Have other analog media, like audio cassettes or 35mm slides? For the vast majority of people, the best video file format for turning VHS video into digital video is MPEG-4 using H.264 compression. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on pro-level video editing software just to tweak your videos. Once you’ve got one, connect the analog-to-digital converter to your computer and your VCR or camera. Refer to the installation disc, instruction manual, or manufacturer’s website for more information on installing the software and downloading the necessary drivers. Walmart offers video transfer services either dropped off in the store or completely online where you get sent a box to ship your tapes for transfer. Sam’s Club also offers video transfer services but at a higher price than Walmart.
By using extended lower resolution settings, they may be able to fit up to 4 hours of VHS footage onto one DVD. So if you drop off tapes at your local Walmart on January 1st, you can expect to pick up the DVDs sometime between January 22nd-29th generally. Warping/Creasing can bend and blur your home movies, causing notable distortion when played back. Your videotapes’ plastic shells are fragile – they might need some new screws or a complete replacement before they work in a tape deck. When testing products, we compare all key parameters, including merging video clips, changing video speed, recording voice-overs, creating slideshows, and other significant features. Insert a blank DVD into your DVD recorder or computer’s DVD burner. Ensure that the disc has enough capacity for storing your recorded video.
Storage Space For Safekeeping
If you’re sitting on a collection of Digital 8, miniDV, or the short-lived D-VHS, you’re probably wondering what can be done to make these recordings more easily viewable. Like their analog cousins, these formats will also degrade over time, so don’t let the word “digital” lull you into a false sense of security. If not, locate the resulting file on your computer and open it in iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, VLC, or a similar program that can burn your footage to DVD.
Read more about vhs to dvd conversion here.
However, you’ll need to provide your own software to capture the video. Along with your computer and VCR player, you need an analog to digital converter.
The number of pins and the shape of a Firewire cable can vary slightly—they aren’t all the same. If you’re using a camcorder, the cable that came with it should connect to your DVD Recorder. If you no longer have it, you can find the right cable at an electronic store or online for $5-$10. Their service handles everything from beloved home movies and weddings to recorded TV shows and sports games you have on magnetic cassette tapes. Both options allow you to preserve your analog VHS and other tapes on digital DVDs. There are video convert boxes that exist that will do conversion.
These have a USB connector on one end and audio and video inputs on the other, and they start around $13. Check the manufacturer’s specifications to make sure the dongle is compatible with your computer.
Converting your old home VHS tapes into digital files may feel like a never ending project, especially if you’ve got decades of memories stored in the aging format. The process isn’t quite as straightforward as digitizing photographs or negatives and it can be difficult to track down a VCR to even play the tapes, let alone convert them. The VHS format wasn’t intended to be archival, and chances are your old home movies are already starting to degrade. However, once you convert VHS to digital, you can then use one the best free video editing software to clean up and share your videos with friends and family. The VIDBOX Video Conversion Suite includes a capture device that connects your computer’s USB port to the audio and video outputs on the VCR or camcorder, and has support for both Mac and PC. You also get all the cables you need—both USB and RCA analog audio.
Digitizing 8 mm, Super 8, or VHS home movies can be tricky. Here’s what you need to know.
The other option is to convert to NTSC on a computer BUT that can be very complicated to do just right. Some film lasts about 50 years with proper storage, and magnetic tape only lasts from 10 to 30 years before it starts degrading. Experts take about one hour to digitize 500 feet of film, and it might take you a bit longer.
Then to have the video stored on DVD will cost $9.99 per DVD disc for a total of 24.98. YesVideo will transfer your VHS or any other video tape up to 2 hours to USB for the base price of $38.98 per tape. At the time of writing YesVideo was offering a 70% off promotion which drops the price down to $11.69 per tape. Below is a list of local / chain retailers that offer video transfer services. None of them do the transfer themselves, most outsource the work to companies like iMemories or YesVideo. There are several VHS to DVD web services in the USA and they are happy to transfer your VHS into a digital format for you.
This includes handling both NTSC and the European PAL video standards. Walmart‘s site claims they can convert “all foreign formats.” As your helpful guide, I‘m here to explain everything you need to know about using Walmart‘s VHS to DVD conversion service this year. If you only have like one or two tapes and don’t expect getting any more then you might want to just ship the tape off to a place that does conversion. Many places on-line offer this and you may even find a local place that does it if you look in the yellow pages under VIDEO SERVICES etc. You can make a PAL DVD and play it back on a DVD player that does PAL to NTSC on-the-fly of which there are big enough choices.
