Video Artisan Service Announcement

COVID-19 Service Update

Videotape to DVD/USB conversion service during COVID-19 period

First of all, we are very appreciative of the continued interest in our video conversion services during the current COVID-19 pandemic – and for our customers’ patience during the stricter lockdown period where we have had to temporarily withdraw this service.

To maintain the safety of our customers and ourselves, we will be introducing some additional measures to help ensure we avoid any contamination and unnecessary close contact. 

Our system for processing this work for the foreseeable future is as follows:


Step 1 – Dropping off tapes, cine film, slides and other media

Customers should at first contact Video Artisan by phone on 020 3602 3356 to arrange a suitable time (which can include evenings and weekends if required).  This will be to our home office address at 174 Roding Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 3BS

Please bring your tapes or films in a carrier bag, box or other suitable container – and include your name and contact details inside – and a brief note on what you want them converted to.

Once at the drop off location please call 020 3602 3356 and we will personally accept your package – observing the government’s 2m social-distancing advice.

If customers would prefer to send in their media by post or courier, please ensure these are sent to 174 Roding Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 3BS – and include your contact details as mentioned above.

Step 2 – Quarantine

The scientific advice suggests that the COVID-19 virus can remain active on some surfaces for up to 72-hours.  We will therefore hold your media in storage for this period of time before handling and carrying out the conversion.  We will also take additional measures to clean external surfaces of media (ensuring this does not damage recordings) and use appropriate PPE wherever practical or advised by the authorities.

Step 3 – Completion and Payment

Once your media has been converted, we will contact you to arrange collection, and include a digital invoice that will include our online banking details.  Unfortunately, we will not be able to take cash during this period.  Once we have received confirmation that your payment has been made, we will contact you to arrange collection or postal delivery back to you.

Step 4 – Collection of DVDs/USBs and your original media

Collection will be carried out in the same manner as dropping off – in that we will observe the same 2m social-distancing advice.  Collection will be from Roding Road address at a mutually convenient time.


Further Information

We hope our customers will appreciate our approach to reintroducing this service during these difficult times.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 3602 3356 or by email to info@video-artisan.com.

Our prices and terms remain the same as those published here .

In the meantime, we look forward to helping you preserve and enjoy your precious memories for years to come. 

Kevin Cook
Proprietor, Video Artisan

Welcome to Video Artisan

Videographer – Corporate Video Producer – Cinematographer… Whatever our clients want us to be.

Video Production by Video Artisan

Corporate Video and Promotional Video Production services

Based on the edge of Epping Forest in Loughton, Essex – Video Artisan is a creative corporate video production and team of freelance videographers with extensive experience in helping companies and organisations of all sizes take advantage of video.

Whether you are looking to harness the power of YouTube or website video to improve your search engine optimisation, or you want to develop a series of public information films – or create a one-off company film, Video Artisan has the skills, resources and creative talents to deliver an imaginative and cost-effective solution for your next company video.

We also offer a range of video facilities and services to businesses and members of the public.  This includes video conversions, editing and freelance video production services. Full members of the Guild of Television Camera Professionals.

We have also recently installed a new talking-head green screen studio. With in-built lighting, sound recording and autocue facilities we can quickly create stunning video content for your website.

Client & Production Credit List include
Air Products, Cimar, CAT Publications, NHS West Essex, NHS Newham, TATA Communications, Anibas, Robertson & Co., JVC Professional, NHS Balaam Street Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, AKM Music, Crown Media, The MOD, Galliard Homes, Stylfile, Qualcomm, Hyper Recruitment Solutions, CAT Media, Supadance International, Beverley Stone, Spamhaus, Beaver84, GoRefCo, Eiger Safety, Sony Broadcast & Professional, N2 Visual Communications, Robert Dyas, Hanover Foundation, Picco Dolly, Hills Pet Foods, Maspalomas Princes Hotel, Marley, LaRoche, Olympus HiSpeed Tests, Distillers MG, Protean, Bradley Walsh, Wingit TV, Red Admiral, Boreham Media, Larry the London Bus, Double-Barrelled TV, Fernaux Avionics, Tolmink, Waltham Forest Social Services, SelClene, Europa Logistics, Ultimate Animates

Video to MP4

Video to MP4 in Loughton Essex

 

Video to MP4

Video to MP4 is on the up!  Just a few years ago we were almost exclusively converting VHS, VHS-C, 8mm and DV tapes to DVD. That’s still a significant part of what we do, and DVDs are going to be with us for many years to come, but our customers are starting to appreciate the convenience and benefits of having their videotape collection converted to MP4 files and supplied on USB stick.

So what is driving the change of video to MP4?

USBs are the "now" format!
USBs are the “now” format!

