VHS tapes?

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 23 Apr 2008 9:55 am

This is an almost uncategorisable (I made that word up!) subject, but I couldn't think where else to post my question.

I'm trying to transfer the material I currently have on VHS tapes to DVD. It's going quite well, but I had no idea how time-consuming it was going to be! I have about three hundred 2, 3 or 4-hour tapes, and there are nuggets of pure gold tucked away on them - I have to ferret out all the gems, categorize them, re-record them, then put them all away in a binder where they probably won't be viewed for another ten or twenty years!!!!

Oh, yes - the question.....

What should I do with all the tapes afterwards? I know the technology is all but redundant, but is there anything smart I should be doing with them, or do they just get thrown in the recycle bin?

Most of these were recorded on the PAL system, but the tapes are suitable for any medium.

My wife is suspicious and thinks that this effort is all a big waste of time, because I'm incapable of throwing anything away.

Please help me to prove her wrong.....

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 23 Apr 2008 10:37 am

Computer's get sold,crash,die etc. and DVD's get scratched,break so I'd box them up and throw them in the attic just in case.

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 23 Apr 2008 11:47 am

Roger, I once transfered 50 four hour tapes of opera to dvd, it was taken so long to I went out and bought a VHS to DVD recorder , it only took the time of each tape to record, DVD was made in real time,
As to saving the tapes , I thing I would make copies of the dvd's and store them away.If you got the room to store the tapes then you could wrap them in water and air proof plastic bags,

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 23 Apr 2008 11:59 am

I appreciate the input so far, but you guys have just confirmed my wife's worst fears - that we're not going to save ANY space at all, just add a bunch of DVDs to our inventory!

It's all she could do to persuade me to throw out the pre-recorded VHS tapes that I now have properly-packaged commercial release-DVDs on! The haunting knowledge that my own home-recorded VHS tapes have music clips, footage of London Trolleybuses, and other never-to-be-repeated delights secreted within them is making me paranoid about just tossing them out.

My question, though, was more related to the Environment, and whether or not these would have any possible earthly value to anyone else - if Her Indoors suspects for a moment that all this activity is, basically, for nothing, then I may have to seek alternative accommodations.....

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Apr 2008 3:16 pm

Actually I just learned this from a friend over at the Country Music Hall of Fame where they have archived all of the Tv shows, concerts etc and collections from around the world.

TAPE is the format for saving and archiving, DVD /digital is not. The primary reason is that nobody really knows how long DVD digital content will actually last as an archive device. Tape is now known to last over half a century . It appears that over a very long time the coatings on CD and DVD's don't hold up.

Transfer the material but don't get rid of the tapes.

tp

Chris Padgett · Post by **Chris Padgett** » 14 May 2008 9:24 am

How about getting one or more of those external hardrives and archiving the whole lot in them. There are 1 terrabyte units selling for $200 or so now. So even if you kept ALL of the footage you have you could probably fit it all in a shoebox...

I don't think there is a shelf life for digital storage.

We don't use tapes for Security video anymore, either recording or archival. It's all digital. We just feed them to the giant shredder on their rotation out.

Randy Reeves · Post by **Randy Reeves** » 15 May 2008 3:38 am

I am going to save my VHS and watch them on my analog TV. that TV will be obsolete. I will have a designated 'analog' room to kick back in. I will have my old HiFi there too for listening to my old vinyl LPs. might even pin up the old Farah Fawcett poster too.

Duane Brown · Post by **Duane Brown** » 23 May 2008 6:57 pm

As to the shelf life of digital media- I was reading an article in Popular Mechanics a year or so ago about digital files corrupting. The specific file they were referring to is the architectural and structural drawings of the USS Nimitz. They are degrading and you can imagine the problems if they try to upgrade an aircraft carrier and the plans are not still accurate. I have no idea how long DVD or CD will last, but I still have my vhs tapes just in case.

Chris Padgett · Post by **Chris Padgett** » 26 May 2008 2:25 am

Duane, you are right about cd and dvd media. I think it's 25 years or so before they start to lose their reliability. In cases of long term archival it's prudent to plan for transfering to new media every ten years or so. It's easy to do, and digital information can be copied over and over without corruption or loss. Ten years from now the digital storage world will be a vastly different place and all of this concern will be extinct!

Chris

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 28 May 2008 4:00 am

Seems like a good career move. Be the person who is charged with BACKING UP the Digital files in an archive museum every 10 years !

every 10 years, start over...

You can probably pass this job on to your grandchildren etc..etc..etc...

Chris Padgett · Post by **Chris Padgett** » 28 May 2008 4:24 am

Yep, except for the fact that the entire library could be copied in a day or two max. But if they let you play music for the other 9 years and 363 days and still get paid...

Scott Appleton · Post by **Scott Appleton** » 28 May 2008 7:22 am

Back up to DVD and use the DVD to view all your memories .. Tape can get jammed in those old players .. tape can stretch and break after prolonged
storage .. high heat can degrade tape .. you can search a DVD quickly and move footage to a composite edition .. just some of the reasons to transfer ..
Have a good time
Scott

Ernest Cawby · Post by **Ernest Cawby** » 16 Jun 2008 8:36 pm

I have many reel to reel tapes that are 40 + years old and still play well, the problem is milldew, this happens if not properly stored. Also have some VHS that has already gone to waste, Milldew again.

ernie