For Windows · Works offline

The software your capture stick should have come with

Tape Legend records your old home movie tapes, cleans up the picture, and sorts them into scenes with dates, names and every word that was said. Then it turns the whole box into a family website you can hand out on a USB stick.

Coming soon for WindowsTell me when it's out

Recording is free. The full app is $49 once, $39 at launch.

Drawing of the app. Real screenshots are on the way.

That box of tapes in the closet

Mail-in services charge by the tape, so a box of twenty can cost hundreds of dollars. You wait weeks, and you get back plain video files with no names, no dates and nothing to search. Tape Legend does the job at home for the price of a couple of tapes, and leaves you with something the whole family can actually find their way around.

How it works

  1. 1

    Plug in and record

    Connect a USB capture stick to your VCR or camcorder, press Record and play the tape. Tape Legend stops by itself when the tape runs out, so you can walk away.

  2. 2

    Fix the picture

    It removes the jagged lines, calms the fuzz and fixes faded colour. Your original recording is kept untouched, so nothing is ever lost.

  3. 3

    Scenes and dates

    Each tape is split where the camera was stopped and started. If the camcorder printed the date in the corner, Tape Legend reads it.

  4. 4

    Name a face once

    Faces are grouped across every tape. Type "Grandma Jean" once and every scene she's in is tagged.

  5. 5

    Every word, searchable

    Tape Legend writes down what was said. Search for "happy birthday" or "the lake", click a line and the video jumps there.

  6. 6

    A family website

    Your whole box of tapes becomes a small website in a folder. Copy it to a USB stick for Grandma and it opens in any web browser, with no internet needed.

A website you can put in a gift box

Tape Legend's family website is a plain folder. Inside, tapes are sorted by year, each person gets a page with every clip they're in, and the transcript scrolls next to the video. Search works too.

Copy it to a USB stick and give it to Grandma, or zip it and send it to your brother. It opens in any web browser with no internet and no app to install. Names only show up in what you choose to share.

Your tapes stay on your computer

Nothing is uploaded

Every step runs on your own PC. Your videos, faces and transcripts never leave it.

No account

There's nothing to sign up for. Install it and start recording.

No subscription

Pay once and it's yours. Tapes are a one-time job, so the price is too.

Price

Free

$0

  • Record as many tapes as you like
  • Keep the untouched original of every tape
  • See a 30-second before and after of the cleanup
  • No time limit

Tape Legend

$39 $49

Once, at the launch price

  • Picture cleanup on every tape
  • Scenes, dates and searchable transcripts
  • Faces grouped and named across tapes
  • The family website, for USB sticks or zip files
  • Use it on 3 computers

Start free. When the before and after looks good to you, unlock the rest with a key.

Questions

What do I need?

A Windows 10 or 11 PC, a VCR or camcorder that still plays, and a USB video capture stick. Basic sticks cost about $15 to $30. Recording takes about 25 GB of free space for each hour of tape while it works.

Does anything get uploaded?

No. Recording, cleanup, faces and transcripts all run on your own PC. There's no account and nothing to sign in to. Face groups and names stay in your library on your computer.

I already had my tapes digitized. Can I use those files?

Yes. Add the video files from a digitizing service, a DVD or an old camcorder, and Tape Legend cleans them up and indexes them the same way.

Which tapes work?

VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Video8 and MiniDV. Anything your player can show on a TV, the capture stick can record.

Will it make faces look fake?

It's gentle by default. Tape Legend fixes the problems old tape actually has and doesn't invent detail, and your original recording is always kept.

How do relatives watch the family website?

Copy the folder to a USB stick or send it as a zip. They double-click it and it opens in their web browser, on Windows, Mac or a Chromebook. They don't need Tape Legend.

Is there a Mac version?

Not yet. Windows comes first. Email us if you'd like to hear when the Mac version is ready.

Is it a subscription?

No. It's $49 once, or $39 while the launch price lasts, and it works on 3 computers.

Something else? Email contact@polyology.co.