Do you have MiniDV tapes that require digitization?
Have no fear! There are options available to ensure that your father-time memories don’t disappear.
If you have the time and patience to digitize your tapes at home using a video capture program, or you can send them to a digitization company and have an expert do the job. Which is best for MiniDV tapes?
Let’s see how a minidv to digital transfer at home can be done, and then let’s compare it with a digitization services.
You will need the following supplies:
MiniDV Camcorder/Tape Deck
MiniDV tape
USB cable
Computer
Software for video capture
Connect the MiniDV camcorder/tape deck to your computer using the USB cable
Open the tape deck or camcorder. Set the camcorder to VCR mode if you are using it.
The MiniDV tape should be loaded into the tape deck or camcorder.
Open the video capture software on your computer.
Click “capture” from the file menu and wait for the window to appear on your monitor.
Play on your tape deck or camcorder.
The video should start playing in the capture window of the video editing software.
Click “record” in the video editing software’s capture window. The software will now record the tape in real time.
When the tape stops playing, click “stop” in the capture window.
You will be able to save one continuous digital video from this process.
It is easy to do at-home digitization. It can be time-consuming and expensive depending on which video capture software you use and how many tapes you need. You could spend hours slaving over your computer as you wait for the tapes to run their course before the software can capture them. You have complete control over audio and visual editing when digitizing at home. Another time-consuming hurdle to overcome is the one you have to climb once you are done. It is best to hire a digitization company instead of trying to digitize your videos at home if you are not familiar with the process. You could end up with low quality videos after all the work you put into digitizing them.
Digitization Services to the Win
Your MiniDV tapes can be sent to a digitization company. This will relieve you of the responsibility of editing. There is no waiting for the tapes to finish on the computer. There is no need to worry about audio or video quality. Video editing professionals are skilled in digitizing videos. This will ensure that you capture all the memorable moments.
