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Video Transfer to DVD - (Analog and Digital)


pete_s6

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<p>I am in the planning stages of starting a small, part-time business to transfer prints, negs, & slides to digital. I know there are many companies doing this, but I plan on a local focus for the business.</p>

<p>My question involves potentially adding video transfer capabilities. I tried to do this with my own videos and was not successful using a $75 software/hardware kit from Honestech. I'm wondering what & how the large commercial video transfer companies accomplish this given the large number of video formats & sizes. Can anyone enlighten me or point me in the right direction? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance, Pete</p>

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<p>Roxio makes a USB interface and software to go with it, but it might not be any different than what you tried. Just about any video editing software from Windows Moviemaker on up can be used to create DVDs from just about any video source provided you have the hardware to get the signal into the computer. <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com">www.bhphotovideo.com</a> sells a variety of input cards, as does <a href="http://www.markertek.com">www.markertek.com</a> which is a professional video supply house for production companies and broadcasters.<br /><br />To be honest, however, proposals that start off "I'm starting a business, what equipment should I buy and how do I use it?" are a little worrisome. It's much more comforting to hear from someone who says "I've been doing this for years and I can do it with my eyes closed, how do I start making money off of it."</p>
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Craig,

Thanks for your response. A couple

things about my proposed business.

I'm currently scanning a large group of

family photos, slides and negatives

using an epson flatbed scanner and a

Nikon coolscan 5000, so I'm only into

this project for ~$2000. After I finish

my project, I have several friends lined

up that want some scanning done.

After that, I'll decide if I will start the

business.

 

Secondly, I'm semi retired and looking

for something to do. (I also don't need

the money)

 

My interest in the video transfer is the

fact that everyone my age (54) has

tons of videos that we never watch due

to the inconvenience. I believe if I

started the photo/slide/neg business, I

would have a lot of inquires about

video.

 

Thanks again (& sorry for the long

post)!

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<p>Pete -- I'm same age as you and sometimes I wish I was retired. :)<br /><br />Didn't mean to be harsh. We just get a ton of posts on here along the lines of "I'm shooting a wedding this weekend, what settings should I use" or "I'm opening a photography business, what kind of camera should I buy?" What you're talking about is much more reasonable.<br /><br />My only word of caution would be that scanning on consumer equipment is extremely time consuming. Not like commercial equipment that can zip through a roll in a couple of minutes, burn it to disc and print a label all without human intervention. And that's what you're up against -- the thousands of places that do this in volume and have it down to a science. If you can get the work and are doing it for fun that's one thing. But I thought about doing the same thing myself and realized I'd be going good to make a couple of dollars an hour.</p>
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