Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Preserving your family history has never been easier. In this video, I take you inside my experience using the new Ancestry Preserve service from [Ancestry](https://www.ancestry.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com) to digitize and preserve old home movies, VHS tapes, film reels, photographs, slides, negatives, documents, and audio recordings. While I personally focused on video and film transfers for this project, the service handles much more than that. I’ll walk you through how the process works, what it costs, what I liked about it, and a few improvements I’d love to see Ancestry make in the future.
This video is not sponsored by Ancestry and all opinions are my own. While Ancestry did later help cover part of my digitization project after learning I was creating this video, I had already started the process myself because I genuinely wanted to see how the service worked and whether it was worth it for genealogists and families preserving their memories.
We’ll also talk about why preserving your family history NOW matters before aging tapes, film, slides, negatives, and audio recordings deteriorate beyond recovery. Whether you want to preserve photographs, documents, VHS tapes, 8mm film, slides, or audio cassettes, this video will help you decide if Ancestry Preserve is right for you.
🔹 In this video:
* My experience using Ancestry Preserve
* How the digitization process works
* Cost estimates and ordering kits
* Preserving VHS tapes, film reels, and old video cassettes
* Why old media degrades over time
* Tips for organizing and preserving family memories
* Features I wish Ancestry would add
* Examples of restored family videos from the 1970s and beyond
🎁 Promo Code:
Use code CONNIE20 for 20% off the digitization portion of your order through Ancestry Preserve.
🔔 Subscribe for more genealogy tips, family history research strategies, and technology for genealogists.
❤️ JOIN the GENEALOGY TV ACADEMY
genealogytv.org/academy
📝📝📝📝 HANDOUT OPTIONS
📝 1) Genealogy TV Academy members have access to all lessons and handouts back to 2022. genealogytv.org/academy
📝 2) Become a CHANNEL MEMBER at the INFO ACCESS level $9.99 per month. This gets you all the handouts. youtube.com/@GenealogyTV/join.
As a Channel Member, find the handouts by scrolling through the blog posts on the Community tab at youtube.com/@GenealogyTV/community
📝 3) All handouts can be PURCHASED INDIVIDUALLY ($5 and up) at genealogytv.org/handouts/. Here you will get a redirect and an email to download the handouts.
📝 4) Become a monthly PATRON at the HAPPY DANCE level ($15/Month) or more. You will get early release of the videos and the handouts are emailed to you, when they become available. patreon.com/GenealogyTV
❤️ BECOME A GENEALOGY TV CHANNEL MEMBER and help support Genealogy TV - see perks!
youtube.com/@GenealogyTV/join
❤️ Patreon Membership – Handouts Emailed as they are produced. patreon.com/GenealogyTV.
✅ Genealogy TV WEBSITE
genealogytv.org
✅ GTV on FACEBOOK
facebook.com/Genealogytv
✅ SIGN UP For GTV’s NEWSLETTER
https://mailchi.mp/a0862c6473aa/genealogytvnewsletter
👉 Subscribe to Genealogy TV (Free)
youtube.com/channel/UCcvpi8XvOScBogIxmarmADw/Subscribe
*** GTV Affiliate Partners ***
🛍️ Genealogy TV’s AMAZON STORE full of Connie’s favorites.
amazon.com/shop/genealogytv
#Genealogy #GenealogyTV #FamilyHistory
Circus Waltz - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
00:00 Intro
00:39 About Ancestry Preserve
01:16 Previous Episodes on Preserving Videos and Audio
01:35 Scanners
01:48 Scan with Cell Phone
02:01 Ancestry Preserve Product
02:10 Estimate the Cost
02:29 I Preserved Video and Film
02:55 Video Results
03:50 How to start with Ancestry Preserve
04:15 Estimate
04:19 $20 Box
04:25 Gathering Docs, Images, Video, etc.
