If you have material that is saved on VHS tapes – be it personal home movies or things you recorded on TV that are no longer available – you should definitely take the time to convert them to a digital format before they are gone.
In the sections below, we will illustrate how to save your VHS recordings digitally so that you can preserve them long-term. We will give different examples of how to do this so that you can choose based on your personal preferences.
Advantages of converting your VHS tapes
There are numerous advantages of converting VHS to digital. The most fundamental one is the preservation of your old memories. Tapes are rickety by nature, for one thing. Also, with each passing year, it becomes less and less likely that you will even be able to find VCRs to play your old tapes on. Although a fair percentage of Americans still own their old VCRs, they will not last forever, and new ones are no longer being produced.
So conversion is essential. Beyond preservation, thanks to modern video editing programs you can now edit your videos in lots of fun and useful ways. This can serve the purpose of entertaining your audience, or educating them with on-screen text, narration, etc if a topic is educational.
The process of conversion
Now, let’s take a look at how to complete conversions. How you choose to do it will depend on your existing hardware, as well as your priorities for how you want it done.
Use a camcorder-DVD conversion
One way of converting is to connect a camcorder to a DVD player. All you will have to do is play the video on a camcorder and get a blank, writable DVD that you can record onto. This method assumes that you can get a DVD player, of course, which not everyone has these days, either.
Connect your VCR to your computer
If you still have a VCR, you can get cables that will connect to your computer and carry out the process that way. The cables that you will need to use are the old-style RCA cables that people had in the 80s. An alternative is to find a physical converter that you can attach to your computer.
Note that the number of VCRs that are still around is dropping – in 2005, 88% of Americans reported keeping their old ones, but by 2014 that number dropped to 58%.
Get a professional to do the job
You can always hire a professional to take care of the job for you. Although this may be a more expensive option, you will have the peace of mind of knowing that the process is being handled by people that really know what they are doing.
It is not difficult to find conversion services online. Once you do, you can fill out your information and mail the company your tapes. Prices will often depend on the amount that you need to be converted, although it is possible that some companies might simply charge a flat rate. The company will then send you back either a DVD or possibly a flash drive with your digital files on it.
Conclusion
Converting old VHS tapes to a digital format is an excellent way to preserve your old videos for a long time. If you don’t, you take the risk of losing all of your old material and VHS tapes are both fragile and their players are becoming outdated. Beyond preservation, you now have the opportunity to spiff up your old videos in any number of ways and share them with others. Taking the time to do this will definitely be worth your while.
