Taking your old VHS tapes and converting them into crisp, shiny, fully-digital DVDs can be an extremely demanding task, particularly if you have stocked decades of footage and dozens of analog tapes. In most instances, you will be looking at days, weeks, or even months of importing footage, converting, and digitizing them. Even worse, as much as you consider yourself tech savvy, mastering the art of digitizing your VHS tapes takes a lot of patience, and time.

With all things considered, you are left with two important questions:

  • Do you buy the equipment needed to convert your ancient footage and go DIY (do it yourself) or…
  • Do you take them to a professional transfer company?

Thanks to new computers and powerful software, almost anyone can transfer VHS tapes to digital videos – that’s the truth. However, unless you are ready to commit the necessary resources and time – and be warned it is significant amount of time and money – there are some compelling benefits to letting professionals handle the heavy lifting for you.

1. Save Top Dollars

Contrary to common belief, recruiting a professional video transfer company like Glendale Video Solutions won’t break your bank. In fact, it will cost you as low as twenty bucks to a couple of hundred dollars, mainly depending on how many videotapes you have. You are doubting it’s cost-friendly? Let’s do the math.

Questions: What’s cheaper? Outsourcing VHS tape to DVD transfer services or going DIY?

Workings:

Step 1: Compute the cost of going DIY

To find out the total cost of going DIY, sum the amount you will need to buy the equipment and software needed to digitize VHS tapes, the time required to learn how to use them, and the actual time required to personally digitize the tapes. Let’s assume you get X.

Step 2: Find out the Cost of Outsourcing Professionals

To find out the total cost of outsourcing, get a quote from Glendale Video Solutions. Let’s assume the quote is Y.

Step 3: Compare X and Y

Clearly, outsourcing saves you about 50% of the DIY cost.

2. Save Time and Quick Delivery

Once you decided to digitize your old video tapes, you most likely want the conversion done now. Going DIY takes a lot of time to set up the equipment. Even worse, converting each video requires the same amount of time needed to watch the video from start to end. For example, if your video tapes are about 6 hours long, you will need about a day to digitize just one tape. On the contrary, when you send a huge batch of such tapes to professionals, it will take less than a week to convert and ship them to your doorstep.

3. Use the Right Transfer Unit

Videotapes come in different types such as 8mm, Beta, VHS-C, VHS, Mini DV, U-matic, and much more. It is crucial to choose a video transfer unit that is compatible with your video tape format. To start with, VHS footages are of poor quality compared to Hi8 and Digital 8mm versions. And they may require advanced transfer units.

For home video conversion you will need to purchase an old VCR unit and a convertor. Unfortunately, many of these units are hard to find and the ones available are no longer in proper working conditions. This means your conversion will not run as smoothly as it should. On the contrary, professional firms use high-end transfer units that produce top quality copies of your home footage.

4. DVD and Video Formats

Your VHS tapes and footages are precious; they hold irreplaceable memories. So, instead of going DIY, it’s wise to give them to professionals who really know exactly what they’re doing. Otherwise, if you accidentally damage, erase or break the tape trying to convert them, it’s impossible to get them back.

A company like Glendale Video Solutions is able to convert your VHS tapes into a video file and hand it to you before transferring it to a DVD. The data held in a video file is a replica of what will be in your final DVD.

A video file enables you to edit and add more features to your movie file before conversion. This editing aspect helps in eliminating unwanted footage like when you accidentally recorded the ground instead of focusing on the main subject. In addition, a movie file acts as a backup in cases where you lose the DVDs.

Note that home-made films are personal and they should be handled discreetly. Outsourcing to a company that hires external help for the video transfer process isn’t advisable. Stick with companies like Glendale Video Solutions that offer you privacy guarantee and quality work.