Alive Studios Logo
Christmas Snowman

Video Tape Transfer

Convert VHS to Digital with AI Upscaling

Watch Video
colours

VHS, Betamax, Hi8, MiniDV, and more

VHS, Hi8, MiniDV, and more

Domestic Tape prices in HD
1 tapes = £80 per tape
2+ tapes = £72 per tape (10% off)
5+ tapes = £68 per tape (15% off)
10+ tapes = £64 per tape (20% off)
40+ tapes = £60 per tape (25% off)

Domestic Tape prices in HD
1-4 tapes = £65 SALE £48.75 per tape
5-9 tapes = £58 SALE £43.50 per tape
10-39 tapes = £55 SALE £41.25 per tape
40+ tapes = £52 SALE £39 per tape

Examples
Order Form
video tapes

Professional Video Tape Transfer

Preserve your home movies and important recordings with our professional video tape transfer service. Alive Studios specialises in converting VHS to digital, as well as Hi8, MiniDV, Betamax, Video8, VHS-C, and other formats. We digitise your tapes to high-quality files and can enhance them using AI upscaling for sharper detail and vibrant colour.

We offer free UK collection and delivery, so you can enjoy a safe, convenient service without leaving your home. Whether you have a single VHS tape or an entire collection, we’ll ensure your memories are transferred with care.

Money-back guarantee; you will only pay for tapes we can transfer, so in the unlikely event they are not what you thought they were, you won’t pay a thing.  We don’t charge for tapes which are blank or have been recorded over with unwanted TV recordings.

Easy to understand pricing:
Video tapes are charged per item no matter the length.

Find out what videotape format you have.

Cine Film Transfer Raw Scan Cine Film Transfer Ai Remastered

AI-Powered Video Tape Upscaling

Our advanced AI upscaling and restoration system uses powerful temporal analysis to produce dramatically cleaner, sharper videos with improved sound. Whether your memories are on videotapes, DVDs, or digital files, we can transform them into beautifully restored HD or even stunning 4K videos.

Our editors carefully review your footage, removing unwanted sections such as floor shots, blue-screen gaps, or recorded TV segments. We then apply expert colour correction, enhancement, and noise reduction before our AI technology analyses every frame, restoring detail and bringing out the best possible image.

We believe our videotape restoration system is among the best in the world, offering exceptional quality at an unbeatable price.

Our restoration process includes:
• Professional machine tape cleaning
• AI De-interlacing
• Scene-by-scene colour correction
• AI noise reduction
• AI upscaling and detail enhancement
• AI stabilisation (when required)

VHS Tape with Alive Studios USB Stick

Transfer to USB, MP4 & Cloud

Alive Studios goes far beyond the old-fashioned standard-definition DVD transfer. We deliver your videos in a truly modern, convenient way saving them as high-quality MP4 files on a dual USB stick and uploading them to your private Alive Cloud gallery. This makes it effortless to watch, download, and share your films with friends and family, helping you reconnect with memories and create new moments together. To find out more about our digital output formats click here.

Teranex AV

Tape transfer using Teranex 4K

At Alive Studios, we use the industry-leading Teranex AV standards converter, paired with 12G-SDI UltraStudio 4K and our advanced in-house Stable Diffusion AI software, to professionally upscale and remaster your video tapes.

Whether you’re looking for HD or 4K UHD quality, there’s no better place in the world to have your treasured memories digitally restored. To read more about our video restoration equipment click here

Service Features​

Free Delivery icon

Free collection and delivery

We make preserving your cine films as easy as possible. We can arrange collection and delivery from your home or workplace either by your postman or by our trusted courier service.
Delivery is always completely free, and collection is free on all orders over £100.

Learn more on courier service
4K UHD icon

Delivered in HD or 4K UHD

All our videotape transfers are delivered as HD or 4K Ultra HD digital files. Alive Studios stopped transferring to DVD and standard definition back in 2016, because modern HDTVs are designed to play HD content. If you play a standard-definition file on a TV, the television has to upscale it on the fly and the results are never great. At Alive Studios, we handle that upscaling properly for you. 

