Video to Hard Drive
Go digital! Transfer your videos to a Hard Drive
Digitizing is a service we provide upon request, and it is gaining popularity as editing software and video uploading becomes more user friendly. It is a great option for customers who wish to edit their own videos or for those who wish to keep a high resolution file of their transferred videos on a hard drive for safe keeping, back up, and future use. Call us now to get started (805)377-7333.
Video Digitizing Pricing
$40 per hour of video, includes transfer and formatting of your drive.
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We have thumb drives and hard drives available on site for you to purchase if you desire. We will be happy to use any external hard drive or thumb drive you provide (USB 2.0 or Firewire 800 connection) as long as it is new or has no material on it.
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If you decide you would like a different video format after your videos have been digitized, we offer video format conversion services as well.
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Inquire about price for uploading your video to the internet.
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Quantity discounts are available, please inquire (805)377-7333.
Digitize your videos! In addition to pro DVD authoring, get a digital file.
We can save your video files to an external hard drive, thumb drives, or even upload them to the internet for you to share with your friends and family. Call (805) 377-7333.
What is Digitizing?
How do I get my videos digitized and saved to hard drive?
Why should I digitize my videos and save them to a hard drive?
Editing:
If you want to edit your own video and have the editing software and tools to do so, digitizing your videos is the first step. Once we get the material transferred off the analog video source and save to your external hard drive, you will have a digital file you can view and edit on your computer.
Back up: Having a DVD of your videos will allow you to watch them on your TV. Plus, you will have the peace of mind of preserving the quality of your video in a digital format, which does not deteriorate as analog video does. But DVDs can be affected by improper storage and can get scratched - making them unusable. A digital file saved to a hard drive will allow you to make as many DVD copies as you like at any time in the future.
Storage: Storing your video on a hard drive is a great space saver. Plus it is very portable, sharable, and can be accessed for future use and needs. Of course, we recommend having a back up of your hard drive as well, in case your drive ever gets lost or damaged.
Digitizing is the process of converting your analog video ( video from a VHS, VHS-C, 8mm, Hi8, etc.) to a digital file or format.
Step 1: Select the video cassettes or film reels you would like to have transferred and digitized.
Step 2: Decide how you would like your videos preserved (any one or combination of the following):
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Hard drive
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Thumb drive
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Video Upload to Internet
Step 3: Purchase a hard drive or thumb drive that is the appropriate size to accommodate your video. Call us and we can suggest the specific storage size and file type to meet your needs or see the following guidelines for more information:
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Several digital data file formats are available depending on your needs (.avi, .mov, .m4v, .wmv). The kind of video format you choose depends on whether or not you plan to edit your videos and what computer and programs you will use for editing; or whether you just want to have a back up of all your videos for storage. For example, .wmv files are necessary to use the Windows Live Movie Maker program available on Windows 7 computers. Other Windows editing programs may require .avi files, and .mov or .m4v files are great for Apple computers and their editing software including iDVD and Final Cut Pro.
The amount of storage for each file type is typically as follows:
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.avi can take up to 13GB of storage space per hour of video
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.mov video files take up 8GB of storage space per hour of video.
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.m4v video files take up 1GB of storage space per hour of video
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.wmv files take up 500MB of storage space per hour of video
The three most popular video file formats are .mp4, .mov, and .wmv. Most digital devices and platforms support .mp4 so we usually recommend this file type. In our opinion it is the most universal video format and has worked well for the vast majority of our customers. If you want to read more about different video formats please check out this article by Adobe.
Step 4: Next, bring us your videos and film reels and we will capture them to our computer in the form of a digital file.
Step 5: We will format your drive for Mac, PC, or exFAT for both. (NOTE: the formatting process will erase your drive contents to prepare the drive for your new video files. Please bring us new, unused or empty drives.)
Step 6: Then we will transfer your videos files from our computer to your drive. Viola, your videos are digitized!
The Process (in detail)
We have the equipment and skills needed to get your material off of VHS, DVD, the Internet, hard drives, flash drives, etc. We can work with you at every step, from project concept to completion. We have professional video editors, videographers, graphic artists, and web professionals working with the latest software and equipment to assist in the completion of your project. Call for a consultation or quote and find out what we can do for you (805) 377-7333.
We provide video editing services for customers who do not have time to learn video editing software, and many people take advantage of our 20 years of video editing experience. Saving the edited video files to a hard drive allows our customers to access the files directly from their hard drive. This saves the extra step of getting video off of a DVD, and makes it easier to create high resolution DVD copies, or to upload the video files to popular video hosting sites like Vimeo and YouTube for sharing.
Don’t know how to upload your videos for viewing on the World Wide Web? We can do it for you. Please contact us for more information at (805) 377-7333.
Still have questions? Give us a call or try one of the useful links listed below.
Get your home movies transferred from VHS, VHS-C, 8mm, and Hi8 to DVD so you can watch them on your TV or computer.
Dust off the old 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm film reels in your closet and preserve them on DVD! Makes a great gift!
Protect your memories! Get them off your phone and save them to DVD. Make extra copies to share with your family and friends.
Turn your photos or old scrapbooks into entertaining videos. Great for sharing at birthday parties, reunions, Christmas, memorial, and holidays!