Converting Porn VHS Tapes to digital

[NeonKnite]

The best piece of equipment you can buy for VHS transfer is called a "Time Base Corrector". It makes sure every frame coming from the VHS has proper time code and can even prevent dropped frames. However, they are expensive and harder to find the farther we get from the VHS era.

The farther we get from the VHS era, the harder and more expensive it becomes to do this stuff as hardware becomes rare and the VHS tapes themselves have a finite lifespan (maybe 25 years).

Only a fraction of the VHS material has made it to DVD and still plenty by some big name stars never has, and likely never will so we're now getting to the point where some of this stuff may disappear forever.

[NeonKnite]

I posted my first transfer with my current equipment here:

http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/sho...41#post4356941

[kogi]

Originally Posted by NeonKnite

I posted my first transfer with my current equipment here:

http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/sho...41#post4356941

Looked pretty good.

[m100]

Originally Posted by NeonKnite

The farther we get from the VHS era, the harder and more expensive it becomes to do this stuff as hardware becomes rare and the VHS tapes themselves have a finite lifespan (maybe 25 years).

I'm still converting VHS tapes (usually concert recordings) from the early 1980's and suffering very few breakages. What I would say is if anyone is winding a VHS back to the beginning try not to go the whole way in one go. The only place i have had breakage is at the start of tapes and it is actually easy to repair in order to at least play the tape once. You'll need the smallest screwdrivers you can find to undo the casing on the tape and a glue stick (pritt stick works fine) top the rejoin off with a tiny piece of sticky tape, get the casing back together and you're good to go.

On a similar note I'd also be cautious rewinding old audio cassettes if like me you're digitizing some of those. Sony ones are very prone to snapping and they are a pain in the ass to rejoin if it's at all possible.

[NeonKnite]

Originally Posted by m100

I'm still converting VHS tapes (usually concert recordings) from the early 1980's and suffering very few breakages. What I would say is if anyone is winding a VHS back to the beginning try not to go the whole way in one go. The only place i have had breakage is at the start of tapes and it is actually easy to repair in order to at least play the tape once. You'll need the smallest screwdrivers you can find to undo the casing on the tape and a glue stick (pritt stick works fine) top the rejoin off with a tiny piece of sticky tape, get the casing back together and you're good to go.

That's good to know... but my understanding is that the magnetic tape starts to degrade in 10-25 years.

More info:

https://www.scancafe.com/image-prese...ideotape-decay

So, the farther we get from the heyday of VHS (early-80s to late-90s), eventually these tape are going to degrade to such a point that they won't be recoverable.

The time to archive to digital is now.

[NeonKnite]

Here's a lot of interesting info I stumbled upon:

https://www.canada.ca/en/conservatio...deo-tapes.html

[73north]

I paid for a 1990 VHS Italia 1990 WC Game Tape ( Scotland vs Sweden ) -
to be transferred to DVD - it was not dear , and the quality was impressive
I would say - and now I can watch it anytime ( I got my Mum to record it as I watched it live in Genoa , in person in the actual stadium - so its special to me
- do it while you can , and there are people out there still able to do it for you

[ellias]

"I had a Canopus ADVC-1000 then that worked well converting to DV."

I too have the Canopus ADVC-1000 on my Mac. It plugs into the Firewire imput for faster transfers than the USB port allows.

It works well transferring both video and audio at the same time.

[NeonKnite]

I just purchased a high quality JVC S-VHS VCR that should improve the quality of my transfers. Also, instead of going through MINI DV which while solid does have some drawbacks (colorspace, compression), I'll be using an ATI TV Wonder to get better quality initial transfers.

I also have a bunch of vids on the way of some of my favorite actresses so it'll will be fun to see what kind of transfers I can get. Probably take a few weeks though until everything is in place, but I'll post back.

By the way, if anybody has something rare on VHS that they need converted, I'm more than happy to do it.

[PAWGLover]

I have been told that using a pre-flat screen ( a tv that was around when these tapes were made) would create the best picture. Any thoughts would be appreciated.Also I have heard the bigger screen you use, the better end result, would like to know if these 2 things matter before I decide to try to convert anything.