Read about our licensing and preservation services below, as well as tips for preserving your media.
Licensing
Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent, non-profit organization, not a stock footage house. We work extensively to discover, preserve, and provide access to Texas film and videotapes that would otherwise be lost through decomposition or neglect. Our ever-growing online library features thousands of moving images, including home movies, amateur films, advertisements, local television, industrial films, and more.
Browse the KPRC Tape Inventory
TAMI has an extensive collection of newscasts from KPRC-TV in Houston. Although not all of the items are currently digitized, an incomplete inventory list of digitized videotapes covering the 1980s to the early 2000s is available for research and licensing requests. More information is available here.
To Submit a Request
Digital Preservation
TAMI offers archival-quality preservation services for a number of film and videotape formats, with deliverables available in most major file types.
Film
The centerpiece of TAMI's preservation lab is our new 5K scanner. The industry-leading scanner from Lasergraphics was configured with the needs of amateur and small-gauge formats in mind, enabling us to produce higher quality scans than ever before. We are currently capable of scanning 8mm, Super 8, 16mm and Super 16 in-house, and offer a variety of options designed to fit your specific project needs:
Basic Scan ($0.75/foot)
Cropped, one-light scan. HD deliverables for 8mm and Super 8, or 2K for 16mm and Super 16. Add $0.10/foot if optical soundtrack is present, or $0.20/foot for magnetic. Add $0.50/foot if primary color correction is performed during scan.
Preservation Scan ($1.50/foot)
Uncropped, low-contrast scan. Deliverables up to 2.5K for 8mm and Super 8, or 5.5K for 16mm and Super 16. Add $0.10/foot if optical soundtrack is present, or $0.20/foot for magnetic. Add $0.50/foot if primary color correction is performed during scan.
Other Costs
All projects involve some amount of prep work. This labor is billed by the hour, and is not reflected in the cost-per-foot figures described above. Our current rate is $35/hour, which includes head-to-tail inspection and cleaning prior to scanning each collection item. An individual 50-foot reel of 8mm film typically involves anywhere from 15-30 minutes of prep work (depending on condition). If your project will require additional digital restoration services, including color correction or dust and scratch removal, please contact us for a quote. There is a $300 minimum for all orders.
Video
We are currently able to transfer a number of consumer and professional videotape formats in-house, whether analog or digital.
Analog Formats ($45/hour)
SD deliverables are available in most major file types for the following analog formats: U-Matic, Betacam (Betacam and Betacam SP), Betamax, ½" Open Reel, VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, Hi8, and Video8.
Digital Formats ($45/hour)
SD deliverables are available in most major file types for the following digital formats: Digital8, DV (DVCAM, MiniDV, and DVPro), Digital Betacam, and Betacam SX.
Other Costs
All projects involve some amount of prep work. This labor is billed by the hour, and is not reflected in the cost-per-hour figures described above. Our current rate is $35/hour, which includes inspection of each collection item, and, for analog formats, setting up the transfer itself. An individual cassette typically involves anywhere from 10-15 minutes of prep work (depending on condition). If your project includes a batch of several tapes of the same format, prep time will typically decrease for subesquent tapes once the initial setup has been dialed in. If your project will require additional digital restoration services, including color correction, please contact us for a quote. There is a $300 minimum for all orders.
Additional Fees
Conservation
Odds are high that you have some sort of audiovisual media in your home, and these films, videotapes and DVDs are fragile and vulnerable to decomposition. From VHS copies of Hollywood films to those 8mm home movies of the great-grandparents and Hi-8 videos of the kids, this guide offers some simple and inexpensive steps you can take to ensure that your media will last a lifetime.