In the studio · Hackney Wick, London
Tape digitisation
VHS, Hi8, MiniDV and other video tapes, digitised in our studio in Hackney Wick, East London. Choose your tapes, tell us about them, and we’ll confirm the price and when to bring them in.
Questions
Which tapes do you digitise?
VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV, DV, DVCAM and HDV video tapes recorded in PAL, the UK standard. Recorded abroad (NTSC or SECAM), or something else? Choose “Not sure” and tell us.
What if I don’t know what my tapes are?
Most cassettes say what they are on the label or the shell: VHS, VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV, DV or HDV. If yours don’t, hold one next to a bank card. A VHS is about twice as long, the size of a paperback. VHS-C and 8 mm tapes are a little bigger than the card: VHS-C is 2.3 cm thick, 8 mm 1.5 cm. A MiniDV is smaller than the card. Or choose “Not sure” and tell us what is written on them: we check every tape when it arrives.
How much does it cost?
£20 a tape for VHS, VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, Digital8 and MiniDV, VAT included, for up to 3 hours of recording; longer recordings are £6 an hour more. Masters (ProRes 422 HQ) are £10 a tape more. The MP4s by download link, the stills and the report are included. 30 tapes or more, mould cleaning and repairs: we quote. Return postage at cost.
What do I get back?
An MP4 of each tape (H.264, deinterlaced to whole frames) by download link, with a sheet of stills and a short report. On request, masters for editing or archiving: ProRes 422 HQ, about 20 GB for each hour of standard-definition tape, on a drive you bring or send. Your tapes come back to you.
How do you capture them?
Analogue tapes (VHS, Video8, Hi8) play on a deck and are captured from its video output or, where it helps, from the raw signal off the tape heads, decoded in software (vhs-decode). Digital tapes (MiniDV, DV, Digital8, HDV) are copied over FireWire: the recording itself, as it is on the tape. A master made from a capture is checked against it frame for frame before it is kept.
Mouldy, damaged or snapped tapes?
Tell us in your request. We look at every tape before it goes in a deck, and tell you before doing anything to one.
Do the tapes leave the studio?
No. They are digitised in our studio in Hackney Wick, East London, and come back to you with the files.
Can I play my tapes myself?
Yes: hire a camcorder that plays them from our rentals, by the day or the week.