Audio/video conversion

[Dave Fritz]

I've got some cassette tapes, CD's and VCR tapes that's I'd like to have digitized so I can keep the files on my PC, iPhone and iPad. There are places locally that I can get it done but I'm not sure what I ask for or how they're stored on my devices? I'd also like to be able to share with with family and some of the people I played in a band with. None are commercial artists so I don't think I'm breaking any copyright rules. I suppose the business will let me know if that's a problem.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

D.I.L. Is an archivist. She calls the process digitizing. The CD's can be burned (or is it ripped?) right on your PC. A service will use tape machines with a USB digital out. There are also digital converters and software that adapt analogue AV equipment.

485890

[John K Jordan]

Dave, I did a lot of that, for years, when creating content and producing animations and technical videos. Back in the “old days” the digitizing used to be the hardest step, followed by producing a DVD. Now it’s relatively easy.

The process of converting from an analog signal (e.g. tape, audio or video, paper or film) to digitial form is called “digitizing”.

A CD/DVD is already in digital form so creating a digital file from those is easier and commonly called “ripping”, basically copying digital data from one place to another. Almost any computer with a DVD player can do this - I’ve “ripped” many hundreds of CDs and a bunch of DVD with only one failure from an abused CD. Note unlike professionally produced CD/DVDs, recordable disks created on home equipment can be subject to decay since they use a completely different method to store data.

When digitizing there are lots of variables you have to consider, primarily the tradeoffs between video and audio sampling rates, the color space, and important, the compression type and amount. and the resultant file size. Since NTSC video is an analog format with strictly limited vertical resolution (lines) sophisticated methods of interpolation can be used for better resolution. A higher-quality digital file can be much larger than a lower-quality file. You might opt for a smaller, lower quality file in some cases if the file will be emailed or if you want a certain amount of music/video to fit on one CD/DVD. Since old tape can degrade over time the best digitization might also include noise reduction. (Note that video tapes are best kept in temperature and humidity controlled environments and rewound occasionally to minimize degradation. Even the cable between the video deck and the digitizing hardware can make a difference. It REALLY helps to use professional decks to read the tape. (I have a couple of high-end VHS pro decks and it’s hard to believe the difference in quality with using those compared to a consumer deck. )

There are inexpensive device you can connect and digitize nearly any video sources. Some computers and laptops have some form of this built in. However, if you are interested in a high quality result you might contact a professional. I have the capability but don’t do this any more - not for others or even for myself (I have a backlog of my own stuff to digitize, including hours of analog video in a pro Betacam SP format.) And I haven’t even kept up with any advances in technology so I can’t provide specific advice. Finding someone to digitize with high quality is getting harder since for years almost all new original material has been digital.

However, I do know a video professional who does this. He worked with my oldest son (a video and photo pro) for years and is trustworthy. If you are interested I can inquire to see if he is still doing this and the approximate lead time then send you his contact information. Perhaps send my your contact info by email. Also, he will likely want to know the amount of data, number of hours of cassette tape, number of CDs/DVDs etc.

If the audio on tapes is important you might avoid playing them more than necessary and get them digitized now rather than years from now!

If you want the best quality you might sure any local place knows what they are doing and is not just some self-made geek with enough equipment and software do do a minimal job. These days almost anyone can do a low-end conversion. You can do enough yourself to get by with a small investment.

The form you get back isn’t that important. These days digital video and audio files are probably best sent on a SSD drive you can plug into a USB port on your computer, although some may put them on a NAS (network addressable storage) and give you a URL to access and download. (that’s what I do - I have a small NAS with four 12tb drives) You might ask for video files to put into a format you can burn directly to a recordable DVD. (This requires a DVD recorder on you computer, relatively common these days.) Audio files can be in one of a number of formats you can play on your computer and you can easily burn CDs if you want or put the files on HD, SSD, or even inexpensive USB thumb drives to share with family and friends.

BTW, my own requirement for archiving important unique data: store something I would hate to lose in at least three places in different physical locations, fire-resistant safe, etc. When I was working I was so paranoid about the chance of loss I stored copies of work in 5 places!

JKJ


I've got some cassette tapes, CD's and VCR tapes that's I'd like to have digitized so I can keep the files on my PC, iPhone and iPad. There are places locally that I can get it done but I'm not sure what I ask for or how they're stored on my devices? I'd also like to be able to share with with family and some of the people I played in a band with. None are commercial artists so I don't think I'm breaking any copyright rules. I suppose the business will let me know if that's a problem.

[Dave Fritz]

Thanks John. I'm going to have a professional do it. I've tried in the past and the results weren't satisfactory.