# Film/VHS transfers to DVD. Recommendations? Experiences? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420 "2003-06-03T18:33:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/1 "2003-06-03T18:33:42Z")
I have some old family films and VHS tapes that I am considering transferring to DVD. Largely, the reason for the transfer will be preservative (i.e. DVD should last longer and be more durable than film and VHS). I do not have the equipment or expertise to do this job on my own. As such, I will be handing it off to a professional service that specilizes in this sort of thing. I have never had this type of work done before. Does anyone have any recommendations? Experiences in general or with specific companies? Things I should look out for or general advice? Any help would be greatly appreicated. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/2 "2003-06-03T19:58:26Z")
I’ve never used a company to do this, but maybe you should really consider doing it yourself. You’ll almost definitely end up paying someone more to do it than you would if you just bought the equipment yourself. TV card for your computer = $50-100 DVD-R/W drive = $200 Get some nice Monster cables to ensure optimum quality, and that’s really all you need in the way of hardware (assuming your computer is at least fairly modern). Tom’s Hardware has a [good guide](http://www6.tomshardware.com/video/20030530/index.html) for exactly what you want to do. The guides and forums on[DVDrhelp.com](http://www.dvdrhelp.com) are also an invaluable resource. Yeah, you might end up putting a bit of time into the process, but you won’t spend a small fortune and the DVD burner and TV card will be yours to keep. If you decide to go this route and later have any specific questions or need guidance, my email is in my profile. I’d be happy to guide you through any parts of the process you find troublesome. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/3 "2003-06-03T23:23:48Z")
Just do what I did. I bought a DVD Recorder, a Panasonic E30 (one of the best rated recorders). Get some dvd-r disks & that’s about it. That recorder is about $370 at [onecall.com](http://onecall.com) You can do a whole lot of other stuff with it too. Use it as a progressive scan dvd player, just put it next to your vcr, its not put in the computer. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/4 "2003-06-04T01:53:01Z")
Ah, yeah, that _is_ a good idea. You had mentioned that option in a similar previous thread and I’d forgotton all about it, **handy**. Good call. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/5 "2003-06-04T02:01:26Z")
If you have a CD burner, you can make VCD’s and bypass the DVD burning altogether. [http://www.dvdrhelp.com](http://www.dvdrhelp.com) should give you all the info you need. ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/6 "2003-06-04T04:45:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*Yeah, you might end up putting a bit of time into the process… \*\* A lot of time. First you have to set everything up. That’s not a trivial task. After that it probably takes 5 or 6 hours to capture, process, and burn 2 hours’ worth of video. (Less if you buy a stand-alone DVD recorder.) Granted, it’s not all hands-on time - you could kick off a job before you go to bed. But please notice that **Zev** mentioned film. I’m not aware of any cheap equipment for digitizing images from real honest to goodness film. He’d still need a professional service for that. Sorry, I don’t have any advice except to shop around for price, and try to get a good sense of how they treat customers. Maybe ask to see a sample of their work. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/7 "2003-06-04T15:34:59Z")
For films you can use a projector & a camcorder& a mirror & run the input into the recorder. But you might want a professional to do it with a better machine. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/8 "2003-06-04T16:55:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by heresiarch \* > \*\*A lot of time. First you have to set everything up. That’s not a trivial task. After that it probably takes 5 or 6 hours to capture, process, and burn 2 hours’ worth of video. (Less if you buy a stand-alone DVD recorder.) Granted, it’s not all hands-on time - you could kick off a job before you go to bed. > > But please notice that **Zev** mentioned film. I’m not aware of any cheap equipment for digitizing images from real honest to goodness film. He’d still need a professional service for that. > > Sorry, I don’t have any advice except to shop around for price, and try to get a good sense of how they treat customers. Maybe ask to see a sample of their work. \*\* Not necessarily a lot of time. I figured it out in a few days with my system. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-vhs-transfers-to-dvd-recommendations-experiences/179420/9 "2003-06-04T16:57:09Z")
Oh… a DVD can hold six hours in single layer discs dependant on the encoding used. Geez. This is what I used my 4000th post for. 😃