04:45 Your Quote is Ready
04:52 AI Enhance
05:36 Ancestry Preserve Gallery
06:57 Reviewing Video
07:41 Promo Code Connie20
08:05 Marker 4
08:30 Ability to Put Notes on Videos
09:14 Adding People from Tree
09:53 Full Gallery
10:22 Motor Cycles
10:59 Face-plant
11:33 Types of Items to Preserve
12:45 Connie log rolling
Preserving your family history has never been easier. In this video, I take you inside my experience using the new Ancestry Preserve service from [Ancestry](https://www.ancestry.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com) to digitize and preserve old home movies, VHS tapes, film reels, photographs, slides, negatives, documents, and audio recordings. While I personally focused on video and film transfers for this project, the service handles much more than that. I’ll walk you through how the process works, what it costs, what I liked about it, and a few improvements I’d love to see Ancestry make in the future.
This video is not sponsored by Ancestry and all opinions are my own. While Ancestry did later help cover part of my digitization project after learning I was creating this video, I had already started the process myself because I genuinely wanted to see how the service worked and whether it was worth it for genealogists and families preserving their memories.
We’ll also talk about why preserving your family history NOW matters before aging tapes, film, slides, negatives, and audio recordings deteriorate beyond recovery. Whether you want to preserve photographs, documents, VHS tapes, 8mm film, slides, or audio cassettes, this video will help you decide if Ancestry Preserve is right for you.
🔹 In this video:
* My experience using Ancestry Preserve
* How the digitization process works
* Cost estimates and ordering kits
* Preserving VHS tapes, film reels, and old video cassettes
* Why old media degrades over time
* Tips for organizing and preserving family memories
* Features I wish Ancestry would add
* Examples of restored family videos from the 1970s and beyond
🎁 Promo Code:
Use code CONNIE20 for 20% off the digitization portion of your order through Ancestry Preserve.
🔔 Subscribe for more genealogy tips, family history research strategies, and technology for genealogists.
❤️ JOIN the GENEALOGY TV ACADEMY
genealogytv.org/academy
📝📝📝📝 HANDOUT OPTIONS
📝 1) Genealogy TV Academy members have access to all lessons and handouts back to 2022. genealogytv.org/academy
📝 2) Become a CHANNEL MEMBER at the INFO ACCESS level $9.99 per month. This gets you all the handouts. youtube.com/@GenealogyTV/join.
As a Channel Member, find the handouts by scrolling through the blog posts on the Community tab at youtube.com/@GenealogyTV/community
📝 3) All handouts can be PURCHASED INDIVIDUALLY ($5 and up) at genealogytv.org/handouts/. Here you will get a redirect and an email to download the handouts.
📝 4) Become a monthly PATRON at the HAPPY DANCE level ($15/Month) or more. You will get early release of the videos and the handouts are emailed to you, when they become available. patreon.com/GenealogyTV
❤️ BECOME A GENEALOGY TV CHANNEL MEMBER and help support Genealogy TV - see perks!
youtube.com/@GenealogyTV/join
❤️ Patreon Membership – Handouts Emailed as they are produced. patreon.com/GenealogyTV.
✅ Genealogy TV WEBSITE
genealogytv.org
✅ GTV on FACEBOOK
facebook.com/Genealogytv
✅ SIGN UP For GTV’s NEWSLETTER
https://mailchi.mp/a0862c6473aa/genealogytvnewsletter
👉 Subscribe to Genealogy TV (Free)
youtube.com/channel/UCcvpi8XvOScBogIxmarmADw/Subscribe
*** GTV Affiliate Partners ***
🛍️ Genealogy TV’s AMAZON STORE full of Connie’s favorites.
amazon.com/shop/genealogytv
#Genealogy #GenealogyTV #FamilyHistory
Circus Waltz - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
00:00 Intro
00:39 About Ancestry Preserve
01:16 Previous Episodes on Preserving Videos and Audio
01:35 Scanners
01:48 Scan with Cell Phone
02:01 Ancestry Preserve Product
02:10 Estimate the Cost
02:29 I Preserved Video and Film
02:55 Video Results
03:50 How to start with Ancestry Preserve
04:15 Estimate
04:19 $20 Box
04:25 Gathering Docs, Images, Video, etc.
04:45 Your Quote is Ready
04:52 AI Enhance
05:36 Ancestry Preserve Gallery
06:57 Reviewing Video
07:41 Promo Code Connie20
08:05 Marker 4
08:30 Ability to Put Notes on Videos
09:14 Adding People from Tree
09:53 Full Gallery
10:22 Motor Cycles
10:59 Face-plant
11:33 Types of Items to Preserve
12:45 Connie log rolling
