How to Save Moldy VHS Tapes, with Step by Step Cleaning. Saving Old Memories! (and Vidbox vs Elgato)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- If you ever wanted to save Old/Moldy VHS tapes, we will walk you through how to clean them up and the basics of digitizing them. We also share some of our experience with a couple of Video Capture devices (Including the Vidbox Video Capture Device, and the Elgato HD60 S), Let us know what you think of them. :)
Amazon Affiliate links
Elgato HD60 S
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Vidbox Video Capture
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VCR That we Mainly used
Samsung VCR DVD-VR357
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Canon M6 Mark ii
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EF-M Sigma 16mm
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EF-M Canon 18-150mm
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Azden SMX-30
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Edited on 'Power Director 365'
Music From Cyberlink Director Suite 365 - Including
Music from the Shutterstock collection
- Beyond Your Dreams
- Endless Ocean
- The Expectation of Creation
- Tomorrow Morning
- Till Sundown
- The Future of Us
- Pick of the Mountain
- One Picture a Day
- Renewed Vision
- Let it All Out
Music License information can be found at this Link
www.smartsound.com/products/li... - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
i just spent the past 4 hrs watching valuable family memories because of this video and was able to recover some priceless memories thank you for the videos
That is so great to hear!! 😁 We have been so happy that this video has been helpful to so many, we really tried to make the video that we couldn't find when we started this process. Thank you so much for your comment, and letting us know what you accomplished. 😊
FYI: Although it is appreciated, the effort to show how to care or clean these tapes, there is one thing I keep noticing is skipped on some videos; the clear Spool NEEDS to be cleaned FIRST before the tape is run thru cleaner. Cassette needs to be opened, using the alcohol, clean the empty spool, then wind tape to the clean spool, reopen cassette and clean 2nd spool. Reassemble cassette and Now run it thru vcr's cleaning points. If mold spuds are left uncleaned will grow back. 91% and up alcohol should be used. In fact, the entire cassette and inner moving parts which come in contact with molded-tape should be cleaned!
Thanks for the tips! I have rescued around 30 tapes from my parents house which are in a bad shape. Hopefully I'll have some success with a few of them. I should be done by Christmas 😅
I am so excited to try this cleaning process. Thank you thank you.
Hopefully it worked as well for you as it has for us. 😁 We still use this cleaning process, and have been helping out people in our area to save their tapes now. 😊 Thank you so much for the comment, sorry we disappeared there for a while. I think we will be starting to work on more videos about VHS tapes soon. 🙂
A very nice information and great valuable how to clean old VHS tapes 🙏🎉❤️
Thank you guys, I searched for how to clean VSH tapes but nobody showed the easiest way as you did. Great 👍
Even in my younger years I didn't think this way to clean the cassettes 😅
We are just happy that so many people have been able to use our video to save old VHS tapes. :)
We came up with this method out of desperation to find an easier way to save family home videos, then when it worked we just had to share it with as many people as possible. :)
Thank you so much for your kind words!!
A good practical tutorial and well shown thank you and loved hearing a couple of Mogwai in the background. Does pressing the cloth fractionally too hard affect the magnetic recording on the tape?
Thank you so much! 😊 We have loved being able to help others save memories.
The Magnetic recordings have not been effected by the cloth, they are surprisingly resistant. 😁 But I would caution to not press to hard as to stretch the tape (it would take a bit of pressure to do that), because that would definitely effect playback.
Thank you very much for the information.
Your welcome, thank you so much for your comment. We have been blown away by the response to our video, and are so pleased that it has helped so many. 😊
Very good vidéo. This is the better video i've watch for cleaning VHS Tape. Hi from France !
👋 Hello. 😊
Thank you so much, we really wanted to try and cover everything we could think of. Not to mention be thorough without being too long winded. 😊
That is so cool you are from France! The only country other then the USA is Canada. Lol
But funny enough we will be visiting Paris, TN next week. 😅
LMAO Thor when he thought the reel was rolling off, sounded like Hank Hill lmao
look ( BRO ) you made my day thank you and yours for this youtube video ( just good work ) thank you I have so many tapes to clean that have mold on them. and every time I put in a tape it is dirty again ( thanks again ) now I have work to do !
