A Labor of Love:
Convert your family memories stored on obsolete media to Cloud-accessible files
Hello everyone! Steve Cownie from “Better Call Steve” back again.
About a decade ago, I decided to convert our family photos and videos stored on CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and VHS-C tapes to JPEG and MP4 formats. I then stored the data in our family cloud storage for all of us to add to over the years.
The impetus for this was my experience of going through our physical family photo albums and camera-recorded videos. I realized that the photo books would not be around much longer after I am gone, and that the videos we recorded would never be seen again.
The project was truly a labor of love. Something I am regularly rewarded by as I see my grandchildren (and my adult sons and daughters-in-law) spend time laughing and crying as they go through the photos and watch the videos from any device they have anywhere in the world. It is a priceless gift that I created for all of us.
The technological cost to do the conversion has come down and the process is simpler than it was ten years ago, as I found out recently when I converted my daughters-in-law family photos and videos to digital data stored in the cloud.
The equipment you need and current purchase cost if you do not already have the equipment:
- VCR player to convert VHS tapes to ($40 on e-Bay)
- DVD player to convert CDs and DVDs ($17)
- VHS-C cassette adapter to convert 1980s-1990s camera tapes ($25)
- Video to Digital Converter – I bought the ClearClick Video to Digital Converter ($150)
- 256 GB USB Flash Drive ($25)
This equipment costs under $300. The only thing else you need is time.
There are companies that provide services to do this. Their cost is typically $15-$40 per VHS tape/CD/DVD. The current highest rated digital conversion company is iMemories.
I have decided to add photo and video conversion to my client service offerings. I can either help you set up the equipment and show how the process works by doing the first two conversions with you, or I can take your medium and do the entire conversion work for you.
For those of you who are baby boomers and wondering if your parents’ and grandparents’ 8mm and 16mm tapes can be converted to digital format, the answer is yes. There are companies who can do that for you. It is a much longer process.
There are also companies that will convert your bound family photo books to digital.
If you need guidance or support for computer issues in Windows or MacOS, I will provide up to 20 minutes of free phone support to address your questions.
If you have other topics you would like me to discuss in this column, I would love to hear from you. My contact information is:
Steve Cownie
914-582-7476
Better Call Steve
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