Camcorder Tapes to DVD and Digital Files

Why Convert Your Camcorder Tapes to DVD and Digital Files?

Many people have home movies on camcorder tapes that contain irreplaceable footage of family events, weddings, special occasions, recitals and more. Due to the fact that these magnetic tapes break down over time, it is a good idea to convert the videos to a DVD to make sure the video quality and the video itself is preserved. In the past people would “dub” their tapes (copying to another tape) to preserve them, but these copies would also be subject to degradation due to the analog-to-analog copy process and would still break down over time. Thus, it is important to convert old magnetic media to a digital format, as opposed to tape dubbing, so that identical copies can be made indefinitely.

Video Tape Aging

As a magnetic tape ages, some of the chemicals in the tape absorb moisture from the air and make the tape “sticky”. The tape will curl and stick to itself as it unspools causing video and audio quality degradation. These problems will make auto-tracking difficult for your video tape player and result in poor quality playback. Worse yet, it can be very damaging for your camcorder or tape player. This gummy residue will stick to the heads of a camcorder and the only way to clean it will be to dismantle the camcorder or take it to a professional as the tape transport mechanism of a camcorder is very complex and standard head cleaners will not remove this gummy build up. It is best to rejuvenate the tape before playback to maximize the quality and minimize the potential for damage to your tapes and your camcorder. The Two Squares magnetic tape rejuvenation process can significantly improve many older tapes to ensure the best quality digitization possible.

Camcorder Tapes to DVD Video Equipment & Digitization

Using a video capture card for your computer can affect quality as well. Computers have a lot of “electronic noise” from switching circuits and fans that will bleed into your capture that will cause distortion in the video and unwanted noise and hiss in the audio. Even for a non-professional this can be a very noticeable. The best quality comes from properly grounded, external (from the computer) studio grade digital conversion devices. Two Squares uses only studio grade audio equipment, and this equipment is also professionally maintained and tuned to ensure the best possible digitization quality.

Supported Camcorder Tapes to DVD Transfer Formats

Two squares can convert many of the common formats of analog and digital video tapes and disks such as:

  • Video8
  • Hi8
  • Digital8
  • MiniDV
  • HDV-Mini-DV
  • VHS-C
  • MicroMV

We Can Convert Your Video Tapes to Play on Your iPod, iPhone, Android or Computer

Two Squares can convert the video from your camcorder tapes to a set of AVI or MPEG files which can be copied to an iPod or Smart Phone, or to a hard drive or flash drive that can be copied and viewed on your computer.

Pricing

Pricing for Our Camcorder Tape to DVD Conversion Services

  • $25 per tape for Camcorder tapes converted to AVI/MPEG/etc and copy to your hard drive

    Optional: to put your digital video files onto a DVD, add:

    $10 per DVD – DVDs hold up to 2 hours of video

No setup charge | Flat price not dependent on tape length | Tape baking/rejuvenation including | Time based correction included | Scene menus on DVD included

Questions About Pricing?