Client work and future formats

Twenty cassettes awaiting digital conversion.

As of the writing of this entry, the website still needs a lot of work done but I've already managed to get few leads on potential clients, and started working on my first official conversion job. It's a total of 5 VHS and 16 VHS-C cassettes.

So far just with the first cassette there's been a nice surprise in that it appears to be recording of either 8 or 16mm film that had been previously converted to that VHS some years ago. And now I'm converting it over to a digital format to send back to them on CD and stored in the cloud. It's a heck of a nice way to know my first paying client really cared about recording the moments of their family way back in 1976. It also in a way reaffirms that what was years ago a passing interest for me, is now a fledgling business effort that will help get newly updated copies to the eyes of younger members of their family.

Future plans and formats

Over the course of this coming year I hope to add lot more equipment to be able to handle additional formats. Currently I am able to handle the two main North American and Japanese formats of video cassette, VHS and VHS-C. I'm currently looking for a machine to do PAL cassette transfers for videos recording in the UK as well.

The next two formats I hope to be able to provide digitization for are 8mm film and 35mm photo negative scanning.

When I do, I'll add the service costs and more information to the price page.

Questions asked

Shipping isn't an option yet, I'm just handling jobs in and around the KC Metro areas, as I do the media pickups/returns personally for an additional fee. I'm also going to offer drop offs at shows I would have a booth at. More information will be available soon on that aspect.

I've had one person inquire about the BetaMax format, and while that is something I'd love to get into, it might be another year before that becomes a viable platform that I can convert.

Another question I've gotten is if I plan on selling any VCRs if I refurbish them. Currently, no, I don't have plans to do so as the studio doesn't have the space for me to add that sort of operation. There would have to be a lot of preparation and on my end more education and experience to do the sort of repairs that a lot of these machines need. In some circumstances the machines can be fairly easy to repair, but the challenge becomes sourcing parts. And of course there is the whole aspect of when dealing with any sort of vintage electronics, offering them at a price that works for both the purchaser and myself. This effort, just like the BetaMax format, will more than likely be something that comes along down the line.

-Mario, the Artisan Rogue