How to Digitize a Video at the Freedman Center

These directions are being updated to reflect the changed in the Freedman Center.  The above video is out of date but the following directions are accurate. Images coming soon!

Step 1 - Before you start, please consider copyright.  Home movies and original recordings aren't a concern but produced material such as commercially purchased videos or even home recordings of commercial materials would require permission to be digitized in their entirety.  Feel free to reach out for assistance, often we can help you find a DVD or streaming copy of an old VHS tape.  We can also help in getting permission to digitize from the copyright holder.  Digitization of excerpts can often fall under fair use, but the ultimate responsibility is yours.  Without explicit permission from the copyright holder, digitization of an entire work is not allowed in the center.    

Step 2 -  Locate the correct media player on the hardware stack and look for the letter. Then select the button on the switch-box for letter that matches. For AA, BB, and CC, be sure to select the last button on the big switch-box.

Step 3 - Take a moment and look at the media player, be sure to identify the STOP, PLAY, EJECT, and REWIND buttons before you insert your media. Several of the players have remotes.

Step 4 - Insert the physical media into the player. If it starts to auto-play hit the stop button. With tapes, it is usually a good idea to rewind it before proceeding.

Step 5 - Log into the machine using your network ID and password.

Step 6 - Launch "Black Magic Media Express" and click the "Log and Capture" tab, you should see color bars or a blue background.

Step 7 - Test the tape and the connection to the computer, press play on the player on hardware stack and you should see the video in the software. The audio will come out of the speaker bar that is to the left of the computer, the dial can adjust the volume.  If you want to hear your media's audio, press the power button on the speaker bar remote at the capture station. Stop the tape and rewind it again.

Step 8 - It is critical that you review the settings the first time you use the software!

• Project Video Format: 525i59.94 NTSC
• Capture File Format: AVI 8-bit YUV
• Stop Capture is dropped frames are detected - need to be NOT CHECKED!  (If you don't, then any glitch on the tape will cause the capture to stop)

Step 9 - Click "Capture" button in the software and THEN press play on your media player. The video will be digitized in real time and saved to your folder. The process takes as long as your video's runtime; a 1 hour video will take 1 hour to capture.

Step 10 - Do not do anything else on the computer when capturing the video!  You might want to wiggle the mouse every so often so the machine lock (which it does after 20 minutes). Don't worry, it is still capturing and you can unlock it without it losing any of your recording. 

Step 11 - When you are ready to stop digitizing the video, click "Capture" again and close the program. The software will ask if you want to save anything, you do not need to as the video file has already been saved to your documents folder.

The video file is VERY large!  It is 60GB per hour.  We suggest you proceed to the next step to make a more manageable file.

Step 12 - Be kind, rewind!

Troubleshooting!

• If the tape gets stuck.. STOP. Do not try to remove it!  If the center is currently staffed, ask for assistance. Otherwise, send an email to FreedmanCenter@case.edu and give as much information as possible. We will remove (and if needed/possible) repair the tape and get it back to you.
• If the Black Magic software doesn't see the video, make sure you are on the correct source.
• If the Black Magic software doesn't see a video capture device, simply unplug and then replug in the blue wire in the front of the computer.
• It never hurts to reboot the machine!
• If something else happens please email FreedmanCenter@case.edu and give as much information as possible.

Step 1 - CRITICAL! If this is your first time using "TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7" on this computer, then you need navigate to the Y: drive and double click on TMPGENCVideoMasteringActivate.bat and select Yes.  This activates the software and you will not need to do it again.

Step 2 - Launch "TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7" (TMP) and start a new project, normal mode, then choose "From Files." Choose the file you just digitized.

Step 3 - In the new window that opens, if the "Clip Settings" box appears, close it.

Step 4 - Drag the cursor (playback head) on the timeline bar to where you want to video  to begin. You can use the arrow keys to move frame by frame.

Step 5 - Click the open bracket button beneath the timeline to set the starting point. Repeat this process to set the end point, and then click the close bracket button.

Step 6 - At the top of the window, click "Filters" and select the "Deinterlace" button on the left. Choose "Deinterlace Always" from the options below.

Step 7 - Select the "Crop" button on the left, and toggle cropping on. Then adjust the cropping borders to your satisfaction, making a clean edge around the video. It is often useful to move to a very bright spot in the video to see where the edges are.

Step 8 - Select the "Volume Adjustment" button on the left, and toggle Volume Adjustment on. Then choose "Volume Normalization" as the volume correction method.

Step 9 - Click OK at the bottom right to complete your filters/post processing.

Step 10 - In the next window, click "Format" to set the format of the final file. MP4 File Output (not the Youtube version) will output the highest quality MP4 with generic settings.  Choose your format and then click "Select" at the bottom right.

Step 11 - At the top of the screen, click "Encode" and browse to your named folder to set the output destination. Then, at the bottom left of the screen, click the "Start" button.

Step 12 - Wait for the video to encode from a large file size to a smaller sized one.

Step 13 - When it is done, you do not need to save anything as your video will already have saved.