How to digitise
old home videos.

The format decides how you digitise it, so sort the box first. Most family collections are a mix of these.

Because the tape and the machines are both running out. John Van Bogart’s 1995 guide, now published by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), says that, going by manufacturers’ data sheets, thirty years appears to be the upper limit for magnetic tape, including video and audio tapes. It compares those figures to miles-per-gallon ratings, since real results depend on how a tape has been kept, and it notes that a recording technology is lucky to stay current for more than twenty years. Anything taped before about 1996 is now past thirty.

The machines are the other half. The New York State Archives warns that videotapes do not last forever and that the equipment needed to play them is becoming increasingly scarce. Funai, which made 15 million VCRs in 2000 and 750,000 in 2015, stopped production in 2016 because the makers of key components were pulling out.

Playing a tape wears it, too. The Library of Congress says analogue videotape is fragile, that the more you play a tape the more you wear it down, and that each copy of a copy loses picture and sound quality, which it calls generational decay. So aim to play each tape once, straight into a digital file, rather than copying tape to tape.

Cine film has a risk of its own. The US National Archives says acetate film can suffer acidic decay, known as vinegar syndrome, and that the most typical sign is a strong smell of vinegar. Put any reel that smells of vinegar at the front of the queue.

For VHS and camcorder tapes in good condition, doing it yourself is realistic if you have a working machine. For cine film, damaged tapes and formats you can’t play, use a specialist: the New York State Archives says tapes in poor condition or obsolete formats should be digitally reformatted by experts equipped to copy them. If you are doing it at home, this is the usual route for VHS.

A digital camcorder with video inputs can do the same job. The Library of Congress notes that many can act as a pass-through device between the VCR and the computer, though the picture may not be as good as with a standalone converter.

Cine film is different. The US National Archives says damage is possible each time an original film is projected, and that some old films look fine but are too warped or brittle to run. It suggests having films digitised by a reputable vendor, notes that most professional post-production houses can scan film while handling it safely, and says even home movies copied for personal use are best scanned in high definition (HD).

What to ask a transfer service

• Two versions of each film or tape: a preservation copy for keeping and an access copy for easy viewing, which is what the US National Archives suggests asking a film vendor for.
• Files named and organised the way you want, with the title, date and place of each reel or tape noted alongside.
• Delivery on a hard drive, not only as a download link. The National Archives prefers physical media to cloud-only delivery, and says to keep a backup copy.
• Your originals back, and how the service handles fragile film and tape.

Two files, not one. The US National Archives recommends a preservation copy at high resolution and bitrate, uncompressed or lossless and in an open, non-proprietary format, plus an access copy that can be smaller and more compressed for easy viewing. The Library of Congress’s Recommended Formats Statement makes the same split: for preservation it lists formats such as FFV1 in a Matroska (.mkv) file and Apple ProRes in a QuickTime (.mov) file, and it mentions MP4 only as a viewing proxy.

Then look after the files. The Library of Congress recommends at least two copies, stored as far apart as practical, checked at least once a year and copied to new media every five years or when necessary. Our guide to backing up family photos explains the 3-2-1 rule, which works the same way for video, and how long photos last compares discs, drives and tape.

Keep them. The US National Archives says to retain original materials after duplication, because the originals may outlast the copy, and the New York State Archives says to keep your original tapes as well as your digital copies.

Film lasts longest cold. The US National Archives says cold storage, at 35°F (about 2°C) or lower, is very important for preserving acetate film, but it also warns that cold storage needs special packaging and steps. So don’t just put reels in the fridge: for most families, a cool, steady cupboard and a good scan is the realistic plan. Slides and negatives have their own guide to digitising slides and negatives.

Once the tapes are safe, the work that matters is finding out what is on them. A box of tapes can hold many hours, and nobody will watch them all from start to finish.

Old cassettes of voices need the same rescue, with different settings: see our guide to digitising cassette tapes.

A full transfer runs to hours. Ancestorii is for the moments in it that your family will want to watch again, with the story attached. Upload a short clip to a private family album and the relatives you invite can give it a name, a date in plain words such as “Summer 1994”, their written memories and voice notes. Or add it to a moment on your family timeline, where they can comment and record what they remember. Only the family members you invite can see it.

The Free plan needs no card. Its allowances are videos up to 5 minutes and files up to 20 MB each, with 1 GB of storage shared by the family, which suits short clips. Premium is £3.99 a month per family, with videos up to 15 minutes, files up to 10 GB and 100 GB of storage; see pricing. Either way, it is a home for the clips worth explaining, not a replacement for your backups, so keep the full masters on your own drives.