| << Homeground.ca Main Page | < Back to Page One | To-Date: 2025-02-28 |
I'm now taking orders for March 2026.
Your tapes or discs can be brought to my home which is on the B-Line a few kilometres from Pembroke.
It is preferable that your tapes or cassettes are packed well and moved in a sturdy box.
Please include your email address and, optionally, your telephone number.
I will be in contact with you throughout the process. It may be with questions, suggestions, or just to provide a progress report.
I do one Customer's job at a time, so the time it takes to process your videos mainly depends on the amount of video and the condition of the tape or disc.
The VCR I use is especially good at reading old tape. If the tape is mildly damaged, from being stretched or crumpled, the viewable frames will be kept and the rest cut out.
(These frames are not discarded; they're saved as a separate video file.)
Broken video tape can sometimes be repaired sufficiently to record the contents of the cassette. I obtain the Customer's permission before making the attempt.
I can extract video from DVDs or mini-DVDs. If a disc is damaged I also have software which attempts to rescue data from the disc.
(In the unlikely event there seems retrievable data that my software can't reach I'll suggest the disc be sent to a company with more powerful tools.)
Your tapes and discs are handled carefully. Video tape cassettes are wound forward and back in my VCR to give the tape proper tension during transfer.
If there is trouble with the condition of the tape, it will show up at that point, before work begins.
Otherwise your original tape cassettes and discs are returned unchanged.
(I use good-quality hardware for playing video cassettes but there's no absolute guarantee that the tape will never break or mangle. If sections of the tape had previously been crumpled this may happen again while I'm playing it.)
There are two types of 8mm Camcorder: Analog (8mm & High8), and Digital (Digital8).
Digital8 entered the market around 1999. Cassettes recorded before that time would have been recorded on the earlier, Analog type, and after 1999 may have been recorded on either the Analog or the Digital8 type.
I currently am able to work with both types.
Yes. This process is a bit more involved than other types of conversion. Depending on the number of film reels to be processed there might be a longer wait time.
Sometimes it's better to break down a big job into several smaller ones and the reels with highest priority are worked on first.
Sometimes it's better to break down a big job into several smaller ones and the reels with highest priority are worked on first.
Sometimes a home movie tape or disc has also been used to record from television.
Sometimes, too, there is previously-recorded footage now partially recorded-over.
These extra video segments are saved as files and bundled together in a separate folder for you to review and keep or discard as you wish.
Every single good frame of video is saved. You can view this 'extra' video and decide if there's anything you want to keep from it.
Segments of video that run for only a few seconds are not saved as video files; single frames are converted to images so that you can see what was on those segments that are too short to watch as videos.
They can be in mp4 format or in mpeg2 format.
Advantages of mp4 files are their ability to be played on a wide variety of playback devices (e.g. these are the type viewed on YouTube).
The mpeg2 type file is the type used to make playable DVDs.
Which options are best for you depends on how you're planning to use the files.
(I don't make DVD compilations.)
Keep at least two full sets of your video files in a way that assures they won't be accidentally deleted.
Your computer can mark digital files "read-only" to ensure they're not altered. One copy should be protected this way.
If you don't use a computer it's still a good idea to keep one set of the video files on a storage device which a computer can access.
Additionally, I will hold a full copy of your project for sixty days or ninety days, or even longer if you ask. At the end of this safety period I will check with you before finally deleting the copies of your videos in my care.
When your project is finished, and the full size of the files is known, we can determine your best options for file storage. If you need more storage space I can help you find it.
Only myself. I neither show your video to, nor discuss any details about it with, anyone but yourself.
If you wish for me to discuss the work with a third party I should be notified of this ahead of that person's contacting me.
Likewise I cannot take orders concerning your Project from a third party without your explicit consent.
Once your keepsake videos get stranded in a box because the machines that once played them are now obsolete, they could stay there a long time, while budget constraints favour other necessities.
The old tapes get older and worse over time. Those movies need rescuing.
So that such important and irreplaceable mementos aren't lost, my working for donations ensures that you get the job you need done, for the price you can afford.