Game Shows on VHS to DVD

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'142450\' date=\'Jan 7 2007, 09:56 PM\']
As far as the labels go -- avoid using adhesive labels like the plague.  I've labeled CD's and DVDs and no matter how hard you try, in most cases you will get an air bubble or 2 below the label.  
[/quote]
I have never ever ever had this happen. (I also own a CD stomper, which is kinda the intended way to apply labels to a CD.)

(And Our Benevolent Moderator Matt recommends against labels wholesale, but I have never had a problem with them. So, two sides of the coin.)

[curtking]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'142450\' date=\'Jan 7 2007, 09:56 PM\']
As far as the labels go -- avoid using adhesive labels like the plague.  I've labeled CD's and DVDs and no matter how hard you try, in most cases you will get an air bubble or 2 below the label.  
[/quote]
Just my two cents from a long week of DVD maintenance...

Labels are apparently causing a problem for me, but not for the reason TimK suggested.  Most of the forums that I've consulted make this point: no matter how good you are, you'll very rarely get the DVD label perfectly centered.  Even a tiny variance in the centering of the label causes the DVD to spin erratically.  This can cause problems when the player tries to read the DVD.

I've proven this point to myself in the following way: Back in the summer, I made a set of DVDs that archived some home movies that were on VHS.  Before I put sticky labels on any of the original DVDs, I made duplicates for my family members using Nero.  I had no problems making six sets of duplicates.

Afterward, I put a sticky label on each, then stored them in DVD cases.  Last week I needed to make a duplicate set for my mom; when I tried to copy any of the four DVDs in the set, each failed.  I used Nero InfoTool to scan the disc (much like ScanDisk in Windows) and found bad/damaged sectors on each disk.  The odd thing was that when I scanned any of the DVDs multiple times, it found bad/damaged sectors in a different part of the disc.

So I set out to remove the labels on a few of the disks.  As soon as I did, the scan ran perfectly time and time again.  Nero will now make copies of these disks without a problem.

Why don't labels cause this problem with CDs?  Apparently, the density of DVDs makes them incredibly susceptible to the erratic spinning problem.  The data is so tightly packed on a DVD that just a slight movement in the DVD at read-time can be fatal.

Take this for what it's worth, but I can testify to my own situation.  Now to the task of removing labels from 300 DVDs...

(which isn't as hard as it sounds, using an oil-and-citrus-based adhesive remover.  Messy, but not hard.)

Curt

[Ian Wallis]

With the KDVD profile, I've been able to fit five eps of ... without commercials, and in excellent quality, on a single DVD-R.

I can usually get 126 minutes on each disc, so that's five episodes with commercials edited out of at least three of them, or four if all have original commercials I want to keep.  For any show I have a lot of, I can usually get a week's worth on each disc at SP.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Justin Dyer\' post=\'142430\' date=\'Jan 7 2007, 09:09 PM\']
Would it be kosher to buy the printer printable disks and write on them with a ballpoint pen?[/quote]
If you're just going to write on them, the point of purchasing the more expensive printable disks is more or less lost, but in either case, don't use a ballpoint pen, use a Sharpie or similar marker.

[tvmitch]

I am going to revive this thread to bring up a separate but related discussion...I wanted to share my thought process with my DVD storage issues in case anyone might find it helpful. I would love to hear what you guys are doing as well.

Now that a lot of us are transitioning over to DVD from VHS as a primary medium, how is everyone dealing with storing them? There are so many more options to store DVDs when compared to VHS tapes - I always just kept my tapes on shelves, and that was that. I love DVDs because they're small, but am struggling to find a quality way to store the DVDs without them taking up as much space as VHS cases.

Since I am using 3 or 4 disks per VHS tape, (once converted, on average), I simply don't have the space to put each DVD in a single standard DVD case. My DVD collection would then be taking up more space than my VHS collection did. Buying the DVD cakeboxes also means finding a good way to label each cakebox, which is an expensive and/or time-consuming proposition. Yes, I want my DVD movies (proper) in pretty cases with nice art, because that’s part of what I paid for when I bought it, but is that as important with plain old game show DVDs?

So I came up with a want list. I need a solution that is space-efficient, where I don’t have to make (literally) thousands of cakebox labels, is a proper storage solution for DVDs, and where I can find the DVD I want fairly quickly via a simple database, which I have already created. (Through Google spreadsheets, nonetheless, and it seems to be working well…my spreadsheet self-publishes live whenever I post an update, which is very neat.)

One of the “deal” sites I frequent posted a special earlier this week from meritline.com for a DJ case that's designed to travel and holds 720 CDs. (To see what I'm talking about, go to that site and search for item 180-066-001.) It comes with 360 sleeves that hold 2 CDs each, are self-cleaning and numbered. The sleeves were the deal-breaker for me: the case only holds 100-some CDs in jewel cases, but with these sleeves that are less bulky, the capacity goes up 7 times.

I think this might have been the solution I have been looking for – I know that if I need another case or more sleeves that are exactly the same as this first set I got, that I can go back to the same store and get the exact same thing. (If I am going to spend the money on organization, I need everything to look good and uniform – I don’t want mismatching sleeves or cases.) A plus of this entire situation is that when I pick up and move house, I’ll only have one or two of these DJ cases to move instead of boxes and boxes of tapes, and the DJ case is a viable long-term storage solution: the disks aren’t exposed to the elements.

So that’s my lengthy thought process. What has everyone else done or is in the process of doing?

