Digitizing Family Movies - Transfer Videotapes to DVD

Digitizing Family Movies - Transfer Videotapes to DVD Somewhere in your house is a box or drawer full of videotapes - aging home movies full of birthdays, dance recitals, holiday gatherings, a childs first steps and other special family moments. You havent watched the movies in years but, unfortunately, the years are still taking their toll. Heat, humidity and improper storage cause videotapes to deteriorate, decaying the magnetic particles that represent your precious family memories. By converting those old VHS tapes to digital form, you can effectively stop the deterioration in its tracks. It also allows you to use your computer to edit out the boring and blooper moments, add music or narration, and make extra copies for your family and friends. What You Need The basic requirements are easy- a computer and a camcorder or VCR which can play your old videotapes. Other important items youll need include a device to get the video in and out of your computer (video capture), the software to edit it, and a DVD-burner to copy the video onto DVDs. Video Capture HardwareTransferring videotape to DVD is actually pretty easy to do yourself, but will require some special hardware. Depending on your computer setup, you may already have what you need. Three major options for transferring footage from old videotapes to computer include: Transfer footage via a video cardTo transfer video footage to your computer youll need the right cables and hardware. If you have a newer computer, you may already have what you need. Check the back of your computer and follow the cord coming from your monitor. If you see multicolored (red, white and yellow) plugs on the same card, then youre in luck. With a RCA A/V (audio/video) cable youll be able to directly connect your video camera or VCR directly to your computer. If your video card also has a round S-Video jack, use a S-Video cable in place of the yellow RCA video input for superior video quality. If your video card doesnt have RCA input jacks, you can also choose to replace it with a new video card. Transfer footage via a video capture card or deviceA cheaper and often easier alternative to replacing the entire video card in your computer is to add a video capture card. Youll need an empty PCI slot in the back of your computer to install one. Alternatively, there are some wh ich will plug into an available USB slot, which is easier than having to open your computer to plug in the card. Video capture cards usually come with software on CD which will walk you through the steps of transferring video from your VCR or Camcorder to your computer. Transfer footage via a video capture cardIf your computer doesnt have a DVD burner, then the best solution may be to purchase an external DVD recorder. These connect to the computer via a USB port and have built-in video capture technology, allowing you to capture video, edit it, and burn it to DVD with a single device. Digital Video SoftwareIn conjunction with the hardware, youll also need special software to capture, compress and edit the video footage on your computer. The digital video software assists you with capturing the video from your video camera or VCR, and also allows you to cut/edit the footage or add fun special effects such as narration, transitions, menus and background music. In some cases, digital video software may have come with your video capture card or device. If not, there are a number of free video editing programs, such as Windows Movie Maker, that can perform some of these functions. If you want to get fancy, then programs such as Adobe Premiere Elements, Corel VideoStudio, Apples Final Cut and Pinnacle Studio make it easy to get your movies on DVD with professional results. Plenty of Hard Drive SpaceIt may not sound like a big deal, but the hard drive on your computer will need a lot of free space when youre working with video - as much as 12-14 gigabytes (GB) of space for every hour of footage you import. If you dont have that much space to spare, consider purchasing an external hard drive. You can get a 200MB external hard drive for less than $300 enough room for plenty of video, plus a place to backup your photos, genealogy and other files. Working with such large files means that youll also need a powerful computer. A fast processor (CPU) and plenty of memory (RAM) will make it much easier to transfer and edit video. Transfer Edit Your Video Whichever video capture option you use- a special video card, a video capture card or a DVD recorder - the steps for capturing and editing the video from your camcorder or VCR are basically the same: Make the connections. Connect the cords from the output jacks on your old camcorder (if it plays videotapes) or VCR to the input jacks on your video capture card or DVD recorder. Capture the video. Open your video software and select the import or capture option. The software should then walk you through the steps necessary for recording the video to your computer. Save the video at the highest quality possible. Old videotapes are already of poor enough quality, without further degrading the footage more than necessary during the compression process. If youre short on space, then capture, edit and burn small sections of video at a time. Once youve burned the resulting video to DVD you can delete it from your hard drive, freeing up space for more video transfer. Edit out unwanted footage. Once youve transferred the video to your computer you can edit and rearrange the scenes into a nice finished product. Most digital video editing software will have already automatically separated yo ur raw video footage into scenes, making it easy to shuffle things around. Now is also the time to delete the boring stuff and edit out dead time, like the 20 minutes of footage you took with the lens cap on! Generally, this process is as easy as drag and drop. You can eliminate choppiness in the final product by adding cool transitions from scene to scene, such as fades and page turns. Other special features you may want to play with include titles, photos, narration, menus and background music. Create Your DVD When youre satisfied with your edited movies, its time to transfer them to DVD. Again the software will walk you through the steps. Just as with import, youll probably be given a choice of quality settings. For the best image quality limit the video you save on a single DVD to an hour or less. Choose a high-quality DVD-R or DVDR disk (not the rewritable version) on which to burn your video. Make at least one backup copy as well, maybe more if you plan to delete the digital video from your computers hard drive. Other Options for Transferring Video to DVD If you dont have a computer, there are options available for transferring video to DVD, sans PC, using a DVD recorder unit. If you want to do any editing before burning to DVD, youll need a DVD recorder unit with a hard drive. Fancy editing is still best done on a computer, however. Alternatively, you can pay a professional to convert your VHS tapes to DVD, although this service doesnt usually come cheap.

