Many people have still video tapes with movies or memories they want to cherish forever. Within a few years you can't buy a new video recorder anymore ant it is time to transfer your old video tapes into DVD. It is even now difficult to buy a new recorder because most companies have stopped production and are aware of the digital revolution.

There are now many shops now trying to make money with transferring your old video's into DVD. Why should you pay $20.00 or more for transferring one video into DVD if you can do it easy by yourself? You can save a lot of money if you put some time in transferring your old video's into DVD and there are different possibilities. It is quite easy and can be done without knowledge of all the features of DVD recording.

These are three options which may help you to transfer your videos into DVD and it is preferable to choose the option which is best for your requirements:

A COMBO VIDEO/DVD RECORDER
If you have a combo video/DVD recorder it is easy to transfer your videotapes into DVD. You just need to play your video and push on the record button for transferring your tape into a DVD. It is not my preferable system of transferring video tapes into DVD because these recorders will disappear after some time. If you have such one now it is maybe the easies way but if you are searching for buying a recorder I don't recommend buying these kinds of recorders.

A DVD RECORDER WITH OR WITHOUT HARD DISK
Transferring your videotapes into DVD with a DVD recorder is quite easy. You only need a scart connection for connecting your video recorder with your DVD recorder. If you have done you can start with transferring your tapes into DVD.

I prefer a DVD recorder with hard disk because these recorders give more possibilities for making changes to your original recording. You can remove commercial breaks before you transfer your movie into a DVD disk. It is also possible to merge two programs into one. This is an excellent option if you have to merge two parts of one movie into one.

Before you start with transferring into DVD you need to check the disks you use. It is important to know if they are compatible with your DVD recorder. There are disks in different formats (DVD + R or RW or DVD R or RW). R means you can only use it once; RW disk can be used several times. Most recorders and DVD players can use both systems now.

A COMPUTER
Another possibility is using a computer. You need to connect your video recorder with your computer and you need software to burn this into DVD. This possibility gives you the most possibilities but it is more time consuming. Nero is a suitable program for burning your video tapes into DVD but there are many others available.

First at all you need to transfer your tapes into the hard disk of your computer and use some editing software for making changes and creating some menus like the DVD's you buy in a shop. You can change colours and make the pictures sharper, add some music and everything you can imagine.

If you have everything ready on your hard disk you can burn this into DVD.

These are the possibilities which may help you to transfer your old movies into DVD. An important note is to check the type of format for the DVD in which the DVD will be played. While PAL works in many countries; some will use SECAM.

Enjoy transferring your videotapes into DVD and your will have a nice memory for many years and a professional finish!

Learn more about this author, Erik Van Tongerloo.
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