Why upscale to HD/4K?
Cleaning Icon

All tapes are cleaned

One of the key reasons our transfers outperform others is our thorough pre-transfer cleaning process, which safely removes old residue and debris from your tapes. Our decks also feature continuous head cleaning during capture, ensuring the highest quality transfer from start to finish.

Watch Example
AI icon

AI Video Upscaling

Using professional hardware and our in-house AI diffusion model, we produce HD and 4K masters that simply aren’t achievable anywhere else at this price. The result is cleaner, sharper, beautifully remastered footage from your original tapes.

Watch Example
Alive Cloud icon

Free 14 Day AI Movie Hosting

All videos we transfer for you are uploaded to our password-protected Alive Cloud; our Ai analyzes and indexes your video library, letting you search for speech, text, people, vehicles, sounds and more.

Learn more about Alive Cloud
Dual USB

Supplied on USB stick

Your videos will be supplied in MPEG-4 format on a Dual USB Stick. Plug into your TV to enjoy on the big screen. Then pop it into your computer/iPad to re-order, rename, and edit. Add your titles, music etc.

Watch information video
Order Form

Examples of work

The clips we’ve used are from genuine customer tapes to accurately represent typical VHS, Betamax, Hi8 and MiniDV home movies. We don’t cherry-pick the best tapes for our demos – we try to use very ‘normal’ home movies to show you what you can expect from a video tape transfer to digital with Alive Studios.

See More Examples

Alive Cloud

Search. Watch. Share.

Everything we transfer is uploaded to a private Alive Cloud account — free for 14 days! After that you have the option to extend it for just £24 per year for 10GB of secure storage.

Alive Cloud isn’t just storage — it’s smart, searchable, and shareable. Powered by advanced AI indexing, your videos become fully searchable. Find specific words, objects, text, actions, and more within your movies — instantly.

Share your memories with friends and family effortlessly, anytime, anywhere. Alive Cloud works through any web browser and is also available via our iOS and Android apps.

Alive Cloud Web Version

The web version of Alive Cloud is where your journey begins. Here, you can track the progress of your order, message your editor directly, keeping you connected every step of the way.

Once your movies are ready, Alive Cloud uses powerful AI indexing to make your videos fully searchable.

You can personalise your movies by updating titles, writing full descriptions, and even adding chapter menus—just like a DVD. When everything is set, you can easily share your individual films with friends and family anywhere in the world.

Read More

Alive Cloud TV App

The Alive Cloud TV app makes it incredibly easy to enjoy your home movies right on your television. Simply log in once, and all your videos stored in Alive Cloud will be instantly available to watch on your TV.

Alive Cloud is available on Apple TV, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV, with dedicated apps for Samsung and LG TVs currently in development.

It’s the easiest, most enjoyable way to relive your treasured memories—right where they belong: on the big screen!

Read More

Alive Cloud Mobile App

The Alive Cloud Mobile App makes it easy to enjoy your home movies on the go. All your videos stored in Alive Cloud are instantly available right on your phone or tablet.

Our app is available for iPhone, iPad, all Android devices, and Amazon Fire Tablets — giving you the freedom to relive your memories anytime, anywhere.

It’s the perfect way to take your home movies with you, wherever life takes you.

Read More

Alive Cloud Tablet App

The Alive Cloud Tablet App is simple and seamless. Just log in once, and instantly access all of your home movies stored in Alive Cloud—directly on your tablet.

Our app is available for iPad, Android tablets, and Amazon Fire Tablets, making it easy to enjoy your memories on a larger screen while you're on the move.

It’s the ultimate way to watch your home movies when you're away from home.

Read More

Ordering is so easy!

Online
  1. Build your order using the ‘Order and quote form’ button below.
  2. Print off the confirmation email.
  3. Wrap your films securely and place them in a box/Jiffy bag with your order form.
  4. Send at the post office, or use our FREE courier collection service.

