VintageVHS Conversion help
When transferring your movies, the advantages 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 film and audio is higher on DVDs.
So how does one convert VHS tapes to DVDs to salvage them for the future? There are many options. For starters, you could use a VHS to DVD conversion service that will do the transfer for you. We are one of those companies.
But if you are computer savvy you can do it yourself, and even though we are in the converting website , we also like to help out where we can and share the knowledge we know, so you know.
The computer savvy will probably use their computer to transfer their vids to DVD. It requires duplicating the video to a digital file on the desktop using an analog converter. The file gets compressed to MPEG-2 format before being burned onto a DVD. This method takes some time, but it allows you to make alterations to the video , like special effects or music , before you copy it . Depending on the burning software that you use, you could add a menu or other special options. The process can be a long one because you have to transfer the file twice: first from the video to the computer and then again from the computer to the DVD.
To spare some time and effort, you can duplicate the film to a DVD without the use of a comp. There are two ways to do this:
The first involves buying a DVD recorder that allows input from another source. Just connect your VCR player by cables to the DVD recorder and while the film plays, it records.
The second option is to purchase a combination DVD/VCR recorder. It does the same thing as the previous option without needing to connect any cords.
If you do the conversion yourself, be sure that you have cleaned the heads of the VHS tapes between duplicating videos. Old tapes carry a lot of dust or other particles that could block up the VCR. And because you are duplicating directly from the videos to the DVD, any picture quality difficulties you have with the video will show up on the finalized DVD. Knowing that if you have movies which are recorded at S.L.P. you will not get the exact 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.
Converting family movies from Hi-8 videos cassettes present only minor dificulties. VCRs and VHS or Hi-8 camcorders are with R.C.A. modulation video 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 cassettes played on VCRs and camcorders, older 8mm reels of family movies present a different obstacle to convert them to a digital formats. The older 8mm projectors do not have video video output jacks. The older film projectors never converted the movies to any analog signal, what they did was just to simply pass the photo images on video in front of the projector screen. There's not really an simple way to directly duplicate this content to a digital format.
Depending on how many video reels or tapes you have and your budget, getting 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.
