ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: I have many VHS-C, some 8 mm and a few VHS tapes I’d like to have converted to DVDs.  I’ve been asking around and surfing the web for quite some time now about a service or local company that could do this work for me.  I know there is equipment I could purchase to do this on my own, however I prefer to have someone with experience do this for me. I know there are places I could mail my tapes to, but that makes me feel a little uneasy shipping my family videos off through the mail, however I’m not opposed to it, if this is a reputable company.  I haven’t been able to get any leads on a local service, or much of anything at all to tell you the truth, about someone or a business who could provide this service.  I thought I would ask your opinion.

– Nate F.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A: Well, Nate, you asked my opinion, so I’m going to give it to you.  I think that if you have even a little bit of tech savvy, this is a task you could handle yourself, with a hardware and software purchase that would be a fraction of the cost of having someone else convert the videos for you.  However, the reality is that you’re trying to move from several old, obsolete formats (magnetic tape cartridges) to DVD, which is slightly less old, but is still an obsolete format.  You might want to shift your whole paradigm and concentrate on the media content, rather than the media format.  Digital content never degrades, and with proper backups, lasts indefinitely.  Best of all, it can be electronically converted to any format or media you wish.  Once you have a content library, you can create to-go copies onto whatever the current mass-storage medium flavor of the month happens to be (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, flash memory, or whatever is next).  This is probably way farther than you’re prepared to go for your project, but that is where technology is trending.

If you want to do simple tape-to-disc conversion, you’ll find plenty of options, both locally and online.  Would you believe that most Walmarts will do this service for you?  Check out the photo center next time you’re there.  In fact, almost any store that has a photo center (such as CVS and Walgreens) offer this conversion service.  You can expect to pay up to $10.00 per tape to be converted.

If you opt for the do-it-yourself route, you’ll find there’s a host of options.  At one end of the spectrum are stand-alone machines that accept a tape on one side, and a blank disc on the other, and do everything automatically.  These will create a very basic disc that is essentially a DVD formatted copy of the tape.  At the other end of this spectrum are full-on computer-based video studios that will allow you to cut scenes, replace audio tracks, and add professional-looking menus to your discs.  The latter are actually surprisingly cost-effective, and give you complete control over your finished product.  By and large, they are designed for a people with a wide range of skill sets, from beginner to expert, so don’t be intimidated.