If you don’t have a VCR, try sites such as Craigslist, eBay, and Freecycle to find a low-cost one. In a dark room, set the projector and video camera up next to each other. Project the film evenly onto the wall or screen, then adjust the viewfinder in your digital camera so that the image being projected fills the whole view.
Connecting the Cable Box
If you don’t have the correct cable, you can find it at an electronic store or online for $5-$10. Or connect the camcorder to an analog-to-digital video converter, and connect this to a computer with a DVD drive. Insert the other end of the HDMI or s-video cable into the back or side of the TV. You should be using either an HDMI cable or an s-video cable for your DVD player.If you’re using an s-video cable for your DVD player, you’ll also need the red and white RCA cables. S-video – A circular piece of plastic with several small holes in it.
Compatible with both PC and Mac, the Elgato video capture device predictably plugs into the computer’s USB port and connects to your VCR or camcorder’s audio and video cables. It also supports S-video for slightly better image quality, but the S-video cable isn’t included. Like the others, the Elgato package includes software that lets you save video from VHS to DVD or your hard drive. Aside from the ability to trim the beginning and end of the video, though, there are no editing capabilities here. 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.
Transfer to USB.
In addition to local film specialists, major retailers such as Costco and Walgreens have conversion services for 16 mm, 8mm, and Super 8 film formats. Like Hilton, people often “will find a stash of old home movies,” Steinberg says. “They don’t want to hang onto boxes of films or VHS, but they want to save the memories on a digital format.” “I just knew that if I didn’t do something with those tapes in a few years, I’d lose them,” Hilton says. “There might not be the technology to support them.” He didn’t try to convert the VHS tapes to a digital format then, but the project earned a spot on his to-do list. Connect the cables from the audio and video out on the back of the VCR to your video converter.
Change Recording Format
Prices start at $66 , which includes the conversion of two tapes. Have other analog media, like audio cassettes or 35mm slides? There are several video transfer services that most of the big box stores ship your tapes to as they don’t deal with the video transfer service themselves. But you can usually get a far better deal by shipping the tapes as many of these services have deals and coupon codes if you order directly from them. Turns out most stores don’t do the transfer themselves but handle the order process for you. The tapes are generally packaged and shipped to one of the top 3 video transfer services. Big box stores like Walmart and Costco use this company for the digitization services that they advertise through their stores.
Read more about video to dvd conversion here.
Digitizing will happen in real-time, meaning you’ll have to painstakingly sit through the entire length of footage before you can finish up the project. Once it’s done, however, the contents will be forever preserved in digital format. Evolving technology has left many of us with our own videos in older formats.