The New York Times on Video Conversion

We were excited to see New York Times tech columnist David Pogue recently considering options for transferring old home movies from old media to newer digital options. Though, we empathized with his quandary. His recent articles, “Moving Taped Past Into Hard Drive Future” and “Why We Make Home Videos,” tapped into a crucial question that many of us face: how to migrate older photos and home movies to newer, “friendlier” digital formats, to media that we can share easily with others and that can be preserved for many years to come.

A suggestion to take some of that burden off of David’s shoulders: check out our MemorySafe service. MemorySafe is available to YesVideo’s customers who have converted old photos and videos from analog media (such as 8 mm, VHS, etc.) to DVD using the YesDVD service at Walgreens and CVS. MemorySafe is a subscription service that gives you the ability to preserve YesDVDs online. Here’s the part we believe will catch Mr. Pogue’s eye – MemorySafe’s digital archive makes it possible to convert footage in the future into other popular viewing formats, so that memories can continually enter a new digital era!

Imagine:

• Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding transferred from disintegrating film reels and shared with relatives across the country online via MemorySafe and preserved perfectly for years to come.
• Laugh again at your brother’s first birthday party, once recorded on VHS and now archived for him to access while away at college and beyond.
• Take the best slides from your family’s trips to Cape Cod decades ago, transfer them YesDVD and share them with your friends on Facebook.

And, families can easily access their full collection of YesDVDs in MemorySafe's Memory Manager. Generations of family memories that were originally recorded on videotapes, reels and slides can all be organized into one online library which makes sorting, sharing and viewing a breeze.

It’s easy to get started. YesDVDs ordered at any CVS/Pharmacy or Walgreens location automatically include 30 days of free MemorySafe access.

We hope more people realize that conversion and archiving services are readily available to them more and more precious memories can be saved from fading away.

Make a Commitment to Family Memories

We are a few weeks into the New Year and many people have already lapsed on their resolutions. Let’s move beyond resolutions and towards a simple approach for capturing, saving and sharing family memories.

We encourage you to make a commitment to your families memories. When it comes to your family memories, try to set goals that inspire and motivate you. Use your family’s hobbies and interests as inspiration. Use special occasion dates as motivational goals.

Here are three simple mantras to approach and tackle this commitment.

1. I will take my camera with me. Avoid missing outstanding photo opportunities by making a habit of having your camera in your purse or bag. Check out “project 365” to find clever ideas for daily photos.

2. I will protect my memories. We used to save negatives in a fireproof box, but your whole computer can’t live inside that box. Backup your images to external hard drives, data DVDs or online storage sites.

3. I will share my photos with others. Your pictures are not pleasing anyone sitting on your hard drive or in a box. Upload your images to a sharing site. Print doubles and hand them out to family members. Keep several frames for rotating images. Create custom or personalize photo gift for family members.

If you follow these three mantras you will end up with incredible memories that are organized and shared!

How to Save and Easily Share Generations of Memories

VHS and camcorder tapes were once a suitable way to capture life's special moments, but an imperfect way to store them. Over time, home videotapes degrade and deteriorate with each viewing. Protect your family memories by digitizing your old media with video conversion.

Step 1
Understand the Benefits of Conversion

Transferring videotapes, movie reels and still photos to a digital format, such as DVD, provide several benefits including:

• Video and images are easy to watch and share on a DVD player. DVDs are organized into menus and chapters that make it easy to find your favorite scene.

• Sharing images with others in finally an option since the slides and prints are converted to digital files, which are easy to share via email and on the web.

• Having slides and photo prints transferred to DVD is a great way to archive and organize one's collection.

• Converting to digital will make it easier to move footage onto whatever medium technology advances bring us, thus securing footage and images for future generation 20, 30, 50 years from today.

• Video conversion preserves those memories without any further losses in video or audio quality.

Step 2

Sort Through Generations of Memories

Collect all your old media such as photo prints, 35mm projector slides, 8mm movie film, VHS and camcorder tapes and decide which memories you want to preserve.

Step 3

Choose The Right Transfer Service

Once you are ready to digitize your old media, select a transfer service. Many companies offer digitization services for video and images. Some things to consider when evaluating media conversions services include: convenience, media formats, quality, security, pricing, personalization, organization, online viewing, sharing and archiving.

Step 4

Complete Your Order

After selecting your transfer service, it's time to complete your order. Many national retail locations like Costco, CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid, Ritz/Wolf Camera, and Walgreens offer a drop-off service through companies such as YesVideo's YesDVD transfer service, a trusted name in video conversion. Simply bring your tapes, reel and slides to the photo counter and pick up your finished order in about 3 weeks.

Resources
Film Forever: The Home Film Preservation Guide
YesVideo: Video Transfer Frequently Asked Questions

Organize, Relive, and Share Home Movies and Videos

New Year’s has always been a time for reflecting upon the past, and more importantly, resolving to follow through with changes we need to make in the coming year. Is getting organized one of your resolutions this year? If you answered “Yes!”, here are some ideas for organizing and sharing your photos, movie film and video memories. Organization doesn’t have to be scary.

Take baby steps.
Focus on recent memories. The holidays are fresh on your mind; start with organizing and sharing these memories first.

You've snapped digital photos and filmed video of cookie decorating, ice skating, singing carols, and present opening. Now what do you do with them all? We recommend choosing your favorite photos and videos and creating a SmileShow YesDVD. Present your family and friends with one final unique memento.

