...I was just curious about some of you guys fight libraries (I don't know anyone else that records fights opcorn: ). Well, I have been recording since the late 1990's when I wanted to start watching more of the classic bouts from back in the day ld: . Eventually, I ordered some fights from a guy off the internet and the quality was ....really bad. So I started building up my own library from scratch. I wanted good quality (not great), or nothing at all. So I created some rules that I follow in order to form a more "efficient" collection. These are as follow: 1. Always record on VHS (recording on dvd will ensure the best quality, but there are certain copyright protections that prevent most dvd recorders from recording with any quality whatsoever). You can always go back and convert VHS to dvd anyways. 2. Record on SLP (you lose some quality compared to SP, but you save a hell of alot of physical space). 3. Record every fight on HBO and Showtime. Record Most ESPN FNF's, TNF's, & ESPN Classic fights; at least the ones I am interested in. I even record from the spanish station when I am interested in a fight. 4. Never record commercials (pause recording during commercials). 5. Record fight in its entirety (all rounds), or fight is not completed and will be removed from tape. 6. Once a tape is finished, I label the fights on the tape in sequence and remove the plastic part of the tape that allows it to be recordable. 7. Keep track of all fights. I had them in a notebook, but when I moved I lost track. So i will be putting them into a database real soon. 8. Never loan any tapes to anyone :flip: . However, I do record them on dvd for a few of the people I know. 9. I have a storage container for my fight tapes, but they have outgrown the container, and now its cracked. :doh: 10. I will one day convert them to dvd, but until they can create more durable dvd's I will trust the VHS more. I now have just over 1000 fights. I also have scores of documentaries, and stuff like that. What about you guys? :stir:
I usually tape everything, on SP, and then convert to DVD. If it's a good or big fight, I'll keep the VHS tape (eventually it goes to storage), but if it's a crap fight then I'll probably just tape over the VHS and keep the DVD. Fights that I don't tape, I order over the net. ESPN Classic has helped me a bit with my collection. :bears: I wish they wouldn't show the scores on the bottom though, I like a full screen on boxing.
I don't record. I only downloaded fights that I enjoy watching myself, and built up a pretty respectable library. Then trainers started asking me for fights, and I got them for them for a while until eventually I got fed up with the work, so I deleted my whole library.
It's great how much we do differently. Different strokes, I guess... 1. Always record on dvd directly. (Well, now it's hard drive on dvd recorder and then to dvds). Have no problems with copyrights. That depends on your recorder, I think. 2. Record on SP. Probably should use XP. But using SLP is a mistake. It's not really tradeable. 3. Record every fight. Every fight. 4. If you are using tapes, you should record commercials because the pause/record on a tape makes for some wear. I suppose if you have a dvr and can be sure you won't miss anything, but otherwise, I'd just record commercials and all. Take them out when you go digital. 5. I keep partials, particularly if there isn't a full version available. And keep track of missing rounds. 6. Good practice when using tapes. 7. A database is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. If you don't know what you have, you might as well not have it. And if you can't find it, you'll wish you didn't know you had it. 8. I violate this rule and it has bit me in the ass more than once. 9. Buy more storage. And more. And more. 10. Earlier dvd recorders were far less reliable...same with dvds. Also, I've had better luck with dvd- than dvd+.
I stopped taping fights because it consumed too much space and were an eye sore (not to mention the quality deteriorates after a while). I tried starting a collection of fights on my computer, but my hard drive with over 200 fights died, so I gave up on that. I found that nowadays, it's just a lot easier to youtube the fights.
The people who have stuff that you want, don't want or need any SLP quality fights. Quality is king to them. Which is why I said I should probably use the very best quality--XP--instead of SP. So, even if you have something they might want to trade for--if it is SLP, they, more likely than not, won't want it. It's like baseball cards. The top collectors would rather have some gem mint Gwynn rookie than a decent Rose rookie card.
He records the fights on VHS on SLP, not the DVDs on SLP. I don't think VHS has an XP unless I've been buying the wrong ones lately.
My bad. Those first few points need an "I" in front of them. So "I" should probably be recording on XP and not SP on dvds. I did use a vcr that supposedly recorded above SP quality on a regular tape. I can't think of what it is called. [Edit: SVHS-ET. Like pseudo-SVHS] These days...if you aren't going to keep anything, dvr's are way, way, way better than vcrs. And, if you are going to archive stuff, dvds are far better (and cheaper) than tapes. So, except for playing back tapes you already have, there is very little reason for using a vcr.
