DV tape storage?

[Mike Tesh]

Hey guys I ned a way to store miniDV tapes with production scripts and possibly some DVD's on shelf in an organized way for each project I do. Is there any sort of folder or plastic book style storage system that can put all these different media types together in one storage container per project besides just a generic plastic shoebox? Something made for the media itself.

This comes close to what I'm looking for, but it doesn't store scripts and DVD's with the tapes.
http://www.tapeandmedia.com/detail.asp?product_id=MDV-9

[Greg Peters]

I have been storing my tapes in a shoe box...

Do they make dedicated DV tape storage boxes? Something waterproof?

[Gregg Bond]

I was thinking about this as well (miniDV), currently I am using an aluminium tool/photographic case with the foam taken out. The big problem is miniDV is that the small plastic cases have perfectly square corners, your average pelicase, tupperware, etc has nice ergonomic rounded corners which makes the storage less economical.

In the UK B&Q currently have a set of nesting cases lined with felt that have very square corners for a mere £11.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aluminium-Tool...QQcmdZViewItem

To give you an idea what I mean.

A question of my own I suppose, what orientation is best for storing my tapes?

[Rob Taylor]

I am using MiniDV tape racks from Bryco.
Then I store the racks in a up right tool chest that I picked up at Sears. So far this works for me.

Rob

[Tim OBrien]

Any office supply store has waterproof/fireproof safes:

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...7238&An=browse

[Robert Morane]

I need to store for long term more than 300 tapes (DV, VHS, DVCAM, etc).
I was thinking of sealed and vacuum plastic bag (bunch of 20 tapes) then put in Rubbermaid cases. Any potential problems?

[Doug Okamoto]

The only issue that I can think of is humidity. You might want to throw in a desiccant product in the bag to make sure the tapes stay dry.

Keep the tapes in a cool but dry environment and you probably don't need to seal them in a bag, the Rubbermaid cases should be enough but if you wanted the extra security then by all means go ahead.

I have the same issue, I have about 500 to 800 various VHS, miniDV, and DVCAM tapes that I have in storage cases with no known problems.

[Tim Ribich]

I'm a pretty organized guy, so I figured I'd come up with my own brilliant system for keeping track of the piles of DV tapes I've accumulated.

Well, after multiple attempts over a rather long period of time, I have to admit I'm not much further along with an effective tape organization/storage strategy than I was when I started.

Interested to hear what others are doing. I normally don't reuse tapes, but if I start a tape and run off 5 minutes or so, I might eventually rewind it and start over w/ a newer/longer project. But between all the plastic cases, the various stickers & labels, the multiple drawers & shelves & ... too many times I simply lose track of what's what. Or else I write some scrawl on one of the labels that appears as Greek text weeks or months later.

When I am able to set aside time to go over all the tapes and come up with yet another fool-proof organization plan, within a couple of weeks-- yep, it's a mess again. Please lead me toward the light...

[Chris Hurd]

Title changed from "What a MESS!" to "Tape Storage" (please avoid ambiguous thread titles. Moved from Open DV to our Tape forum.

[Zach Finch]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Title changed from "What a MESS!" to "Tape Storage" (please avoid ambiguous thread titles. Moved from Open DV to our Tape forum.

Hi Chris,

Well, ok. No problem with the title change, but I don't agree with the move. IMO it's more about overall organization strategies in general than about the tape itself.

But hey, you're the mod and as this is perhaps the best run forum I visit regularly, I'll cut you some slack... [g]

[Chris Hurd]

And I'll cut you some slack when you send me an email and tell me which user account you'd like to keep (only one is allowed, since we're strictly real-names-only around here). Until then, you're locked out.

[Robert Morane]

Thanks the desiccant is a good idea.

[Greg Laves]

One other storage notion. I know that with larger tapes like VHS and Betacam, it is important to store the tapes vertically. If the tapes are stored on their side, the tape distorts from its own weight over time. this may not ever be an issue with smaller tapes but it couldn't hurt to store them vertically, also.

[David Beisner]

Don't bother. Hire someone (like your teenage kid, if you have one) to copy the tapes over to your NLE and archive by hard drive or blu-ray. Chances are you won't be able to find a player for your tapes in 15-20 years.

[David Beisner]

I simply label my tapes with a serial number. Then use an Excel database to keep track of them, with fields for date, location, subject, actors, project name, etc. Use pretty much whatever you want. Then just store them in numerical order on your shelf by the serial number and grab the one you need when you need to get at it. Just make sure to keep multiple copies of your Excel spreadsheet in different places in case one gets deleted!

But actually, I'd start getting away from tape--start archiving your tape to hard drive or blu-ray and junk your tapes. They won't be much longer for this world anyway.