[Jimmy Owen]

CD storage is a little different than DVD.  One scratch won't really hurt a CD, but could render the DVD useless. I had some plastic sleeves for my CDs that got a little humid and started sticking to the disk. It didn't really harm the CD, but DVD is a different animal. I'd put them in jewel cases at the very least.  Don't throw away the tapes.

[game show guy]

On the same topic, i record GSN daily onto DVD. When a disk gets full, i put it into a jewel case, and put it in my desk drawer. Is that good enough, or is their something else i should be doing to protect the disks?

[mcsittel]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'145483\' date=\'Feb 7 2007, 02:21 PM\']
CD storage is a little different than DVD.  One scratch won't really hurt a CD, but could render the DVD useless. I had some plastic sleeves for my CDs that got a little humid and started sticking to the disk. It didn't really harm the CD, but DVD is a different animal. I'd put them in jewel cases at the very least.  Don't throw away the tapes.
[/quote]

I put all mine in paper CD/DVD sleeves/envelopes... a co-worker found envelopes on sale online for 2 cents apiece so I bought 300.

Otherwise I've labelled 'em with Sharpies, entered the contents into an Excel spreadsheet, and stored the DVDs in a box covered with Milton Bradley money I glued on, with help from my 3-year-old.  Nothing fancy at all.  All the old VHS tapes are relegated to under-the-bed boxes in our basement/guest bedroom.

Matt

[Ian Wallis]

I put all mine in paper CD/DVD sleeves/envelopes...

I do too.  I'm a little cautious about using the jewel boxes.  I've found that on some of them, when you try to get it out of the little holder in the center, you almost have to bend it to get it off.  I figured that wasn't very good for them, so I figured the sleeves/envelopes are better since they just slide in and out pretty easily.

And I'm definately not throwing away the tapes.  I just need to figure out a place to store them so they won't get damaged/moldy, etc.  I'm already out of room in my extra bedroom where I keep all this stuff!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'145591\' date=\'Feb 8 2007, 05:53 AM\']
And I'm definately not throwing away the tapes.
[/quote]
This is where I'm confused. Isn't the entire POINT to be able to get rid of the tapes and get some storage space back?

[Ian Wallis]

This is where I'm confused. Isn't the entire POINT to be able to get rid of the tapes and get some storage space back?

I think I should have added one word to my previous post - YET.  Since DVD storage is still rather new, I'd hate to give up all my tapes and then find some of my discs eventually fail - then I'd have no way of getting that stuff back again.  

Let's say that I'll eventually get rid of the tapes - but not immediately.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'145604\' date=\'Feb 8 2007, 08:41 AM\']
I think I should have added one word to my previous post - YET.  Since DVD storage is still rather new,
[/quote]
From Wikipedia:

The DVD-R format was developed by Pioneer in the autumn of 1997.

And we've had dual-layer drives for almost three years now. How much more of a shakedown period do you need?

I'd hate to give up all my tapes and then find some of my discs eventually fail - then I'd have no way of getting that stuff back again.  

I'm gonna suggest that the tapes are gonna fail a LOT sooner than the DVD's will.

[Jimmy Owen]

It would be nice to be able to get rid of the tapes, but I've heard too many stories about DVDs getting scratched, stepped on, coating coming off, being playable on only one machine, etc.  Frugality dictates buying the cheapest blanks, but will they last?

[JasonA1]

I don't even participate in DVD storage, but one of my concerns of ever doing it was that of discs failing. I've had CDs where a few of the tracks pop and skip later go on to freezing up the CD player in my car. It's likely my fault, sure, but I want to have as much confidence in myself and my own abilities in making discs before I go ahead and toss my tapes. With tapes, I'll know one way or the other if they work or not, because it'll likely be some sort of physical problem. But with a disc, it can look all pretty on the shelf and not play at all. I guess it's like scanning album after album of family photographs into your computer but never getting rid of the books despite that, for fear of a power surge or something.

-Jason

[tvmitch]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'145606\' date=\'Feb 8 2007, 11:49 AM\']
I'm gonna suggest that the tapes are gonna fail a LOT sooner than the DVD's will.
[/quote]
I agree with Chris here. This is where I stand with my thoughts on VHS and DVD.

1. DVDs will last a lot longer than VHS tapes. This point is simply a fact, with the caveat that one is using higher-quality DVD media. (I would rather pay 30-40 cents for good Taiyo Yuden media than the free-after-rebate no-name junk at many stores, especially for archival purposes. And remember, that's what we're all doing here: we are creating archives. Would you trust your tapes to any store brand from the Dollar Tree? Same argument.)

2. My failure rate of losing DVDs I've had is just about equal to (the quantity of my tapes have been eaten by my VCR) plus (the quantity of tapes I've had that are 10+ years old, have been played many times, and look awful at this point).

3. Space is at a premium in my house - I value a nice living space over shelves and shelves of tapes - and I don't really have room for all the tapes in the first place.

I may start a giveaway program for some of my tapes, just to get them out of the house. If I ever lose an episode or more off a DVD, the loss is certainly less than a 6 or 8 hour tape, and most of the time, I believe I could contact the original trader and get another copy with a trade.

Also, someone had written something about jewel cases vs sleeves earlier...again, with space as one of my concerns, sleeves seem to be the only option. I see no practical reason in using larger cases that take up 4-5x the volume of the DVD itself when I can store the media in sleeves - and nice sleeves, at that.