• CEPro_logo_blue-new
  • TOPICS
      • News
        • People & Places
        • Product Briefs
      • Projects
      • Events
      • Control
        • Central Vac
        • Energy/Power
        • HVAC/IAQ
        • Interfaces/Devices
        • Lighting
        • Motorized Shades
        • Whole House Systems
      • Audio/Video
        • Audio/Video
        • AV Accessories
        • AV Racks
        • Cabling
        • Displays
        • Furniture
        • Headphones
        • Home Theater
        • Media
        • Mounts/Lifts
        • Multiroom AV
        • Projectors/Screens
        • Speakers/Subwoofers
        • Wireless AV
      • Security
        • Access Control
        • Alarms/Sensors
        • Services/Platforms
        • Surveillance/Cameras
      • Business Support
        • Associations/Buying Groups
        • Cell Phone Boosters
        • Distributors/Reps
        • Operations
        • Recurring Revenue
        • Research
        • Sales/Marketing
        • Software Services
        • Tools/Testers
      • Networking
        • Cellular
        • Devices/Equipment
        • Wireless
        • Wired/Installation
      • Markets
        • Builders
        • Commercial
        • Design
        • Europe
        • Outdoors
        • Resimercial
        • Wellness
      • CE Pro Hub Pages
        • Bose
        • Savant
        • Inside Sound United
  • PRODUCTS
  • RESOURCES
    • Reports/Downloads
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Webcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Integrator Jobs
    • Digital Edition
    • CE Pro-iQ
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • CEDIA SHOW UPDATES
    • CEPRO PRINT EDITION
    • CEPRO DIGITAL EDITION
    • CEPRO NEWSLETTERS
  • DISCOVER
    • CEDIA Expo
      • September 29 – October 1
        Dallas, TX
      • VISIT SITE
    • KBIS
      • February 8 – 10
        Orlando, FL
      • VISIT SITE
    • Total Tech Summit
      • October 26 – 28
        Orlando, FL
      • VISIT SITE
    • Commercial Integrator
      • VISIT SITE
    • Security Sales
      • VISIT SITE
    • Tech Decisions
      • VISIT SITE
    • Campus Safety
      • VISIT SITE
    • Design Well
      • VISIT SITE
    • KBB Online
      • VISIT SITE
    • AV-iQ
      • VISIT SITE
    • CE Pro-iQ
      • VISIT SITE
  • Search
  • TOPICS
    • News
      • People & Places
      • Product Briefs
    • Projects
    • Events
    • Control
      • Central Vac
      • Energy/Power
      • HVAC/IAQ
      • Interfaces/Devices
      • Lighting
      • Motorized Shades
      • Whole House Systems
    • Audio/Video
      • Audio/Video
      • AV Accessories
      • AV Racks
      • Cabling
      • Displays
      • Furniture
      • Headphones
      • Home Theater
      • Media
      • Mounts/Lifts
      • Multiroom AV
      • Projectors/Screens
      • Speakers/Subwoofers
      • Wireless AV
    • Security
      • Access Control
      • Alarms/Sensors
      • Services/Platforms
      • Surveillance/Cameras
    • Business Support
      • Associations/Buying Groups
      • Cell Phone Boosters
      • Distributors/Reps
      • Operations
      • Recurring Revenue
      • Research
      • Sales/Marketing
      • Software Services
      • Tools/Testers
    • Networking
      • Cellular
      • Devices/Equipment
      • Wireless
      • Wired/Installation
    • Markets
      • Builders
      • Commercial
      • Design
      • Europe
      • Outdoors
      • Resimercial
      • Wellness
    • CE Pro Hub Pages
      • Savant
      • Bose
      • Inside Sound United
  • PRODUCTS
  • RESOURCES
    • Reports/Downloads
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Webcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Integrator Jobs
    • Digital Edition
    • CE Pro-IQ
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • CEPRO PRINT EDITION
    • CEPRO DIGITAL EDITION
    • CEPRO NEWSLETTERS
    • CEDIA SHOW UPDATES
  • DISCOVER
    • Cedia Expo
      VISIT SITE
    • Commercial Integrator
      VISIT SITE
    • Security Sales
      VISIT SITE
    • Tech Decisions
      VISIT SITE
    • Campus Safety
      VISIT SITE
    • Design Well
      VISIT SITE
    • Total Tech Summit
      VISIT SITE
    • KBB Online
      VISIT SITE
    • AV-iQ
    • CE Pro-iQ
M
POPULAR SEARCHES
News
Projects
Control
Audio Video
Security
Business Support
Markets
SUBSCRIBE CEDIA EXPO CEPro-iQ
Audio/Video | News | Products | Software/Services | Videos
March 2, 2017

Vidbox Video Conversion Suite Helps Uncover Old High School Movie

The $89 Vidbox Video Conversion Suite is a simple way for integrators to earn add-on revenue with minimal effort. It helped me re-discover my 'acting' debut from 1978.
Jason Knott  
The $89 Vidbox Video Conversion Suite is a simple way for integrators to earn add-on revenue with minimal effort. It helped me re-discover my 'acting' debut from 1978.
Article:
Audio/Video | News | Products | Software/Services | Videos
March 2, 2017

Vidbox Video Conversion Suite Helps Uncover Old High School Movie

The Vidbox Video Conversion Suite just helped me uncover my long-lost acting debut (and finale).

