June 30, 2012 @ 12:01 AM

Videos to DVD - Save your movies

When transferring your home videos, the advantages of DVDs outweigh those of VHS tapes. Video tapes can degrade over time and the tape casings are prone 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 quality of the picture and sound 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 converting company 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 website , we also like to help out where we can and share the info we know, so you know.

 

The computer savvy will most likely use  their computer  to transfer their family videos  to DVD. It requires copying  the video to a digital file on the laptop using an analog converter. The file gets compressed to MPEG-2 format before being burned onto a DVD. This task takes some time, but it allows you to make changes  to the movies , like special effects or music , before you burn it to the DVD . Depending on the burning software that you use, you possibly could add a menu or other special options. The process can be tedious 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 on time and effort, you can copy the film  to a DVD without the use of a computer. There are two options to do this:

 

The first involves getting a DVD recorder that allows input from another source. Attach your VCR player by cables to the DVD recorder and while the video plays, it records.

 

Another option is to 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, be sure that you have cleaned the heads of the VHS tapes between replicating 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 film  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.

 

For more help visit our blog at Video_Editing_blog.html

 

Converting family movies from VHS cassettes present only minor problems. VCRs and VHS or Hi-8 recorders 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 program.

 

Unlike VHS and Hi-8 tapes viewed on VCRs and camcorders, older reels of home movies  present a different obstacle to convert them to a digital formats. The older reel  projectors do not have video video output jacks. The old movie projectors never converted the movies to any analog signal, what they did was just to basically pass the photo images  on video in front of the projector  bulb. There is no simple way to directly copy this content to a digital format.

Consider using Vintage VHS conversion services to transfer the videos; just $10 a reel!

http://www.vintagevhs.net/8mm_conversions.html

Based on how many video reels or tapes you have and your budget, getting a professional to do it may be the best option . 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.