ScanStation Issues and How to Fix

Grading Is Staying the same from clip to clip

Under the Job parameters, check to make sure that the grading is "per clip" and not "per output"

Rewind A VHS Tape Manually But Fast

Overview  Sometimes it is necessary to rewind a VHS tape manually.

Options Tried

We tried rewinding in a VCR and it got stuck in two different machines!!!

We tried rewinding the tape in the VHS cleaner and it did not move.

Solution

We rewound the tapes manually using:

electric drill (one end of socket bit into chuck), socket bit (big socket set - one of the bits - left or right most - in those little bit trays), plug bit into smallest sized long extension, extension "plugged" into 8mm brass adaptor, and brass adaptor fits into VHS reel hub.  Make sure to push in release (screw driller into hole in back of cassette - middle near top).

TRY BY HAND FIRST with the extension and etc before trying the drill as you have more control if something goes wrong.  Once it works by hand then use the drill.

Note

This should work on other tapes, but the extension and brass piece may need to be changed so as to fit the tape reel hub.

PLEASE ADD further procedures for other types of tapes.

Rip Audio CD's or CD-R's

Overview If you looked at a standard audio CD you would not find wav or mp3 files but cda files.  If you just copied these to the computer you would end up with a bunch of 1kb files and no audio.

A data CD would actually shows the files with the standard extensions such as mp3, wav, or whatever.

Solution

Use the Vegas import function to properly rip the audio tracks.  If you have a lot of CDs to do, you can run multiple copies of Vegas to use the multiple drives on Xavier.

Record a TV Program To PC

Overview One of my customers occasionally asks me to record a TV program as her daughter is an actor and she would like to use the program clips for her portfolio.

Equipment (Rack#1 equipment and setup)

• TV monitor (optional)
• A/V switch box
• Canopus ADVC300
• PC - SPACE
• Vegas software for capture
• Telus optic box and remote

Solution Summary

Plug the Telus box into the network.  The output from the box goes into the switch box that in turn feeds to the Canopus and the firewire to Space.  Vegas records from the firewire.  The TV monitor will monitor the output from the Canopus.

How To

1. Get the Telus Optic box
   1. Plug in the network cable into the box...should be able to plug directly into the little swithc box under the modem by FLAG
   2. Power it up the box
   3. keep in mind that the box requires 15 to 20 minutes or so to initialize before one can use it
2. Connect composite video and L and R audio cable to the outputs on the back of the Telus box and the input #5 of  the switch box
3. Turn on the Canopus ADVC300
4. Turn on the TV monitor (optional)
5. Open up Vegas on SPACE and capture using DV
6.  May have to open up Canopus Picture Controller to get the canopus to switch to analogue

Playing An AVI File On TV

Overview Playing back a AVI file on a HDTV or 4K TV or TV.  Most TV's do NOT play back AVI files easily or at all.  We create the AVI files when we capture videos.  So, if the customer wants to play these back directly on a SmartTV we need to provide them with an MP4 file.

Solution

Create an MP4 file using Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate (on Apollo2).   Use the settings "HD MP4" and "High Quality" for a large MP4 file or if we need a smaller file we can use "small file".  When setting parameters for transcoding, keep the resolution in mind....the same if possible.  Change parameter details in the settings icon.

Explorer Crashing Every Time or Click

Overview Every time I started a new explorer, explorer crashed.  According to the error in the event logs it looked like ffdshow was causing the crash.

Tried

Download ShellExView and disabled all the extensions that were not Microsoft to see if one of these extensions were causing the crash.  Didn't change anything.

Found

I realized ffdshow was probably crashing because it was trying to open something (video file) it did not like (corrupt?).  I'd been playing a lot with codec's recently to get an AVI file out of ScanStation mov files and this probably initiated the issue.  The "Quick access" folder had a file(s) in it that was causing the crash.

Solution

Search for Explorer options.  Clear "Quick Access" history.

Recording Audio - bit rate and sampling

Overview When recording audio, vinyl, audio cassettes, or reel-to-reel, we should be recording in the highest possible rate;  24bit and 96KHz.

More Info

Spoke to John Sawa ( www.johnsawa.com ), an audio editor.  Asked what the different is between 16bit and 24bit and 44KHz and 96KHz.  As he explained, if you have the higher rates, you have more room to work with if you are trying for fix the audio.  If the audio is really good, it will not make much difference.

