Depending on the type of tape you have, we’ll be capturing it via a very slightly different method, but most parts remain the same for all tapes.

We only use BlackMagicDesign capture cards – BlackMagicDesign are considered the industry standard for broadcast and analogue video capture and processing equipment. This allows us to capture your footage in the highest possible format (Uncompressed 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 depending on the tape format) and resolution.

Cables between the playback decks and the capture cards are always the highest quality available for that device. For example, a Betacam deck would be connected to a BlackMagicDesign device via an SDI cable.

We always capture files as uncompressed RAW files. From there we can edit sections (if you require it) without degrading the quality. We can then output the file into whatever format you require (most commonly MP4 format on a USB stick), in a bit-rate to suit you. Let us know what you want to playback your files on – We can make sure they are compatible with your television, DVD player, iPad, or iPhone.

The bit-rate of your files is variable depending on how you wish to via the videos. The higher the bit-rate the more colour and detail information is stored in the file, so the higher the file size. We try to make a balanced judgement of quality/file size depending on how you are planning to view the files. Ask us for more information and we can help you with any questions you may have regarding this.

If you want your videos on DVDs we’ll burn a maximum of 2 hours to a single layer DVD, and 4 hours on a dual layer DVD. This keeps the bit-rate of your footage at the maximum 8.5mb. We’ll never squeeze more than 2 hours of footage on a single layer DVD. If you tape is longer than 4 hours we’ll simply use a additional DVD – Unlike other companies there is no extra charge for this!

Check out our VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, Betamax, Hi8, MiniDV, MicroMV, Betacam, U-Matic, and v2000 product pages for pricing and more information.