FAQs • Roanoke County, VA • CivicEngage

Do I need computer knowledge? What if I know nothing about computers?: Some general knowledge of computers is necessary to understand how to digitize materials, such as how to save files. If you do not feel comfortable using a computer, we would recommend bringing someone with you who may feel more at ease to help you.

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Library - DigiLab

You will need to bring some form of either external or cloud storage. This could be a flash drive, external hard drive, SD card, iCloud storage, a Google Drive or Dropbox account, etc.

*However, if you are converting Super8/8mm film on the Wolverine Moviemaker Pro, you must have an SD card no more than 32GB

2. What file type will they save as?

Movies converted from VHS/VHS-C tapes or Super8/8mm save as a .MP4 file
Audio files from vinyl or cassette tapes save as a .WAV file
Photos from slides or negatives can save as any photo file type, we recommend either .JPEG or .TIFF

3. Can I put my media on a CD/DVD?: Our DigiLab does not currently come equipped with a disc drive. You may save your media onto an external drive and then burn it to a disc on one of our public computers.

4. How long will it take?: This will depend on what kind of media you are digitizing. Using the scanner to scan photos/negatives/slides can go quickly or take a while depending on what kind of resolution (quality) you need. However, digitizing videos or audio will process in real time. However long your recording is is how long you will need to digitize. For example, a 30-minute video will take 30 minutes to digitize. This does not account for time taken to save or upload the file.

5. How will I know what to do?: We have a DigiLab Equipment Guide that has step by step instructions with images for each piece of equipment. Remember this is a DIY space. Staff are available for general questions and clarifications, but are not able to do the entire process for you.

6. What resolution will my videos be?

VHS/VHS-C tapes will be either 640×480 (4:3) or 640×360 (16:9)
The Wolverine Moviemaker pro converts Super8/8mm at 1080p

7. How much storage space do I need?

1 hour of video = 1-4 GB, depending on resolution
1 hour of audio = 620 MB
1 5x7 photograph = 7MB as a JPEG vs. 40MB as a TIF, depending on resolution

8. Do I need computer knowledge? What if I know nothing about computers?: Some general knowledge of computers is necessary to understand how to digitize materials, such as how to save files. If you do not feel comfortable using a computer, we would recommend bringing someone with you who may feel more at ease to help you.