Video Tape Transfer

• Consumer tapes: VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Video8, 8mm, miniDV
• Professional tapes: Hi-def miniDV, BetaCam, BetaCamSP, 3/4″ Umatic
• Foreign formats: PAL/SECAM

Your format is not listed above? Call us at 617-332-3300 so we can refer you to other transfer labs that can work with your format.

1. For standard VHS tapes, if your tape is 1 hour or less, it costs $21.95 per tape.
2. If your tape is between 1 and 2 hours, it costs $26.95 per tape.
3. If the tape is recorded in long play mode, it can go over 2 hours. Since a DVD can only fit up to 2 hours, we will need to go to multiple DVDs which costs additional $10/hour.
4. Do you have 10 tapes or more? We have an aggressive volume discount up to 30%.

• That depends how long your video tape is. A DVD fits up to 2 hours.
• If your video runs over 2 hours, it will need to go to a 2nd DVD
• Video tapes recorded in standard mode is 2 hours long – that will fit on one DVD.
• If the tape is recorded in long play mode, it can go up to 6 hours. 
• You don’t need to know the exact recording time length of your tape. Our lab report will show you the actual recording length, and you will be charged for the actual recording time

• Yes.  You can combine up to three tapes into 1 DVD as long as the total run time is under 2 hours.
• There is an additional combine fee of $15 per additional tape.
• This is because combining tapes require us to ‘babysit’ the tapes to make sure we stop the recording when one tape ends, and start the next one.

• Because we transfer all our tapes on-site, our turnaround is pretty quick.
• For an order of 5 tapes or fewer, it takes 3 to 5 business days.
• Let us know if you need it sooner, chances are we can accommodate (rush fees may apply).

1. It’s best if you tell us how many extra copies you need when you drop off your order.
2. Copies start at $10 a copy, goes all the way down to $5/copy for 100 copies or more.
3. If you need more copies after you pick up your order, just bring back your DVD and we can make copies while you wait.    
4. By the way, our DVDs are not copy-protected.  So if you have a DVD burner on your computer at home, you can make your own copies and save yourself some money.

There are several instances where your media will be returned without being converted to DVD. If we do not transfer your home movie or images for any of the following reasons, you will not be charged any fee:

• Blank or undeveloped film
• Media with extreme physical damage
• Non-supported Format
• Objectionable Material
• Copy Protection
• Copyright (unless you sign our Copyright Responsibility form)

Q. What do you transfer my tapes to?

DVD is for watching.  If you plan to edit your videos, we recommend going to a hard drive because :

• You can directly drag the files from your hard drive to your editing software.  DVDs require an additional step called DVD ripping to convert the files to a format your software can understand.
• You also get full-resolution files on a hard drive, whereas DVD files are compressed.  A one hour video is 12 Gig on a hard drive, but only 2 Gig on a DVD.  The bigger the file, the sharper the image quality.

1. Not directly.  DVD is formatted for viewing, not for editing.
2. You need to convert the DVD files to edit-able format your editing software can understand.
3. That step is called DVD ripping.  We can show you where to download a free DVD ripper software to do that.
4. If you want to prevent this extra step of RIPPING the DVD, please ask us to transfer the media to an external hard drive.  Remember to bring the hard drive when you come in with your media.

Please see our pricing page.

Call us at (617) 332-3300.  Or better still, drop by our brick-and-mortar store and on-site lab in Newton, MA.

You can also find frequently asked questions about our Film Transfer, Memory Cards/Sticks transfer, Image Scanning, Transferring to Hard Drive, audio transfer (cassettes, vinyl records, DAT) . Or return to our General FAQ page.