VIDEO TRANSFER
Digitize Your Videotape Collection, Done Right.
Professional digitization of every videotape format (VHS, Betacam, Hi8, MiniDV, and more) capturing everything still on the tape at master quality and keeping it available for years to come.
Who We Are
We are specialists in the digitization of analog and digital videotapes. We work with multinational record companies, international artists, sports personalities, archives, and individuals who hold collections worth preserving.
Extensive Experience
For more than 30 years, we've helped clients with video production, post-production, and content distribution. We lived the entire analog-to-digital transition firsthand, from tape to tapeless, producing every kind of digital file along the way.
That gives us a depth of technical knowledge most services can't match, not only in handling magnetic media correctly, but in combining older and newer technologies to get the finest possible result when bringing standard-definition content up to today's higher-resolution formats.
Our Equipment
We maintain a large collection of well-kept video machines across a wide range of formats, so your tapes are played back securely and to the highest possible standard.
We make every transfer to high-bitrate video files using AJA and Blackmagic ingest hardware. Technical processing, adjusting, and monitoring of signal levels before and during ingest are what separate a proper digitization from a careless one. To keep our transfers at broadcast standard, we work with time base correctors, waveform monitors, vectorscopes, and calibrated video and audio monitors.
Formats We Transfer
NTSC
VHS · VHS-C · S-VHS · MiniDV · Video8 · Hi8 · Digital8 · Betamax · Digital Betacam · Betacam · Betacam SP · Betacam SX · MPEG IMX · U-matic · U-matic SP · DVCAM · DVCPRO · DVCPRO 50 · DVCPRO HD · D9 (Digital-S) · DVD · Mini DVD · HDV
PAL
VHS · VHS-C · S-VHS · MiniDV · Digital Betacam · Betacam · Betacam SP · Betacam SX · MPEG IMX · DVCAM · DVCPRO · DVCPRO 50 · DVCPRO HD · DVD · Mini DVD · HDV
SECAM
VHS · VHS-C · S-VHS
Don't see your format? Call us. We have partners worldwide and can source almost any format we don't carry in-house, including film. If we don't have it, we can find it.
Behind the Scenes: What Happens to Your Tapes
From the moment your tapes arrive to the day they ship back, here is exactly what each one goes through at Encanta.
1
Receiving, labeling & data entry
As soon as your tapes arrive, we give each one a unique identifier and log it in our database, so every tape is tracked from the moment it is in our hands.
2
Acclimation
Every tape rests for a 48-hour "sitting period" to adjust to the controlled conditions in our facility. Playing a tape before it has acclimated can damage it, so we never rush this step.
3
Physical & technical evaluation
We inspect each tape for shell damage, loose or broken parts, dust, and mold, and test-play a sample of the tapes that look sound to gauge overall quality. Any tape showing mold is quarantined and treated immediately. If a tape needs treatment or repair, we let you know.
4
Pre-transfer treatment & repair
If the evaluation shows a tape needs treatment before it can be played safely (baking for "sticky-shed," repair, re-shelling, or mold removal) that work is handled by our Revival service and quoted separately, and we always confirm with you first. Routine cleaning and careful re-winding are part of every transfer.
5
Machine inspection & cleaning
Before every transfer, we mechanically check and clean the playback machine. A clean, properly working deck is essential to a clean transfer.
6
Calibration
Before digitizing each tape, we use professional calibration equipment to bring its video and audio to broadcast reference levels, so every bit of detail in the original recording is preserved. When a single tape holds several shows recorded at different times or on different machines, each can need its own alignment, so we handle them separately rather than applying one setting across them all.
7
Digitization
We digitize each tape exactly as it was recorded, at its native resolution, frame rate, and field order (interlacing), to a master-quality Apple ProRes 422 HQ .mov . Your master stays a true record of the original.
8
First quality control
We review every new file for technical quality. If we believe a different adjustment would give a better result, we digitize the tape again.
9
Viewing copies (optional)
Your master files hold the full quality of the transfer, ideal for archiving, editing, and the highest-quality playback, but large to handle. If you'd rather watch and share your collection with ease, we can also create smaller, compressed viewing copies. Many professional clients keep the masters alone; families and collections meant for sharing usually want both.
10
Second quality control & log
Once everything is digitized, we run a second technical and metadata check and log the running time of each tape.
11
Delivery media
We copy your digitized files onto the recommended media and verify the data for consistency. For long-term safety we follow the recognized 3-2-1 standard: three copies of your collection, on two different types of storage, with one kept in a separate location.
12
Files delivered, tapes returned
When the project is complete, we carefully package your tapes and delivery media and ship them back with a tracked service. We keep a backup for 30 days after completion, so you are covered until everything is safely in your hands.
Questions at any point? We are always a call or email away.
Delivery Formats
Master files
Apple ProRes 422 HQ .mov, captured at your tape's native resolution, frame rate, and field order.
Viewing copies
H.264 .mp4 or .mov at the same resolution and frame rate, deinterlaced and optimized for smooth viewing on modern screens.
Apple ProRes 422 HQ is our standard master format. From that high-quality master we can produce other delivery formats whenever your project calls for it. And if you specifically require an uncompressed master, we offer that on request, a larger file, but yours if you want it.
You Get the Master, Not a Shrunk-Down Copy
Many services, especially with family tapes, hand back a single compressed file and never mention what that means: much of the original quality has been quietly thrown away, and it can't be brought back. We don't work that way.
No matter what is on the tape, every transfer is captured at full master quality as an Apple ProRes 422 HQ file, the professional standard for mastering and archiving, used across film studios, record labels, broadcasters, and streaming platforms. Not a downsized consumer copy, but the same master the industry keeps. If you'd also like something easy to watch and share, we add a compressed viewing copy. But the master is always yours, because it's the only version that lets you do more later: as up-conversion and enhancement technology keeps improving, it can elevate a true master — never a copy that has already lost its detail.
How We Document Your Work
You see everything we did, before you pay and after. And if we can't recover something, you don't pay for it, though it's still documented so nothing is a mystery.
The report before you pay
A full report of every tape and the honest total, sent before your final payment.
Proof your files are there
A scan of your delivery drive's complete file list, so you can see everything is accounted for.
Photographed & logged
Photos of your tapes and delivery, plus the running time logged for every item.
Your labels preserved
Key details in every file name, and crowded labels photographed into your report, so you can read them even after the tape is gone.
Beyond the Transfer
Once your collection is digitized, we can take it further.
Ready to digitize your videotape collection?
Start with a free virtual consultation. We'll learn what you have, its condition, and your goals, then plan the best approach together and give you a cost estimate. No pressure.
Request a Free Collection Assessment