We have been so happy to see just how many people have found our video to be helpful. 😊 I knew that this project was one that really couldn't be put off any longer for our family, and figured there may be some other people out there that had a similar project on the shelf. 😁
Let us know how it goes for you, and thank you so much for your wonderful comment. 😊
As I mentioned before...The El Gato is the best rated compared to Vidbox (and most expensive, but they are also a bigger company) , but El Gato only captures video in 640x480 30fps...which is below DVD quality. You want to archive VHS footage in 720x480 at 29.97fps in MP4 (usually around 4000 kbps) and of course make sure it is in 4:3 aspect ratio. I don't know why el gato did that when creating this device and they have not updated it since 2004. Years ago a CRT computer monitor was 640x480, but DVD was always 720x480 (I mention those dimensions because anything below that will actually look worse than VHS quality and more pixelated on a tv when it is a digital recorded file. If you plan to back your VHS to DVD use MPEG-2,(6000-8000kbps) if not stay with MP4 (h.264) as that is the universal standard for video formats and gives a better quality than MPEG-2 at a slightly smaller file size.
The capture device and the cables both matter. Surprised that no one mentioned gold plated cables. VHS itself is only at a resolution slightly higher than 320x480. Capturing at a resolution higher than that it will still look the same. It will only be convenient to capture at a higher resolution if the capture will be written to DVD or put on TH-cam or similar. I captured one VHS tape three times at three different resolutions, 720x480, 640x480, and 480x480. The result was that they look the same.
DVD players will play any MPEG2 video with the following resolutions:
352x240
352x480
704x480
720x480
Some DVD players also support MPEG2 videos at a resolution 480x480 and/or 640x480. These are not as common as the resolutions mentioned above.
DVD players also support MPEG1 videos at a resolution of 352x240, which is basically the VCD standard resolution.
Any other resolution would be considered XVCD, SVCD, or XSVCD, which not all DVD players support.
Hey Jenna, obviously very late response. We kind of abandoned this channel a while ago, but are thinking about giving it another go.
So you must be referencing a completely different capture device then the one that we were using at that time, I was not using the one that they designed for VHS capture rather I was using the one that they designed for game capture.
It is capable of 1080 at 60fps, and I was using the VCR as the deinterlacer/conversion to be able to capture in a much easier way.
I have since upgraded to a 4k60 pro mark II, and have captured hundreds of VHS tapes for clients. All with much higher quality then was possible with any of the older style hardware, with decent quality even stretched over a 75" TV. (not bad for an old VHS in 2023) :)
Generally speaking, I try to encode in MP4 in H.265 just for the smaller more convenient file sizes (unless the user needs it in H.264 for compatibility reasons of course). Especially when converting over 40 home videos in a batch. But it did take thousands of dollars in upgrades to my computer, but I think it has been well worth it to help save peoples memories. :)
Arw you cleaning the video (against recorder head) side of the tape or the back side?
I would assume that both sides of the tape should be cleaned since they deteriorate and leave deposits on the rollers and head.
The best to use for the cleaning material is leather.
We used to have an electronics repair store for over 40 years.
We also had some special cleaning swabs that weren't leather but basically man made leather
Hello, yes we are cleaning both sides. If you watch in the video we show both sides being cleaned. 😊
That is awesome that you had been able to have a shop like that for so long, and thank you for your expertise.
That is good to know leather is the best, but from my experience cotton works and I like that it is easily accessible. Definitely ensuring that anyone can easily save a tape, because putting it off because you don't have the best supplies and possibly losing those memories forever from inaction would be a shame.
But definitely if you have the time, money and access to the best supplies that is always great. 😊
Thank you for watching and your input. 😁
I'm in the uk and have PAL set up also with the elgato not being recognised via hdmi. Neither the h60 software of OBS will pick up the signal. Did you ever find a way to fix this?
Thank you for your video. I had some questions:
1) Are the easier cap that are about 10 - 15$ not so good because they are slow for the conversion, for the quality or because of both reasons before? Are these the ones that takes 1 day per videotape to transfer to digital?
2) The VCR with HDMI output give more resolution to the digital version than using RCA cable?
3) Do you capture the video with the El gato program? Will it be better to use OBS?
Thank you. Greetings from Perú 🇵🇪
Of course, we are just happy that it has been helpful for so many people. 😊
Thank you for your questions, although my response may run the answers together a bit. Lol
So there are cheaper capture devices, but the process was either to complicated or weak software builds for me personally. Especially when it came to the Deinterlacing processes, with having to manually set odd or even. Along with other things like that.
That is why I first tried the Vidbox, because it did that automatically. But honestly I was far from impressed, that is when I came up with my process using the Elgato.
