HOW IT WORKS:

1. Enter the amount of tapes you have
2. Select File Type (MP4, MAC, or PC)
3. Select if you need a Drive or will be providing your own
4. Decide if you want to add playable DVDs to your order (1/2 price $20 each)
5. Add to Cart / Check out
6. Ship your tapes to AV Workshop

• We will number each tape and digitize them into files
• The files will be named Tape 01, Tape 02, etc…
• We ship you your New Digital Files on a USB Flash Drive or Hard Drive, and original tapes
• You plug the drive into your computer and enjoy your videos all over again!
• These files can easily be edited on a MAC or PC with iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere, etc…

*If ordering DVDs as well, please attach a sticky note to each tape for label info or just include a note – label info: same as tape

*Please Note:

• Due to the labor required to play and check tapes for content, there will be a flat fee of $10 for tapes that are blank. T.V. recordings will be transferred up to 2 hours max and charged as normal.

You can always Call or Email us with any Questions

650-369-4366

audiovideoworkshop@gmail.com

1. Gently Clean Tapes (Optional)

• Videotapes can collect dust over time. Putting dusty tapes directly into our VCR decks will create problems and could prevent a smooth, clean video transfer.
  • It’s best to take either a damp wipe or a bit of windex and gently wipe down each tape. This will help prevent dust transfer to our equipment.
  • *Things to look out for: If you notice white flakes or specks scattered on the reels of tape through the clear plastic window – this is mold. Sorry, but we cannot transfer videotapes with mold nor can we clean the tape.

Ex: VHS Tape with Mold

2. Separate Different Types of Media

• If you have different forms of media (such as film and videotapes), be sure to separate them out and label them separately.
  • For example, if you have 10 videotapes and 10 super 8 reels – label the video tapes 1-10 and the film 1-10.
  • If you want to take the extra step, it’s also helpful to separate the different forms of videotapes. For example, if you have both Hi8 Tapes and VHS tapes, you could separate these formats out and label them separately. This helps your media to be as organized as possible on your flash drive or hard drive. If you are not sure what type of tapes you have, you can refer to the chart below.

• VHS
• 7.33 × 4 inches

• VHS-C
• 3.67 × 2.25 inches

• Betamax
• 6.14 × 3.75 inches

• Hi8, Digital 8, 8mm
• 4 x 2.75 inches

• MiniDV
• 2.6 x 1.9 inches

3. Organize

• Organize your videotapes in the order you would like them to be in.
  • For example, many people organize by date where possible. If there are a few videotapes with no date, you could put these at the end after the dated media.
  • However, if you are transferring your videotapes to mp4 files on a flash drive or hard drive – there is no need to stress about the order too much! The great thing about digital files is once you plug in your flash drive / hard drive, you can simply right click and rename your files anything you want to. You can also reorder your files if you decide you want them in a different order.

4. Label

• Once you have your videotapes in order, you can label them by number with sticky notes / masking tape / labels, etc.
  • The number you label the tape as will be the number the file is labeled as.
  • For example, if you sent us VHS tapes, we would label the digital file or DVD with your last name, VHS, and the number (ex: Smith VHS 01). This way, you can easily see which mp4 file correlates to which tape. Again, if you transferred your media to digital files on a drive, you always have the option to rename the files as many times as you’d like.

Tape Organization and Labeling

5. Include Hard Drive or Flash Drive if Providing Your Own

• • if you are providing your own hard drive or flash drive, include it with your order. If your videotapes are being transferred to mp4 files, keep in mind that 1 hour of footage is equal to about 6 GB, 2 hours is about 12 GB, and so on. Therefore, if you have three tapes that are about 2 hours each, you would need a flash drive that can hold at least 36 GB. If you are providing a hard drive, about 140 hours of video (mp4 file format) will fit on a 1 TB drive.
  • *Note: It’s best to provide an empty drive as we will need a drive that is either already formatted NTFS or that can be formatted NTFS. Formatting your drive will erase everything on it, therefore if your drive is not NTFS and has files that you would like to keep – do not use this drive for your media transfer.

6. Place organized media in Clean (Dust / Mold Free) bags or boxes before Dropoff or Shipping

• Please make sure containers are free of dust, dirt, cobwebs, etc… Clean, recyclable bags & boxes are usually best!

Ex: Tapes Labeled by Number with Sticky Notes