Converting old video tapes to digital

[Tailgate 3023]

I have some tapes almost 20 years old now I shot on a cannon and I think the tapes are digital video or dv8? The are about the size of an old cassette.

Has anyone every converted these to digital with a company and been happy with the service/end product? Any good recommendations?

I’d like to get it done this year before anymore degradation sets in on these old tapes.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

 

[Clintonaldo 2576]

Someone is wanting to preserve those homemade fuck videos it appears. Much respect. 

[elfenix 34332]

[dcbc 14509]

I plugged the camera with the DV8 into the computer years ago.  A family member had some VHS converted to DVD (which I promptly ripped to mp4) a couple of years ago.  It was in Houston.  Will see if I can find the name.  They did fine, but it was nothing but a straight rip (no menus or track or anything).

[Tailgate 3023]

1 minute ago, dcbc said:

I plugged the camera with the DV8 into the computer years ago.  A family member had some VHS converted to DVD (which I promptly ripped to mp4) a couple of years ago.  It was in Houston.  Will see if I can find the name.  They did fine, but it was nothing but a straight rip (no menus or track or anything).

Thanks, saw some places online but would prefer a place in Austin or if they are “really good” with good recs I’m find sending them off.

[dcbc 14509]

1 minute ago, Tailgate said:

Thanks, saw some places online but would prefer a place in Austin or if they are “really good” with good recs I’m find sending them off.

I think quality as far as resolution and frame rate grab is going to be fine pretty much anywhere.  I used to have a buddy who worked at a place on MLK near the drag that did exactly this.  Pretty sure it's something more lucrative now given the location.

[Gil Bang 26013]

20 minutes ago, elfenix said:

csb alert:  

So, I used to really enjoy ocean fishing.  I really don't enjoy it much anymore, so I don't do it much.

But, I used to belong to a group of mostly guys from work.  Every 3 weeks or so, we'd charter a boat, with a capacity of 60, but there were only 20 of us, so it was pretty comfortable for an overnight trip. 

It was an older boat (out of San Diego) but had a good skipper, good crew, and good food. 

In the galley, there was an old TV and VCR, and a dozen  or so old  VHS tapes...sports bloopers, fishing shows, etc.  So, my buddy and I were driving down to the boat, and we passed a local sex shop chain store, the F street bookstore.  We decided to go inside and buy a porn tape for the boat, specifically a gay porn tape.  

The dude behind the counter was chuckling when we told him we wanted something particular vile.  We had him advance the tape past the title, and we removed the label, and, when nobody was looking, we stuck in on the shelf in the galley next to the other VHS tapes.  Basically, we set a landmine.

Although I never got to see the "money shot", I can just imagine some swinging dick fisherman, in a galley full of men, going "Hmm...I wonder what this tape is...I'll put in in the player and see".

[Soldierhorn 206]

I've done it several ways. I've copied them on my own from VHS to digital.  I've copied reel movies to digital.  I like tinkering so it doesnt bother me if it eats up a lot of time.  But to be honest, for the few hundred bucks it cost, LegacyBox did a great job with both super 8 movies and VHS tapes and would save you a lot of time. 

Matter of fact, there are a stack of 13 VHS tapes in my office right now that I'm going to copy to digital soon . 

Edited July 4, 2019 by Soldierhorn

[Tailgate 3023]

10 minutes ago, Soldierhorn said:

I've done it several ways. I've copied them on my own from VHS to digital.  I've copied reel movies to digital.  I like tinkering so it doesnt bother me if it eats up a lot of time.  But to be honest, for the few hundred bucks it cost, LegacyBox did a great job with both super 8 movies and VHS tapes and would save you a lot of time. 

Matter of fact, there are a stack of 13 VHS tapes in my office right now that I'm going to copy to digital soon . 

Thanks...that’s the company I saw online. I’ll likely try a few at first and see how it goes and then ship the rest out.

[Soldierhorn 206]

I was nervous at first, esp shipping my super 8 reel to reel movies but they did a great job. I then edited the digital movies and made silent films out of them.  They turned out pretty good. 

The first box was close to a hundred reels (72) and VHS tapes (however many VHS to fill the box up).  I have close to that many VHS tapes to do later. 