Test

Ran a test of a BC Library audio book and found the different options made very little difference.  Ran combos of 16bit and 48KHz and 24bit and 96KHz.  Also, with the 24bit option I tested Dolby C on and off.  The conclusion was that the 16bit and 24bit combos made no difference.  The tape quality was good so that may have impacted the results.  Dolby C off made the low noise bits in the recording a little more defined and the vocal bits made no difference.  Here's a Vegas screen of the wave files (1st line 16bit,48KHz with Dolby C, 2nd pair 24bit, 96KHz, with Dolby C, and 3rd pair 24bit, 96KHz, no Dolby):

How

When you set up Vegas, make sure the properties of the project have the audio set to 24bits and 96KHz.

Generating a Tone

Overview Need to generate a tone or a sine wave tone.  I needed this tone so that I could create a cassette with a tone for checking the speed of a cassette deck.

Solution

http://www.wavtones.com/functiongenerator.php

This website can create any tone and then use Vegas to create a longer version.

Transcode for 4K TV

Objective: To get the highest quality transcode possible specifically focused on ProRes film transfers.

Resources:

4K ProRes 422HQ

2K ProRes 422HQ

4K smartTV Samsung

Current Myffmpeg and ffmpeg

Results:

• 422 does not seem to work with myffmpeg – error
• If 16:9 is not specified, then the TV shows a 4:3 with black bars
• 4K, 4096x2160, only works once on the TV and then the TV shows black screen
  • Turning TV off and on makes it work again…only once more
  • Audio works
• H265 does not seem to work
• What does work:
  • 16x9
  • H264
  • AAC
  • UHD 3840x2160
  • 2048x1536
  • MP4
• AVI and MKV are supposed to work….but could not get one working maybe due to the combination of other items.

MyFFmpeg parameters:

These parameters seem to work fine with our 4K TV:

• UHD H264 High 16x9 MP4
  • Should work fine for 4K ProRes files
• 2K H264 High 16x9 MP4
  • Should work fine for 2K ProRes files

Vegas: Multi channel rendering

Overview Some VHS tapes have both standard and Hi-Fi audio tracks.  This amounts to 4 channels (2 stereo pairs) of audio.

Capture Information

Capturing these VHS tapes can only be done on a Hi-Fi vcr, Sony SVO2100.  Need to make sure the 4 cables are connected to the Blackmagic 4K Studio audio connections 1 to 4.  You can capture the 4 tracks using either BM Media Express or Vegas.  Vegas  capture needs to be done using the HDV option.  The MXF container can handle up to 8 tracks of audio.  AVI does not handle more than 2 tracks of audio.

Capture Setup

1. Set the BM "Desktop Video Utility" so that the inputs are component for video and XLR for audio.
2. Turn on the TBC (DPS-295) and make sure the Input settings are SVHS and HET.
3. If using Vegas, capture using the HDV option.
   1. Select the Decklink device.
   2. Use the MXF format option.
   3. Make sure the the audio channels show 4.

Render Information

Sometimes it becomes necessary to trim or edit the multi-channel MXF files.  Drop the video and audio onto the timeline.  Duplicate the audio track.  Under the channel option make sure the second track is set to channels 3/4 (the first track will default to 1/2).

Then you need to assign the stereo tracks to Bus A and Bus B.

Then you need to go to the "render as" and select the MXF render.  Check the "view all options" at the bottom of the render window.  Now you can check the "enable multi-channel" and open the multi-channel window.  Select the bus's (ie. A and B...not mono ones).

When you select "enable multi-channel", the multi channel renders appear in the list.  Select the "NTSC MPEG IMX 50 - 4 channel" option as this one already has 4 channels set up to render.  Obviously if you are rendering 8 channels....select the 8 channel option.  In our case here we are only playing around with 2 stereo tracks, ie. 4.

Now go to render template's audio tab and select the number of channels (ie. 4).

Now render.   Confirm that the mediainfo shows Channels: 8 channels, Channels_original: 4 channels.

