Tape is a perishable medium!   High temperatures and magnetic fields, among many other perils, can ruin it. If you have videotapes that you intend to keep for posterity, consider the following suggestions that will help to ensure future enjoyment:

Don’t record on the leader or within 3 feet of the ends of the tape. These segments are especially susceptible to magnetism, creasing, fungus, fingerprints, breakage, dust contamination, bad breath and the frizzies. I usually run off 35 seconds in “play” before starting to record. Also, if you make a bad tape or just get a bum start, you can back up a few seconds to get a restart that is not marred by leftovers from the prior attempt.

In most cases, one-of-a-kind home videos will be irreplaceable and priceless.

The preservation extremes that you must pursue are more dependent on the future value of the recording than on the current value. Don’t shortchange future generations of your family by using cheap tapes and then storing them carelessly! “Premium,” “Daily Use,” “Extra High Grade,” and “Superior Grade,” are good clues, when associated with well-recognized brand names.

Break out the recording-protection tab as soon as your recording is made and spot checked.   

You must label your archival tapes properly.  Start out by making a habit of time/date stamping individual recording sessions right on the tape.  The three or six seconds of tape you use up may be some of your most valuable footage later on.  If your camcorder has it, by all means learn how to use the built in title function.  As a worst case, write a caption on a piece of paper and videotape the paper, or just say your caption into the microphone.  A short shot of  street signs, mailboxes and landmarks can also serve to identify the place.

It is dangerous practice to retroactively superimpose time/date or other information over an existing recording.  Use extreme caution!

In addition to applying the usual gummed labels, most of which will dry up and fall off in just a few years, I use a permanent magic marker to write the important information right on the case.  When you handle a lot of tapes, you don't always have a chance to put the labels on immediately.  This simple step can save a lot of guessing and tape winding. Red is more visible than black when writing on a black plastic case.  However, red dyes are generally known to be less stable for the long haul.  

If you really want information such as a printed concert program to stay with the tape, use a camcorder to record it onto the start or end of the tape itself.  You can also scratch key information into the plastic surface of the case with a scriber.  (You need to be fairly sure it's a keeper.)  

It would also be useful to write the information on the dust jacket.  Bear in mind that the dust jackets are usually made of common cardboard, which will disintegrate faster than the tape itself by virtue of its own acidity, like those precious comic books do.  A secondary drawback is that the dust jackets tend to get separated from the actual videotape.  It requires a lot of self-discipline to keep the two together.

Don’t put sticky notes on tape cartridges. Easily overlooked, they will lift off inside the player and cause sudden malfunctions and possibly expensive repairs.

How to Make your own Watergate tapes.  Tapes should be accessed and viewed under responsible supervision to prevent erasure, abuse and improper storage after playing.  If archival tapes are mingled with day to day broadcast tapes, they are almost sure to suffer accidental erasure or one day be sold at a yard sale at $2 for the whole box.

There is some image deterioration and cassette wear with every playing.  I have been told that young children were so mesmerized by some tapes that they played them over and over for weeks on end. (Gee, could that have been a frazzled Mom's idea?)  If you have archival type material on such a tape, the kids should be playing a “working” copy, while the original is stored away safely.  In my opinion, making a duplicate of a commercial tape for that specific purpose should be entirely legal, as long as both are retained in your own control. (Refer to the Home Recording Act.)

Keep tapes as far away as practical from television screens, motors, fluorescent light fixtures and other magnetic sources, including especially - magnets, which are ubiquitous, mobile and easy to overlook!  (I once found two audio cassettes just laying in the cone of an unused 10-inch woofer.  Its magnet weighed about five pounds!)  

To get an idea how far-reaching a magnet's field is, just bring any old speaker within a couple of feet of your color TV, and watch the screen do color contortions.  After doing this, you may need a TV Repairman to degauss your screen!  However, newer TV's have a built in degausser.  That's what makes that awful buzz when you first turn the set on.  It's powerful enough to clear away magnetic psychedelics from the screen, so you can expect it's strong enough to affect that stack of videotapes standing right next to the set!

