Truly professional videotape digitization starts with a well planned digitization station that is flexible, versatile and uses proper measurement tools to set up, analyze, improve, monitor and digitize video. This is a portion of our main video digitization rack, custom designed to optimize video digitization. For formats that we digitize often or formats that exhibit common problems, the video decks have the tops removed and are mounted on pull-out shelves or rack rails so that we can closely monitor the tape transport during repack and playback to insure there are no problems or issues with tape handling. Easy access to these decks gives us the ability to easily clean video heads and tape paths on a regular basis. Easy access also gives us the ability to make custom adjustments for problem tapes that require special tracking adjustments, tape pack or tape tension adjustments. Multiple models and manufacturers in each videotape format, where possible, insure the best tape playback. Tape A may play back better in deck A. Tape B may play back better in deck B or C. To have a second, third and fourth option, insures best playback quality of the raw signal. We have many different choices of signal processing. Proper Time Base Correction (TBC) and other signal processing capabilities stabilizes the analog visual, can greatly reduce color noise and other analog image issues. Poor and decaying tape signals are often significantly improved. We set levels such as Pedestal (blacks), Luminance (brightness), Chroma (color value), Hue (weighting of color value) back to professional standards. Reducing the color noise and stabilizing the image in the analog portion of the chain is very important. It can be very hard to remove problems that are "baked-in" to the digital version. We have over 10 different TBC's and processors. One or several can be used in the conversion chain. The master QC switcher is the heart of our digitizing station. A feed from every single deck and signal processor in our video digitizing station is fed through master QC, then to a set of oscilloscopes, then to a master reference monitor. This allows us to monitor the raw feed off the video decks, the processed feed through the TBCs and signal processors and digitized output feed to insure quality processing at each stage. Oscilloscopes are the ONLY way to guarantee that video is adjusted and processed properly to professional standards. Making adjustments by eye using only a monitor is akin to playing the blind man's game of "pin the tail on the donkey". Both a waveform monitor and a vectorscope are used. A waveform monitor gives us the ability to see the luminance range of the image and adjust this range with processing amplifiers to insure that the details in the shadows and lighter portions of the image are not lost prior to digitizing. (if the visual information is crushed during the digitization process - there is no way to recover it later). Waveform monitors also allow us to see sync timing issues, which are critical to get the best image stabilization, see closed captioning to insure the lines that hold this information are not deleted during processing, see copy protection, see color burst and how stable the color information is, along with a number of other factors that make up the analog signal. A vectorscope allows you to see the weighted values of the color information. A vectorscope gives us the ability to properly adjust white balance, see if the color value is over/under saturated, adjust for proper flesh tones and more. For content where camera settings were poorly adjusted in the first place, high-end video processing amplifiers can make the difference between seeing important visual information and missing it. The samples below were taken from ½” EIAJ video with a camera that had auto-iris engaged. The camera iris had stopped way down because of the window in the background. The client required us to make adjustments so that they could see the subject’s face and read their lips as they talked, without any post work required in the digital version. Processing amplifiers enabled us to take the luminance and pedistal levels far beyond the original range so that we could easily see the subject's face and lips as they talked. The relevant information was preserved properly for research. If processing amplifiers were not used to improve the information required, the digital version would have lost the information in the darker areas. At the same time, we can employ real time audio processing. Professional audio leveling gain control processors can bring up low volume level subjects while keeping higher volume level subjects from getting too high. This is especially helpful for group/meeting videos, clinical videos of live videotaped subjects and family video, where subjects of varying audio levels appear in the same video and audio improvement techniques will not be used in post, with the digital file versions. High-end custom built computer ingest stations assure we ingest video without dropped frames, or ingest files with corrupted data. Onboard software monitors the entire ingest process to confirm that all the files we produce are legitimate, whole and in-tact. Our capture workstations are not networked, nor do they have any connection with the internet to insure that no-one outside of our facility has access to our client’s information and that we comply with all HIPPA AND HITECK regulations. Although all these steps are critical for proper video digitization, the human element is the most important key to quality video digitization. The experience required to design, build, properly run and maintain all the equipment in a video digitization chain only comes with time and knowledge. John Schroth, President of MTS has been working with professional analog video gear since the mid 1980's. His passion and love for this format goes into every client project we work on.

Production Manager Brian Prosser, calibrates our ingest system prior to a new digitization project