Our Video to MP4 conversion has many benefits over and above conversion to DVD. Without getting too geeky, MP4 (which is a digital video file format) has the potential of displaying much higher resolution images. However, this aspect is really only important if you have high definition videotapes that need converting. As with most things in life, you get out what you put in – so your never going to get high definition video from a VHS tape original. Sorry, but that’s a fact.

Where MP4 is extremely clever is that it compresses video more intelligently than the compression format used on a standard DVD (which, for the geeks among you, is MPEG2). Without any appreciable loss of quality you’ll only get around 2-hrs of standard definition video on a single-sided DVD (which has around 4.7GB of storage capacity). In MP4 format you can compress the video much more efficiently enabling you to get many more minutes into less storage space at a similar quality.

However, as clever as this all sounds the main benefits which our clients really like about our video to MP4 conversion service are:

1 – Easy to view

Most modern TV’s have the ability to playback MP4 files directly from a USB stick. Yes it’s true.. look on the back of your TV set and you’ll see a socket/s which you’ve probably not used before. Pop the USB stick in and select it from the source on your remote and, hey presto, the MP4 video files will play back just the same as they would if played from a DVD. MP4 files will also play back on BluRay players, mobile phones, tablets, media servers and more!  Go on, dare you! See if you’ve got a USB socket on your TV set.

video to MP4 - USB socket
2 – Easy to copy

Whilst it’s easy for us geeky people to copy DVDs, not every customer wants to download ripping programs from dubious sources and fill up their computers with rarely used programs. Just pop the USB stick in your computer and it will appear like any other drive. Drag and drop the MP4 files on to your hard drive and it’s all backed up safely.

3 – Easy to share

Not only can you easily make additional copies on USB sticks (or we can do it for you), but you can also upload your MP4 files to the likes of YouTube and share them with the rest of the world (or at least family and friends). Simply open a YouTube account and start uploading! If you don’t want to share them with any Tom, Dick or Harry use YouTube’s privacy settings to restrict viewing to the audience you want.

4 – Easy to edit

MP4 files are also a doddle to edit. Most computers come with basic video editing software – and for those that don’t there are some neat and very cost effective programs that will allow you to chop out the bad bits, add titles, music and effects that will make your home movies much more enjoyable. Full resolution files can also be supplied (call 020 3602 3356 for details).

5 – Easy to store

Finally, USB sticks take up much less space in our ever-more cluttered lives. They’re certainly much more compact than the videotapes we’ve converted for you.

Costs of converting video to MP4

What our clients like most about our video to MP4 service is that it costs about the same as converting to DVD. For details on our pricing structure please visit our website section here – www.video-artisan.com/video-to-dvd/

Making your videotape to DVD conversions last forever

Videotape to DVD forever
How to make your memories last a lifetime or more!
A client asked me a great videotape to DVD question today…
“Which is the best way to ensure that my videotapes and cine films you’ve converted to DVD last as long as possible? They’re very precious family memories and I don’t just want these to last for a few years – but basically forever!”
First of all, I’m not talking here about how to create the best quality conversion from one media to another but rather advising a client on the best solution for ensuring longevity once analogue videotape to DVD (VHS, 8mm, VHS-C…) has been carried out. If they wanted to know how to squeeze every last drop of quality out of their original material and digitize it into the best possible file type for storage or playback, that would be a whole different series of blogs!

Making your videotape to DVD conversions last forever

Once digitised on to DVD you can copy the disks as many times as you like, without further loss of quality. It’s quite a simple process on a PC and once copied there you can back-up the files to DVD or USB stick. I would personally do both. Recordable DVDs are based on an organic material within a layer in the DVD being burnt with a laser; and through poor handling, storage, excessive light exposure, repeated playback and faulty playback machines, this layer can become corrupt over time. The solid state memory on a USB stick is more robust (albeit that you still have to care for it), but not currently so accommodating for playing back the media files they contain. To further secure the data you could also back these USB sticks up to an online cloud storage facility. However, each DVD will contain up to 4.7GB of data, so this might take considerable time to upload.

What Video Artisan offer as a solution

In these situations we first suggest an additional DVD copy of each videotape transferred (see pricing here) and suggest these are stored away in a sealed box, in a dry and reasonably stable temperature environment (not the loft). Whilst the longevity of recordable DVDs is not actually known, stored in these conditions they should definitely last a lifetime. Once converted to DVD (see prices here) we can then show clients how to copy the files to a USB stick, or offer to provide the whole service (supply of an 8GB USB stick and copying the video files to them) at an additional cost of £10 per converted tape.
USB and DVD
USB and DVD – belt and braces
Making these digital files last forever is then just a matter of the client (and everyone who comes after them) keeping on backing up or copying the digital files to whatever technology happens to evolve. That’s the hard part!