Many players are very warm inside, even when turned off. Promptly eject tapes from players and put them in dust jackets.

Some cassette and video decks continue to spin when idle. Turn the power off when idle, to reduce wear.

Unplug tape recorders (and, for that matter, TV’s, computers, phone sets, etc.) and disconnect from outside antenna feeds and phone lines during electrical storms to prevent damage to the electronics.

Immediately repair or get rid of any player that “eats” tapes. Players that are worn and misaligned can crease the tape anywhere along its entire length, permanently marring sound and image! You may not know it until the next time you play it.

Shake well before use?  Never insert a cassette that rattles! Small pieces of broken plastic can cause serious damage to the tape. This is especially possible after a tape has been dropped. Have a competent person disassemble and check it out.

A tape that has been dropped may have dents on the corners that will make it wedge inside the player. Always examine every tape for physical damage before inserting it.

Avoid unnecessary starts, stops, pauses and backtracks. These increase the risk of jams and crumples. It is best to play straight through. If you have to navigate a tape a lot, make a “working” copy and set the original aside.  Cheap VCR's can be rough on tapes.  If you do a lot of tape "shuttling," you need a quality player that is designed for it.

Make a backup of irreplaceable items.

Store the backup at a different premise.

Copies given as gifts serve as extra backups. Document who has them.

Before storing any priceless tape for the long term, it should be “laid” evenly. Put it in a player, rewind it, then play it through to the end, then don’t rewind it! This will even out the stresses on the reel, reducing warping and layer-to-layer bleed.  (Note that some players automatically rewind when they hit the end.  You'll have to find a solution for that.)

Use only players with “smart” rewinding, which slow down near the ends of the reel. “Slamming” the end of a rewind operation stretches the tape and creates uneven binding stresses in the reel.

Don’t use a C-120 or 110 audio cassette when you know a C-90 or C-60 will do. Longer tapes are thinner and will be more susceptible to layer-to-layer bleed and creasing. Likewise, favor "6-hour" T-120 videotapes over "8-hour" T-160’s.

Don't use LP or EP modes for recording archival material.  The density of the signal on the tape is higher than tapes recorded in SP mode.  The result is a greater tendency for self-cancellation of the magnetic image.  (The higher signal density is also why you may notice that worn and dirty tape heads have difficulty playing EP/LP recordings long before they have trouble playing tapes recorded in SP mode.) 

Exercise and spot-check tapes regularly. One objective is to prevent the layers of tape from sticking to each other. It also keeps the substrate limber and relieves stress. Wind the tape to the opposite spool. Check it at a couple of points in the process. (Professional tape storage facilities plan this ahead on a long term basis.)

Store the originals in a climate-controlled environment, not a hot attic or damp basement!

Think ahead. If you have two students in an event, who will get the original tape later? Consider archiving a separate copy in the name of each interested party.

Be aware of advancing technology, such as digital conversion, that will help to arrest image deterioration. Take advantage of these forward transfers for audio and video as soon as they become affordable.

I have found that in my own audiocassette collection, layer-to-layer bleeding of sound becomes noticeable after about six years, and objectionable after about eight years.  I am actively transferring the most valuable items to CD-R as time permits. 

Be aware that any unique storage format or media that you adopt will require that you keep a suitable, working player available for the long haul. If I were to hand you your favorite home video in Sony’s "Beta" format, would you be able to play it? Could you retrieve your 1982 financial records from a 5-1/4 inch floppy disk? Truly permanent retention and accessibility will probably require that you leapfrog your material into a new de-facto standard format every few decades.

 

Some additional ideas on the subject of Master Preservation are in an article by Philip DeLancie, in the October, 1999 Mix Magazine.  www.mixonline.com

 

While it's on your mind, see my remarks about Photo Preservation

Comments and additional ideas are welcome. See the "Feedback" page.

[ Home ] [ Up ]