A/V Digitization Cabinet Workflows

VHS Digitization Workflow

1) Turn on VCR and cue up VHS tape (the point from which you want to start capture)

- Make sure it's set on VHS and not DVD

- Don't try to use the DVD functionality, DVD's created using the machine's VHS-to-DVD conversion mechanism will not play

2) Open up "Roxio Video Capture" on the iMac

3) Give the video you're about to make a name, and make sure your settings reflect the options below [Input Source = Composite; Quality = High]

(Copy-protected VHS tapes may not capture correctly and may cause the software to crash)

3) Hit "Record” in Roxio and then hit PLAY on the VCR

4) When finished capturing, hit STOP on the VHS and then STOP within Roxio [in that order]

5) Do what trimming you need to by adjusting the yellow markers on the playback timeline in the Roxio window, then click ‘FINISH’

5b) Unfortunately, Roxio does not let you choose the saving/exporting directory for your file, it will go to users/[your uniqname]/movies. Because of the admin restrictions on Lab computers, you will have to find it by opening a Finder window and selecting ‘All My Files’ near the top of the navigation bar.

6) If you are having problems trimming in Roxio itself, just click ‘FINISH’ and open the resulting .mov file in Quicktime Video for editing

6a) Open in Quicktime and under the EDIT menu choose TRIM

6b) Drag left and right handles to the points you want to keep and then click TRIM

6c) Hit SAVE, give your final cut a name, and save it (it will save in the same format/size that it was shot in)

7) Save your video to a flash/external hard drive or upload it to Google Drive/Dropbox or other cloud storage provider

MAKE SURE TO EJECT YOUR TAPE AND TAKE IT WITH YOU

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Audio Cassette Digitization Workflow

1) Turn on tape deck

2) Insert tape in left slot

3) Cue up to where you want to Capture

4) Open iTunes and ‘Agree’ to the License (this is important to do first to ensure proper exporting later on)

5) Open EZ Vinyl/Tape Converter software

Choose NEXT

Uncheck "automatically split into tracks"

Hit PLAY on the cassette deck and get an audio level

Adjust gain level using the vertical GAIN slider (you shouldn't see it going into the red)

***If you don't hear audio on the computer, make sure the BLUE USB cord is plugged into the iMac, and trace it back to the cord port in the back of the A/V cabinet***

6) Hit RECORD and then hit PLAY [triangle] on the cassette deck

7) When finished, hit STOP [square] on the cassette deck and NEXT on the iMac  

8) Enter in any metadata you want part of the file and hit NEXT again

9) As above, you won’t be able to choose your exporting directory, so you’ll have to find your track in Finder under ‘All My Files’

For cassette captures, the best advice is to close and reopen the EZ Vinyl software if it doesn't work right away. Also, it's best to close and reopen it in between captures, rather than following the prompt to start another capture at the end of the process.

MAKE SURE TO EJECT YOUR TAPE AND TAKE IT WITH YOU

Also note that you can do both VHS and audio cassette digitization at the same time (using different USB ports)