By Wendy Dessler
Many of us have very fond memories of our childhood, from playing in the yard, to having birthday parties. With any luck, these memories may have been captured on old home movies that your family members took. These allow us to relive the glory days and experience our childhood once again, anytime we want.
Unfortunately, over time, these old home movies can begin to deteriorate. With enough time, they may become completely unwatchable and you could end up losing these precious memories, which is obviously a terrible thought.
As a result, it is a good idea to consider digitizing these home movies so they are never lost. This can also make them much easier to watch and share, as well. There are several ways to do this, and this article is going to go over three of them.
Consider Working With Professionals
The first and easiest way to digitize your old home movies is to leave it to the professionals like Just8mm. They take all of the work off of your plate, and ensure the job gets done right, the first time. You don’t want to risk potentially damaging these previous memories, and leaving it to the experts is generally the right call.
This is quite affordable, and can save you a lot of time, as well. They will be sure not to hurt the quality, and can provide you with DVDs or digital files that will last much longer than traditional VHS tapes. This can give you great peace of mind and the process of sending your tapes and receiving the digitized version is quite easy.
Transfer the Footage to Your Computer Manually
If you want to handle it yourself, that is also an option. The process is a little more involved, but it can be done if you put the time and work into it. In order to do this successfully, you’ll need a few things.
In most cases, you’ll need a VCR, a computer with a free USB port, and the right video converter device. In addition to all of this, you will also need a lot of time. In order to convert the files, it will take as much time as the tapes themselves. So if you want to convert a total of four hours of tapes, you need four hours to convert them. Once finished, you can easily send, save and share the digital files whenever you’d like.
Use a DVD Recorder
(via: https://pixabay.com/photos/bytes-cd-rom-colorful-compact-copy-315546/)
Some people want to digitize their home videos, but still maintain a physical copy for one reason or another. If this is the case for you, using a DVD recorder is a good idea. These will get connected to a tape player of some kind, and can transfer the footage that way.
These will allow you to easily view your home movies on a DVD player, or on a computer that has a CD or DVD drive. These DVDs will not only last much longer than tapes, but are also much easier to store in your home.
However, because DVDs first went on sale in the 1990s, the technology is a little older and less people watch them now then in the past. As a result finding a new DVD recorder might be challenging. But if you can find one, whether used or new, this can be a fairly simple way to convert your old home movies.
In conclusion, these methods can help you easily and successfully digitize your old home movies. This will prevent you from losing them and make sure you can enjoy these movies for years to come.