Mini-DV Tape Storage Solutions/Ideas
 

I'm finally migrating away from tape to solid state video cameras, however I still have a few thousand mini-DV tapes that I need to archive and still access occasionally. What are other people doing to store their mini-DV tapes?

http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/images/tapes.jpg

I liked this one, but it is no longer available... :(

http://www.minidvracks.com/images/pr...il/DSD320L.jpg

:stoned

ADG

You may wish to consider a place like this.
http://www.hollywoodvaults.com/

External environment can turn your tapes/discs into soup.

We have over a thousand dating back to the 80's right up to HDV tapes. We store ours at the bank in dedicated safety deposit boxes and this has been great. There is small annual fee and the conditions they are kept in is perfect.

Get them on a drive. Capture and capture. Make backups. But first and foremost is to not let them lay flat like that. Tape is heavy and will mushroom towards the bottom, very slowly but dv doesn't age gracefully like old analog tape. I would set them up vertically on the side and then do what you can to make them immortal.

Paully

Good idea for a deep archive. :thumbsup

I keep all of my original images and captured videos on hard drives in safe deposit boxes! :thumbsup

I do, it's a never ending task, plus most scenes are shot on multiple cameras... :helpme

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I8W-YXbDBf...etized-cds.jpg

Ever notice how the one video you can never find is the one you suddenly have an urge to edit and post. :upsidedow

:stoned

ADG

Every time... :(

I have a similar situation. Well over 200 tapes. Luckily, they fit perfectly (and neatly organized) in an old laptop case I happened to have. Several months ago, I transferred them all to hard drives (a grueling task for sure!) and I can attest they definitely deteriorate. Lost at least two tapes during the process.

You should make two copies right out of the gate.... And then store them in different locations. Anything you have on DV... Should be moved over to a drive.

Mine are standing up in plastic storage drawers.

same here, in a cool dry place... all on disk and HD as well

I've got about 50 of these.

I know its an ongoing chore but you do eventually get to the end.....capture those things and keep multiple copies on different drives....3TB drives are relatively cheap and will hold a butt load of those tapes and the data will stay pristine, unlike the tapes that will deteriorate over time.

http://static.bhphoto.com/images/ima...345/246770.jpg

A few problems with the 50-piece Bryco racks are that I would need a ton of them, and they don't standalone well (the cases are meant to be wall-mounted).

More importantly, I use 10+ tapes whenever I shoot (we use a different tape for each outfit change, and 2-3 video cameras), so I have to shift all of the tapes by 10-20 spaces a few times per week.

The Bryco have individual holders for each tape, so I would have to manually remove and shift all of the tapes each time new videos are added. What I have been doing is storing them in the lids of large legal size boxes, with loose dividers between each column, so that I can pull and shift entire columns at a time.

Anyway, some good tips in here already. Bryco must have made bank off of their molded plastic holders due to a lack of competition. Considering the mark-up for storage products is enormous, I'm surprised they did not attract more competitors. :2 cents:

:stoned

ADG

I used to buy metal cases from the diy store.

not expensive.

they are padded in side (i think they are for power tools).

But they are the pefect depth for tapes.

we use these

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40107872/

luckily we shoot HD only for a while now