Time is the enemy.
Keep the momentum going and use the same organization process to tackle that box of aging home movies. Motivate yourself with a project goal and reward.


Goal: Set a realistic date to transfer your old media to DVD (give yourself a few months) and mark the date
on a calendar — making it “real” goal.

Reward: Plan a family movie night and relive those memories after the project is complete.


Wouldn’t it be nice to watch and relive birthday celebrations, your child’s first steps and other special moments captured on movie film, slides and videotapes? These memories have been packed away in boxes, you haven’t seen them in years and storage has taken a toll on these old film reels and videotapes. Heat, humidity, improper storage and time cause deterioration. By converting those old film reels, slides and VHS tapes to a digital format, you can effectively stop deterioration in its tracks. The digital format also allows you to use your computer to edit out the boring and blooper moments, add music, and make extra copies for your family and friends.

Protecting your memories.
Now that you have organized and transferred your old media to DVD, you should consider how you are going to store and protect these DVDs.

We recommend protecting your transferred media on MemorySafe, but there are other options.
Fireproof Safe - You can buy or burn a second copy every time you have something new to save.
PC Backup Service - You can pay for a backup service, upload and manage the large files yourself.
Expensive Equipment - You can buy a $200 external hard drive, backup your media and hope nothing tragic happens to your home.
No Backup - You can do nothing and not worry about backing up your media.

Priceless memories.
Now that you have successfully organized your memories, don’t wait for New Year’s 2011 to reflect upon the past; relive, enjoy and share your memories throughout the year. You might want to consider giving these priceless memories as gifts for Mother’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Anniversaries and other sentimental occasions.

Happy Holidays and a Joyful New Year from YesVideo

As the holiday season winds down and another year comes to an end, we want to take this time to thank each of you for making 2009 so memorable. We wish all of you well and look forward to a new year full of creating, capturing, and future-proofing memories together.

With 2010 just around the corner, we have already begun to think about New Year’s resolutions and are sure you have begun to think the same. The beginning of a new year is such an exciting time as it offers all of us a fresh start to so many things. Maybe you have a new home project you are ready to tackle or are determined to finally clean out that garage. Whatever the case may be, we wish you much success in your upcoming endeavors and hope that you remember to take the time to document your life moments through photo and video.

Finally, we want to say a very special thank you to our soldiers and their families, especially those who are unable to spend the holidays with their loved ones this year. We understand how a video from home can touch a person’s heart, especially when miles away from home. We ask that you please keep these amazing men and women in your hearts this holiday and encourage all of you to record and send a heartwarming holiday video message to our troops by clicking here.

Best wishes for a very Happy Holiday and a truly memorable New Year!

Cheers,
YesVideo

Capture the Holiday Spirit with Photo and Video Memories

The holiday season is a time for celebration and joy and in many cases, one of the seldom occasions where the entire family comes together. YesVideo encourages you to take advantage of this precious time and capture all the magical moments on photo and video. To make sure that every last memory is future proofed, YesVideo has devised a sure-fire method for recording all of the seasons highlights.

Plan Ahead
In addition to planning your holiday dinner menu, think ahead about what you want to remember about this special time of year when you have all of your family members under one roof. Create a list in advance of all the “must have” photos and video that you want and use it as a guide when all the guests have arrived.

Notify Guests
To ensure that your guests arrive camera-ready and won’t become camera shy at the last minute, let them know in advance that hope to document your time with them through photo and video. This way all your expectations will be fulfilled and no one will feel uncomfortable during the process.

Don’t Stop Shooting
There are so many opportunities for creating memories during the holidays. Our suggestion is to just keep shooting so that nothing is missed. Here is a list of some great events to catch:
• Guests arriving at your home
• Family portraits and group shots
• Children opening gifts
• Household pets in their holiday attire
• Décor (both inside and outside the home)
• The holiday feast and all the fixings
• Ask guests a festive question and record their answers

Let YesVideo Help You Create New Holiday Traditions

There is something about the holiday season that makes us feel nostalgic and we think that is in part due to the ever present family traditions that come into play during this special time. This got us thinking, how does one go about creating new holiday traditions? We thought we would share our ideas here with you and want to encourage you to share yours with us by submitting your comments on our blog, Facebook or Twitter pages.

Family Movie Night – Be the Star of Your Own Film
Piece together photos and videos of your favorite past holiday memories to create a SmileShow DVD (reminder that the holiday shipping deadline for Holiday SmileShow is December 14th) and watch it together as a family as you come together each year. Include photos of distant relatives and lost ones to make for a truly special reminder of what the holiday season is really about.

Remind One Another Why You Fell So In Love
Take the time each holiday season to reflect back on all the little things that made you fall head over heels in love with another. Create a montage of your early dating photos and/or wedding photos and surprise your special someone with a loving holiday gift that will last a lifetime.

It seems that creating new holiday traditions is not only on our minds this holiday season, but a few others as well. Here is a list of some of our favorites.

Ten Ways to Create Meaningful (and Frugal) Holiday Traditions – WTEN.com

Creating Holiday Memories and Traditions – Type-A Mom

New Decade, New Traditions – Scholastic.com

6 Weeks Till Christmas: Create a New Family Tradition – Simple Mom