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vhs.or.die
DIY Tips
Below are some fun and useful tidbits for expanding your VHS consciousness!
All credit and thanks goes to the wonderful peeps who put these videos together!!!
SPOOL SWAPPING
How to remove mold from your tapes
or if you'd like to refrain from sacrificing a VCR and would like a very cool alternative...
To avoid mold or dust from getting in your tapes, be sure to store them in a cool, dry, and climate-controlled environment. Also keep smoke away from your tapes/VCRs
(no cigs inside!!!)
Clean your VCR heads
Printing VHS slips
I would not recommend Cheaper Copies but instead Best Value Copy or a local print shop!
Recording Video onto VHS from your computer
Digitizing VHS
DUB TAPES IN 4:3
I've struggled with those pesky black bars while trying to record from digital to analog for years. I removed the boxes by stretching out the aspect ratio to 16:9 in VLC Media Player... it doesn't look terrible but it isn't that beloved 4:3. Also if you changed the aspect ratio to 4:3 in VLC, it would only condense the video and retain those bars. So here's some screenshots that should be able to help you out.
First of all, you need to adjust the Display Settings (Windows 11)
Click this and change the Display Resolution to 1024 x 768
Here's a video showing how you how to then crop out the black bars in VLC Media Player.
Right click on the player screen.
Go to Video>Crop>4:3>Fullscreen
Now you should be all set to record to your VCR and have your video playback in 4:3!
Shipping
More tips
Send out packages via USPS media mail (US ONLY!)
Once upon a time, media mail was dirt cheap. Just 4 years ago it was still under $3 to ship one pound per package. Now it's nearly $5 per pound which sucks and adds up quickly if you're shipping multiple tapes to multiple locations... but this still appears to be the cheapest option.
Paypal offers a pretty easy means of creating shipping labels through ShipStation. I use a digital scale and measuring tape at home to measure/weigh packages. There's crack and peel style printing paper you can use on your printer which adds to the convenience by not using a ton of packing tape to adhere/protect your label. You can save more money by stashing/recycling spare boxes (cereal, Amazon, cracker boxes, etc.) if you have the space.
If you really want to go cuckoo bananas and make your own boxes, get yourself an old, expendable big box, break it down, trace it on some cardboard, score, cut, fold, and tape that up. This is a pain but fits a standard slip case tape w/ bubble wrap perfectly.
Thrifting
Some of this might seem like common sense especially to collectors but if you want to pick up less expensive tapes, hit up some mom and pop's shops or antique malls. Unless if you luck out on the half off color of the week, tapes at Goodwill are going to add up quickly, they're $1 per tape here in GA versus anywhere from 10 cents to 50 cents elsewhere.
You can also find more obscure and sometimes some great gems at these spots. Also, try thrift stores in rural areas, most really good tapes are quickly sniped out in larger towns or cities unless if you're at the right place at the right time. It's always a gamble when thrifting but that's part of the thrill of the hunt!
These smaller shops are also optimal for grabbing low priced VCRs. Test them out by grabbing a tape that happens to be laying around, plug it in, press play, test the fast forward/rewind.
And, lastly, there are many smaller thrift stores that actually give back to the community. We have a store here in Athens called Project Safe which provides shelter and on-going support for domestic violence survivors.
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