How to Use a Dash

How to Use a Dash The dash (- )  is a mark of punctuation  used to set off a word or phrase after an independent clause or a parenthetical remark (words, phrases, or clauses that interrupt a sentence). Dont confuse the dash (- ) with the hyphen (-): the dash is longer. As William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White explained in The Elements of Style: A  dash  is a mark of separation stronger than a  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹comma, less formal than a  colon, and more relaxed than  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹parentheses. There are actually two types of dashes, each with different uses: the  em dash- also called the long dash, according to Oxford Online Dictionaries- and the  en dash, which doesnt have another name but falls between the hyphen and em dash in terms of length.  The  en dash  is so named because it is approximately the equivalent width of the uppercase letter  N  and the  em dash  is roughly the width of an uppercase  M. Origins Merriam-Webster says the word  dash  comes from the  Middle English word  dasshen, which probably derives from the Middle French term  dachier,  meaning to impel forward. One current definition of the word  dash  is to break, which would well describe what a dash does in syntax. The  Online Etymology Dictionary  says the dash- a horizontal line used as a punctuation mark- first appeared in writing and printing in the 1550s. By the late 1800s, the dash had taken on some very specific roles. According to  Thomas MacKellar, in his 1885 book, The American Printer: A Manual of Typography : The em dash...is frequently used in particular works as a substitute for the comma or for the colon, and is found particularly serviceable in rhapsodical writing, where interrupted sentences frequently occur.   MacKellar noted several specific uses for the dash, including: A sign of repetition in catalogs of goods, where it means  ditto.In catalogs of books, where it was used instead of repeating an authors name.As a stand-in for the words  to  and  till, as in chap. xvi. 13-17. The last use would today be an  en dash, which indicates a range. The En Dash Though the Associated Press does not use the  en dash, the press service nicely describes how other styles  do  use the shorter dash.  Some other styles call for  en dashes  to indicate ranges of dates, times, or page numbers, or with some compound modifiers. For example: He worked from 9–5.  She works from 8 a.m.–5 p.m.The festival will take place March 15–31.For your homework, read pages 49–64. To create an  en dash  using a keyboard on a Windows-based system, hold down the Alt key and simultaneously type 0150. To create this punctuation mark on a  Macintosh-based system  hold down the Option  key  and press the Minus key  [-].  American Psychological Association notes that you would use the  en dash  for: Items of equal weight (test–retest, male–female, the Chicago–London flight).Page ranges (in references, â€Å"...Journal of Applied Psychology,  86, 718–729†).Other types of ranges (16–30 kHz). Angela Gibson, writing for the MLA Style Center, a writing resource for the Modern Languages Association, says the organization uses an en dash when a single compound adjective is a proper noun, as in: Pre–Industrial Revolution city. She notes that the MLA also calls for an  en dash when a compound in the predicate position includes a proper noun: The crowd was Beyoncà © Knowles–obsessed. The Em Dash The AP, which does use  em dashes, explains that these punctuation marks are  used: To signal an abrupt change.To set off a series within a phrase.Before attribution to an author or composer in some formats.After datelines.To start lists. AP style calls for a space on both sides of an  em  dash, but most other styles, including MLA and APA, omit the spaces. On a Windows-based system, you can form an  em dash  on a keyboard by holding down the Alt key and typing  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹0151. To create the em dash on a Macintosh-based system, hold down the  Shift  and  Option  keys and press the  Minus  key [-], notes  Techwalla, adding that alternatively, you can press the  Hyphen  key twice and press  Space. There are two basic ways to use an  em dash  in a sentence: After an independent clause: Author Saul Below, in My Paris, provides an example of using an  em dash  after an independent clause: Life, said Samuel Butler, is like giving a concert on the violin while learning to play the instrument- that, friends, is real wisdom. To set off words and phrases:  Writers have effectively used  em dashes  to shoehorn a parenthetical thought or remark into a sentence, as this quote illustrates: Copper Lincoln cents- pale zinc-coated steel for a year in the war- figure in my earliest impressions of money.- John Updike, A Sense of Change,  The New Yorker, April 26, 1999 Thoughts on the Dash For a tiny punctuation mark, the dash has sparked an unusual level of debate among writers, grammarians, and punctuation experts. The dash is seductive, says Ernest Gowers in The Complete Plain Words, a style, grammar, and punctuation reference guide. It tempts the writer to use it as a punctuation-maid-of-all-work that saves him the trouble of choosing the right stop. Some have expressed support for the dash: The dash is less formal than the semicolon, which makes it more attractive; it enhances conversational tone; and...it is capable of quite subtle effects. The main reason people use it, however, is that they know you cant use it wrongly.- Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots Leaves Other writers strenuously oppose using the mark: The problem with the  dash- as you may have noticed!- is that it discourages truly efficient writing. It also- and this might be its worst sin- disrupts the flow of a sentence. Dont you find it annoying- and you can tell me if you do, I wont be hurt- when a writer inserts a thought into the midst of another one thats not yet complete?- Norene Malone, The Case- Please Hear Me Out- Against the Em Dash.  Slate, May 24, 2011 So, next time you look in your toolkit of punctuation marks and see the  en dash  or  em dash  just waiting to be put to work, ensure that you are using these marks for the right reasons and following the rules discussed. Ask yourself if your  parenthetical remark  will add nuance and insight to your writing or just confuse the reader. If its the latter, return the dashes to your punctuation tool bag and use a comma, colon, or semicolon instead, or revise the sentence so that you can omit the dreaded dash. Source Gowers, Ernest. Plain Words: A Guide to the Use of English. Rebecca Gowers, Paperback, Penguin UK, October 1, 2015.