  5. Or order by Phone

Order by Phone

Speak to one of our friendly team at the studio who will do everything for you.
Lines are open 9.00 am to 5:30 pm weekdays, and most Saturdays Tel: 01626 683139 (or freephone 0800 0830561).

FREE Collection Service

We are happy to arrange to collect your tapes from your work or home address. We use Royal Mail for small boxes and DHL for larger orders. The collection is completely free if spending over £100 or just £10 if spending under £100.

FREE Delivery Service

Delivery back to you is completely FREE on ALL orders, whether large or small. We even provide you with a precise timed delivery window, so you don’t have to wait in all day.

Get a quote & build your order

Use the handy “save for later” feature to return anytime.

Get a Quote or Order

We Also Convert Other Formats

Cine Film Transfer

8mm, Super8, 16mm

25% off sale

Select
Cine Film transfer

DVD Ai Upscaling

DVD, Blu-ray

25% off sale

Select
DVD Box

Video file Ai Upscaling

MP4, AIV, MOV

25% off sale

Select
mp4, AVI, MOV, WMV, VOB, MPEG

ProVideo Tape to Digital

U-Matic, Betacam

25% off sale

Select
Digital Betacam tape

Customer Reviews

Read more independent reviews on eKomi

Reviews
S Sergei
S Sergei
I needed to have my old wedding video tapes converted to digital format. I found several companies online that offered this service for a lower price, but I decided to go with Alive Studios after reading about their process. I was especially pleased to learn that they clean each tape on a special machine before transferring it to digital. This step was very important to me because these tapes hold lifelong memories for me and my family. I was incredibly impressed with the results. I also loved the feature that lets you watch everything online in the cloud and easily share the videos with your family. If you want to transfer your old tapes to digital format don’t look further, I highly recommend Alive Studios. Here, you truly pay for quality — and for me, quality is the most important factor when choosing a company with latest technology. Many Thanks to Jennie and the entire staff for their excellent work! The Best!
Lynne
Lynne
I had three VHS tapes transferred to digital and what a beautiful job Alive Studios did. The quality is superb and I can't stop watching these wonderful memories again. Their website is easy to navigate and their communication excellent. Thank you so much.
Brian Pascoe
Brian Pascoe
An old friend lent me his DVD of his production of the story of the Haghia Sophia, I had no idea it was his only digital copy. Years passed, many moves, the DVD was lost. He told me he had the original 1 inch tape, what to do with it? Alive Studios were given the task of stabilising and digitizing the 40 year old tape. What a beautiful job they did of the task. We now have fully restored, stabilised and digitized copies of a beautiful production. My old friend, his family and our friends are delighted. It is a lasting memory to a wonderful man. Thank you all for your care, guidance and professionalism in recreating the tape and its contents.
Brian Crossland
Brian Crossland
I had some 25 year old camcorder tapes transferred to a digital format locally and was a bit disappointed with the quality. Searched the web and found Alive Studios so thought I’d try and see if they could do an improved job. All I can say is wow!!! The quality is amazing and it’s meant we have some precious family memories to keep forever - I honestly can’t recommend them enough. Jennie and her team are so helpful and friendly and answered every question I had. The Alive Cloud is great too especially the ability to let others view the videos on their phones or whatever device they have. If you want to bring some precious memories back to life, do not hesitate to send them to Alive Studios….you won’t be disappointed!
Colleen Hickey
Colleen Hickey
Bringing Memories Alive—A Truly Magical Experience What a joy to have my father’s dusty 1950s cinefilm and audio tapes, long forgotten in plastic bags, lovingly restored. Thanks to Alive Studios, his military days didn’t just play—they came alive, unfolding like a vivid time portal into the past. It was nothing short of magical. From collection to delivery, the experience was first-class. Clear updates, swift service, and an incredible final product. The USB arrived in an elegant Tiffany-style box, securely mounted and beautifully packaged. The thoughtful addition of local fudge and a handwritten note made it all the more special. This is more than a service; it's a passion for a team as eager as you are to bring history back to life. Alive Studios don't just transfer old footage—they breathe life back into your history. I felt like I experienced the past in a way I never thought possible. Highly recommended!
Free Delivery icon
Free Collection

We are happy to arrange to collect your tapes from your work or home address. We use Royal Mail for small boxes and DHL for larger orders. The collection is completely free if spending over £100 or just £10 if spending under £100.

