VHS, Hi-8 and MiniDV PRESERVATION

[Steve Wargo]

I put all of my stuff on DVDs using a Pioneer PRV-LX1 set at the highest quality. Cheap, easy to store and easy to duplicate.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut Pro systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck

[Curious Editor]

I don’t have a Hi-8 Camera anymore, I need to buy a VHS, Mini DV and Hi-8 deck? Also transfering footage onto DVD, isn’t it compressed therefore we lose quality from original?

[Steve Wargo]

Well, VHS is garbage to begin with. Both VHS and Hi-8 are color under formats that have issues. Mini-DV is already compressed 5-1. You can set the recording quality of any DVD recorder to high and it will most likely do a nice job. What exactly do you think you’re going to convert to that isn’t going to compress the image a bit?

Quite frankly, I think you need to transfer everything to D-5 HD. You’ll love the results.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut Pro systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck

[Curious Editor]

What’s D-5 HD?

[Robert Houllahan]

We are currently in the process of a preservation project for a deceased US senator the media being “preserved” includes Film (16mm and 35mm) and video such as VHS Beta TypeC etc.

Upon review of the options with the library and research into archivist papers DVD-R was ruled out very strongly as real world testing showed even the best media deteriorated sharply at or before the 10year mark and many much earlier.

Direct to disk was considered but continuous maintenance and lack of reliable spin up after extended off periods ruled it out.

The video collection is being put to 2 simultaneous DvCam tapes with one in storage at a cold mountain facility and the other in the library for access. We projected a re visitation of the new tapes in 20 years with trepidation that they would be readable and we are placing a DvCam deck in storage as well in case there are not any anymore.

The film got duplicates and in a few cases a 3 strip separation the color prints are fairly well assured for 100+yrs and the seperations (3 B+W films one for each color) are projected to be viable for a millenia and are on the archivists short list of “permanent”

That’s a professionals look at a archival job.

I would transfer all of your family material onto 2 dv tapes each and keep the two copies in separate places.

D5 is a top end HD tape format which is 1080i or 1080p by 1920 with 4:2:2 color and low compression (2.5:1 or so) a deck is $70k or so 😉

-Rob-

[Steve Wargo]

And there you go. I would, however, make a high quality DVD that you can actually watch and make $1 copies of. And then re-copy them every nine years. Hint: The optical discs of today are much better than those of years ago. Always make multiple copies when possible.

If you do back up on some sort of tape, never store them lying down. Always standing up.

My apologies for making the D-5 comment. I figured you would know what that was. My bad!

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut Pro systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck

[Curious Editor]

I got feedback from some people telling to put all my VHS, 8mm tapes to DV. I guess I just need to buy a VHS with S-Video output, DV or RGBWY component, a 8mm(Hi-8 is the same?) with S-video or DV to a DV deck and record. (I also need to buy DV deck)

What do you guys think? Will this be expensive? Dv Tapes are better then DVD’s right?

[Virginia Moser]

Hi Steve,

I was very happy to see your post on “Creative Cow” after exhausting other channels in my search to find the best method to capture 80 hours of hi-8 footage with RCTC Time Code into Final Cut. I’ve given up on having the RCTC Time Code read by Final Cut and am now concerned with two things: getting the higest resolution image with the least wear and tear on my fragile hi-8 original tapes and avoiding audio drift on capturing and export. I’ve described the issue in some detail below, if you feel inclined to read it all. In short, what capture pre-set and audio sample rate setting would you recommend?

I’d be very grateful to get any feedback you might have on this,

Many Thanks,
Virginia Moser

I have 80 hours of original hi-8 video footage that I’m attempting to capture in FCP so I can do a fine-cut of a very important project from 15 years ago for distribution now. I am trying to get the highest resolution image with the least wear and tear on my fragile hi-8 original tapes and ideally, get FCP to read the RC Time Code that I recorded on to the audio track of my hi-8 originals after recording my footage. I made window-dubs of the hi-8 tapes using this RC Time Code onto ¾” tapes and have logged all the footage referencing this RC Time Code.

Hardware:

1. The original footage was shot on a SONY Hi8 camera with RC Time Code (RCTC) and DATA CODE function and Hi8 PCM Audio, Sample Rate of 32 kHz w/ 12-bit samples.

2. SONY GV-D200 Digital 8 Deck w/ firewire to convert analog to digital. Menu Settings:

I have the audio set to 16 Bit, not 12 Bit. HiFi Sound is set to “Stereo”

Time Base Corrector is “ON”

DNR is “ON”

AV-DV Out is “ON”.

3. Mac Pro, Dual-Core Intel Xeon, 2 x 2.66 GHz dual core processor

Software:

Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

1. Capture Pre-Set:

What capture pre-set would create the highest resolution picture and the fewest problems when outputting to DV tape?

Should the capture pre-set in FCP be set to NTSC DV 48 kHz (3:2) 720×480 OR at NTSC DV 48 kHz (4:3) 640 x480? The 720×480 setting seemed to work except I got what looked like control track at the bottom of the captured image (this happened with both settings). 640 x480 didn’t seem to be the right one because I got an altered frame size and had to render the captured file when I put it on the timeline.

I read that it’s preferable to use a codec such as DV or MJPEG/AVI with only I-Frames with a capture input set at Aja Kona LH:525.29.97 but I couldn’t find these settings and it was for burning to DVD, so it may not apply. I also read that “the quality of analogue tape footage is poorer than any full screen (704 or 720 by 480 or 576 pixels) digital format (resolution and signal to noise ratio). This means that we have to conserve as much as possible of the video data without further deterioration. It also means that going to extreme lengths, such as high definition or uncompressed video is a waste of time and resources; in fact, it may even exaggerate the blemishes of the analogue system.”

2. Device Control: The only way I’ve been able to capture the footage is to use “capture now’’ with non-controllable deck setting and the RC time code doesn’t transfer. When I set the Device Control to Firewire NTSC I get a “waiting for timecode” message (probably because it can’t read the RCTC time code). Have you heard of “Hi8DateTime” software (https://octochron.com/)? It’s designed to allow you to read the RCTC time code though I don’t know if it works with a Macintosh.

3. Audio Sample Rate: I tried setting it to 32 KHz, 8-bit in FCP and on my digital 8 deck to match the original hi-8 audio sample rate but it didn’t seem to work, though I may have been missing something. I read on-line that the 48kHZ setting should work, though it can drift out of sync if you capture entire tapes. The tape I captured today was in sync, but I captured it in a 15 minute and then a 45 minute segment. I’m concerned about audio drift at export.