Vtape makes supervised, professional digital files from a wide range of analogue and digital video and audio tape formats. Our restoration and digitization clients have included the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Cinémathèque québécoise, McMichael Canadian Collection, Centre Georges Pompidou, Concordia University, Archives of Ontario, Toronto Metropolitan University, Dance Collection Danse, McMaster University, Brampton Library, Fashion Design Council of Canada, Grunt Gallery, and innumerable individual artists, production companies, and artist-run centres.

All videos are run through a time base corrector, and we can provide standard digital outputs such as ProRes, H.264, and uncompressed 10-bit QT. We are also capable of fulfilling most metadata requirements for an additional $5/item fee.

NEW: We now also offer archival file storage to LTO tape, or retrieval of files from LTO tape (see below for details).

Normal turnaround time is 2-3 weeks (except for jobs involving large numbers of items, which will take longer!). Rush jobs must be arranged ahead of time, and cannot always be accommodated. Rush jobs will be charged an additional fee. Credit card information must be supplied prior to the job being accepted.

We can digitize from any of the tape formats listed below. N.B.: sorry, we are no longer accepting small jobs involving ½-inch open-reel videotapes for digitization from individuals. Institutional clients with historically or culturally important collections on 1/2-inch videotape, please contact us with information about the job.

AVAILABLE VIDEO FORMATS

SD, HD, or UHD digital video files can be provided in any of the following:

• Uncompressed 10-bit QuickTime
• ProRes .422, ProRes LT, or ProRes HQ
• H.264 .mp4

Prices below are per tape (and do not include taxes), for all formats except Umatic (3/4-inch):

Less than one hour: $50

One hour or longer: $75

Prices for Umatic (3/4-inch) tapes:

Less than one hour: $75

One hour or longer: $100

Charges apply only for video material captured (e.g., if there are only 48 minutes of recorded material on a 90-minute tape, the charge would be for “less than one hour” rather than for the 90-minute potential length of the tape). Umatic tapes are priced slightly higher owing to the advanced degradation of most Umatic tapes in existence and the need for constant maintenance of playback machines. Most Umatic tapes require that we run them through our purpose-built RTI cleaner several times prior to digitization.

Clients should supply a hard-drive for file storage along with the original tapes to be digitized. If digital delivery via Aspera download link is preferred, a 20% additional fee will be charged. If we encounter any specific technical issues with a particular job or tape, we will contact you to discuss options.

Payment information: Credit card information must be supplied prior to the job being accepted. If a job is completed and the client has not picked up the original materials and/or hard drive within 60 days, unless specific arrangements have been made, Vtape reserves the right to ship the materials back to the client at their expense.

If you have any specific questions, please contact us at tech@vtape.org.

AVAILABLE AUDIO FORMATS

Vtape can also provide professional digitization from common audio formats:

• 1/4-inch open-reel
• Audio cassette
• DAT
• 12-inch, 10-inch, or 7-inch vinyl records
• Inquire about open-reel tapes; prices will vary from standard rates

Digital audio files can be provided in the following formats:

• .mp3
• .aiff
• .wav

Prices below are per tape or disk (and do not include taxes):

Up to 30 minutes: $30

31 to 60 minutes: $50

61 to 90 minutes: $70

91 to 120 minutes: $90

Charges apply only for audio material captured (e.g., if there are only 28 minutes of recorded material on a 60-minute cassette, the charge would be for “up to 30 minutes,” rather than for the 60-minute potential length of the tape).

Clients should supply a hard drive for file storage along with the original materials to be digitized. If digital delivery via Aspera download link is preferred, a 20% additional fee will be charged. If we encounter any specific technical issues with a particular job, we will contact you to discuss options.

Payment information: Credit card information must be supplied prior to the job being accepted. If a job is completed and the client has not picked up the original materials and/or hard drive within 60 days, unless specific arrangements have been made, Vtape reserves the right to ship the materials back to the client at their expense.

LTO ARCHIVAL TAPE STORAGE

Vtape will transfer your digital storage to Linear Tape Open (LTO), the preferred long-term archival storage format for institutions worldwide. LTO has been developed to offer the most efficient and stable storage solution, using magnetic tape encoded with uncompressed digital information. Part of what makes LTO so stable is its slow transaction times, which make it slow to load and difficult to access. For this reason, it’s better-suited for an archival back-up role than for quick and frequent access. Ideally, the tape is loaded once and only accessed in emergencies. LTO-8, the most recent generation of LTO that Vtape offers, is able to hold 12 TB of uncompressed data per tape. We can also retrieve your files from an existing LTO-6 , LTO-7, or LTO-8 tape. Call Vtape or email at tech@vtape.org to learn more about LTO preservation and rates. 

If you have any specific questions, please contact us at tech@vtape.org.

Pigeon by Emmie Tsumura from her installation Pigeonhole (2023).