Reference:

http://johnrofrano.com/training/video-tutorials/multichannel-render-template-in-vegas-pro/

Deposit an AMEX transaction in Quickbooks

Overview AMEX (American Express) transactions require a discount to be applied when they are deposited into the chequing account.  So here is how the Make Deposit screen should look (the rate was 2.9% and changed in 2016 to 2.6%):

Transcode for Streaming for City of North Vancouver

Overview City had DVCAM tapes from council meeting taped by Shaw.  It was supposed to be streamed on to the internet.  They asked me to digitize the tapes and create videos of 768 Kbps video and 128 Kbps audio and 44.1KHz and aspect of 854 x 480.

Issues

Found that trancoding DVCAM using myffmpeg or Vegas ended with the audio being out-of-sync!  Using the Amerisoft program worked.

Additionally we were asked to trim the second tape to about 12 minutes ....we digitized about 3 hours and found that was old recordings.  Using Amerisoft Video Converter we can trim tape 2 and merge the tow tapes.  The end of tape 1 went into rewind of the DVCAM.  Amerisoft trim doe not work well in these scenarios so I trimmed the MP4's from Amerisoft in Vegas.

Solution

Use the Amerisoft Video Converter Ultimate.  Update the Facebook (select internet/web) parameters:

Deposited personal cheque into Business account

Overview Accidentally deposited personal cheque into the business account.   Obviously to reslove this I transferred the cheque amount from the business chequing to the personal chequing.  Now how do we fix Quickbooks to reflect this mess.

Solution

Hi CB here are the entries: Debit Bank account $$ Credit Petty Cash $$ Then in the same entry or another: Credit Bank Account $$ Debit Petty Cash $$ These are all GJ entries, there is no attribution necessary. __________________ Colorado Springs and Eastern Washington QB Pro 2016 used for two farms and personal

#9 04-15-2013, 11:43 AM

cbickers Registered User Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 4

Solution Well, I decided to not go the Petty Cash route because it didn't accurately describe the actual transaction (i.e., the $75 did not go into Petty Cash, etc.). Here's what I ended up doing. I created a Clearing Account (acct type Bank) to be used for bank errors, etc. In Make Deposits, I added a line to the deposit of checks where I put the name of my bank in the Received From field, the Clearing Account in the From Account field, a description, and the amount, and then clicked Save. This resulted in an increase of $75 in the checking account and a -$75 in the Clearing Account. To record the online transfer of the funds out of the account, I did a Transfer of Funds from the checking account to the Clearing Account. This effectively zeroed out both. Thanks for all of your suggestions!

#10 04-15-2013, 12:44 PM

cojhl2 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Colorado, SE Washington Posts: 1,332

yes, your clearing account is essentially my Petty Cash.. Good you got it solved. __________________ Colorado Springs and Eastern Washington QB Pro 2016 used for two farms and personal

Captured Files & Windows Movie Maker

Overview A customer got some U-matic tapes scanned and had trouble importing the files into Windows Movie Maker.

Facts

The customer was using an older PC with Windows XP 32 bit os.  We suspect that he was using an old version of Windows Moive Maker (WMM).  He tried to upgrade to 2016 version and it failed.

Umatic tapes were captured using Black Magic Design (BM) Media Express via the BM Studio 4K card.  Captured using NTSC and 8bit YUV AVI codec.  This resulted in a file UYVY (16bpp uncompressed YUV 4:2:2) codec in an AVI container.

The customer also had a MOV version of the file that Finale created from a 1" tape copy.  This was a SD ProRes HQ (ProRes vers 0 422 HQ) in a MOV container.

We also created a MP4 from the ProRes which created a AVC YUV 4:2:0 (H264?) version with a AAC audio codec.

Testing

Tested our 32 bit os WinXP and WMM on Flag.

Tested all the versions above (MOV, AVI, MP4) and none worked with the WMM.  The MOV and MP4 errored when loading.  The AVI failed to laod with the AAC audio codec.  We change the AVI to a AC# audio codec and the video "loaded" but the image was black!

Solution

What worked was a FFV1 codec and AC3 audio codec in a AVI container!   FFV1 and PCM codecs also worked fine.

Competition?: Photo Express

Overview A customer (Diane Sparks-Cassidy) complained that I was charging too much.  Customer wanted films on DVD and digital.  I charged $21.99 per 50ft plus $6.49 for audio.  She said that Photo Express would do it for $10 per 50 ft. to DVD only.

