VHS to DVD, with a separate question about files
The video conversion page advertises transfers at £17.95 per tape plus postage and packing. The homepage also gives £17.95 plus postage alongside its VHS and Hi-8 service description. These are useful published figures for an initial enquiry; ask for a current total for your particular order, including postage and any applicable tax treatment. The available details do not specify a recording-duration limit for that tape price.
DVD is explicitly supported for video cassettes. The website mentions MPEG-4 among its broader digital formats, while its cine-film page specifically describes MP4 files. Neither establishes the terms of an MP4 transfer from your VHS tape. If your priority is a file for a computer or family archive, make that requirement explicit before sending anything. Ask which file format, delivery method and charges would apply to your tapes.
Arrange the handover before travelling to Thanet Road
Squiggle Media publishes an address at 76 Thanet Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 8EH, and asks visitors to call first. Its contact page lists Monday to Friday hours of 08:30 to 18:00, Saturday hours of 09:00 to 17:00 and Sunday as closed. Treat the instruction to call as part of your planning, even when a proposed visit falls within those hours.
For postal orders, the video conversion page asks you to send the items with your name, address and telephone number and/or email address; it says the business will contact you on arrival. Before packing, make your own numbered inventory and photograph the labels. Include a copy of your agreed requirements, keep another at home, and ask about return arrangements and the expected completion date. Arrival acknowledgement is separate from a promised processing time.
Keep cine, sound and photographs in their own groups
A family collection may include more than tapes. Squiggle Media advertises cine-film transfer to DVD or USB stick and specifically offers MPEG-4 files for cine footage. It also describes vinyl and audio-cassette conversion to CD or MP3, and saves scanned 35mm slides and negatives as both JPEG and TIFF. Those are distinct services: their prices and output arrangements should not be carried over to a VHS order.
Use separate inventories for reels, video cassettes, sound recordings and photographic material. Ask for an itemised quotation if you plan to send several types together. The photo-scanning page says original slides and negatives are posted back with the disc; establish the return policy for your video tapes separately. If a cassette has a broken case, loose tape or visible mould, describe the problem before dispatch and ask whether it can be accepted.
Choose something you can check and keep
Think about where the recording will be watched. A DVD may suit an existing player; a digital file can be more convenient when you want to organise footage and share it privately. Check your own devices before ordering, and agree whether you need whole recordings or clearly named files for individual tapes. These are practical choices to discuss, rather than assumptions about what is included.
When the converted material arrives, check every recording promptly. Play the opening, a middle passage and the ending, then review important scenes for picture, sound and missing sections. Compare the results with your inventory. Keep the physical originals, retain an untouched digital master where available, and make a second backup in another location before editing or sharing copies.
Turn converted footage into a private family record
Memrial is a separate private family archive for digital memories after conversion. It does not convert tapes and is not part of Squiggle Media. Its free plan provides 2.0 GB of storage shared across the archive, with no card needed. You can invite relatives, group photos and home videos in albums, and add comments or stories that explain who appears in a recording.
Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, helping you find memories by year even when a tape label only suggests a period. A relative might recognise the year of a seaside holiday from the children’s ages. Live Watch Parties synchronise an uploaded home video, with the host controlling play, pause and seek while relatives near or far use voice and text chat. Free Watch Parties allow 3 hours per month and up to 6 participants.
For a family reunion, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership; their photos and videos go into the event album. Closing the link keeps the collected memories. That gives newly converted footage a place alongside present-day contributions, while your separate backup remains important.