The VCRs with the HDMI output do all that work perfectly, as well as dedicated up scaling built in (on the box that I used). That is why you don't need OBS or other software, because all the Deinterlacing and stuff is already taken care of.
Using the Elgato I was able to rip tapes as quickly as they could play through the VCR, but I did encode them to H.265 to save hard drive space after. Keeping the files as MP4, just for a wide compatibility range.
Also yes the HDMI cable is able to carry a much higher resolution then the RCA cable, but the RCA cable can carry the highest resolution that VHS tapes are capable of producing.
Please let me know if I can be of any further help.
Hello! 👋 I normally would be Hello from Alaska, but we are still visiting Florida right now. Lol😊
@@thervvikings5829 Thank you for your answer. I also just realized that
1) El gato only has HDMI input and output so I I do will need a VCR with HDMI output to use EL GATO, right?
2) So, if the RCA cable is the highest resolution that VHS are capable of producing... is the resolution I will get from EL GATO (HDMI) or VIDBOX (RCA) will be the same because right now
3) I only have a VHS with RCA output. Will I get more resolution getting a VHS with HDMI output?
4) What do you think about this other capture The Video2Digital :
th-cam.com/video/03ENBq7LcS8/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=MarkHoltze
Thanks one more time for your time! I had many tapes from the 90s I would like to transfer so I would like to get the best resolution of them
Of course, no worries.
Yes the Elgato is an HDMI and microphone inputs only, it also has a pass through function which was fun for my kids to watch the VHS on the big screen as I was ripping it. 😊
The video that you shared also reminded me that the S-Video is the actual limit for the better VHS tapes, there were multiple grades and recording speeds for VHS tapes.
Personally I could see a huge difference in Quality (in both video and audio between the two capture methods I used), and I would also note the VCR I recommended did the de-interlacing and upscaled the video (and did a very good not to mention reliable job at it)
I think that capture device looks pretty good, if you haven't spent the money on another means of capturing video and do not have an HDMI VCR yet. It would definitely be worth a shot, let me know if you do and how it goes, I'd love to be able to pass on real world usage to others as well.
But for the absolute best resolution, I would definitely recommend the way I did it. With a nice up scaling VCR and the Elgato HD60s, because everyone in my family saw the difference in quality immediately.
Not to mention my brother after seeing the newer results immediately brought me all his VHS-C tapes for conversion too. 😅
@@thervvikings5829 Thanks one more time for your answer, appreciated so much for your help
1) So in conclussion you think EL GATO will be better than the Capture I sent?
2) In this minute of the video ( th-cam.com/video/03ENBq7LcS8/w-d-xo.html ) I could realized he mentioned that it doesn´t have interlacing problems, but he didn´t mention about the upscaling you were mentioning me. Do you think this device will upscaled automatically?
3) What VCR with HDMI output do you have? or what another VCR brand and model do you recommend to me?
4) Finally, I also find this capture ( shorturl.at/amCKQ ) from EL GATO that goes inside your PC. Does it does the same work as the ELGATO HD 60S?
Thanks a lot one more time!!
Hey just wondering none of my home videos have mold thank God but I have a few vhs tapes that look like they are starting to grow mold but there not even close to as bad as yours and if I do this will the mold completely go away and stay away? It won't spread to my other tapes will it?
Hey Jeffrey, so far from what we have seen, there aren't any mold growths that have come back. But I would definitely caution to keep them in a cool dry environment after you clean them to prevent other mold spores from finding their way back onto the tapes.
But yeah months after our tapes have still been working great, with no signs of mold including the tapes that were from a different part of the house (with no mold on those tapes at all). 😊👍
I prefer to use wide round depressors with the cotton wound around them. Its next to impossible to find the flat chamois cleaner sticks in today's market place since VCR's have gone by the wayside. They were once a necessary tool for the repair tech who worked on these VCR's.
That sounds like a good way to do it, there are a lot of things that have unfortunately fallen by the wayside. I'm just happy to hear about every tape saved from obsolescence, because eventually it will be even harder to find even a VCR. 😅
Thank you so much for watching and your cleaning tip. 😊
Very good video
Will cleansing the vhs tape with this method you just showed remove the tracking lines from the videos?
