Tutorial:

Saving Memories - Converting VHS to DVD

Remember the holidays from three…five…ten years ago? Birthdays? Family outings? The great times you had with your parents, grandparents or great grandparents? Aren’t you glad you captured all of those special, precious moments on videotape? You’ve got dozens of taped memories stacked in a cabinet or tucked away on a shelf in closet.

Disappearing Past

The problem is consumer VHS tape isn’t the best format to use for long-term storage. Every time you play one of the tapes you wear away part of the image, you scratch the video, you destroy small portions of the memories. If you haven’t played the family celebration tapes for years you may be in for a rude awakening. The magnetic film may have aged, turned black and the images disappeared. The coating may mysteriously peel away or flake off when the tape is played. The special moments, the memories are suddenly…simply memories. Signs of video quality degradation can become apparent after five years or sooner if the tapes aren’t stored properly.

Before those precious videotaped moments disappear, transfer them to DVD. Today’s low-cost DVD burners and low-cost, easy-to-use hardware/software products like Pinnacle Instant DVD Recorder make the task of transferring your footage to quality brand name DVD discs fast and simple. Saving past holidays and family events for generations can be a snap.

When the job is done you have videos that:

  • Won’t deteriorate no matter how often you play the disc because the laser never touches the media
  • Will play on virtually any DVD player, recorder or drive
  • Will last 50-100 years
  • You can copy them again and again and each copy will be as clear and crisp as the original
  • Let you add menus so you can quickly move from video clip to video clip
  • Take up almost no space on your shelf or in your drawer

Basic System

Almost every Windows XP or Vista computer sold today is “video-ready.” For best results we’d recommend at least an Intel Pentium HT or AMD Athlon, 1GB of RAM and one or two hard drives. You can capture your analog video with the USB 1.1 port but the video quality will suffer. Depending upon how you want to store and replay your digital video you’ll also need a CD or DVD Burner. Because DVD burners and media are so economical, you’ll probably want to save your videos to broadcast quality brand name DVDs.

Then all you need is your VCR and a fast, low-cost conversion solution like Pinnacle’s Instant DVD Recorder. The package contains an easy-to-connect video capture device, connection cables and Studio 11 software that can be used for simple analog to digital (VHS to DVD) conversion or for additional movie production. You can also use the package to capture/save TV shows or copy videos from your camcorder to DVD. For about $100, it’s almost like a movie production company in a box.

Easily connect your analog video source to your Dazzle Video Creator Platinum

If you simply want to preserve yesteryear’s irreplaceable videotapes, use Studio 11’s automated movie creation tool, SmartMovie. The step-by-step wizard guides you quickly through the process. Almost effortlessly, it helps you turn family videos -- direct from tape – into excellent DVD movies.

If you want make brilliant family/friend movies, copy the content to your hard drive and use the Studio 11 Plus editing/authoring software to add chapters, transitions, special effects and music.

The hardware/software combination incorporates the latest in video conversion (you can even copy your videos to your MP3 player or smartphone) and filtering technology to remove the video noise on your old VHS tapes. It also includes unique technology to ensure perfect lip synch throughout the capture, edit and disc burning process.

The Pinnacle Instant DVD Recorder application is included in Dazzle Video Creator Platinum and allows DVD creation in a snap.

Direct to Disc

To make an exact copy of your tape to DVD without any edits simply use the direct-to-disc feature. In this mode the software automatically captures the video, converts the file to DVD format and burns it to disc. If you have a large number of VHS tapes you want to convert to DVD this can be a tremendous time saver.

The software will also automatically add DVD menus and chapter points by detecting scene changes. When the process is complete you will have rescued your family videos from certain loss and will have discs you can play forever, again and again without damaging the quality. You can even make copies for other members of the family and they can enjoy the moments, memories, events in the same high quality.

Conclusion

Depending on the speed of your DVD burner and the length of your movie memories, the process can be completed in 15 minutes to an hour. Pop the finished disc into your DVD player, grab some popcorn and relive your memories now and for years to come. If you aren’t completely happy with the movie, want to add or delete video clips, or change the sequence and transitions, simply go back to the software and make the changes. Either way, your videos are personalized gifts friends and family will cherish forever. And you will have rescued your videotape memories and turned them into brilliant DVD movies that will never fade or disappear.