Digitise & save them all so they’ll survive for years to come

Give your old movies, memories and music a new digital lease of life. Mike Plant explains how

If you first started recording home movies when You’ve Been Framed first hit our screens, or if your music collection includes cassettes, vinyl and 8-track tapes, you probably have a treasure trove of video and music that hasn’t seen the light of day in decades.

Back then, it was difficult to imagine just how quickly digital media would replace video tapes, vinyl records, cassettes and film-based photos. This rapid transformation is one reason why converting ‘analogue’ content into digital media can be such a complicated and time-consuming process.

But if you’re keen to enjoy your scratchy vinyl collection or vintage television recordings on your PC, tablet or phone – or just want to back them up for posterity – we’ll explain how you can take the pain out of the conversion process.

We’ll show you what you need to create the best-quality digital versions of your video tapes, records, cassettes and photos without spending a fortune – whether or not you still have your old camcorder, turntable and Hi-fi.

Of course, getting your videos, music and photos on to your PC is only half the story. To make sure your digitised media is of the highest quality possible and remains playable for years to come, we’ll explain the best file formats you should convert them to.

Finally, there’s the brilliant free software that will breathe new life into your converted digital files. We’ll explain how to remove those annoying pops, clicks and hiss from recordings; how to smooth playback and improve the resolution of old videos; and how you can repair, restore and even re-colour your photos – including any black & white photos you might have.