If you have cardboard boxes full of VHS tapes in your basement that contain footage of family memories, listen up! You're long overdue for a film-to-file conversion. Here's how you can take your dusty old VHS tapes—chock-full of priceless moments—and store them on your computer, an external hard drive or the cloud.
First, you'll need a VCR with video and audio jacks to transfer your footage. Then, you'll need a video capture converter like this:
Install the converter's software to your computer.
Pop the desired VHS tape into the VCR, connect the video capture converter to the back of the TV/VCR with the audio and video cords. Plug the USB port into your computer. If your VCR has an S-Video port, it’s a good idea to opt for that instead of the yellow composite jack for better video quality in the conversion process.
Press play on the VHS at the part of the video where you want the conversion to begin. Hit record on your computer. The video will appear in your computer's default video player. The video will play in real time, so you can let it run without supervision. You might want to keep an eye on the tracking and audio because some VCR's let you recalibrate the tape (adjust the tracking) to improve the picture quality.
Once the conversion is complete, the digital file will save to your computer. Feel free to trim or edit the video as needed. It's highly recommended that you organize the digital files (with the date being most important) and save them to an external hard drive or the cloud.
Now your family's highlight reel is forever accessible!