Free Delivery

Delivery back to you is completely FREE on ALL orders, whether large or small. We even provide you with a precise timed delivery window, so you don’t have to wait in all day.

HD and 4K UHD icon
Why upscale to HD/4K?

All our videotape transfers are delivered as HD or 4K Ultra HD digital files. Alive Studios stopped transferring to DVD and standard definition back in 2016, because modern HDTVs are designed to play HD content. If you play a standard-definition file on a TV, the television has to upscale it on the fly and the results are never great.

And it’s worth noting: even when you play HD on a 4K TV, the TV still has to upscale it, because a 4K screen can only display in 4K. Every 4K set performs its own basic upscaling, but the quality varies hugely and it can never match what we do in the studio.

At Alive Studios, we handle all of this properly for you. Using professional hardware and our in-house AI diffusion model, we produce HD and 4K masters that no consumer TV can come close to matching. The result is cleaner, sharper, beautifully remastered footage from your original tapes.

Video Tape Cleaning

One of the things that makes our transfer superior to others is the cleaning process we undertake prior to transfer.  Our decks also feature continuous head cleaning even as the tape is being transferred.

We’re also experts in handling damaged, mouldy, or degraded tapes, including those affected by Sticky Shed Syndrome (SSS) a common issue where aging tape stock becomes sticky and unplayable. To safely recover this footage, we use a professional video tape baking oven, applying a controlled heat process that temporarily restores the tape for safe playback and transfer.

This work is carried out as standard with all orders at Alive Studios.

AI Video Restoration

We now use Artificial Intelligence to colour correct and restore video. This time-aware enhancement system sharpens and de-noises video while recovering incredible amounts of detail. 

This work is carried out as standard with all orders at Alive Studios.

Alive Cloud
Alive Cloud

Alive Studios AI Movie hosting is free for 14 days.
 Log in via your computer, or download the free APP to your phone or tablet so you can take your memories with you wherever you go. Automatic AI indexing of your videos, Search for words, car, dog, person and more.

Log in online to make changes to the titles of your movies, make dvd style chapters and create multiple user logins for all your friends and family so they can share the experience too. from £24/year

Supplied on USB stick

Your films will be supplied in MPEG-4 format on a USB Stick. Plug into your TV to enjoy on the big screen. Then pop it into your computer to re-order, rename, and edit. Add your titles, music etc., to create amazing films.

Coronation SALE

15% Off

Ends May 9th

User Promo Code: coronation
at bottom of order form

PHOENIX 5K

New for 2023, our Phoenix 5K full frame scanner gives us our most significant camera system update ever, offering next-level image quality in a 16-megapixels frame scan. Our scanner takes individual photographs of each cell of your film from 8mm all the way up to 35mm film. You can have your film scanned in 2K, High Definition, or 4K Ultra High Definition. AI technology is then used to remove dust, remove harsh noise while recovering real detail, restore colours and create an artefact-free perfect 24fps movie.

Terms and conditions.

General
Alive Studios is a trading name of The Good Life Studios Ltd.

Leader tape
We edit out as much unused film as possible including the leadertape at the start of each reel. Whilst we cannot remove everything without charging for a full edit, we do endeavour to remove as much unused film as possible.