[KaiserSoze 998]

Thanks, saw some places online but would prefer a place in Austin or if they are “really good” with good recs I’m find sending them off.

Precision Camera on W Anderson offers conversions for a decent variety of formats. 

 

 

[Not that Bob 739]

Dub King in Austin. 

[Mappable 37]

Transfer to both SSD and DVD.  

If you are going to edit, request that the SSD files be made into the file system that your NLE uses.

http://www.mrcassette.com/video_conversion.htm

https://www.expressionsinvideo.com/transfer-services/

[El Diablo 4232]

Co-worker says she's having theirs done by Walgreens.

No idea.

[Dbeasy 15091]

In the middle of ripping myself to DVD’s using a Sony dvd converter. Works okay. The DVD’s play in a DVD player, and on my laptop, but not on my desktop DVDplayer. Don’t know why. It’s a bummer because I wanted digital files too on my computer. I don’t have a way with my current pc of transferring directly from Sony dv camcorder to pc. No compatible ports.

[El Diablo 4232]

I've got a Sony digital camera and the proprietary storage media and cable connections have proven to be a PITA over the years. I have a cable with their connector on one end that has a USB connector on the other end but my newest computer won't recognize it whereas my old computer would. Damn camera is kind of useless if you cant get the images off of it. I also have a card reader for their ProStick II Duo media or whatever it's called. Same issue. 

[Dbeasy 15091]

Yes I also couldn’t get usb to work to the computer. I bought their proprietary cable I.link that connects Sony miniDV to the DVDRecorder.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

Costco has done a good job of converting over to DVD. Haven’t asked about other options though.

[luke duke 6414]

I have some tapes almost 20 years old now I shot on a cannon and I think the tapes are digital video or dv8? The are about the size of an old cassette.

Has anyone every converted these to digital with a company and been happy with the service/end product? Any good recommendations?

I’d like to get it done this year before anymore degradation sets in on these old tapes.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

 

 

Someone has probably already converted Hairy Beavers 7 to digital. No need to do it yourself. PM@ToY for a copy.

 

[Francisco 2.0 32428]

Did it myself a few years ago.  Used this:

https://www.elgato.com/en/video-capture

 

 

Once I had the video on the computer, I then uploaded it to a private YouTube channel so unless Youtube goes away, It's there for the rest of my life (in theory), and I don't have to worry about formats, playback, downloading it if I want to, etc. Plus, it's easy for grandparents to view old videos now (just send them a link).

 

 

 

 

 

[Tailgate 3023]

Just wanted to bump this for others who may consider doing the same. I ended up using Legacybox.com. I also found out in the process it’s the same company used by Kodak who advertises the same service.

Im an old so my kids tapes were filmed over 20 years ago and I had worried what might happen to them. So, ordered the service and got their box...loaded it with my 40+ old tapes and sent it in. Yesterday I got the link to the videos and it’s awesome...just the couple minutes I watched footage was a time warp and amazing to see.

I will now be sending in photos and any other videos for them to digitize it all. Great service and can’t recommend it enough for those who want to save some memories.

Make sure to use a coupon code. They seem to always have 45-50% off shown on homepage.

[Dbeasy 15091]

On 7/5/2019 at 3:22 PM, Dbeasy said:

In the middle of ripping myself to DVD’s using a Sony dvd converter. Works okay. The DVD’s play in a DVD player, and on my laptop, but not on my desktop DVDplayer. Don’t know why. It’s a bummer because I wanted digital files too on my computer. I don’t have a way with my current pc of transferring directly from Sony dv camcorder to pc. No compatible ports.

saw this bumped so thought I'd drop a note. I bought a $20 dvd player that connects to my computer and it plays the dvd's I ripped. Must have been something about the dvd player in the HP computer that didn't support the same recording standard.

[idigTexas 2289]

54 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

saw this bumped so thought I'd drop a note. I bought a $20 dvd player that connects to my computer and it plays the dvd's I ripped. Must have been something about the dvd player in the HP computer that didn't support the same recording standard.

My guess is that it is the flavor of DVD you have, versus what your HP's player supports.  I'm a little surprised that this issue still exists.  https://www.lifewire.com/different-types-of-dvd-recorders-2482957