If you are like a lot of people you have a closet full of old videotapes that are decaying. Video was a flawed format that fades with age. After a decade or so, the picture and sound recorded on a videotape starts to disappear. If you put an old videotape in a VCR you may find that parts or all of it is blank. It therefore makes sense to transfer your video to a more permanent digital format such as DVD.
The Facts
There are several ways to transfer video to a more permanent digital format. The easiest way is with a DVD burner or a DVD capture device. They are designed specifically for transferring video. You can also use your computer and a video editing program by converting your video to DV format. You could also pay someone to copy your video for you. There are many companies that specialize in video transfer.
Benefits
If you leave your memories on videotape they will eventually fade then disappear. Videotapes were not designed to last forever and deteriorate even if they are carefully stored. If video is transferred to another video tape, it loses quality in the transfer. The new tape will also eventually deteriorate. If video is transferred to a digital format such as a DVD or a hard drive, it will not fade and can be copied indefinitely with no loss of quality.
Risk Factors
Transferring video to a digital format can be cumbersome, time consuming and frustrating. Computers sometimes freeze or crash when crunching the massive data it takes to upload VHS tapes. This can cause many people to procrastinate or give up altogether. A little patience and tinkering can produce great rewards. Once you finish transferring your video to a digital format you can throw away those old videotapes.
Time Frame
The time it takes to transfer a videotape to a digital format depends on the method you use. Dubbing a videotape directly to a DVD burner can be done in real time. That means two hours of videotape will take two hours to copy. If you are downloading your video to a hard drive, then burning it to a DVD later, the process could take several hours for each hour of video.
Function
The easiest way to transfer video to a digital format is with a DVD burner. Simply connect cables from the VCR output to the DVD recorder input. Play your video tapes and press record on the DVD recorder. You will get a DVD in real time. A video transfer device is similar but converts video tapes to MPEG2 files. Connect your analog VCR to the digital MPEG2 converter box. Press play and record. The device will burn you a DVD. You can also go through the editing program on your computer. Your program must convert your VHS tapes to DV format. This will encode it to an MPEG2 file. You can then burn a DVD on your computer. Consider reducing the resolution when converting VHS tapes to MPEG2 files. Many devices and software allow you to convert at half resolution. The quality is still pretty good and it will allow a lot more information to fit in a limited space on a DVD.
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