Save those Precious Old Videotapes
Preserve your video memories on DVD or USB
Virtuous Video are Bristol's experts in converting your home movies and camcorder tapes onto DVD and USB formats. We support VHS and all the popular camcorder formats.
Save those videos!
Video tape was designed to last 10-15 years in ideal conditions, so yours are probably already deteriorating. Let us put them safely onto DVDs or USB which you can enjoy for years to come.
DVD or USB
Choose between DVDs you can play on any DVD player, or you can have your videos converted to files on a USB memory stick playable on any PC or Mac or on your smartphone or tablet.
Share and Enjoy
Let your kids watch your wedding video. Save those precious videos of the children and grandchildren! Enjoy shared memories of fun times, places and people that you haven't watched in a long time.
Our Services
We can convert your old videos in tired, hard to use and fragile formats into modern, durable digital formats.
We accept VHS videos and Compact-VHS, MiniDV, 8mm, Hi8 and Digital8 camcorder tapes. We then capture these on our top-grade video equipment and create DVDs or files on a USB memory stick from the results.
Convert Tapes to DVD
DVDs can be played in almost any DVD player made in the last 20 years, or on any laptop, desktop or Mac with a DVD drive.
Convert Tapes to USB
We can add as many tapes as you like onto a USB drive. You can edit them, share them with family and friends, or even upload to Youtube. USBs will work in PCs, Macs and most smart TVs.
Pricing
Price per tape
£10
Any tape up to 1 hour
£12
Any tape up to 2 hours
£14
Any tape up to 3 hours
Add £2 per hour for any tape longer than 3 hours
Then add one of the following
£10
USB Memory Stick
Large enough to hold all of your tapes in good quality MP4 format which will work on PC, Mac and most TVs
£10
DVDs
One charge covers all DVDs, supplied in quality library cases, one tape per DVD
Additional copies of any DVD £6
Additional USB (up to 32GB) £10
Return postage £6
(free postage if order is over £100)
For example, 4 x 2 hour tapes transferred to USB would be 4 x £12 + £10 = £58
And that's it - simple
How to Order
Just get in touch, we'll ask a few questions about your tapes and what you want done with them, and explain how to get them to us.
Or, in much, much, more detail:
1. Tell us how we can help
Whether it’s one tape or 100, we are happy to help. Ordering couldn’t be simpler. For smaller orders or straightforward larger ones, just use our easy order form to describe your order – you can download it here.
For anything more complex, such as large orders with combinations of different media to be converted, you can either write up your instructions on a clean sheet of paper, or on Post-It notes attached to each item to be converted.
If anything is unclear, we’ll contact you so be sure to leave a phone number and an email address. Oh, and don’t forget to drop us a note to let us know it’s coming!
If anything is not clear, drop us a line at enquiry@videoconvert.co.uk, or by phone at 0117 230 0649.
2. Get your tapes to us
You can drop off your order to us in person. Please do let us know in advance when to expect you, to be sure we’ll be here to meet you.
Or
By Post. We use Royal Mail and strongly recommend you do the same. Pack up your order, including a signed copy of the order form and send it to us at: VideoConvert, 68 Church Road, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8SE
We will return your originals, along with all conversions within 10 working days, but usually sooner.
3. Payment
There is no need to pay in advance, we will process your order and let you know the final cost by email once it’s complete. You can then pay us by Card, Bank Transfer or cash (if you are collecting).
Many thanks for trusting us with your treasured items, we will be sure to treat them as carefully as we do our own
About Us
VideoConvert is part of Virtuous Networking Ltd, an IT services company operating since 2010. We are based in Bristol and provide services to customers all over the UK. Unlike some of our competitors, we are a real company, properly registered and run, our company number is 07138095 as registered at Companies House.
If you have any queries, don’t hesitate to contact us on 0117 230 0649, or email enquiry@videoconvert.co.uk.
Contact Us
We’re happy to give advice on how best to meet your needs – emails are generally responded to within a day, more usually within an hour.
Questions?
Although feel free just to ask rather than wade through these !
What tapes can you accept?
We can convert any of the popular formats:
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VHS
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Compact VHS/VHSC, this is the one that fits in a larger tape adapter and then goes in a standard VHS recorder.
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MiniDV
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Video8
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Hi8
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Digital8
We don’t do cine film or Betamax.
For copyright reasons we can't transfer any tapes you purchased (films, TV etc) or anything you recorded from the TV.
DVD or USB?
Unless you have a very specific reason for wanting a DVD, we'd generally recommend USB. You can plug the USB stick directly into almost all modern TVs and watch the films on it in much the same way you would watch a DVD. And unlike a DVD, you can copy the files to friends and family, edit them using standard software supplied with both Windows and Macs, you can even upload the files to YouTube.
What type of tape do I have?
There is a very comprehensive guide covering everything you’ll ever see here: http://www.arts.texas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/video.pdf. Most of them are professional formats, you’re unlikely to have anything other than VHS, VHS-C, Betamax, MiniDV, Video8, Digital8 and Hi8.
How long will it take to convert my tapes?
For orders up to 20 tapes, we would normally turn these around in a week, often less. Larger orders may take longer, just let us know if you need your order back by a particular day – we’ll give you an honest answer if it’s possible.
I need a tape converted urgently – can you do that?
Usually yes for orders of up to 5 tapes, ask and we’ll give you an honest answer. Your order will be returned either same day or next day depending on length and when you can get them to us. Urgent orders are at double the cost of normal orders.
What format should I choose for the files on my USB?
For the vast majority of users, we strongly suggest MP4. This is a modern widely supported format , and works on Windows, Mac, iPad/iPhone, Android, Smart TVs and practically every streaming device available. If you’re not sure what you want, then you almost certainly want MP4.
If you have a particular target device in mind, let us know and we can tailor the files to that device. If you have a preference for a particular format then just ask, we can generate almost any format.
Will these USB files work on my tablet, streamer, widget, TV, whatever?
If you choose MP4, then almost certainly yes. If you are not sure what your viewing device is capable of, then get in touch and ask at enquiry@videoconvert.co.uk. In the unlikely event we don’t know, then we’ll send you a sample which you can try out to be sure.
What sort of USB memory sticks do you use?
We use only top quality branded USB memory sticks, usually Kingston, Lexar or Sandisk. They are brand new, and supplied in their original packaging. The stick is of course yours to keep.
If you would prefer something else, eg a particular type of stick or a portable hard drive, then just let us know.
How will you format my USB stick/drive?
We generally use FAT32 where possible but if file sizes demand it we need to use exFAT. Unfortunately most streaming TVs do not recognise exFAT. (If you want to use your USB in a TV, let us know and we’ll use FAT32 format on the stick and split the files into smaller chunks.) The actual MP4 files are the same regardless.
Will the DVD work in my DVD player?
Your DVD player needs to recognise DVD-Rs which were invented in 1997 and became widely supported in the few years after. If it was made since 2000, almost certainly yes (although obviously we can't guarantee that as there are thousands of different models). If older than 2000 then maybe not.