Broadcast Video Conversions

Creative Visual Productions converts all the most popular broadcast videotape formats from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s. Everything from 2 inch, 1 inch, Betacam SP, 3/4, S-VHS, DVCPro, DVCam, DV and MiniDV.

Many of these formats were used for your favorite TV shows, cable TV programs and newscasts throughout the United States. The amount of detailed information a magnetic tape can store as it moves past a recording head depends partly on the characteristics of the tape itself and partly on the speed at which the tape passes.

The helical scanning process is used in all modern videotape recording systems. The term ‘helical’ is derived from the spiral-like path traced by the tape as it travels over the drum. The tape travels from the supply reel, past a fixed erase head which magnetically neutralizes its entire width during the recording process.

The experts at Creative Visual Productions can transfer all your broadcast tape formats to DVD or commonly used computer files such as mpeg4 or avi with minimal loss of picture and sound quality. A huge advantage when you convert analog tapes to digital is that you easily skip ahead or be one hour ahead with a click of a mouse. This makes it much easier to access specific scenes on your video without fast forwarding. A one hour videotape could take up to five minutes to rewind back to the beginning of the tape. Once on a DVD, multiple copies can be made without any loss of quality and video can even be archived on a hard drive.

Analog videotape is fragile and could become unplayable after a few years. The more you play the tape the more you wear it down and the greater the risk of losing access to your video. And when you make copies of the videotape, each successive copy (copies of copies) has increasingly poorer image and sound quality. This is called “generational decay.”

It is of vital importance to transfer analog videotapes as quickly as possible. As mylar tapes age, they only get more and more unstable. First, you will notice the distortion at the top or bottom of the screen (commonly known as tracking errors). Eventually the sound will begin to acquire static and the on screen distortion will become worse. In the worst case scenario the tape itself will begin to stick and either not advance or tear when you attempt to play the video. By arranging for a transfer to DVD or to a hard drive as soon as possible you will preserve the information on your analog tapes before anything is permanently lost.

Creative Visual Productions uses state-of-the-art technology to transfer all those outdated broadcast analog tape formats to the highest quality digital format possible. Each tape is initially tested, then the exact tracking for the way the tape was originally recorded is set. Second the tape is played and the audio levels are set to the correct level so that the audio is not too low or over-distorted. The video portion of the tape is run through a time base corrector to correct and enhance all the visual elements such as luminance, black level, chroma and hue. The audio is run through an audio mixer and distribution amp to enhance and provide the best sound possible.

Finally CVP will print your title or DVD screen onto the surface of the DVD for a professional look. Creative Visual Productions offers plenty of packaging options including anything from a library case with a clear full-cover glossy sleeve insert to a plain clear hard plastic jewel case that displays your DVD Surface title screen. For computer file transfers we can move the files onto an external hard drive, a USB stick, have you download them from our client FTP server, or email them to you through wetransfer.

CVP offers quantity discounts for orders over five tapes and offers full duplication and replication services for additional copies. Pricing is based on length of title and quantity of tapes to be transferred. Full out the project Request a Quote opt-in box or call 856-848-0046.