Digitizing videotapes/compressing pics (advice needed)

[The Internet]

2 questions for someone who is tech-minded:

1.) I have lots of mainstream stuff on videotapes....videotapes I'd LOVE to get rid before I croak, and my family finds them! 😛 So.....what's the best way of doing this?

2.) I also have some scans I did a few years ago and for some reason, some of them came out bigger than 8 mb! Sometimes they're, like, 14mb! So I have a hard time even using online compression so that I can shrink the file size and attach them to a post (you can only go up to 5 mb, I believe, on a picture attachment).

I have Photoshop on this Mac someone gave me....but I cannot figure out how to shrink the file size! Even when I did some online tutorials.

I also have Arc Soft Photo Editor 5.5 on my PC. Ditto, I have not been able to shrink the file size.


Sorry to bug the Forum with this, but I'd like to get this stuff done FOR the Forum! 🙂

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[The Internet]

In regards to digitizing videotapes, if you google around, you will find that there are stores that will do this for you. It's not very expensive from what I have heard.

Have you tried this to reduce the size of your photos?

Best of luck.

Hey, thanks for responding. That's not what I'm looking for, though, I'm not giving my videotapes to stores, I want to digitize them myself. I have millions of tapes, of mainsteam stuff, I want to be able to create clips, not just have it on a DVD.

And yeah, regarding these online converters: they have a 5mb limit, sometimes a little more, so they're not much help. Some of the files I want to convert are currently up to 11 mb. Even though they're just jpg or png files.

But thanks for looking out for me!

 

[His Divine Shadow]

I have been slowly digitizing old family tapes, and the easiest way I have found is:

1) Get a working VCR/other media player (for example, old camcorder tapes may need the camcorder or a VCR adapter).
2) Buy something that will take the VCR output and turn it into something your computer can use. RCA to USB is what you want, most likely. The Ion Video 2 PC is what I use (http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/video-2-pc-mkii). This will not output full HD, but if you have VHS tapes then you do not have full HD anyway unless you have some truly weird videocassetes.
3) Get ready to sit and wait, as conversion is usually in real-time.

Whatever you buy will probably come with some basic editing software. I use Adobe's suite for complex things, but Premiere Pro is a pain to learn if you are not already an Adobe master. A free program that will convert audio and video files is XMedia Recode (http://www.xmedia-recode.de/en/download.html), which is nifty because you can install it as a portable app and carry it around on a USB flash drive in case you need to work on a computer that is not your own. The interface is not the best, but for basic conversion and light editing it will do.

If the scan is large (pixel dimensions), you may need to shrink it before you will get a manageable size. If you use the Save For Web function in Photoshop (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S) and that does not bring it down to a manageable size (one something like the JPEG medium preset), then you will probably need to reduce the dimensions first.

That is the most I have written in a post in years. I do not know what has come over me. Must be the late hour ...

 

[The Internet]

I have been slowly digitizing old family tapes, and the easiest way I have found is:

1) Get a working VCR/other media player (for example, old camcorder tapes may need the camcorder or a VCR adapter).
2) Buy something that will take the VCR output and turn it into something your computer can use. RCA to USB is what you want, most likely. The Ion Video 2 PC is what I use (http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/video-2-pc-mkii). This will not output full HD, but if you have VHS tapes then you do not have full HD anyway unless you have some truly weird videocassetes.
3) Get ready to sit and wait, as conversion is usually in real-time.

Whatever you buy will probably come with some basic editing software. I use Adobe's suite for complex things, but Premiere Pro is a pain to learn if you are not already an Adobe master. A free program that will convert audio and video files is XMedia Recode (http://www.xmedia-recode.de/en/download.html), which is nifty because you can install it as a portable app and carry it around on a USB flash drive in case you need to work on a computer that is not your own. The interface is not the best, but for basic conversion and light editing it will do.

If the scan is large (pixel dimensions), you may need to shrink it before you will get a manageable size. If you use the Save For Web function in Photoshop (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S) and that does not bring it down to a manageable size (one something like the JPEG medium preset), then you will probably need to reduce the dimensions first.

That is the most I have written in a post in years. I do not know what has come over me. Must be the late hour ...

Aaa gaaaaaaaa...i can't even speak......i feel like i just sited a ufo, or a bald eagle!!!! Is anyone else seeing this??!!!

I wake up from a deep sleep...... and it's like Santa was here!!

THANK YOU, HDS! Gigantic help! I was wondering about those Ionaudio machines!.....I was hoping to find an endorsement of such a product here....and sure enough, you've done it! (I was worried about possibly audio syncing issues, or simply a product that wouldn't work once it arrived, which was my Dad's experience with a cassette-USB player.)

And yes, I was able to get the file size down, no problem! That's good news for the Images section!

I feel like I just saw the Aurora Borealis! Thank you, O Wise One!

What priceless technical information lurks in the far reaches of the TMF........the Shadow knows.....! 😉

 

[The Internet]

Show off.

Lol. He's the man!

(Thanks again, Jorschach for taking a shot at it.)

 

[His Divine Shadow]

I do not know everything, but this I am doing myself, so for once I know what I am talking about. Good luck.

Show off.

You woke me up and now you complain. 😀

 

[The Internet]

Thanks, HDS! Already was able to shrink down those pics! Will be buying that unit later this week! Thanks, again! 🙂