Client projects frequently require us to use existing VHS video material. Fortunately, we have the ability to make use of VHS with a minimum of loss, and the finished product often looks better than the original. Nevertheless, there things you should know about using VHS source material.

Copyright- If you wish to use segments of video from a copyrighted video, (this includes all movies, most TV shows, purchased programs, etc.) you need written permission from the copyright owner in advance. If you shot the video yourself or own the copyright, you have no problem.

Generation Loss- VHS loses considerable quality each time it is copied to another VHS tape. You should use the closest thing to the camera original you have. The only exception is when you have a very small editing budget but the material is scattered over many hours of original footage.

In this case, you copy the needed material to a single or few tapes to reduce editing time. The generation loss will be considerable, but you will save money in the edit suite. In this case be sure to include in the copy at least ten seconds of video before and after the segments you wish to use. Be sure to use SP speed for the copy. If your VCR puts data on the screen such as the word "play" turn off the display if possible or start soon enough that it has time to disappear before you get to anything you want to use.

SP/EP Speeds- VHS blank tapes only cost $1-3 each, so using the EP (long playing) speed is false economy. Image quality, (especially color, which is the weakest part of the VHS system) suffers considerably in the EP mode. In addition, interchangeability between decks and stability of the video signal are compromised. Always use SP speed for camera originals and copies.

Stability- Professional editing equipment requires a stable, steady signal. Poor quality EP tapes often jump or jitter as they lose or repeat frames during capture by the edit system. Regardless of speed, stability is reduced by each generation of copying. Colors smear, vertical lines become more jagged with each generation.

VHS-C- A short VHS tape in a smaller cassette. The cassette is placed in a carrier to play on a full size VHS deck. Most problems with VHS-C involve interchangeability. The smaller mechanism found in VHS-C camcorders uses a different tape path than full size machines, so tracking is often a problem. There is at least one good thing about VHS-C tapes- most of them are camera originals and look better than the second or worse generation video often found on full size tapes.

Color- Color is one of the biggest problem areas of VHS tapes. VHS images are not very sharp- about 250 lines across the screen. The color part of the signal is even worse- less than 90 lines. You have probably seen poor VHS copies with smeary color. It looks like a coloring book where the child did not stay within the lines. Close examination reveals that the colors actually do smear beyond the object. Each generation of copying makes this problem much worse.