Photo Express

Called them and spoke to Marcel.  The rate is $10 per 50 feet plus a onetime $50 setup fee.  Marcel stated that films are not good quality so do not expect much.  They do not fix the too dark or too bright or shakiness, etc.  They DO NOT do frame by frame….”…that would be way too expensive”.

It takes 10 to 20 days because they have to send it to Toronto.

Question:

Can they put the film onto a flashdrive or?  He’ll check and I am to call him back in a couple hours. $15 setup fee plus cost of flashdrive.

1600 – 1800 feet on each dvd.

Also need to ask if they can handle audio?  NO

Summary

So, there you have it...poor quality.  No audio.  No frame-by-frame, etc.

VHS to FFV1

Overview Scanning VHS or VHS-C can be done into DV codec and AVI container or FFV1 codec and AVI container.  For now this is a description of scanning to FFV1 on Rack#1.

Input

Tape input can be via the following VCRs: VHS, S-VHS, VHS worldwide

Output

Output will be onto SPACE.

Video Path

From VCR --Svideo--> switch box --Svideo--> DPS-295  --component-->  BM Decklink Studio card in SPACE

Audio Path

From VCR --RCA--> switch box --RCA-->  BM Decklink Studio card in SPACE

Steps

1. On SPACE's desktop double click theVHS-NTSC batch icon.  There will be a few times you need to click or return before the VirtualDub capture window shows.
2. Select the correct VCR on the switch box.
3. Turn on the DPS-295and set up the Input on the front panel:
   1. Input - Format: SVHS
   2. Input - Mode: NET(use DIRECT for Umatic/DVcam)
4. On SPACE set up the input via the BM (Blackmagic) Desktop Video Utility
   1. Video: component
   2. Audio: XLR
5. Change audio cable connections into the BM Decklink Studio card in SPACE
   1. Plug in the black and red RCA audio cable with 1/4" phono connectors into the Decklink cable collage....
      1. Plug left (black) into 14 Audio Channel 1
      2. Plug right (red) into 15 Audio Channel 2
   2. (When switching cables back, there is a piece of paper on the LEFT cable saying LEFT.  Otherwise the Left and right cables are identical.)
6. Test DPS-295 connection by clicking on "Function - Select" to show TSG, WFW and back to TBC.
   1. Watch the VirtualDub capture window to make sure you see the colour bars and the wave form monitor...and finally back to the black screen.
7. Confirm VirtualDub is capturing fine:
   1. Play video....make sure video appears in VD capture window
   2. Make sure both audio bars along the bottom of the VD capture window are moving

Payroll Advance

Create employee advances and repayments

Article ID: 1000672

Print

Overview

You can use QuickBooks Desktop to give an employee an advance on upcoming pay (using cash, check, or credit), which can then be reimbursed to the company through payroll deductions.

• How to create a regular (non-paycheck) check for an advance.
• How to set up a deduction to pay back the advance.
• How to create a report to track employee loan balances.
• How to manage employee loans that will be repaid over time, via several paychecks.

Expected Outcome

You will be able to pay the employee the advance amount and reimburse the company for that amount.

Assumptions

You have an active payroll subscription and would like to pay an employee an advance payment of their regular payroll.

Details

To pay an advance on a Write Check:

Collapse All

1

Create a regular (non-paycheck) check for an advance.

1. From the QuickBooks Desktop Banking menu, select Write Check.
2. Select the bank account from the Bank Account drop-down list.
3. Select the date for the check.
4. Select the employee from the Pay to the Order of drop-down list, and click OK in the warning screen. Note: The advance check is a regular check and will not affect payroll taxes.
5. Enter the dollar amount of the advance below the check date.
6. Select the account from the Expense tab Account drop-down list.(Note: The account for this should be the same as the account that will be used to pay back the advance so that the accounting portion of it is correct and is usually an asset account or other current asset account). Optional: Select the class from the Expense tab Class drop-down list if you want the check to affect a class.
7. Check the Print Later box next to the Print icon.
8. Click Save & Close.

2

Print the check.

1. From the File menu, select Print Forms, and click Checks. Note: If the check does not appear in the Select Checks to Print window, make sure the customer has the correct bank account selected in the Bank Account drop-down list, and make sure the customer checked the Print Later box next to thePrint icon.
2. Edit the First Check Number if necessary.
3. Make sure the check has a checkmark in the far left column, and click OK.
4. Make any necessary printer changes, and click Print.