Overall I've had really good luck at removing superficial damage to VHS tapes using this method, so the answer is it absolutely should. Keep in mind though that other things that can cause these issues. Including Damaged VCR heads, and Aged VHS tape. So do your best and be patient, I had one tape take me a number of cleanings before I could see anything but static. 😊
Thanks for your reply! I appreciate the info. 😊💓@@thervvikings5829
We are creating a "Digital Lab" for our library. Money is scarce, but if you could suggest a VHS player that is going to be working full time what would you suggest? The Samsung DVD-VR357 I believe is the one you said you are using. Thoughts? Anything advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Anthony, that is an awesome thing to do. Especially since VCRs are getting harder to get your hands on.
Yes I absolutely loved the DVD-VR375, the Sanyo I used before worked fine too. Just make sure that it is a 4 head VCR, with an HDMI output. The conversion with the Elgato worked beautifully, so that would definitely be best. You can do most of it with a moderately equipped PC, but I would recommend some decent hardware for the next step.
After ripping and in order to use less storage space on your hard drive, I like to convert to H.265 encoding while keeping it in MP4 format for wider compatibility. Personally I use Cyberlink Power Director, but there is a large variety of programs that will work well. 😁
How many tapes are you looking to convert to digital?
The last thing I can really say is patience, it definitely takes a while. But when you are done it is totally worth it, being able to effortlessly access everything.
Please let me know if you have any more questions, or if I can help with anything else. 😊
@@thervvikings5829 First, thanks for the thoughtful reply. The response has been crazy, so currently we probably have about 40 tapes, not counting the cassettes, 8mm film, 8mm digital, LP's and other formats. This will be an ongoing project for us so ... down the rabbit hole for me. I just spoke with my director regarding your advice. See how helpful you guys are?! I am going to research the Elgato today. I am aware of it because I follow gamers on Twitch but is there a specific one that you would suggest? Again, thanks so much and keep up the good work.
How is your project going? 🙂
Sorry it's been a little while I have been swamped with projects lately, mostly trying to fix my RV Fridge. Lol
I have and like the HD60s, it has a microphone input so I may have to see if that would work for the cassettes too. 😁
I am so glad that my video and response has been helpful, I don't know too much about 8mm that would be cool to learn how to convert that.
Let me know if there is anything else I can help with, I will make sure to get right back to you.
@@thervvikings5829 Hey guys. Bad news on my end. The Samsung you suggested broke after less than 12 good tapes. I peaked inside and I wish I could show you a pic of what I think is the problem. Alas, we will be sending it back for a refund. Our Digital Lab has really taken off with VHS being the biggest request for converting. I will watch your video again to see what model of Sanyo you suggested. But other than that...do you have any other suggestions? Our hope, with a limited budget, is to get two going. Thoughts? Sorry to bother you but you are my experts.
We do have a Facebook page if that would make it easier for you, then you could also send that picture.
I'm sorry to hear that it broke down on you, I did more then 40 tapes on mine with no issues. The Sanyo did fine, I also like the Sony JVC does well. They are definitely getting harder to find a good deal on them, I would personally try and find a good deal on Ebay. That's really the best I got unfortunately, I would offer to help but my VCR is all the way back in Alaska. Lol
But seriously hit us up on Facebook or Instagram, I would definitely like to help however I can.
Great video, thank you for your time in uploading it.
Just a thought though. You go through several cleaning runs and I just get the feeling that cleaning the tape while its still in the dirty cassette is counterproductive. With then the added hassle of cleaning the VCR. Im thinking of doing away with the VCR and rigging up a hand spool, where I can remove the tape completely, clean it thoroughly on the hand spool (it would take longer, yes), cleaning the cassette, then reassembling. I understand that the average 120 minute VHS tape is about 800 feet long! What do you think? Or am I missing something? 😀
This is best to clean and then capture the VHS tape (rare video content) digitally, then toss it out. Mold will very likely reappear. Plus using a spare VHS deck and not the one you play to keep is a good idea. A player will likely be contaminated after playing newly cleaned tapes. They are not fully free of mold, only much cleaner and able to be played a few times before mold can return.
Did you manage to assemble something?😀 I had been debating trying to do exactly what you are describing, I would definitely consider moving to cleaning both sides at once with the fine micro fiber cloths (the ones you clean screens with before applying screen protectors) to speed the process. But I would be tempted to try and build something with a small motor, just because if you have ever had to manually rewind a tape it takes forever! 😂 Finding the right gearing and motor would definitely be a challenge though, then ensuring not too much pressure to stretch the tape (or at worst break). But once all the factors are accounted for, and allowances in the designed machine. I think it would be amazing for anyone cleaning a large number of tapes!
