Welcome to Foobar.Video!

Frequently Asked Questions

How are my memories returned?

You'll be given back all your tapes and as many USB thumbdrives as necessary to store all the videos.

How much is shipping and handling?

I'd prefer not to do that if possible as I'm currently only accepting business from people in the Pittsburgh area. My suggestion would be to meet at a police station that has a designated area under surveillance for doing internet business safely. That's what "they" recommend, and it could save $50-$80 in shipping costs (depending on the number of tapes).

Are customers charged for unrecoverable VHS tapes?

No charge if I'm unable to recover a VHS tape. So far, that's only happened one time. The tape itself had become too sticky to allow the spindles to rewind or play the tape.

Are my memories safe with you?

Yes. You'll be getting the original tapes back along with digital videos on USB thumbdrive(s). For the brief time I'll be in possession of your tapes, they'll be kept in a cool, dry place to avoid further degradation.

I only view the first and last minute of the capture. If you're worried about me seeing embarrassing videos of you dressing up and dancing while lip syncing to Michael Jackson songs, you're in luck (as long as it's not in the first or last minute).

What is the turn around time?

Videos can usually be processed and ready for pickup in about one week. If you have a large amount of VHS tapes (30+), you're probably looking at two weeks.

Is there anything I can do about the shaky quality of early home movies?

Yes. You'll receive a verbatim copy and a stabilized version. The old camcorders were painfully heavy on shoulders, and arm fatigue was common. My own home movies induced a seasick-like nausea before I stabilization. I'd imagine everyone would like that option.

There the is a bit of a catch. More specificially, there are two things that you'll want to be aware of:

• Stabilizing the video loses information at the edge of the frame. The stabilization effectively means the outer edges of the video are sacrificed for making optimal viewing in center of the picture.
• If there is a timestamp on the video, it will bounce around wildly. The amount it bounces depends on how shakey the original video is. If the original is perfectly smooth, there will be no jitter. If the original is shakey, the timestamp will be bouncing around quite a bit.