3

Set up a deduction payroll item to pay back the advance.

1. From the QuickBooks Desktop menu at the top, click Lists > Payroll Item List.
2. Select the Payroll Item button, and click New.
3. Select Custom Setup, and click Next.
4. Select Deduction, and click Next.
5. Enter the name of the payroll item that will be easily identifiable (such as Advance Payback), and click Next.
6. Leave the first two fields blank, select the account which will be affected by this payroll item in the Liability account drop-down list (Note: The account for this should be the same as the account that was used to give the advance so that the accounting portion of it is correct and is usually an asset account or other current asset account), and click Next.
7. Make sure None is selected in the Tax Tracking Type window (this payroll item will not affect taxes as it is being deducted from the net pay), and click Next.
8. Leave the taxes unchecked, and click Next.
9. Select Neither in the Calculate based on quantity screen, and click Next.
10. Select Net pay, and click Next.
11. Click Finish.

Note: You should only enter a default rate and limit if the rate and limit will apply to everyone using the item. Otherwise, you should enter the rate and limit in the employee's profile.

4

Create a paycheck with the cash advance repayment.

1. From the Employees menu, select Pay Employees.
2. Select the employee and click Open Paycheck Details.
3. In the Preview Paycheck make sure you are paying the employee for the full pay period, in which the cash advance was taken.
4. Go to the second column on the left, other payroll item. Click under payroll item and use the drop down arrow to select Cash Advance Repayment.
5. Enter the dollar amount from the cash advance in the Rate column. Your employee should either have a 0 check, or it should be smaller then normal in the net amount(you can never issue an employee a negative check). You may need to adjust the employee's FIT and or SIT. If you still have a negative check, you may have to take this out on another check(s).

To pay an advance on a paycheck:

Use Easy Set Up to set up and pay an advance.

Easy Set Up in QuickBooks Desktop will create two payroll items: Cash Advance and Cash Advance Repayment.

To create Advance payroll items in Easy Set Up:

1. From the QuickBooks Desktop menus at the top, click  Lists > Payroll Item List.
2. At the lower left of the Payroll Item List, click Payroll Item > New .
3. Select EZ Setup , and click Next.
4. Select Other Addition for the item type, and click Next .
5. Follow the on-screen set-up, which will ask you a series of questions based on the item type. (On the right side of each screen there are help topics that can assist you with the setup.) When you click Finish , the Payroll Setup window closes, and a blank screen is displayed in QuickBooks Desktop.

To create a paycheck with the Cash Advance addition item.

1. From the Employees menu, select Pay Employees.
2. Select the employee and click Open Paycheck Details .
3. In the Preview Paycheck make sure you are paying the employee for the full pay period.
4. Go to the second column on the left, other payroll item . Click under payroll item and use the drop down arrow to select Cash Advance .
5. Enter the dollar amount from the cash advance in the Rate column.
6. Continue creating paychecks.

To create a check with the cash advance repayment.

1. From the QuickBooks Desktop menus at the top, click Employees > Pay Employees.
2. Select the employee, and click Open Paycheck Details .
3. In the Preview Paycheck make sure you are paying the employee for the full pay period, in which the cash advance was taken.
4. Go to the second column on the left, other payroll item . Click under payroll item and use the drop down arrow to select Cash Advance Repayment .
5. Enter the dollar amount from the cash advance in the Rate column. Your employee should either have a 0 check, or it should be smaller then normal in the net amount (you cannever issue an employee a negative check). You may need to adjust the employee's FIT and or SIT. If you still have a negative check, you may have to take this out on another check(s).

Additional Information:

Create a report to track employee loan balances (QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Premier only).

1. Create a custom Payroll Summary Report.
2. Click on Reports on the top menu bar
3. Select Employees and Payroll.
4. Select Payroll Summary Report.
5. Click on Customize Report in the upper left corner.
6. On the Display tab, choose All Dates.
7. Select Payee in the Display columns by drop-down menu.
8. Check % of Row.
9. Click on the Filter tab.
10. Select Accounts, and select the asset account used for the Employee Loans on the drop-down menu.

Manage employee loans that will be re-paid over time (on multiple paychecks).

