VHS Transfer Service in Lawrence Kansas

Matty D. Media LLC provides a VHS transfer service that converts old analog footage to digital video files. This allows new audiences to watch online and with modern devices. Our VHS digitization offices are located in Lawrence, Kansas. We serve the entire Kansas City area with VHS transfers. Please call (785) 917-1999 or (913) 735-0783 to make an appointment. We traditionally serve one client family at a time. This way, we are not holding precious family tapes unless they are actively being transferred. Please do not expect a “walk-in” appointment.

Matty D. Media is a video production service based in Lawrence, Kansas. Footage on VHS tapes degrade over time. Our transfer service safe-keeps those memories.

Costs to Transfer VHS to digital

The service costs an affordable base of $45 dollars. That base package includes digitization of the first hour of footage, storage of footage on a USB thumb-drive, and file delivery on Dropbox. After this base service, footage costs 45 cents per minute to transfer to digital video files. We convert footage into .MOV format digital video files. This is a universal file type that can be watched on a computer or shared online.

With its VHS transfer service, Matty D. Media transfers a traditional 1 hour VHS tape for only $45 including a USB thumb-drive storage and Dropbox delivery. Each consecutive hour of video conversion costs 45 cents per minute (ie. $27 per hour).

Example A: Alan has 46 tapes with his high school football footage. Each tape has roughly 30 minutes on them. The base cost for our VHS to Digital service covers the first hour of transfers. Therefore, two half hour tapes are covered under that base cost. At half an hour per tape, the remaining 44 tapes would have 1,320 minutes of footage on them. The cost to transfer 1,380 minutes at 45 cents per minute would be $621. In some cases, a 10% discount is offered for orders of 10 tapes or more.

Example B: Becky in Baldwin has two tapes with an hour of footage apiece on them. The $45 base cost covers her first hour. The second tape would cost $27 to transfer (at 45 cents per minute). Therefore, Becky’s full order would cost $72 including a thumb-drive with the footage and Dropbox delivery for 30 days.

What type of video tapes can be transferred?

We can transfer a variety of analog video tapes with a digital converter. Here are the formats we can digitize:

VHS tapes
VHS-C style video tapes
8mm and Hi8 camcorder tapes
Some MiniDV models
Audio Cassette tapes

We apologize in advance for not having the capacity to handle film transfers.

How long do VHS conversions take to transfer?

Like every video production, Matty D. Media promises that VHS transfers will be turned around in two weeks. The VHS transfers themselves happen in real time. For example, if you have 6 hours and 15 minutes of footage on your tapes, it will take our crew 6 hours and 15 minutes to transfer them. Orders of 10 or more tapes may take more than 2 weeks to transfer. Here are some tips before transferring VHS footage to help us expedite the process.

What happens to footage after digital transfer?

After we transfer your VHS footage to digital, we email you links to download the video files.

Note to Dropbox file recipients: Please select the “direct download” button when you open the Dropbox file. If you click on “save to my Dropbox,” Dropbox may ask that you buy more space. You do not have to buy more cloud space to download these files. Matty D. Media sends digital files securely with Dropbox at no cost to the consumer.

Matty D. Media also offers video editing services for customized highlight videos and other new creations with your old VHS footage! Please visit our a la carte video production page to learn about current rates on video editing and other services.

Extra Services after VHS to Digital Transfer

$5 Videos hosted on YouTube for easy sharing with family and friends
$15 Per additional thumb-drives with footage (base fees cover at least one thumb-drive)
$25 DVD per copy or four DVD copies for $90 total.
Video editing services at hourly rate. We can edit highlight videos, isolate important moments, and more!

Who transfers the VHS footage in the Kansas City area?

Video editors with Matty D. Media normally work from home in Lawrence, Kansas. You may see our service promoted online as “VHS to Digital Lawrence” or “VHS to Digital Kansas City.” You can follow us on Facebook by clicking here to see the latest updates about our service. We also share fun, nostalgic snippets from some of our transfers on our Facebook page!

In 2022, we opened a second office in Pennsylvania to service VHS transfers from State College to Scranton. (Skip to the bottom of this page for more info).

How much data storage does VHS footage require?

Let’s give you an example of how much space a VHS transfer can take. A recent session of VHS transfers included 7 tapes. Those tapes carried between 20-90 minutes of footage apiece. In total, we transferred 310 minutes of footage from those 7 tapes. The 5+ hours of footage resulted in 3.63GB of data. Therefore, a half hour VHS transfer averages 360MB of space. The file types are normally MPEG-4 videos with 640×480 dimensions. Customers who choose to have footage put onto a thumb-drive can fit 22 hours of footage onto one thumb-drive. Below are more data points for a normal VHS transfer:

VHS data specifications snapshot Matty D Media — This snapshot shows the technical specifications of a traditional VHS to Digital transfer.

How to keep VHS copies private online

Matty D. Media can upload individual video files onto YouTube as “unlisted links” so that customers can choose who they share the link with. It will not be publicly searchable. This concept is similar to what an “unlisted” phone number used to be. It would not be published in the phone book for the general public to see.

For example, if your public video is entitled “Edie Family Reunion 1989,” anyone searching YouTube or Google for that exact phrase would likely find the video.

Conversely, if the video is saved onto YouTube as an unlisted video, only people who have the unique URL link can access the video. For example, you can watch this video of a mother playing with her boys on a playground if you had this exact link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFBkOWa0_NQ . That video is an example of an unlisted video on YouTube. It has just a handful of views. Matty D. Media can host unlisted videos on its company channel for VHS transfer customers.

Visit YouTube’s FAQ page about unlisted videos by clicking here.

If you want your video to be private, the best option is to manage who has access to the actual video file. Matty D Media uploads every video file onto Dropbox. The customer can download the video file, save it to a hard-drive, and manage who can have access going forward.

The Matty D. Media VHS transfer service does not include a DVD copy. The VHS transfer service includes one Cloud-based storage route.

VHS Transfer Service Lawrence, Kansas

This service is offered by Matty D. Media, a limited liability company in Lawrence Kansas. Offer subject to change. The core service is an analog digital video transfer (and upload). This offer is also based on availability. We reserve the right to limit 5 VHS tapes per person at a time. Transfers cost $27 per one hour of footage with a $45 minimum charge per order. This service does not include physical delivery of VHS tapes. You may see photos online from when we did home deliveries (wearing masks) during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

E-mail mattydmedia@gmail.com or call (785) 917-1999 to coordinate a transfer.

VHS to Digital Service for Pennsylvania

Customers from State College to Scranton, PA can have their VHS footage digitized in our second office location. Click here for more information or e-mail mattydmedia@gmail.com to coordinate. In some cases, local pickup and delivery is available.