How long does it take?
This is a tricky question. We receive orders from a single video/reel to a room-full, so we’d need to know what you’re sending to give a lead-time. We find we are in high demand and always have seveal weeks of work already scheduled in, so if your order is needed in a hurry, just phone and tell us what you need :)

Damage, Loss, Post & Insurance
Orders are accepted on the basis that the liability of Alive Studios for any lost or damaged material shall be limited to the replacement with an equivalent amount of new blank stock. This is due to the unavailability of General Insurance cover for work of undefined value. When returning material to you we will use the post office services or a courier for larger items. We respectfully remind customers to retain a safety copy or take out Specialist Insurance Cover where appropriate.

Film Format
Our DVDs are region-free and play in PAL. DVD’s are normally DVD-R, but we may use DVD+R or Dual-layer discs where required.

Framing and TV Cropping
In standard definition, some film types do not fit modern TV formats, so we may re-size to fit for the best viewing pleasure. You should also note that some TV set apply their own cropping to a picture as well. By agreeing to these terms, you accept this information.

Damaged Film
Whilst we don’t generally charge extra for poor/damaged/dirty film, we reserve the right to do so if we feel it is required, but will always agree it with you before starting work.
Where splices break, we repair them without charge. If a film is temperamental and doesn’t want to go through we will always try it in several machines to make sure it’s had it’s best shot at a transfer. Where sprocket holes are punctured or torn, we will still transfer the film, often with no visible problems. However, some sprocket damage prevents a steady image from being obtained, in which case we transfer the whole film, then edit out any sections which ‘jump’ or drag because of the damage. This way we keep as much film as possible, and with careful editing you don’t even notice any is missing.
information.

Dust and Hairs
We employ a very good dry-cleaning system which catches most of the dust and hairs commonly found on cine film. It is inevitable however that there will still be dust and hairs present, as it’s impossible to remove them completely with a dry-clean system. It is also common for the dust/hairs to be imbedded into the emulsion making them impossible to ‘blow’ away, so you should expect a small amount to be visible in any transfer. The demos on our website give you a very realistic example of what you can expect.

Content of film
By signing our terms you are stating that you own or have permission to copy the material provided, and indemnify Alive Studios against any action including copyright infringement. If we feel the material to be of an indecent or illegal nature we reserve the right to refuse to continue and no refund will be offered.

Mistakes/Backups
We aim to keep your film footage on our editing suite for 30 days after completion to allow us to correct mistakes, after which time all footage is deleted. You must report any problem with your order within 14 days of receipt. We will retain a backup file of your DVD/Blu-ray for 60 days after completion to allow you to order extra copies. After 60 days, you would need to return your original disc if you wanted us to duplicate it for you. Due to the instability of data storage devices, this backup service is not guaranteed, and whilst every effort is made to retain your files for these periods, we cannot be held responsible for hard-drive failure resulting in us not being able to access your job. For very important projects, we suggest you order a digital copy on a hard-drive for your own security.

Delivery/Collections
We return orders via signed delivery with royal mail, or courier. This courier demands that items delivered damaged are reported within 24 hours of receipt, so it’s essential that you contact us immediately if your parcel is damaged.

Cancellation Policy
You can cancel your order by email any time up until we begin physical work on your job.
If no work has been started, we will refund you in full (less any costs we have incurred in taking your order shown below).

Cancellation fees
If we arranged a free courier collection, you will need to pay for this at £8.50.
If we processed a card payment, we will have incurred a handling fee which will be deducted from your refund. If we have to return your material to you, we will deduct £8.50 for the courier fee.
We will deduct £2.50 admin fee in handling the paperwork involved with a cancellation.

Refunds
Orders paid for by card will be refunded to the card.
Orders paid by cheque or bank transfer will be refunded by bank transfer.

Faults/Returns
You must notify us of any damage to your parcel or missing items within 24 hours of receipt.
You must notify us of any errors or faults with your transfer within 14 days of receipt.

Order Cancellation
In the unlikely event that you cancel your order, we reserve the right to charge a fee to cover admin/postage/bank fees we may incur.
Credit card payments are refunded subject to 1.197% charge.

Misc
We reserve the right to demonstrate our abilities by showing examples of work undertaken for our clients on our website, brochure, DVD and other advertising or promotional activities.