HOW TO PREPARE YOUR VIDEO TAPES FOR YOUR AFFORDABLE ARCHIVES PROJECT.
CALL, text or email Affordable Archives to get your free preparation kit sent out to you. Our kit includes round temporary adhesive labels, mailing labels as well as instructions on how best to organize the tapes in your project.
GATHER all of your tapes together. Keep the tapes in their case or cover. Avoid touching the magnetic tape itself or exposing it to sunlight, moisture or excessive heat.
SORT your tapes in the order you would like them to be converted. Most people use alphabetical arrangement by title or chronological arrangement by date. If your tapes are not titled then you can arrange in any order you wish.
LABEL your tapes in the order you wish to have them converted. Beginning with the first tape in your project, write the tape designation on one of the provided temporary labels and attach it to the tape box, cover or to the tape itself.
If your tape is a VHS, please label as follows: “VHS001” for the first tape in your project. If your tape is a MiniDV please label as follows: “MDV001”. Assign each successive tape in your project with a sequential number “…002”, “…003”, etc.
This tape number will be combined with any title text and will become the DVD or file name of the conversion. For example, if the first tape is a Hi8 tape and is titled “Christmas 1988” the resulting DVD or file name will be: “Hi8.001_Christmas1988”.
Please use the following tape designations when labeling your tapes: “VHS” for VHS tapes, “VHSC” for VHS-C (compact) tapes, “SVHS” for SVHS (super) tapes, “A8mm” for Analog 8mm tapes, “D8mm” for Digital 8mm tapes, “Hi8” for Hi8 8mm tapes, MDV for MiniDV tapes and BTA for Beta tapes.
FIND a sturdy box or other suitable container and place your video tapes into ziplock bags and make sure to pad the bottom of the container and pack the empty space in the box so that your film reels do not get jostled around.
CALL text or email Affordable Archives to arrange to drop off your project or have us pick it up. If you plan to ship your project to us, please read the shipping instructions provided.
Click the links below to read about audio tape and photo preparation.