Embedded Files
Beginning in 1986 I rented a video camera once/year for a weekend. This was very high tech for the times, as it was many years before smart phones and compact video recording devices were available. Eventually my parents bought us a video camera and over the years we would replace it with newer models as media transitioned from analog to digital. In the 80s I would edit on the fly as consumer video editing software was not available.
In the 1990s digital cameras and tapes were introduced. With an eye to posterity I exported all the VHS tapes to this format, in order to have files that would stand the test time.
In the early 2000s a new media storage became available - DVDs. Once again, I converted most files to this new format.
Eventually even DVDs began to lose popularity. At this stage I uploaded the files to my YouTube channel for online viewing. This worked OK except for the fact that copywright laws meant that YouTube would routinely erase any songs that were copywright infringements I may have added during the editing process.
There are still many hours of unedited video in the MiniDV format that are not shown here.
The next stage, and hopefully the final one, is this website. The video files are all stored in Google Drive.
Many of these files are of poor quality. As noted above they have been through several different file formats which tends to diminish the video quality.
These pictures represent the five stages used to create and store these family videos.
- 1980s
VHS tapes
I still have the original recordings of the VHS cassettes that played in VCRs.
1980s
VHS
Camera
1980s
VHS
Camera
Video Cassette cameras were the rage in the 1980s/1990s until they declined when MiniDV cameras took over and became a preferred format.
2. 1990s
Mini-DV
2. 1990s
Mini-DV
MiniDV tapes were much smaller and were digital which was a major improvement in video & audio quality.
3. 1990s
mini DV cam
3. 1990s
mini DV cam
The transition to MiniDV cameras was a major imrovement. No longer was the camera resting on your shoulder and it could be handheld.
4. 2000s
dvd
4. 2000s
dvd
Apple began including DVD burners in their computers in the early 2000s.
When I exported the videos to DVD I used iMovie and iDVD video editing software to add in chapters and other features.
5. I had hoped this would be the final storage location for all the videos so I uploaded them all. But YouTube scanned them all for music copywright infringements and deleted many of the soundtracks I had added.
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