Tuesday, December 16, 2014
It’s easy, and this is one of those things that we are NOT going to do by ourselves.
There are three main steps to get old films to smart devices, such as iPads, or iPhones.
Step 1. Films to DVD.
Step 2. DVD to movie files.
Step 3. Upload to YouTubes, or directly to smart devices.
Let’s talk about how we can achieve each step easily.
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| photo by Blake Patterson, Bev Sykes, Jussi |
Step 1. Films to DVD.
Today, most common choice is to put old films on DVDs. And since it’s a common choice, it actually is easy to find places where the job can be done for a reasonable price. Pull the yellow page out, and find any video production relative service in your area, and chances are they often offer this type of service. However, if it happens there is nothing near by, you actually can get this old films to DVD services in the Walgreen and the Wal-Mart. Surely, not all of their locations carry this service, but ask around and you will find it easier than you imagine.
Do the DVD, because there is no need to put old films on the blu-ray. If you recall how blurry those films look like, it is not hard to understand there is no high quality needed to be preserved on blu-ray. In plain English, let’s save the money for a better use.
In some places, you may find stores that can also convert old films to USB, old film movie files on USB drives. If this is the case, and if the price is reasonable, the best way is to get both DVDs and USB. Thus, you can skip the step 2 for good.
Step 2. DVD to movie files.
Once you get the old films on DVD, now, we are going to convert movies from DVD to a computer movie files. This step normally is called ripping a DVD, and when you search for DVD ripper or DVD ripping tools, you will be surprised to find tons of them out there and most of them are free.
For this step, we recommend calling for a tech-helper. They should help you to get the job done in a while, because it does take a computer some time to convert files.
What you need to do on this step is decide WHERE you are going to store those movie files. And the location does affect what type of movie files they get converted. Often, I recommend students to upload old films on the YouTube. And why YouTube, because it’s free and it’s easy to access. We can upload our old films, now as movies files to YouTube under “unlisted”. Unlisted means you can share your YouTube videos with others, but others can’t search YouTube to find your videos, unless they know the web address. It’s like we don’t list our phone numbers on the yellow page, but people who know our numbers can still call us by dialing our numbers on the phone. By unlisting the videos, it gives us the privacy to know others can’t just fish out our life by googling our names, but at the same time we have the ability to share videos with people we want.
YouTube accepts many video formats. The most common one is mp4 or many ripper tools simply listed as output to YouTube. This step may take some time, and meanwhile you can get familiar with video upload in YouTube.
Step 3. Upload to YouTube, or directly to smart devices.
Anyone who has a Gmail account can open a YouTube account. After the login, the upload button is on the upper right hand corner. It’s easy to upload videos in YouTube, and if you are new at this, get a book, attend a class or simply ask someone to show you; it’s easy. How long it takes YouTube to upload a video will depend on the speed of the internet, and the length of the video. You can upload 2 or 3 movie files a day and the job will be done before you notice.
As for most seniors, like my parents, they are happy to just see those good old time relive on YouTube, since they can post them on Facebook, share links with friends, and most of all, they love to watch them on the iPad at home or show them during family gatherings.
Here is an 8mm home movie from YouTube:
Read related article: Yes, It’s Time To Have A Tech-Helper.
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Now, you can either read the related articles, or share this page. Then get up and enjoy your life.
