help organizing a video project

deknow · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject: help organizing a video project

hi all,

this is not electro-music related, but i do need some help figuring out how to approach this project.

i have 100+ vhs tapes (of varying quality) that need to be digitized, and then procede to do some editing and putting things together, perhaps into a documentary of some kind. i can't really discuss the subject, content, or direction this is going at this time, but it is important stuff (not simply home movies).

i have a mini dv camera that can take composite video and l/r audio ins, using it as a mini dv vcr, and i have an older laptop (xp, 1.3ghz, 512ram, firewire for minidv interface).

should i dump everything to mini dv? directly to computer somehow? do i really need some differant gear?

ideally, it would be nice to have everything on disk at once, but i doubt this is practical.

i'm not experienced in dealing with video production, and any help/advice would be appreciated. i also have no funding for this project at the moment, so really clever ways of doing this on the cheap (without sacrificing quality) would be a big help.

thanks,

deknow

Low Note · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject:

Transferring everything over to minidv is going to get expensive fast.

Its also not very manageable to move everything to your hard drive. I forget the specific amount, but you're into the double digits of gbs for each full VHS tape.

The cheapest way would be to watch all of these videos once. While watching them, I would make a template that includes start time, description of the content, quality, notes, end time, total clip length. Or something like that. Fill that out as you go so you know where what you want is. Then start moving over what you know youll need.

deknow · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject:

yeah...this is pretty much what i expected to have to do...but i don't have any video experience, and don't know what people actually do...probably what makes up the most sense Smile

i need to back this stuff up and make copies anyways, so i'll probably put everything on mini dv on the playthrough. some of this goes back to the late 80s, so i don't trust the originals for archiving.

thanks,

deknow

deknow · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:55 pm Post subject:

...not all of the tapes are full, but some are more than an hour...so there will be a number of mini dv tapes needed. i got my last batch from an amazon seller, and it was like $2 a tape. anyone have a better source if i think i need 100?

thanks,

deknow

deknow · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:00 am Post subject:

...so ramona and i were on our way to our friends birthday party tonight, when i described what i thought the procedure should be. her response was, "we need something like a tivo so we can pause, rewind, discuss, etc while logging the events, data, and speakers.

i realized that our friend (and bandmate) who's party we were going to, likely had an older tivo (he needed the hd version when he got a big tv). we were able to convince him it was for a good cause, so he let us have it Smile

my plan is to go from the vcr to the mini dv through rcas and record each tape start to finish. i'll run the cable coax out to the tv, and we do our logging from this. by the time we have finished the logging, the system will be ready to start another tape.

deknow

Mohoyoho · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:17 am Post subject:

Datavideo makes a great converter for about $200. The DAC-200 takes analogue and converts it to DV in real time. It can also go the other way: DV to analogue. You will need some kind of video editing software to manage the conversions, such as Vegas or Adobe Premier. There are other cheaper software editors. You can buy an external hard drive to store your DV. I saw one at Office Depot: 500 gigs for $99.

deknow · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:38 am Post subject:

...my mini dv camera will do the conversion (it can work as a vcr with rca ins and outs)....is this not as good as what you are suggesting?

deknow

Mohoyoho · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:43 pm Post subject:

That would probably do it. If you can go out through the firewire you can dump the files on a hard drive. I just bought an external 500 gig hard drive (firewire and USB) that spins at 7200 rpm for $169 at Best Buy. They also have a Pinnacle video converter for the same price.

deknow · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject:

ok, i've never used a pro video program (but have played with a few more free ones)....it always wants to know what resolution to download from the camera....i want highest quality...frame accurate. how much hard drive space does that take? figure somewhere between 100 and 200 hours of footage.

deknow

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject:

Size? I tell you within a minute or two. I´m exporting 10 minutes of video to DV right now.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:27 pm Post subject:

It is approx. 20 years since I alst worked professionally with video.. so those workflows back then won´t apply.

However, you will want to log the tapes, possibly capture a low resolution video with frames, mins and secs and stuff and then use this for the raw editing. Then you use the edit decision list when you digitize the stuff you really want into DV.

Budget/consumer gear for capturing analog video and encoding it to say DV isn´t too good. You might want to research this a bit before you make any purchasing decisions.
Low res video with something approaching timecode will be a great start.

I´m using Final Cut Studio myself + a DV cam. I reckon adobe Premiere might work for you?

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:29 pm Post subject:

OK.. approx. 10 minutes of video in NTSC DV - 720x420 pixels is 2.16 gigs. This isn´t too bad.

Uh.. the format is a bit off.. but you get the basic idea.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:36 pm Post subject:

Drives are cheap. If you have a desktop or tower PC.. why not install some huge internal drives and then add one or two removable bays in front. And then simply buy more drive carriers and drives?

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:59 pm Post subject:

deknow · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:10 am Post subject:

ok, i have a bit better idea what i need to do, and could use some advice. laying out the situation below:

the material is vhs...some of it low speed
there are 100+ tapes...perhaps 2-300 hours
i need to make copies (dvds) of everything
i need to log everything
i want to make a documentary from the contents

a few questions i have:
1. what format should i store these in?
2. if i back them up as dvd's rather than on live storage (HD), what am i losing? i expect i'm losing "frame accurate" editing...but these are also not multiple camera angles of the same scenes....the final product will likely be a "collage" of sorts.
3. if dvd isn't good enough for archival storage, what do people do? raid arrays? ...with backup raid arrays taken offsite as backup? how do you deal with these files?

my current workflow to get the video files onto a 500mg usb drive is:

vhs tape playing
rca outputs going to mini dv camera, which is recording the the hd in realtime via firewire
coax output going to tivo...tivo output to tv (we can rewind/pause in order to log names, details, who said what, etc..when we finish loggin the tape, it is all transfered

any better ideas?

deknow