Most of our customers send their video tapes in either VHS format or miniDV. Advertising agencies send theirs in either Digital Betacam or BetacamSP as the video quality is much better in these formats.
When Editing Is Required
If the client wants to edit their video, we digitize the whole video in the computer. The editing is then done digitally with almost no loss in video quality.
Once the edit is complete, we might either render it to VCD compliant MPEG1 and burn it using our CD Burner, or play it back from the computer into the hardware VCD recorder.
When No Editing Is Required
If the client wants a straight transfer to VCD, we would probably use our realtime hardware encoder to produce the VCD. We check the visual and audio quality to see if it needs treatment before the hardware encoding. If the tape is old, we will probably use our Time Base Corrector to clean up the video signal. If the audio is bad, we pass it to a mixer and aural exciter to make the audio louder and clearer.
Other Problems
Very often, we get tapes which have fungus on them. It is very important that the fungus is removed before the transfer is done. Failing to do so may damage the video heads of our video players. We often have to physically remove the casing of the video to do a thorough cleaning job.
Tapes sometimes arrive crumpled, probably by the customer's video player or camera. If the client is not too fussy about this, there will be a momentary blue screen where the crumple is. Most times, we bypass the crumpled area to give an uninterrupted view of the video.
Tips For Customers When Sending Their Video For Transfers
- Label your tapes carefully
- Think about a title for your finished DVD/VCD. Basic information includes Title, Date, Duration
- If you require editing, preview your tapes so that you can tell us exactly where the edits will be. This saves studio time and cost.
- Don't send your videos at the last minute - you may miss your deadline or pay express charges.