1. Edit the employee.
2. Change tabs to Payroll and Compensation info.
3. Under Other Payroll Items, select the employee advance repayment payroll item.
4. Enter the amount to be paid by paycheck in the Amount column.
5. Enter the balance remaining to be paid at this point into the Limit column.
6. Increase the amount in the Limit column if there are any new loans or advances given to the employee. QuickBooks Desktop then automatically deducts this repayment on each paycheck, so the payroll administrator should not worry about forgetting it, and QuickBooks Desktop will stop the deduction once the limit has been reached.

Note: This same method can be used for tracking Uniform allowances or purchases, etc.

Reference

http://payroll.intuit.com/support/kb/1000672.html

VHS-C Shell Repair

Here's a great link to such: http://goughlui.com/the-vhs-corner/mini-me-vhs-c-teardown-adapter/

Reversing the mindless enslavement of humans by technology.

Mini-Me: VHS-C Teardown & Adapter

While the regular VHS tape was a book-sized cartridge holding up to about 5 hours of tape, it had a smaller relative known as VHS-C, where the C stood for compact. This was a small sized VHS cassette intended for use with camcorders and initially came in lengths of 30 minutes, extending to 45 minutes by the time VHS-C was overtaken by (primarily) Video8/Digital8 and miniDV.

VHS-C cassettes contained the same sort of tape inside, and recorded video in the same way as regular VHS, allowing for mechanical adapters to allow VHS-C cassettes to be played in full size VHS decks – an advantage that the other formats at the time did not have.

Thanks to visiting a thrift store, and finding a few VHS-C cassettes which I promptly purchased, I’ve been able to compile this unboxing and teardown of a VHS-C cassette, along with a look at it inside a VHS-C to VHS adapter.

The VHS-C Cassette

This is a Panasonic SP EC-45 VHS-C cassette, Made in Japan. This particular cassette is a later-model cassette. We know this because the 45-minute (PAL) length was not available in the early days of VHS-C. I still remember the JVC XR 30-minute cassettes that my Dad used to film my childhood, although I have no idea where they are now. The earlier cassettes also featured break-off write-protection tabs similar to the full-size VHS cassettes, with later cassettes featuring slide-switches (similar to floppy disks) instead. This one also had the safety lock anti-slack system, which early cassettes did not have.

The whole cased cassette is covered by a printed cellophane wrapping, which has an easy open “cut”. After all the transport, there are a few nicks in the corners. I suppose now, it’s time to tear it off and unveil what’s inside.

This particular cassette was housed inside a jewel case style plastic hinged case similar to an audio cassette

. This type of plastic loves to crack and shatter when subject to impact – I remember the old JVC XRs came with a flexible plastic case instead.

 

The inside card has spaces for noting down details about the recording, in case you were to store them all in a library. The case itself has the safety-lock logo pressed into it as well.

There are some spines along the edge to keep the cassette nicely aligned in the case.

The top of the cassette has part of the labelling area occupied by a branding label from the factory. The more exquisite cassettes often had slightly different layouts at the top, and instead had factory printed brandings on the shell. Again, the safety lock logo is printed on the cassette. The VHS-C logo is embossed in the corner, and the tape-cover flap return spring is visible in the top corner.

A look at the underside shows the normal arrangement – namely, the supply reel has a hub identical to regular VHS, whereas the take-up reel is driven by a geared wheel.

The spine has the slide switch for write protect and a space for a label to be applied.

The tape-side has a thin flap, not quite the depth of the cassette, covering the tape as a form of protection. It’s not particularly robust, and can be flipped open accidentally even against its “latch”.

Inside, the flap appears to be patterned to prevent scratching the tape. There’s a leader tape on this too.

Along the gear-side, a plastic dimple is used to release the flap latch mechanism, so it can be opened normally. Note that the lid doesn’t cover the tape completely, with the tape exposed to the air on both sides.

The inside printing of the outer card shows some warnings and care information for the cassette.

Of course, you also get labels, including those letter and number labels which like to fall off all the time – I wonder if anyone ever used them, as you’d never quite have enough letters.Lets hope it wasn’t William, Xavier or Zach’s birthday … 

There’s also a note about the safety lock mechanism – which is basically just a reel lock mechanism. As it turns out, earlier VHS-C cassettes probably didn’t have reel-lock mechanisms, or they were not very reliable, so I can remember the JVC XR cassettes coming with cases that had specific spines designed to engage with the hub and gears to “lock” the tape from movement when placed in the case. Putting those cassettes into this case with no such features is likely to result in tape slack after transport.

