If you grew up in Hollywood or raised a family here, you probably have a box of old VHS tapes gathering dust in a closet. Maybe they hold your kid’s first birthday party, a backyard barbecue on a sunny afternoon, or a family reunion at a park near the Hollywood Hotel. Those tapes are fragile, magnetic tape degrades over time, and the players that can read them are getting harder to find. The good news is that digitizing them is easier than you think, and once they’re digital, you can do so much more than just watch them alone on a screen.
Two Ways to Go Digital
You have two main options: do it yourself or use a local service. Both work, but which one fits depends on your budget, time, and how many tapes you have.
DIY with a USB Capture Card
If you’re handy with cables and have a bit of patience, a USB capture card is a great choice. It’s inexpensive, usually around around $25, and you can find one easily on eBay or Amazon. You’ll also need a VCR that works (try a thrift store or ask a neighbor) and a computer with a USB port. Our step-by-step DIY guide on this page walks you through connecting everything, choosing the right software, and saving your videos as high-quality digital files. The whole process takes about as long as the tape itself, but you can do it at your own pace.
Using a Local Transfer Service
If you’d rather skip the tech setup, there are plenty of local services in Hollywood that handle the whole thing for you. They usually charge per VHS tape, but prices vary, so we’ve built a provider checker on this page to help you compare. Just enter your zip code and see who’s nearby. Most services will return your files on a USB drive or let you download them. Either way, you’ll end up with crisp, digital copies that will last for decades.
The Real Problem: What Happens After Digitizing?
Here’s the thing: once you have those digital files, they can easily end up just as forgotten as the tapes, sitting in a folder on a hard drive, never watched, never shared. You might upload a few to social media, but then they get buried in a timeline. The memories your children will thank you for are the ones you actually keep alive and pass down.
That’s where Memrial comes in. Memrial is a private family memory archive, like a private, ad-free Facebook just for your family. You can start one today, for free, from your phone. Just upload the photos and videos already on your phone, pin dates to build a shared family timeline, and invite your relatives to add their own memories. The digitized tapes can join later, but you don’t have to wait. Your archive is ready right now.
Bring Your Family History Together
Imagine this: you and your cousins, scattered across the country, watching the same old home video together in sync, laughing at the same moment. That’s a Memrial Watch Party. Or picture a faded, black-and-white clip of your grandparents, brought back to life with Colourisation, so you can see them in full color for the first time. Tag everyone in every memory, so your kids know exactly who that is at the beach. Your archive stays private, permanent, and under your control.
Your relatives likely have their own old photos and videos, maybe on their phones or in shoeboxes. Memrial brings them all together in one place, so the whole family history lives on. And you’re the owner, with full control over who sees what.
Start Today
You don’t need to wait until your tapes are digitized. Open Memrial on your phone right now, upload a few photos, and pin a date. Invite your mom or your uncle. Build the timeline. Then, when your old movies are ready, they’ll slide right in. It’s free to start, and it’s the gift your family will treasure for generations.
Ready to get started? Visit memrial.com and create your family archive today.