Best way for long term storage of mini DV tapes?
 

Anyone know the best way to keep them for long term storage?

Thanks,
DWB

in a humidor like cigars at controlled temp n humidity

i have some that are like 10 years old. no probs...they last fine

fo shizzle?

lolo no clue it just sounded juicy loll

just keep them at normal room temp in their cases....no probs

I offer a Mini DV to DVD backup service for as low as $20 per tape. Or you can buy a device to do this for you.

I suggest anyone with valuable footage back those tapes up to some other medium in order to protect your content.

I have many old mini DV tapes that are fine and a couple that have visible video deterioration. A backup is a good idea.

I usa a huge safe deposit box at Bank of America.

i backup all MiniDV's on DVD, splitted, 1 hour of DV footage on aprox. 3 dvd's

Same here ,but I like the idea of backing them up on DVD

I never understand when people ask about backing up or archiving mini-DV footage on DVD. It's too small a format and a hassle anyway. Why not just copy the footage through firewire to another mini-DV tape as a backup and put it in a safe or another secure location along with the project files and misc. files on CD or DVD so you can reconstitute the project in full if need be?

becouse DVD's have no problems with magnetic fields, hence any moron can leave them on my big speaker system... also, you can try to write them over, but the chances are small unles you use a pointed sharp device...:D

I have a device that makes a 1 hour DVD from a mini DV tape in real time. Makes backups really easy. Not to mention it's easy to send your content to editors on DVD.

I have seen no visible quality loss between a ripped DVD and the mini DV tape.

good advice.

store tapes vertically in humidity/temp controlled environment.

I didn't ask that. I asked the best way to store what you have. As in physically what to do with the tapes for long term storage.

I understand about back-ups, that was not the question. I'm curious as to the actual DV tapes, what is the best way to keep them (this also includes unused tapes that you may purchase in bulk)? For example... sitting vertically in a dry but not hot environment away for magnetic objects. Or are there other tips on storing them?

That's what I was looking for. :thumbsup Just checking to see if there were any other tips. Thanks.

60 minutes onto a 1 hour DVD? There must be a loss of quality somewhere.

once in a while rewind them (maybe every 3 months or so), so they don't get a "magnetic memory" effect ;)

You are right, one hour of DV AVI on a mini-DV tape is over 13Gb of data. If you squeeze that onto a 4.3 Gb DVD you don't have a DV AVI file anymore. This is not an archive or a backup- that is a conversion.

I said there was no "visible" quality loss.

I have watched the original mini DV and the backup DVD using a high end Mini DV VTR and a DVD player on a large plasma screen and I can't tell the 2 apart from each other.

Yes there is a difference in the file size and bit rate between mini DV and a DVD. I am not disputing that :)

I can definately tell the difference between a good raw DV file and a DVD version of the same video

yes, and this goes back to why you should probably backup valuable tape to tape every 18 months or so...because when you want to re-edit you should be working with original quality.

and you should NOT use a very valuable original for back and forth insert editing. make a work copy (DV copy) on any valuable original footage.

tapes should be stored fully rewound, and the advice to periodically FF and total rewind is good.

clean heads of both decks to avoid dropouts. do not use commercial cassette type cleaners, but use q-tips and head cleaner to clean rollers, capstan, and heads---i would say do this approx every 10 running hours to avoid dropouts.

after cleaning use a hair dryer set on low or no heat to blow everything dry before inserting any fresh tape.

great info. thanks. :thumbsup

just keep em outta heat :)