Sorry for taking so long to respond, life has been crazy and the channel was lost in everything else going on. lol
also as a sub note, that is why disassembling the VHS case is required more then once. Because you are totally right it is a little counterproductive, but I Haven't had a better way to do it thus far.
I look forward to hearing what became of your project! 😁
Hey Rock Record Report, I actually plan on testing just that. 😁 My plan is to go to my parents house and finding that exact tape that I cleaned in the video, then trying to play and Re-Rip it to see if there was any negative effects from the cleaning, if there is any more mold growth, and hopefully to find that it plays as good as the day I cleaned it over a year ago! 😀 I really don't know the answer and have only been able to speculate at this point, it even ended up back in their basement in a container. So this will really be a true test of what happens to the tapes after a thorough cleaning, I hope you come check out the results once I get them uploaded. 🙂
Also to note, definitely use a spare VCR if you have one. Helps keep the wear and tear to a minimum on your main machine! 👍
@@thervvikings5829 I agree on all points made. And would like to see if old cleaned tapes generate more mold after a few years or more. I would expect them to. Thx for update and comment.
Jeff
all the best from Serbia !
Thank you so Much Dragan, All the best to you from The North Pole! 😊
My theory all of the mold is in areas with air to facilitate mold growth. The outside of the reel and not the surface that is tightly wound. You may want to clean the reel first (if possible) to minimize mold debris getting into your machine. The species of mold is like to know what it is, I’m guessing aspergillus. You might want to wear a mask doing this. If your allergic to mold your especially in danger around this stuff. Aspergillosis is pretty nasty, you don’t want that. :/
Thanks for making this video. Good luck stay well and be careful! :)
hey, sorry we kind of abandoned this channel a while ago, recently we have started thinking about giving it another try.
I would definitely agree with your theory, and you definitely know more about mold then I do. :)
I have been considering building a machine to remove the mold, but over the last few hundred tapes I have settled on having a "sacrificial" VCR that I clean tapes in. Maybe soon I can find the time to build a custom rig to clean tapes, but for anyone who has one to a few dozen tapes to preserve this method works perfectly. :)
Extra precautions are never a bad idea, especially if you know you can be sensitive to molds so great suggestion.
Thank you so much for your comment and kind words.
Why is it important to swap positions of where you hold the cotton bud depending on if you are forwarding or rewinding?
So the main thing was just trying to find a relatively ergonomic way to clean the front and back of the tape, without interfering mechanically with the VCR. I also like to knock as much off before the video head in each direction to keep it a little cleaner, but other then that no specific purposes for the exact ways that I do it. 😊
If there is anything else please feel free to ask, I will always do my best to help. 🙂
Bonjour, je vous remercie beaucoup pour cette vidéo. J'ai beaucoup aimé et je me lance pour l'aventure de numeriser mes anciennes vidéo. Merci
Merci beaucoup pour votre merveilleux commentaire. Nous sommes tellement heureux que notre vidéo a été utile pour vous. 😊 Bonne chance et faites-nous savoir comment ça se passe. 😁
When i convert the tapes, eventually it skips frames quite a bit. The audio is fine, only the video gets stuck. And its at different parts every time i watch. Any idea how to fix this? Is it the vhs tape thats bad or the incorrect converter settings?
Are you using the Vidbox or the Elgato?
@@thervvikings5829 No I’m using the Video-2-Mac transfer kit
Okay, I'm not super familiar with that converter. But if the video quality looks okay when it is working correctly, then it would most likely be either the software or your computer having a hard time keeping up.
The Vidbox gave me occasional troubles that sound very similar, causing me to re-rip on more then one occasion. But it was most likely software related because I replaced the box and had a similar issue still (and I know my computer was up to the task, because I have really beefy hardware.), so personally I would check for any available updates.
If that doesn't work I would take a peek at the recommended hardware requirements, after that I would recommend the Elgato because it worked great for me. Lol
Let me know if there is anything else that I may be able to do to help, and if I find anything relevant regarding that device I will let you know. 😊
@@krishi51179 You need a video tape player with a built in TBC (Time Base Corrector).
Good video
Thank you, we really appreciate it. 😊
When will you be here? It feels like 50 years since you left for Alaska
I have a rare collection of VHS tapes and my tapes need restored and i have a VCR/DVD player and a head cleaner my tapes are 35-40 years old. how do i restore them?
