If you are preparing for the enormous challenge of transferring your home movies and VHS to DVD, Blu-ray, or some other digital format, you have no doubt started to feel more than a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information, the number of choices, and the various methods you might use to achieve your goal. In fact, you may be feeling like you need a little help.
How Can Dr. DVD Help You?
I am Marty Holthaus and this website is going to help you outline the pros and cons of various methods and decide which direction to take. I have spent more than ten years coordinating visual effects for over twenty Hollywood movies, including Superman Returns and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. So, take it from me, a film and video expert – as well as a father with lots of old home movies and videos – transferring VHS to DVD does not have to be rocket science. In fact, it can be as easy as you want it to be.
VHS To DVD Conversion – As Easy As 1 – 2 – 3
To choose which methods you will use to convert VHS to DVD you first need to grasp the basic concepts and try your best to ignore all of the secondary details that are flying at you from all directions. There will be plenty of time to deal with these details after you choose the overall path to digital conversion that is right for you.
Here are the three basic stages to almost any transfer from VHS to DVD or film to digital:
- Get a device that will play or project your film or video.
- Connect that player or projector to a computer or another digital device to convert the footage to digital.
- Lastly, copy the digital data to a medium that can be played by a device like a DVD player or a Blu-ray player.
Time And Money – The Obstacles Between You And Your Digital Dreams?
The only real obstacles stopping you from converting VHS to DVD are time and money. After all, aren’t these the only real obstacles to anything in life? For this reason, I encourage you to use this information to determine what method best suits your unique set of circumstances – and then begin. I will offer you all kinds of hardware and software choices, but the most important thing you need to remember is to take action. The method you choose is less important than your personal commitment to your family memories. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
4 comments
Mary Ellen says:
February 15, 2011 at 3:29 PM (UTC -8 )
So I have a dvd made from old movies and I would like to edit the movies. Is there a program I should buy for my mac, or can I import it (the dvd) into iPhoto? It doesn’t seem that I can– but there must be a way that I can edit these old movies! thanks!
Marty Holthaus says:
February 16, 2011 at 12:35 AM (UTC -8 )
Thanks for your question, Mary Ellen. Unfortunately, it is not easy to edit video once it is transferred to DVD. If you still have the original media, it would be so much better to transfer the original to “uncompressed” digital files, edit them in iMovie (not iPhoto) or another editing program, and then convert it to DVD after that. The problem is that the video has already been “compressed” for DVD. DVD Your Memories is a company I know of that has dealt with your situation before. You may want to call them at 858-503-7965 or check one of the other companies I list on this site.
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May 2, 2010 at 2:25 AM (UTC -8 )
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Marty Holthaus says:
May 2, 2010 at 1:26 PM (UTC -8 )
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