Keep Those Home Movies Safe!

Last month, I met with a client who wanted me to incorporate some of her home videos into an interview I did of her grandmother. They are still on VHS video cassettes and she was dismayed to see that the quality of one of the tapes had deteriorated. The video was very dark and some parts were completely black. If you haven't converted your home videos to DVD yet, I strongly urge you to do so. To be on the safe side, I would try and find a place that's a small operation where you don't have to worry about shipping the tapes and where they convert them on site rather than mailing them to a company. Ask them specifically their procedure.

You can also get a fairly inexpensive DVD/VHS recorder that will let you convert them yourself. That's what I did except for some super 8 movies that were even older which I had done professionally and for those I requested same day service to put my mind at ease about them possibly getting lost.

While you're having them done, it's a good idea to have two made so you'll have a backup you can store in a different location.

--Bridget Poizner