Transfer VHS to DVD to Preserve Your Precious Home Movies
Many of us have a stack or in my case a few boxes full of old VHS tapes. They contain priceless memories (like my wedding video) that I want to preserve. To transfer VHS to DVD solutions are many and optimally, your budget and time will help you make the best decision.
There are basically 4 options when it comes to transfer VHS to DVD:
1 - Paying somebody else to do the job. I am sure if you do a little research in Google for "VHS transfer" including your city, you will find many businesses offering their services. Now, It is up to you to find out how professional they are. This is a very expensive solution, if like me, you have a few dozens tapes to transfer. I know I don't want to keep everything I recorded on my VHS tapes. I could go through watching each and every tape in my collection to select what part I do want to keep and transfer to DVD. There is probably a better option if you already have a computer;
2- Get a VHS - DVD recorder. You can buy a device that does this for around $250. But if the prospect of plugging yet another device in your already packed audio/video unit doesn't appeal to you. Or the fact that you probably have a VHS and DVD player already installed, then there is little incentive to go spend around $250 for a device that will just sit there when you have transferred all your VHS tapes to DVD.
3- Use a digital camcorder to capture analog video from the VHS player and then convert to a digital format using your computer. This is another way to transfer VHS to DVD. You will, of course need a DVD burner.
4- Since I have to watch every tape and make a selection, I might as well do the whole thing myself. But if you are not technically inclined or have no time, option number 1 is probably your best option. Most of us have a computer at home that we can use to transfer VHS to DVD. All you need is a capture card, some cables, software, a DVD burner and a VHS player. This solution allows for the best flexibility and if later on you discover a few more VHS tapes in a box somewhere, It will be very easy for you to transfer VHS to DVD on the fly.
So, if you are a bit technically savvy and want to make sure your precious video memories are transferred. Option number 4 is probably the best to transfer VHS to DVD. You can probably do this for a few hundreds. You will find plenty of software to do the editing and converting for free or under $50. You can even use Windows Movie Maker which is free and comes with Windows XP Service Pack 2. For those using a Mac, Imovie and iDVD can do the same.
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To learn more about transfer VHS to DVD or how to capture analog video, go to http://transferVHStoDVD.muxgo.com Alain Tanguay has been playing with computers and video for more than 20 years. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alain_Tanguay |