Old VCR tape

[ByrdMac]

First time posting here. Ok, this is the deal. My college buddy just found an old video of a Widespread Panic concert from 1990. It was in a cave in Dahlonega, GA, and I'm pretty sure, it's the oldest video of the band out there. The VCR tape has been sitting a cabinet for the last 19 years. This tape could be pretty historical. The band has a huge following. He is afraid to put it in the VCR for fear of it breaking. I live in Athens, Ga, he lives in Dahlonega, GA. We have no idea where to start. It needs to be converted to digital. HELP!

[redwudz]

Twenty year old VHS tapes are fairly common. If it isn't damaged by mold or getting too hot, should be fine. Of course finding it in a cabinet in a cave does sound a bit weird. And if you haven't played it, how do you know what's really on it?

If you are really worried about copying it, (And it's not a copyrighted tape), take it to a professional restoration company and let them make the digital copy. They should have much better equipment and experience in handling old VHS tapes.

And welcome to our forums.

[jman98]

I strongly agree with the suggestion to use a professional restoration company to deal with this. While you could do it yourself theoretically, if you are a first time poster you're not going to be able to deal with potential problems with the tape the way the pros can. Atlanta will surely have people who can do this. Athens may as well, but I'd not try to get it done in Dahlonega if it was me.

Your post is a little unclear (that's probably for the best) about whether or not this is a commercial tape that someone bought in a store in 1990. I don't use restoration services, but I'd guess that while technically you might have to right to get a DVD copy from a tape you bought, some shops may balk at doing that because of copyright issues, so you may have to shop around. If this is a commercial tape, it's not historical as the band probably still has access to the original footage.

[ByrdMac]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replys. Copyright issues are not a problem. It wasn't bought from the store. A group had a party, invited Widespread Panic to play, and someone video taped the concert and made copies for about 20 people? All the other copies have disappeared and this is the only remaining copy as far as I know. As far as the restoration is concerned, what kind of questions should be asked? What are some specific things to look out for when restoring and old VHS tape. Don't want to walk in blind, or be lead down the wrong path. I have nightmare image of handing a stranger the VHS tape, only to have the person come back 10 mins later with a pile of mangled VHS tape saying "SORRY, she tore up as soon as I popped her in".

[Marvingj]

I have VHS tapes from the 80's that play great... but that's not the real issue.

YOUR tape, for whatever reason, won't play well (moisture, heat or magnetism may be the problem).

Since its probably not DIRT (tape is wound so tightly that nothing could really get ONTO the tape face) I doubt that you need to have it "Cleaned". It might have "stretched" a bit and that would cause timebase & tracking errors.

Its probably a lost hope to make a distorted playback look good (even "OK".)
But your best bet would be playing it on a deck with a digital Timebase Corrector.

[lordsmurf]

I sent you a private message (PM) about restoration solutions.