Recommendations for Digitizing a Sentimental, Slightly Damaged VHS

[keeks867]

Apologies if this isn't the correct place to post this. I'm a little desperate!

I’ve had no trouble digitizing my own VHS tapes in the past, but I’m currently dealing with a more delicate situation. Before my father passed away, we were watching some old home videos together, and unfortunately, the VCR wrinkled a portion near the beginning of one of the tapes. It contains footage from when I was born, so it holds significant sentimental value.

It’s been a few years, and I now feel ready to digitize it, but I’m hesitant to attempt it myself out of concern for causing further damage. I’m wondering if there are any reputable services that specialize in handling damaged or fragile VHS tapes. Ideally, I’d like to find a professional with experience in this area who can safely preserve the footage.

Any recommendations or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[dellsam34]

Where do you live so people can give you some suggestions.

[keeks867]

I’m in the Midwest. Willing to ship anywhere in the US or drive.

[timtape]

You're wise to have been careful not to play the tape again to avoid possibly more damage. Tapes are often initially damaged by playing in a VCR which was in need of service/repair. They can then be vulnerable to more damage even when played in a perfectly good machine.

The company below has an excellent reputation for expertise in dealing with damaged tapes. It has been around a long time and is often cited for its high quality work. It's worth reading their website to get a feel for the scope and depth of their work.

They're located in NJ.

http://www.specsbros.com/

[keeks867]

Where do you live so people can give you some suggestions.

Realized I responded to my own post instead of you. I'm located in the Midwest. Willing to ship to or drive to wherever!

[keeks867]

You're wise to have been careful not to play the tape again to avoid possibly more damage. Tapes are often initially damaged by playing in a VCR which was in need of service/repair. They can then be vulnerable to more damage even when played in a perfectly good machine.

The company below has an excellent reputation for expertise in dealing with damaged tapes. It has been around a long time and is often cited for its high quality work. It's worth reading their website to get a feel for the scope and depth of their work.

They're located in NJ.

http://www.specsbros.com/

I appreciate your response! I sent them an email!

[aramkolt]

I'd be curious what they quote you. My guess is something like $100 plus shipping for the single tape with a several week turnaround time. Odds are the rest of your tape other than the eaten section is fine, but if you don't want to chance it, I suppose that's reasonable.

[keeks867]

I'd be curious what they quote you. My guess is something like $100 plus shipping for the single tape with a several week turnaround time. Odds are the rest of your tape other than the eaten section is fine, but if you don't want to chance it, I suppose that's reasonable.

Once I hear back, I'll let you know! I would be willing to pay $100 + shipping for that if it came down to it. Can't put a price on seeing family you can no longer see again!

[aramkolt]

100% agree that tapes of such sentimental value are priceless. I'd be glad to capture your tape for you for just the cost of return shipping. The potential risk would be that the tape could get lost in shipping and it's hard to trust really anyone on the internet, so I could see going with the more expensive/reputable route as well, but just throwing it out there as an option. I've also wanted to see what the quality of specbros transfers are, so if you have them do it first, I'd love to try to capture the same tape and see if there's a significant difference in the capture quality of their capture vs mine.

[dellsam34]

I've done tapes in similar condition with a lesser value VCR and I can tell you don't expect the damaged area to be 100% recoverable, Depends on how severe the damage is, it goes from few horizontal stripes across the screen to full screen stripes, Most transfer places avoid passing that section over their expensive VCRs' heads unless they are not aware of it, Specs Bro is no exception, they will probably splice the damaged section of the tape before they capture it. If you want the damaged section to be scanned you will have to do it yourself or ask the capture place if they are willing to take the risk to do a pass of the tape as is without repairing it, but they have to have pro gear or at least a consumer frame TBC to be able to lock onto the signal of the damaged area.

[keeks867]

I've done tapes in similar condition with a lesser value VCR and I can tell you don't expect the damaged area to be 100% recoverable, Depends on how severe the damage is, it goes from few horizontal stripes across the screen to full screen stripes, Most transfer places avoid passing that section over their expensive VCRs' heads unless they are not aware of it, Specs Bro is no exception, they will probably splice the damaged section of the tape before they capture it. If you want the damaged section to be scanned you will have to do it yourself or ask the capture place if they are willing to take the risk to do a pass of the tape as is without repairing it, but they have to have pro gear or at least a consumer frame TBC to be able to lock onto the signal of the damaged area.

