![\"videotape-transfer\"](\"https:\/\/scancafe.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/videotape-transfer-scaled.jpeg\")
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If you think of videotapes as innovations of the not-too-distant past, that\u2019s perfectly understandable, even if those near and dear to you view them as ancient relics. Regardless, stacks of old videotapes lying around unwatched aren\u2019t serving any purpose other than collecting dust or cluttering up<\/span> bookshelves<\/span><\/a>. That\u2019s a shame because many videotapes contain footage worthy of revisiting, whether top-rated commercial movies or videos of your now married daughter taking her first steps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re thinking about digitizing some of your old videotapes, that\u2019s a worthy pursuit because they weren\u2019t designed to last forever. You\u2019ll need a VCR, a computer with or without a DVD drive, and an<\/span> analog-to-digital converter<\/span><\/a>. If some of the tapes look like a different format than VHS, you\u2019ll need to<\/span> identify them<\/span><\/a>. This could pose an equipment challenge for DIY transfer. Keep in mind that editing your memories once they\u2019re digitized is the most time consuming and challenging part of the entire process, even if you have some experience doing so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prior to undertaking this project yourself, it\u2019s important to be aware of common mistakes people make when transferring videotapes so you can avoid them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DVD is not the best archiving format because it starts to decay after five years or so. The best way to preserve precious video memories is to convert them into video files, which enables storing them on your computer or the cloud, editing them using standard editing software, then burning DVDs if that\u2019s how you wish to share them with family and friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n MPEG-4 is designed to deliver DVD-quality video at lower data rates and smaller file sizes. This format also offers the most flexibility in terms of the devices you can play the videos on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After your DIY project is complete, you need to decide how to store the digital video files. Storing them on your computer is fine, but you should also back them up to an ancillary hard drive in case your computer crashes. It\u2019s also a wise idea to store copies of videos in the cloud to protect your memories from a natural disaster or fire. Many services are available for a reasonable cost and various price points, depending on your storage needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once your videos are digitized, don\u2019t forget to share them. It\u2019s easy to do so with family, friends, and strangers on social media sites of your choice (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, etc.), send links to the place they\u2019re<\/span> stored in the cloud<\/span><\/a>, or use a service such as Dropbox or WeTransfer to share a few at a time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Common issues<\/span><\/a> that impact videotapes such as magnetic tape deterioration, creases, breakage, and slippage are typically beyond the scope of DIY repair, but fixable with professional equipment and expertise. At ScanCafe, we use professional decks equipped with video stabilization features to ensure the best possible playback and perform color correction and repairs at no extra charge, when possible. The bottom line \u2026 sending your<\/span> videotapes<\/span><\/a> to ScanCafe will save you time, aggravation, and money and the end result will be far better quality than DIY conversion.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you think of videotapes as innovations of the not-too-distant past, that\u2019s perfectly understandable, even if those near and dear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-scanning"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/scancafe.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/videotape-transfer-scaled.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"ScanCafe","author_link":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/author\/scafewpadm"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scancafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}DIY Video Transfer<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
Top Four DIY Mistakes\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
1. Burning Directly to DVD<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
2. Choosing the Wrong Format<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
3. Forgetting to Back up Video Files<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
4. Not Sharing Your Videos<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
The Benefits of Using a Professional Scanning Service\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n