When my dad recently died, we uncovered a video he had stored away marked “Desperado.” It turns out it was a 5-minute movie that I made with my brother and two friends back in high school.

We were bored one summer afternoon and said, “Let’s make a movie.” We grabbed our only cowboy hat, our only BB gun and only toy revolver, and drove out to a Western movie set in Malibu. There was no plot, no microphones (clearly) and it was about 100 degrees that day.

A week later, one of my friends edited it and set the movie to an old clip of the Eagles singing their Doolin Daltons/Desperado song. So enjoy my one-and-only acting performance ever from 1978 when I was 16 years old (video above).

Flash forward to today. I snagged an $89 Vidbox Video Conversion Suite for PC/Mac  and simply hooked it up to my old JVC HR-VP58U VCR (yes, I still have one) and then connected the cables to my PC.  The instructions could not have been easier to follow, including pictorial instructions to guide me through the process connecting the composite cables with RCA connectors into the VCR and then a single cable from the Vidbox to the PC with a USB connector.

The $89 Vidbox Video Conversion Suite is a simple way for CE pros to convert clients' old videos to digital files. 

Clearly this videotape has deteriorated over time. It is shining example of why it is important for you to help your clients protect their home video collections.

The device is compatible with VCRs (VHS, Betamax, S-VHS), camcorders (8mm, DV, mini DV, HDV, AVCHD), TVs, DVD players, game consoles, TiVo boxes, DVRs and cable set-top boxes. The system outputs in MOV, MPEG1, MPEG2, WMV or MP4.

So when was the last time you solicited your client base about converting their old videotapes to digital files? That was a common question to ask 10 years ago, but most integrators haven’t bothered to ask the question since before the Obama Administration.

So if you have an admin person in the office looking to fill time, having him or her converting your clients’ videos using Vidbox can make for some billable hours.

The only drawback I can see to this device is that it does take time. You literally have to play the video as it converts. It is not like burning a DVD. But if you are billing for that time, so what?

On top of that, it might open the door to potentially sell a hardware storage solution on top of it. I have now started converting other home movies of my kids. We also have a cabinet full of Disney VHS tapes from my daughters' younger days that will likely be converted some day. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jason Knott
Follow
Jason Knott:
Jason Knott is Chief Content Officer for Emerald's Connected Brands. Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990, serving as editor and publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He joined CE Pro in 2000 and serves as Editor-in-Chief of that brand. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the CEDIA Business Working Group since 2010. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California.
View Jason Knott's complete profile

ARTICLE TOPICS

Audio/Video • News • Products • Software/Services • Videos

ARTICLE TAGS

JVC

SHARE

Share On Facebook
Share On Twitter
Share On Linkedin
Share On Whatsapp
Share Via Email
Copy URL
← Previous Article Next Article →
Article Business SupportNewsSoftware/Services

Portal API Integrates with iPoint

Portal.io opens its API to other business management software solutions, and announces its first integration is with iPoint.
Article Audio/VideoDesignLightingMotorized ShadesProjectors/ScreensSpeakers/Subwoofers

Technology Has Become an Interior Design Statement All Its Own

From LED light fixtures to loudspeakers to shades, access control and keypads, to solutions used as ways to conceal technology, design was on everyone’s minds at the recent CEDIA Expo in Dallas.
Article Business SupportNewsSoftware/Services

Portal API Integrates with iPoint

Portal.io opens its API to other business management software solutions, and announces its first integration is with iPoint.
Article BuildersControlEnergy/PowerHVAC/IAQNewsSoftware/ServicesWellness

Sendal and Schneider Electric Partner on Better Home Air Quality

Sendal’s newest Breathe solution helps address indoor air quality in more challenging energy-efficient builds.

SHOW NEWSLETTER

Sign Up

CE Pro

Subscribe Sign Up

Content Types

News
Products
Projects
Companies
Downloads
Webcasts
Podcasts
Events

Specials

IntegratorJobs
CEDIA EXPO
CE Pro 100
CE Pro Summit
Awards Programs

Company Info

About
Contact Us
Customer Service
Media Solutions & Advertising

Subscribe

Magazine
Newsletters
Digital Edition

Connect

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
RSS Feed

Categories

AUDIO/VIDEO
AV Accessories
AV Racks
Amplifiers/Receivers
Cabling
Displays
Furniture
Mounts/Lifts
Multiroom AV
Projector Screens
Speakers/Subwoofers
Wireless AV
CONTROL
Central Vac
Energy/Power
Interfaces/Devices
HVAC/IAQ
Lighting
Motorized Shades
Whole-House Systems
NETWORKING
Cellular
Devices/Equipment
Wireless
Wiring/Installation
SECURITY
Access Control
Alarms/Sensors
Services/Platforms
Surveillance Cameras
BUSINESS SUPPORT
Associations/Buying Groups
Distributors/Reps
Operations
Recurring Revenue
Research
Sales/Marketing
Software/Services
Tools/Testers
MARKETS
Builders
Commercial
Design
Europe
Outdoors
Wellness
FOLLOW US ON
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

© 2023 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

  • ABOUT
  • CAREERS
  • TERMS OF USE
  • PRIVACY POLICY