I expected as much! I just want to retrieve the rest so it's not forever lost to time. The wrinkled tape is quite frankly, beyond even considering it salvageable. I just want to save whatever I can from it. Hopefully I'll hear something back from them soon. If not, I'm not sure of any other options.

[lordsmurf]

Contact SpecBros for physically damaged media.
Don't risk it with anything else.

[Litaiff]

Here in northern Brazil, 90% of the tapes that come to me are like this; some aren't as bad as this one, but I've been doing recovery and digitization for 8 years. But when it comes to crumpled tape, I think even NASA couldn't produce a good video after trying to recover it.


[Attachment 89378 - Click to enlarge]

[keeks867]

Here in northern Brazil, 90% of the tapes that come to me are like this; some aren't as bad as this one, but I've been doing recovery and digitization for 8 years. But when it comes to crumpled tape, I think even NASA couldn't produce a good video after trying to recover it.


[Attachment 89378 - Click to enlarge]

I'm not expecting the crumpled part to be recoverable. But I'm hoping someone could maybe splice it?

[timtape]

Crumpled tape might maybe still be playable, if with imperfect picture and sound. Even stretched to a degree.

Crumpled or creased can be a problem in that small particles in the magnetic recorded layer on the ridges or high points of the tape can be scraped off by the action of the tiny fast spinning video heads. The particles can then become stuck to the tiny video heads, preventing further reading of any tape downstream of the damage until the heads are thoroughly cleaned, and it's sometimes difficult to remove these tiny particles.

So there can be advantages and disadvantages in splicing out the crumpled sections. If it was me I'd treat it on a case by case basis.

I recently had a customer's DV tape (1/4") which had a few damaged tape sections. When I ran into the short damaged section, the heads clogged and the following undamaged section could not be read. In that case I chose not to attempt capturing the damaged section. I worked out the exact location of the damaged section, avoided it altogether, only capturing the content either side of it.

Sometimes in the process of being damaged in the machine the tape wanders out of the strict machine tape path and collects dirt and necessary lubricants from inside the machine. Another reason I suggested Spec Bros is that they are experts in serious cleaning of magnetic tapes and have customised cleaning equipment for the various tape formats. In fact Specs Bros recommend cleaning of all tapes before playing, not just the obviously damaged ones.

[dellsam34]

For a small damaged section I wouldn't use Specs Bros, those are specialized in disastrous situations like flooding or fire where they have to clean the tape thoroughly from mud or smoke, the service is suitable for corporations or media companies as it is too expensive, I offered him to have a go on his tape by PM but it seems like he is not interested, All we can do is wish him luck.

[keeks867]

For a small damaged section I wouldn't use Specs Bros, those are specialized in disastrous situations like flooding or fire where they have to clean the tape thoroughly from mud or smoke, the service is suitable for corporations or media companies as it is too expensive, I offered him to have a go on his tape by PM but it seems like he is not interested, All we can do is wish him luck.

Any other suggestions outside of Spec Bros?

[timtape]

For a small damaged section I wouldn't use Specs Bros, those are specialized in disastrous situations like flooding or fire where they have to clean the tape thoroughly from mud or smoke, the service is suitable for corporations or media companies as it is too expensive...

From Spec Bros own website:

CONSUMER SERVICES : "SPECS BROS., LLC is a professional laboratory that does its primary business with museums, archives, broadcasters, universities and government agencies. We do, however, restore and digitize tapes for homeowners."

"There is no difference in the level of service we provide for consumer or professional clients. Every tape we process is handled individually by highly trained and qualified experts. We treat consumer tapes exactly the same as if they came from a museum."

Specs Bros appear to treat Disaster Recovery and Archival Transfer as separate processes and performing one process doesnt necessarily imply performing both.

I believe the OP has only one problem tape, not 1000 tapes, so the cost should be relatively small regardless of who does the work.

None of us here have personally examined the OP's tape so cant be 100% sure what would be involved.
I certainly didnt mean to imply Spec Bros are the only facility able to perform this particular work to a high standard.

[dellsam34]

The difference is in price as I posted.

A tape eaten by a VCR, I've seen tons of it since the 80's, nothing new, nothing rocket science.