DIY - Converting home movies into DVDS
When transferring your movies, the pluses of DVDs outweigh those of VHS tapes. VHS film can degrade over time and the cassette casings are vulnerable to damage as well as well make the tape useless. Storage is easier with DVDs since they take up less space than videos. In addition the definition of the footage and audio is higher on DVDs.
So how does one convert video tapes to DVDs to salvage them for the future? There are many options. For starters, you could use a VHS to DVD business that will do the transfer for you. We are one of those companies. Visit our conversion page today at http://www.vintagevhs.net/vintagevhs_services.html
But if you are computer savvy you can do it yourself, and even though we are in the converting company , we also like to help out where we can and share the information we know, so you know.
The computer savvy will most likely use their desktop to transfer their family videos to DVD. It requires duplicating the video to a digital file on the laptop using an analog converter. The file gets reduced to MPEG-2 format before being burned onto a DVD. This task takes some time, but it allows you to make alterations to the video , like special effects or music , before you copy it to DVD . Depending on the burning software that you use, you possibly could add a menu or other special features. The process can be quite slow because you have to transfer the file twice: first from the video to the computer and then again from the laptop or desktop to the DVD.
To save time and effort, you can copy the video to a DVD without the use of a comp. There are two ways to do this:
The first involves purchasing a DVD recorder that allows input from another source. Attach your VCR player by cables to the DVD recorder and while the footage plays, it records.
You could also purchase a combination DVD/VCR recorder. It does the same thing as the previous option without needing to connect any cables.
If you do the conversion yourself, make sure that you have cleaned the heads of the VHS tapes between duplicating films. Old home movies carry a lot of dust or other particles that could block up the VCR. And because you are duplicating directly from the footage to the DVD, any picture quality issues you have with the video will show up on the finalized DVD. Knowing that if you have videos which are recorded at S.L.P. you will not get the same quality of recording onto a DVD as if the video was recorded at S.P. If you find the quality is not acceptable for you, consider changing your method of converting.
For more help visit our blog at http://www.vintagevhs.net/Video_Editing_blog.html
Converting home movies from VHS cassettes present only minor dificulties. VCRs and VHS or Hi-8 camcorders are with R.C.A. modulation movie and audio outputs that can be easily connected to a DVR or a DVD Recorder as well as to a computer port such as U.S.B. using an adapter and video software.
Unlike VHS and Hi-8 tapes played on VCRs and camcorders, older film reels of family videos present a different obstacle to convert them to a digital formats. The older 8mm projectors do not have film video output jacks. The old movie projectors never converted the movies to any analog signal, what they did was just to simply pass the images on film in front of the projector screen. There's no easy way to directly replicate this content to a digital format.
Consider using Vintage VHS conversion services to transfer the videos; just $10 a reel this month!!
Getting Started
Based on how many movie reels you have and your budget, hiring a professional to do it may be the best choice . Family members might usually are more than happy to chip in for the conversion if they end up with copies themselves. Getting a group of contributors could make this option even more affordable.
