how record companies store old videos ?

[vidyarathne]

hello anyone know how record companies store their 80s videos (specially 80s music videos). are they still using beta-max tapes ?
i noticed still they telecast them in very high quality.because in 80s there was no DVDs or blue ray disks

[Cornucopia]

Especially before the 80's, record companies only made records (LP, 45).

Movie & Tv studios/stations and production companies made videos in the 80s and before and since.
They usually tried to put their masters on the highest quality medium they could afford.
This would be: 35mm film, 16mm film, 2" reel videotape, 1"C tape, Betacam, Betacam SP, M II, D1, D2, Digibeta, Dv.
If they were really cheap, it might be 3/4" Umatic, SVHS, Hi8.

This doesn't count the HD or later digital formats.

And no record/production/etc company in their right mind would save their masters in either VHS or Betamax.

Scott

[edDV]

Ive been amazed at the quality those PBS specials get out of old 2" Quad tape from the 50's and 60's.

Programs like Lawrence Welk, Rowan and Martin, Dean Martin and Ed Sullivan were all shot live composite NTSC to Quad tape.

TV drama series were shot to film, so HD restoration is no problem.

By the late 70s, most live production moved from Quad to 1" Type C tape.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_C_videotape

By the late 80's, high quality digital formats were used such as D1 (component digital) and D2/D3 (composite digital).

Probably the highest quality live to tape music special done in the US during the 60's was the 1964 TAMI concert shot to a wide 1.85:1 version of the 819 line French monochrome TV standard recorded with specially modified RCA Quad video tape machines. It was first released on film to movie theaters. This concert has been converted to HD by Dick Clark Productions for PBS from the original video masters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.A.M.I._Show
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058631/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronovision

During the early 70s a highly capable 2" analog color helical VTR was produced that essentially was HD with >8 MHz recording bandwidth. The IVC-9000 was designed for high quality film transfers but could also be used for live NTSC/PAL production. It was also capable of 24p recording with 655 lines.
http://www.labguysworld.com/IVC-9000.htm


IVC-9000 super helical VTR.

[filmboss80]

As for the music videos of the 80s -- especially the early 80s when MTV was young, music videos would not be accepted by the network unless delivered on 1" type C video. (I was a junior editor for a production house that produced promotional music videos during that time, and 1" was the MTV requirement.) The format, if stored properly, can hold up quite well.

[Cornucopia]

Yes, but most (though definitely not ALL) MTV masters of that era were 35mm film. The 1"C was just a transfer copy to tape for broadcast (I know you know this, I'm just saying it for the OP's benefit). With film masters, one could conceivably go back & retransfer to HD.

I always though 1"C was a little "soft" compared to BCSP even though it was great looking at the time.

Scott

[edDV]

Although music video elements were usually shot on film*, these were transferred to the video tape editing format of the day for editing/effects/compositing/finishing. In the early 80s, the project was usually finished to 1" C or B format. Later in the 80s, D2 or D1 could be used. An HD conversion would require a re-edit from the original film elements.


*exceptions included shooting direct to video. Compact Video Systems was the specialist in video acquisition. They were used more often for shooting concerts but also to acquire video off traditional film stages.

[filmboss80]

Yes, but most (though definitely not ALL) MTV masters of that era were 35mm film. The 1"C was just a transfer copy to tape for broadcast (I know you know this, I'm just saying it for the OP's benefit). With film masters, one could conceivably go back & retransfer to HD.

I always though 1"C was a little "soft" compared to BCSP even though it was great looking at the time.

Scott

In the 80s, film certainly remained a primary acquisition format (and the company I was at managed to get away with 16mm, instead of 35mm), but I'm certain that most of the time, the raw film footage was always transferred to 1"C (via Rank Cintel or other flying spot scanner) BEFORE being edited. (That was certainly the case at the company where I first cut my editing teeth. It allowed for more efficient scene-by-scene color correction and the like. Plus, the stereo audio channels on 1"C tape were superior to film fullcoat and subsequent optical track.)

Film-based edit mastering and distribution was largely done in the 70s, but I think that tended to die down when broadcasters wanted to move to stereo sound. Regardless of acquisition format (be it film or video), I pretty sure the majority of edit mastering moved to video by the time MTV was launched.

[Cornucopia]

I just assumed that the bulk of Vid edits later got the film conformed. It's a shame, that'll make those clips STUCK in SD. Wasn't worried about the soundtrack, since it usually came from the Music recording's release master (and could still again).

Scott

[edDV]

I just assumed that the bulk of Vid edits later got the film conformed.

That was possible for low effects music videos but most went for heavy ADO/DVE effects with Abekas A62/64 layering. The new digital video effects toys were irresistible to music video directors.

[edDV]

Breakthrough Digital Effects devices (used extensively for music videos):

1977 NEC/GVG 2D DVE
1978 Quantel 2D DPE
1979 NEC/GVG 2D DVE Mk2

1981 Ampex 2.5D ADO
1982 Quantel Paintbox
1982 Quantel Mirage rendered 3D effects
1982 Abekas A/62 DDR with layering
1985 GVG 2.5D Kaleidoscope
1986 Quantel Harry 2 layer rendered effects/paint
1987 Digital F/X 2 layer 4:4:4:4 real time effects/paint
1989 Digital F/X 4 layer 4:4:4:4 Composium real time workstation

Most of these won a technical Emmy.