Video to DVD

For videotapes and cine films to USB or DVD visit our sister website Tapes2USB
Click on the image above to visit our sister website, Tapes2USB, for information on our videotape to USB or DVD Services

PLEASE VISIT WWW.TAPES2USB.CO.UK

Are you looking for a great local Video to DVD or MP4 Conversion service? 

Pricing – Video to DVD

Our video to DVD service is simple, fast and so cost effective.  We make a direct copy of your videotapes to a single-layer recordable DVD – which can be played back in either your DVD player or on your computer. Each tape will be recorded to its own DVD and compressed according to the duration on the tape. (for further information please read our blog article here)

Cost for each tape converted 
Up to 2-hours = £20.00
(additional copies = £4.00 ea)
Over 2-hours = £25.00
(additional copies = £6.00 ea)
BIG DISCOUNTS FOR BULK ORDERS – SO CALL FOR DETAILS

Pricing – Video to MP4 on USB stick

Our videotape to MP4 on USB stick service is a really neat way to preserve your memories. We will digitise your videotapes and convert them to MP4 at the most effective compression ratio to maintain the original quality, and then supply them on our branded 32GB USB stick/s.  Each USB stick can contain up to 24-hrs of video* – enabling you to store many tapes in a very compact medium.   (For more information on video to MP4 please read our blog article here)  *Duration of video depends on the original quality. The example given is typical of VHS, Betamax, 8mm, VHS-C and other standard definition videotape formats.  As a result High definition digital video formats will require more USB space.

Cost for each tape converted 
Up to 2-hours = £20.00
(additional copies = £10.00 ea)
Over 2-hours = £25.00
(additional copies = £10.00 ea)
BIG DISCOUNTS FOR BULK ORDERS – SO CALL FOR DETAILS

Contact us now!

Kevin Cook F.Inst.V. (Hon.)
Tel: +44 (0) 203 602 3356 Mobile: +44 (0) 777 153 5692
Email: kevin@video-artisan.com

Studio – Off Clays Lane, Loughton, Essex IG10 2SA – United Kingdom
Office – 174 Roding Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 3BS – United Kingdom
Connect…  Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Drop off & collection

During normal office hours you can drop off your Video to DVD orders to our Loughton Studios in Clays Lane (see map here).  You can also drop off evenings and weekends to 174 Roding Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 3BS.  Please call first to ensure we are not out filming – 020 3602 3356.

We are ideally situated to serve the Loughton, Debden, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Epping, Woodford, Chingford and Theydon Bois communities.  We are also served by the Central Line and very close to junction 26 of the M25 – therefore allowing us to serve the Essex and East London and Central London customer.

Mail Order

If you would rather, we are also happy to carry work out by mail order.  Please contact us for more details – 020 3602 3356.


Videotape conversions carried out with care

Since VHS and other videotape players are disappearing fast, now is the perfect time to preserve your precious memories with our Video to DVD or MP4 conversion service. We can convert your videotapes to either DVD or MP4 quickly and at the highest quality to ensure your home videos and other important memories are digitally preserved for you and your family – and for generations to come. Common video transfer formats include VHS, VHS-C, 8mm, Hi8, Digital 8, DV, Betamax, MiniDV, DVCAM – and we can therefore pretty much any other format to another format of your choice.

Video to DVD Conversion service
Read on for details on our quality Video to DVD conversion services
Videotape to MP4 on USB sticks
Videotape to MP4 on USB sticks

Our video to MP4 conversions are supplied on USB stick. These can be played back directly on either modern TV sets, on computers and tablets, via media servers or in games consoles. USB sticks can also be easily copied and backed up without any specialist software.  Furthermore our MP4 files are also ready to be uploaded to YouTube so you can share your memories with family and friends around the world.  For more details on the benefits of videotape to MP4 see our blog entry here – www.video-artisan.com/videotape-to-mp4/


Further information

If you’re not quite ready to get your tapes converted, please watch this public information film on how best to store your tapes until you are ready to get them digitized.


Other formats and cine film conversions

We can also convert many other video, film, photo and slide formats – so it’s probably always worth giving us a call for a quotation!

Terms & Conditions of VHS to DVD or MP4 Conversion Service

1. We assume that you have full copyright clearance to instruct us to copy any materials on your behalf. We do however reserve the right to decline offering you this service if we believe copyright clearance probably has not been obtained or the material is in violation of any laws or could expose us to any private or public litigation.

2. Unless otherwise agreed, payment for any of these video transfer services is upon delivery of the completed works.

3. Any liability for the damage or loss of materials which occurs during the video transfer process will be limited to the replacement of the blank media, howsoever caused. We do not accept any liability for the contents within the recording.

4. Once we have supplied your DVD we will immediately delete this from our system. In conclusion any additional copies will therefore be charged at the full conversion rates listed above.

5. These special terms are in addition to our general terms and conditions of business are outlined here.