PROTECT YOUR VIDEOS!

Use these guidelines to extend your tape's life:

Keep tapes clean, cool and dry.

Dirt, humidity, and heat are the main enemies of tape and can make the tapes impossible to play back in very short periods of time. Store them in a place which has is relatively cool and low humidity if possible, but keeping a constant temperature and humidity will help.

Check the tape pack for a smooth and consistent wind.

Tapes that have individual edges raised above the pack as a whole are exposed to damage. Any gaps in the tape wind probably indicate uneven pressure which will damage the tape over time.

Stay away from video tape rewinders.

Most rewinders are very inexpensive and subject the tape to questionable tension. Simply use your VCR to fast forward and rewind the tape.

Always rewind or fast forward the video tape fully.

It is a good policy never to leave a tape stopped in the middle of the cassette... always rewind or fast forward it to the end of the tape.

Protect your tapes from physical damage.

Cardboard sleeves and inexpensive "library" cases provide little protection for either the cassette or the tape inside. Often these inexpensive cases are made of materials that deteriorate over time. Protect your investment with a high quality shipping case or an inert plastic sleeve.

When in doubt, make a copy.

You cannot recover from a lost single master. If you only have one copy of a tape, try to play it back only when necessary (hopefully only to make a back up copy). Often you can recover if you have made copies, even if the quality is lower. Ideally keep copies in different places, and make copies at different times so that they do not all age and "time out" together. Consider including your video tapes in the archive.

Make sure the machine works BEFORE you insert a tape.

One of the biggest causes of damage to tapes is machines in bad condition. If you are uncertain about a machine's condition, insert a tape that is not valuable to ascertain that condition.

If a tape is damaged, do NOT insert it into a videotape recorder.

A damaged or decaying tape may damage the machine.

Know what type of machine the tape was recorded on, and KEEP the machine!

The practical reality is that there are many videotape formats that become obsolete quickly. Knowledge, and ideally possession, of the machine that recorded the tape originally can be extremely valuable. Even if the machine is not working, it should be saved - it may be possible to repair the machine and it may not be possible to recover the tape without it.

Always label your tapes.

Unless a tape is properly labeled, the only way to know the contents is to play the tape, and if the tape cannot be played back without restoration, how do you know whether the contents are valuable enough to justify restoration cost?

What if my video tape is already failing?

You can try to make a copy - but you risk further damaging the tape or the machine. Of course, there is quality loss just from the copy processs, but better a copy than no tape at all. There are a few services such as VidiPax that can do video tape restoration, however the process is expensive and not always successful. The best aproach is to make archives of the tape (preferably archive-quality digital copies to preserve the quality) before the tape fails. If you have video tapes that are already failing, contact me for further help.