(upbeat music)
Hi, I'm Agent Davis,
and today I'm going to show you
how to convert your old videotapes
to digital files on your computer.
This is a great way to save your memories
to a newer digital format,
and once your videos are on your computer
you can send them to friends and family,
share on social media, or simply store them for safekeeping.
Here's what I'll be using today.
A playback device like a camcorder or VHS player,
my tapes that contain the footage,
I have a VHS tape and an eight millimeter camcorder tape,
the cords to connect the playback device to the computer,
hardware and software to capture the footage,
I'll be using the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD 3 Plus,
and lastly, a computer
that meets the minimum specs for that software.
I'll be using the HP ENVY x360 2-in-1.
Again, the process might be a little different
depending on your devices.
First, let's talk about playback devices.
In this video, I'll be digitizing footage
from an eight millimeter tape using an analog camcorder.
However, the process is the same
for capturing a VHS tape using a VCR.
Both devices are analog and have RCA outputs.
I'll be using a composite RCA cable.
Note that if you're also planning to use the Roxio software,
the cable is not included.
You might also have a camcorder that looks like this.
Notice the word digital.
That means it has a digital output.
Capturing digital video is similar,
but the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD 3 Plus software
that I'm using today is made for analog connections.
The good news is that digital camcorders
typically have an analog output as well,
so for this video we'll be focusing on that process.
All right, let's get started.
First, take some time to install the software.
I'll be using a piece of Roxio software today,
which comes with this connection port,
but there are other options.
Connect the Roxio adapter to your computer
and then connect the RCA cable to the adapter.
Yellow is for video.
Oftentimes there will be a white and a red connection
for stereo audio.
Our camcorder only has a single audio connection,
which I'll plug into the white.
Then match the remaining end of the cable
to the output of your device.
Now go ahead and turn on the camcorder and insert the tape,
or if you're using a VCR, turn it on and do the same.
Then launch the capture software on your computer.
Now click on the Video option.
The screen will change
and take us to the Record, Import, Edit screen.
Before we start to capture,
we're going to review the settings
and make a few adjustments.
On the right side under Video Name,
we're going to change this to what the video is about.
Let's call it Fun Times in the Lab.
You can set the length of the recording here,
but I'm going to leave that unchecked.
Next, you can have it automatically stop
when the end is detected.
This is helpful if the tape is long
and you plan to step away during the capture process.
The next option is for the software
to ignore gaps in the video,
meaning that it'll continue to record
even if there's a break in the footage.
Older cameras couldn't detect footage,
so it was up to the user to pick the spot
where they wanted to start recording.
As a result, there was often gaps between footage.
If you turn this on,
the software will stop capturing every time it detects one.
However, since I want to capture
the entire tape regardless of gaps,
I'll keep it off.
Towards the bottom of the screen,
you can adjust the audio level along with the channels.
I'm going to leave the defaults intact.
An important thing to double check
is the recording aspect ratio.
By default, it's set to record the video
in a 16:9 or a wide screen aspect ratio.
Most of the time, old recordings
are in a traditional 4:3 or full screen aspect ratio.
Remember those old tube TVs with the square screen?
That's 4:3.
Mine is recorded in 4:3,
so I will click on the numbers to change it.
Okay, go ahead and play the video.
You can see it right in the software.
When you're ready to capture,
click on the start recording button
in the bottom right corner.
The software will start recording your video.
Now you can see there are black bars on the side.
Those are not going to be in the recording,
they're just there to represent
the aspect ratio of the video.
When you're done, click on stop recording.
Again, if you have it set to stop at the end of the tape,
it'll do that automatically
when it no longer detects any footage.
When you're done capturing,
you'll see this screen where you can make edits.
You can combine clips, make cuts, add titles,
and clean up the footage using adjustments
like denoise and stabilize.
You can also do some basic color correction;
however, I'm going to keep my footage as is and click Next.
On the Export screen,
you can save it to a file, a DVD, or to MyDVD.
I just want to save the file on my computer,
so I'll choose the File option.
Click on File in the device's window.
I can choose where I want to save the file
by clicking on the three dots here.
Under advanced settings,
I can choose the compression, resolution,
frame rate, and the data rate.
I'm going to select the compression type to be H.264,
since that's a common video format.
However, feel free to pick the one that works best for you.
I'll keep the rest of the settings intact
and then click Export.
It'll process the video
and save it to the location I selected.
The processing time depends on the length of the footage
and the options you selected.
For example, if you added a few edits
or stabilization to the footage,
it'll take more time to process.
Once it's done,
I'll open the location to see the final file.
And here it is.
Pretty cool, right?
Now that you've digitized your footage,
it would be wise to back it up.
For tips and best practices on backing up content
either locally or to the cloud,
check out another Tech Tips video that we made.
There's a link in the notes below.
And that's it.
With the right software and hardware,
you can easily convert tapes to digital
so they can be shared with others.
Hopefully this video was helpful.
If it was, give it a like.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.
And don't forget to subscribe to our channel
for more Tech Tips from Best Buy.
Thanks for watching.