Hey Shannon, this message will easily get very long very quickly. 😊 Lol
First off be very cautious if it is a head cleaning tape, killed my first VCR at the start of my process trying to use one of those. It destroyed the video head of my VCR, turned out I wasn't the first one to have that happen with an old head cleaner.
I believe I cover the cleaning process pretty well in the video, if you have anything specific you need covered in more detail about cleaning the tapes themselves please let me know. 😊
Your DVD/VCR combo unit should hopefully have a HDMI output, as long as it does then the next thing you will need is the capture device. I personally use an Elgato HD60 S, but there are definitely more models and brands that would work fine. 😊 Then after capturing your videos I like to do some restoration on the captured video, I utilize Cyberlink Power director (I can go into more detail on exactly what I do if you need that also) then run the Audio through their Audio Director. That way I can get the audio and video as clean as possible, also I like to do some color correction while I am there.
Lastly when I process them I convert them into mp4 format, encoded in H.265 for smaller file sizes. It takes beefy hardware to do efficiently, but is well worth the extra time. 😁
Hopefully that helps, if you have any further questions or need more help please let me know. 😊 You can also get a hold of us on Facebook and Instagram if that is easier. Thank you so much for watching, and for your comment. 🙂
@@thervvikings5829 I hope that get rid of lines and blur and i hope it gets rid of that.
Have you encountered a tape that flickers I mean the picture etc.
Hey sorry for the late response, we had kind of abandoned the channel a while ago. But we have been thinking about picking back up where we left off.
So when you say flicker you mean like it is showing the wrong frame rate? or like when the whole image starts jumping?
I know we had one VCR that would get the deinterlacing wrong and it caused a tearing effect across any motion on the screen, and with the vidbox it used to block up at odd times, not to mention some of the other issues we had until I realized that my USB bus was getting overloaded with the Elgato on occasion.
Needless to say the more info the better for any diagnostics with your issue, unless you figured out what was going on. In which case we would still love to hear all about the issue and resolution to it. :)
Thank you so much!!! ✌️😊💜💕
You are very welcome! 😊 We have been so happy this video has helped so many people. ❤️
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! 😀
34:35 the ox also likes to scratch...
Yeah, it is always so cool to see. :D
Just buy the Elgato HD60 second hand off eBay.. You’d get it for as low as $100 most. Also particular HDMI splitters may help with copy protection issues, just a cheap one off eBay would work though always look at reviews.
I know personally I like to buy new whenever possible, but there definitely are deals to be had. 🙂
The audio and video through the Elgato is awesome, I haven't had to use a splitter personally. Maybe Damian can fill you in on that part of it all, I did rip a few very hard to find VHS movies with no copyright protection problems though. 😁
Anytime, let me know if you need anything else. I will do my best to help. 😊
umm you should never use cotton swabs or balls on vcr heads that will damage your vcr use a small piece of printer paper
You know your not the first one to say that, but I have yet to have it mess up any VCR. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have cleaned VCRs like this for over 20 years. No they do not damage the heads, no they do not mess with anything else. I know because I have done it for literally decades my friend, I have seen many things ruin VCRs but never the head go out from cleaning it this way.
But thank you David for trying to look out for people, I would have put it in the description if there were any risks.
SO ONE SIDE OF THE VHS TAPE HAS THE PLASTIC ROLLER, AND THE OTHER SIDE USES THAT METAL POST?
It varies from one tape manufacturer to another, as well as one grade product to another (they had VHS tape grades, on average the nicer tapes would last longer.). The majority of the tapes I took apart had the same layout as the tape in the video, I'm not certain why they used metal on some and plastic on others.
But I would definitely recommend to put everything right back where it came from after taking it apart. 😊👍
hi will as the pci old cards are far better with the right software the usb ones are very bad they drop in and out all the time
i have a hd pci-e it was using alot of mb's big time i use 4gb a hour tor video files you can go alot higher all way use 9.16 if i can on to new on new movies on here
Hey, you know I looked at one of the PCI capture cards before I picked up my HD60s. My challenge was I don't have a ton of extra space in my computer with my beefy Graphics card, and my 2nd NVME in another slot.
But I can tell you they have drastically improved the USB capture devices, I had it turned up beyond the capability of the VHS tapes to about 20 GB per hour. Then used the H.265 encoding to decrease the file size to something manageable, that gave me my favorite results. 😊
But I would agree that PCI capture devices would still be the superior method. 🙂👍
You should have worn gloves and a mask when clean the tape outside the VCR.
