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Converting a VHS library to DVD
Part 1
Do you have a whole bunch of VHS tapes lying around and you want to preserve the contents for the future? This guide will show you how to get them on DVD. The complete guide consist out of the following parts:
Project and Concept, and a few additional notes
Recently, knowing that I could do this; a very good friend of ours approached me to do some transfers of their home videos to DVD. As I’ve done this numerous times, I of course agreed to do the project...not knowing at the time just how much footage they had. A few days later, box # 1 showed up with 8, six hour VHS tapes and box number 2 is on the way... So, I’m looking at a minimum of 48 hours to transfer with more on the way. Moral of this is, know what you’re getting into BEFORE you agree to do it. Of course, I would have done this project anyway, but the sheer volume of material was a bit daunting at first.
The concept was to transfer and edit the footage by month, year, and subject matter where possible. Editing the transferred footage to remove bad edits, and generate smooth transitions between segments on the DVD.
The DVD layouts would contain a “First Play” video that was actually the Title Open and credits (humorous) that is specific for each of the estimated 40+ discs this project will entail. After the opening video plays, it transitions to an animated menu which also has the title of the disc, with links to “Play All” the clips sequentially, or with separate links to play each clip individually. Now this disc layout could have been accomplished in 2 ways. The first would be to make one long movie and have chapter points, or (as I decided to do), have each segment as an individual movie so that I could have greater control over disc packing density.
After the discs are created, I test them on 3 separate and distinct DVD players to ensure compatibility of the burns, and finally print on the disc itself a simple title and graphic unique to each disc for identification. The entire package of discs is then delivered on the spindle pack that the discs came on originally. As I’m doing this entire project for no charge, I limited the on-disc graphics and final packaging to pretty much plain text and minimal packaging to cut down on the coat of the supplies. The discs alone, and the FedEx shipping were costing me enough as it is!
A very important note on shipping tapes and discs. ALWAYS use a carrier that you can get tracking information on the shipment. I always use FedEx, but UPS can also work. The point being, once the masters leave your physical possession, you are at the mercy of the carrier. The USPS is not a carrier I trust. Finally, I always keep a master copy of the finished project for my files, just in case it does get lost in shipment, or the client requires an additional copy.
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