How is the best way to save digital home video for the longest time?

Question

I have recorded over 100 hours of home video in the last 7 years on mini DV cassettes. I put them on DVDs also but the DVD's are not holding up very well. How can I save these videos for the longest time worry free?

Answer 1

Save multiple copies on multiple types of media.  Use good quality DVD media from a couple of different companies, so if one fails there's a good chance the other will be usable.  Same with hard drives... one Seagate, one Western Digital.  When Blu-ray writable discs come down in price, make additional backups.

Answer 2

The miniDV (digital video) tapes should be fine for another 10-20 years or so if they are kept in a cool, dry environment. I store mine in a fireproof, waterproof document storage box with a desiccant .

Consumer grade DVDs are not an acceptable long-term archive media. MiniDV tape is better for that.

The hard drive suggestion by an earlier poster is not a bad idea, but to be safe, you should have two of them - so they have the same content. One *could* go bad - the chances that both will are pretty slim.

If you keep the miniDV tapes as the archive (that is what I do), every 4-5 years, you should fast-forward them to the end - then re-wind them...

Answer 3

If you've got over 100 hours of MiniDV footage, that equates to something like 1.5 Terrabytes of data (13Gig / hour).  That's a lot of HD space!  I'd leave things on the tapes.  If you're particularly concerned about some of your footage, capture it on your PC and then write it back to a new tape.  Obviously very time consuming, but it's probably as safe as you'll get.

Answer 4

Buy an internal 500gb hard drive for around $100.  Fill it up with the videos, take it out of your computer, bubble wrap it, and store it in your closet.

You can also use an external hard drive if you like but the internal one will be a little cheaper.  It depends on your comfort level.  Good luck!