Unless you washed your hands thoroughly directly after, you could possibly end up spreading it by touching other things were it may become an issue. Mold can mess up your health and some people are more susceptible than others to it. I know some people that simply can't be as exposed to it as you were in this video.
Extra Precautions are always a great idea when dealing with mold, I have a very high tolerance to mold and other irritants. But you are right not everyone can handle them, so if you are sensitive please follow that recommendation. :)
I always try to wash my hands before and after as skin oils can be very bad for tapes, and mold and dust can be bad for us (not to mention the possibility of spreading mold spores around your home). That being said this is definitely a project that most people can easily handle, but never be afraid to reach out and let me know if you need me to digitize your tapes for you. :)
Cleaning tips are great. I have never had a moldy tape yet but there is always a first time.
I have ripped 300 - 400 hundred of VHS hi fi, Beta hi fi, 8mm and Hi 8mm tapes to DVD. I use DVD so that I can load them onto the computer but keep the DVD for backup as well as the tape. I just don't trust the Chinese quality either in those cheap little converters!
Thank you so much, we really wanted to make a video that was easy to follow and helpful. 😊
It is very fortunate that you haven't encountered any moldy tapes yet, it can be very challenging if they have gotten bad enough.
That is a ton of tapes! I have only done around 70 so far, but more are waiting for me once we get back to Alaska. 😊
DVDs work, and they are definitely better then the cheap converters. Personally I prefer a good quality Converter, that way I have a file that can be uploaded to a cloud, burned to a disk, as well as quickly backed up on a spare drive. Not to mention I loaded all my childhood Home videos onto a USB drive for my parents, that way they are able to access and watch all of them right from the TV remote. As well as in the cloud so they can watch them on their phones whenever they want. 😊
Cleaning the video heads that way WILL DAMAGE THEM.
Use a piece of writing paper, cover it in alcohol and use it on the head while spinning the head run counter clockwise
It hasn't damaged a single one in over 20 years, that is how we would manually clean them from when I was young.
why would you use cotton ona vhs, you be depositing loads of fine crap everywhere! you use chamois swaps
Cotton works just fine, I have been using it for over 20 years. They get exposed to 'fine' materials all the time, they are not sealed in any way shape or form.
So unless you are working in a vacuum sealed room it just is not necessary to spend the extra cash.
@@thervvikings5829 maybe, id still opt for something that will lint less
And that's totally cool, it definitely doesn't hurt. Feel free to go the extra mile, but I've cracked open enough VHS Tapes and VCRs (I was always the go to for my family, and some times friends) to know everything that gets in there.
Cotton swabs and Cotton Balls, with high content isopropyl Alcohol has been my go to since I was 7 or 8. I got VCRs working that people had given up on completely, I would never recommend something that I hadn't thoroughly tested. 😊
For things like Camera lenses and things like that, I definitely would recommend going for Chamois swabs. But like I said on this old tech, it won't effect anything really.
I really appreciate you looking out for people, thank you for that.
⭐️💯🇹🇷👍
Does the alcohol harm the film at all , especially the image part?
I went back and watched the same VHS tapes that I cleaned 1 and 2 months later, and I would say about a week after cleaning it looks even better then before the cleaning. Maintaining good quality indefinitely.
That was actually one of my biggest concerns going into this project, so I did wait a couple of months to post this video until I could verify it would do no harm to the tapes themselves.
I would strongly recommend using the higher Isopropyl Alcohol content mixtures, because that limits how long any moisture is against the tapes.
I do plan on checking the tapes again once I make it back to Alaska to see if it also aids in long term mold resilience, and long term quality checks. (I will be back in Alaska in May. I will give an update then😊)
@@thervvikings5829 thank you! I sent some VHS tapes to imemories to digitalize them and they were rejected because of mold. That’s what lead me to your channel. I knew there had to be a way to remedy the problem. Thank you again! My tapes have some very sentimental family movies from when my kids were young and I was distressed when imemories rejected them.
Of course, we are just so happy that we have been able to help others with our experiences.
We saved over a decade of memories from my childhood doing this, my 7 siblings and parents have been so happy to have all the memories back.
I am sorry to hear that imemories wouldn't take care of it for you, I was afraid that would be the case for these that's why I undertook the project. I didn't want the memories to be lost forever by the tapes worsening.