Inside the VHS-C Cassette

Now we get to the fun bit – taking it apart. A few screws later, and we can remove the top lid.

Just like the regular VHS cassette, there is a metal spring at the top which pushes down on both reels.

The two hubs are visible, with different inner diameters. The supply reel has a larger inner diameter as it needs to be VHS compatible, whereas the take-up reel has to have a smaller reel so that it can take-up all the tape with sufficient margin around the edge so that the gear drive mechanism doesn’t damage the tape. Both reels use clips to secure the tape – rather curiously, the leader tape on the take-up reel has a fairly long “tail”.

As a precaution on field usage, it seems that both sides of the tape have a “cleaning” wiper that pushes the tape against a roller to seal the reels against excessive dust being taken into the reel.

The reel lock mechanism is rather interesting – and it took me a few moments to work out how it functioned. The mechanism is made in two parts – the left lock-bar and spring secures the take-up reel. When a pin pokes through a hole on the bottom of the casing, ittilts this bar upwards, moving its edge out of the way of the toothed edge, unlocking the take-up reel. Simultaneously, it then pushes against a support strut inside the shell, which pushes against the second spring-loaded latch which rotates out of the way of the edge of the supply reel, releasing that reel as well. A rather interesting design.

Finally, we have a piece of springy metal at the edge of the shell, which holds the lid-flap in the closed position until the side dimple is depressed. That’s all there is to it.

The VHS-C Adapter

It just so happens I still have my Sharp VR-C2CA VHS-C adapter which I used to digitize my early VHS-C memories. This is a deluxe battery-operated (single AA) motorized unit. When no cassette is loaded, a red triangular tab protrudes from the side to prevent insertion into a VCR. Step 1 is to slide the bottom switch to allow the front door to open. The cassette is slid into the opening, which also releases the flap of the VHS-C cassette.

Once it’s in place, we can close the front door, which actuates the motorized system to pull the tape out of the cassette into the VHS standard position. The VHS-C casstte lid covers the gaping “hole” in the adapter when no cassette is loaded.

After a few seconds, the motor sounds stop, and it’s ready to be loaded and used just like a regular VHS cassette.

It’s a little heavier than the average VHS cassette, but it’s also a little more hollow as most of the inside is empty space so that the moveable rollers can pull the tape from the VHS-C shell to the full VHS size.

To maintain rigidity, the base plate is made out of metal. We can see the supply reel uses the original reel, but the take-up reel is connected via gearing to a plastic hub mounted inside the converter itself.

Lets just say, with modern flash-based video capture devices, things are a lot easier …

File Sharing With Mac Via Synology

Overview We sent a customer (MB - Lara Palmer) a link to download a 28GB file (DigiBeta).  The customer was on a Mac and fiber (in Tofino).  Took 3.5 hours to download.  When it finished downloading it failed with an unzip error from the Mac.  This is sending a download link from the Synology NAS.

File Sharing

When we send a link to a folder, the customer connects on the Internet and sees the files in the folder.  The customer can select one file at a time to download or the entire folder to download ("Folder" button).  If the folder is selected, then a zip of the folder is downloaded.

Solution

Instead of using the standard unzip program on a Mac people have found that using "StuffIt Expander" or "BetterZip" works.  Our customer tried StuffIt and it worked fine.

Follow-Up

I've submitted a trouble log to Synology and they are looking into it.

ACDSee - Isolate "A" side photos

Because this is a recurring process that does not seem simple enough within ACDSee, this is a quick how-to Isolate the "A" sides of the photos, after the blank "B" sides have been deleted.

1. Despite having the "correct" folder selected on the left-hand panel in the tree; you need to look for the folder on the right titled "Categories and Folders". Use the folder selection titled: "In any of the following (1) folders:" Note if the program is filling up the page, or the right column is too narrow you may not be able to see the full path of the folder. This is critical especially if you don't Add the exact folder and neglect to "check" the "Include sub-folders" box.
2. Also you need to put "*A.jpg" into the "Search for diles or folders named:" spot above in the section entitled "Files and Text". Now this part seems (to me at least) to be opposite of where it should go, as the next spot is entitled: "With the text:" So make sure to put that in the right spot!