Grand Rapids Community Media Center

The GRTV Media Preservation Suite, a service of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, hosts the only public-facing, DIY media preservation suite in the Midwest equipped with a professional, archival-grade analog signal chain for VHS/S-VHS, including professional VCRs, TBC with frame sync, and lossless digital transcoder. We're also the region's only lab providing community DIY access to FireWire bitstream transfer for MiniDV and DVCam tapes, preserving original tape metadata. Our mission is to democratize access to archival preservation by bridging the gap between high-end digitization standards and public accessibility, putting institutional-grade hardware normally restricted to museums and universities directly into the hands of the community. Access to the Media Preservation Suite is completely free to members following a low-cost certification ($40 annual membership + $40 one-time certification fee). Certified members enjoy ongoing access to all preservation offerings (VHS, DV, compact audio cassette, reel-to-reel audio, digital optical disc formats, and transparency scanning) as well as consultation from staff.