Thank you so much for the question, let me know if there is anything else I can do to help out. 🙂
Never clean video heads with cotton! Only use chamois swabs. Cotton fibers can lodge themselves in the video drum. Not good
I have a small power drill from IKEA for these little screwing jobs...
Anytime you are dealing with more delicate things like VHS tapes, I would always caution about power tools. It is very easy to over tighten with a drill, That is why I always do it by hand. But as long as you are careful it would definitely speed things up. 😊
could 70% of isopropyl Alcohol be just as effective for cleaning VHS tapes?
It would probably clean it, but the danger is that it doesn't dissipate as quickly. Not to mention increased risk of water damage, as I am sure you know Electronics don't really like water.
So I would say you can try it, but it would be risky due to the higher water content.
Anytime I clean electronics of any sort I go for the higher isopropyl Alcohol content, and it has never done me wrong. 😊
Thank you so much for the question. 😁
@@thervvikings5829 I say your right about that I will definately take your advice, most videos I watch where people clean vhs tapes use the 91 or 95% or 99% isopropyl Alcohol, lol I'm well aware electronics and water don't mix. One other thing say each fast forward, rewind cleaning cycle do you have to switch cotton swabs? since the first fast forward cycle as you were showing in the video, it picks up the mold on the cotton swab.
Awesome, yeah that is why they use the high content isopropyl Alcohol.
So I change cotton balls very often, the cotton swabs I didn't change as often because the cotton part was only touching the metal beneath the tape. But when it doubt change it out, it's better to use some extra supplies then damage the tape.
The worst tape that I had to clean up took somewhere around 100 cotton balls, and 40 cotton swabs.
But that one had a lot of build up on the tape itself, from a combination of many watch throughs and mold.
@@thervvikings5829 Its a unique idea, how you wet the cotton swab and wrap it around the end part of the q-tip. When you said worse tape you that you had to clean using about 100 cotton balls and 40 cotton swabs, how many cleaning cycles did that take?
Thank you, I had seen one where it just seemed over complicated. All I could think was there has to be an easier way, and that was what I managed to come up with. 😊
Honestly I lost count... 😂 😂 🤣
As the hours passed by, I was a little defeated. I even had to revisit it on another day, but eventually I managed to save the tape.
It was my families only trip outside of Alaska together in 1992, so we had watched it many times over the years. When I started there were less then 5 minutes of watchable tape, by the time I was done nearly all 120 minutes were watchable. (VHS tapes do degrade with repeated views)
My Family was so happy to get a chance to see it again after well over a Decade since the last time we had watched it. 😁
My first pass I had to change the cotton ball around every 5-10 minutes of tape, the tape was that dirty. That is why I say when in doubt change it out, because you really have to play it by ear when it is that bad. Lol
Thankfully most of the tapes were no where near that bad, just light mold that took 1-2 passes to get them perfect. 😊👍
Now my post about mould in Canberra and #Helga2004 and #TASIVHS and #flickrspelio is gone after I clicked a hashtag...
I hope you were able to figure out your post and Hash tags, honestly I am still learning about hash tags myself. 🙂
how can i record netflix movies on VHS?
Hey Luis, sorry I haven't had a chance to look into that yet. It is outside my area of expertise, I hope you figured out what you needed.
You should not use cotton balls for any tape or VCR cleaning. Use a microfiber cloth. Anyone in to old tech will tell you this.
Microfiber cloths weren't a big thing when I was a kid, I have been using them for Decades with no issues. Honestly I have covered all this before in the comments, no issues and so on.
If you want to use Microfiber cloths more power to you, but Cotton works just fine also. 😊
Thank you so much for your concern, and I will gladly test cleaning with a Microfiber cloth (the kind for cleaning lenses, not cars). Because that does sound like it should work well also. 😊
I’ve never used Vidbox or Elgato, but the increased picture quality on the Elgato is likely due to the inclusion of a time-base corrector.
Great video everything proven vhs tapes don't stop playing at all everything proven vhs tapes don't lock up at all like internet does in the future plus everything proven broken vhs tape itself is fixable with Scotch tape it starts playing again with out no problem's everything proven tapes last longer then your phone does
Fun fact: "El gato" in Spanish means "The cat"
People like myself have damage blue ray disc movies doesn't play at all my Cinderella blue ray disc an my willow and people said to me blue ray disc movies doesn't get scratche up not true at all everything proven people are lying people now days for there money now days and I had them blue ray disc movies for over 4 years