How It Works

Before anything else, we talk about your tapes — what formats you have, what you're hoping to preserve or share, and whether you'd like edited highlights in addition to full transfers. You bring the tapes directly to me in Center Point, IA. No shipping, no strangers handling your memories, and no guesswork about what the finished files should look like.

Each tape is played through carefully maintained equipment and captured using a preservation-grade workflow that records the raw video signal directly from the tape heads — before the deck's internal electronics have had a chance to process it. This gives the decoding software maximum information to work with. Audio is captured simultaneously as a separate lossless recording, and live signal readings are monitored throughout so problems are caught during capture rather than discovered in the finished file.

The raw capture data is processed by vhs-decode — open-source software built specifically for this kind of preservation work — to correct for the instabilities and signal quirks that are normal in aging tape. The result is a stable, full-quality digital master: the permanent reference copy of your tape that everything else is made from.

Every transfer is reviewed in a custom-built editing tool designed specifically for this workflow. Audio sync is checked and corrected where needed. If you've requested clips or highlights, I select and export those as separate files — named using dates found on-screen when available, so you can find any recording without scrubbing through hours of footage. Included with every conversion at no extra charge.

Your files are organized by tape and exported in formats chosen to work on your specific devices and platforms — whether that's a TV, laptop, phone, digital picture frame, or cloud storage service. Files are delivered via USB drive or digital download, and I'm available at pickup to help get everything onto your preferred device or service if needed.