Learn how to preserve your precious home memories by converting your old VHS tapes into modern, easy-to-store DVD formats.
Video formats are always being upgraded to smaller, more portable formats. It happened to laser discs, VHS, and VCD. These days, the standard video format is DVD, which can store a large amount of information, from audio to video. This means that information stored in the DVD format sounds much better and has a clearer resolution.
Everyone has a collection of home videos at home. Most of them are stored on VHS tapes and stacked on shelves taller than a person in the family room. Converting these precious memories to smaller, easier-to-store DVDs is quite easy as long as you have the appropriate programs on your computer.
You’ll need the following:
A video recording unit (either your old video camera or a VHS machine)
AV cables
Computer
- Make sure the VHS tapes are clean! Improper storage of VHS tapes can cause mold to appear on the tape inside. You need to clean these out, as any dirt on the tape can damage the camera or the VHS player. It will also produce dirty, grainy images that the computer will pick up. Be sure that you clean out the VHS player’s head as well. The head reads the information stored on the tape and transmits the images it contains to the TV or, in this case, the computer.
- Double-check the settings on your camera. Make sure that the camera’s analog video is of the highest quality possible. Flaws in the original video could be magnified significantly in the process of encoding and converting it to DVD.
- Connect the video unit to the computer. Take the AV cables and connect the camera or the VHS machine to the computer. Basically, what you’re doing is creating a link between the two.
- Capture the information from the VHS to the computer. Computers these days already have video-capturing software bundled with them. Mac computers have iMovie, while PCs have Windows Movie Maker. Simply open these programs and go to the “Import” menu to convert the VHS movie into a file readable by computer programs.
- Save into a DVD-readable file format. After importing the information from the VHS, simply save it into a file format like .avi, .mp4, or .wmv. Basically, what you’re doing is converting a video stream into a computer file that can be played in digital video players.
- Burn to DVD. Now that you have the information in a readable file format, the next step is to burn it to a DVD. Most computers have DVD burning software like Toast Titanium. Just use whatever burning software you have handy on your computer.
Most DVDs contain at least 4 GB of storage space. If you are modest with the file formats you use to save your VHS files, you should be able to store quite a number of memories on a few DVDs and store them more efficiently.
Memories are always best when you can relive them with your loved ones. Your recollection of these precious memories should not be hindered by rapidly progressing technology and file formats.
How to Convert VHS Tapes to DVDs
Learn how to preserve your precious home memories by converting your old VHS tapes into modern, easy-to-store DVD formats.
Video formats are always being upgraded to smaller, more portable formats. It happened to laser discs, VHS, and VCD. These days, the standard video format is DVD, which can store a large amount of information, from audio to video. This means that information stored in the DVD format sounds much better and has a clearer resolution.
Everyone has a collection of home videos at home. Most of them are stored on VHS tapes and stacked on shelves taller than a person in the family room. Converting these precious memories to smaller, easier-to-store DVDs is quite easy as long as you have the appropriate programs on your computer.
You’ll need the following:
A video recording unit (either your old video camera or a VHS machine)
AV cables
Computer
- Make sure the VHS tapes are clean! Improper storage of VHS tapes can cause mold to appear on the tape inside. You need to clean these out, as any dirt on the tape can damage the camera or the VHS player. It will also produce dirty, grainy images that the computer will pick up. Be sure that you clean out the VHS player’s head as well. The head reads the information stored on the tape and transmits the images it contains to the TV or, in this case, the computer.
- Double-check the settings on your camera. Make sure that the camera’s analog video is of the highest quality possible. Flaws in the original video could be magnified significantly in the process of encoding and converting it to DVD.
- Connect the video unit to the computer. Take the AV cables and connect the camera or the VHS machine to the computer. Basically, what you’re doing is creating a link between the two.
- Capture the information from the VHS to the computer. Computers these days already have video-capturing software bundled with them. Mac computers have iMovie, while PCs have Windows Movie Maker. Simply open these programs and go to the “Import” menu to convert the VHS movie into a file readable by computer programs.
- Save into a DVD-readable file format. After importing the information from the VHS, simply save it into a file format like .avi, .mp4, or .wmv. Basically, what you’re doing is converting a video stream into a computer file that can be played in digital video players.
- Burn to DVD. Now that you have the information in a readable file format, the next step is to burn it to a DVD. Most computers have DVD burning software like Toast Titanium. Just use whatever burning software you have handy on your computer.
Most DVDs contain at least 4 GB of storage space. If you are modest with the file formats you use to save your VHS files, you should be able to store quite a number of memories on a few DVDs and store them more efficiently.
Memories are always best when you can relive them with your loved ones. Your recollection of these precious memories should not be hindered by rapidly progressing technology and file formats.
How to Convert VHS Tapes to DVDs
By Howtodotips
Learn how to preserve your precious home memories by converting your old VHS tapes into modern, easy-to-store DVD formats.