do it. My only issue is the known unknown and unknown unknown of other vhs tapes my family/relatives have that I want. I would be looking at this as a future investment so later on down the road if anything pops up, I can do it myself. I am thankful that you are here now but we are not sure of trust worthy services in the future from others =(

Now I have a question. How much would it cost (equipment + software) to get the same exact picture from VHS to Digital format? Would it be the same 1-2k? I am assuming there is multiple steps to copy it over then enhance it which could be the increase in cost. My biggest issue is the structural integrity of VHS tapes. As long as I can convert it to media, I can be a little bit more lax. I know there is more to be found.

My biggest problem is I don't know the range or levels. For example, If I can copy straight over from VHS will it be very poor, poor, average, good, very good, and exact copy. I assume exact copy is ideal, then you can enhance it from minimum to max possible enhancement. The ranges of price and time per each....

I guess I would want to see what I would need in terms of equipment and software to get an exact copy or very good. Where would we go from here boss?


Thank you so much for your help!!!!

Rodeeze

At least, for the hardware alone.
Software can add costs, too, if you use a powerful tool like Adobe Premiere Pro for color correction.

Multiple steps, sometimes multiple hardware. This is one reason a quality VHS conversion service has multiple VCRs. Panasonic vs JVC, for example, is an issue of transport differences and differences in how EP/SLP tapes are played.

In other words, you don't want your tapes "eaten" by a VCR. This is mostly a factor of the condition of the VCR in use. A well-maintained VCR, as run by a knowledgeable service, won't be eating tapes. A cheap bulk-rate service will essentially chew up your tapes in part or in whole, and the quality is ruined forever from that point onwards.

It depends entirely on the condition of the tape, combined with the hardware in the workflow, which is then affected by the experience and knowledge of the user. Most amateurs make really lousy video conversions, while some services prove themselves to be incompetent -- sometimes even lying about quality (for example, stating it cannot be improved to look better). A good VHS to DVD transfer will create a DVD that looks better than the tape.

This list is somewhat dated, and in need of minor updates, but the general list of equipment still applies: Good Methods to Create DVDs

Give that a quick read. :)


NOTE: I've been auditing the site this weekend, seeing if we had missed questions over the summer. This post was overlooked; sorry for the slow reply. We're trying to get around to anybody that may have received slow responses or no response at all. Thanks for your patience on this.