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VHS to DVD

Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
edited June 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I've been tasked with moving some old home movies from VHS to DVD for some relatives. I've done stuff like this before, but last time I did it I had access to my schools semi-pro-level video lab, so I've never done it at home. What do I need for:

Hardware? I've got a VCR, DVD burner, and PC, but I need some sort of capture hardware. I don't even know what terms to search for. "Frame Grabber" gives me all sorts of random stuff, "Capture Card" gives me TV tuners (which would do what I want but I don't need/want to pay for a TV tuner)... can anyone recommend a brand? I don't really care USB vs. PCI. Something that I could easily eBay or NewEgg would be preferable.

Software? I've got an old copy of Premiere 6, which should do the capture just fine. Is there any good free program for the DVD authoring part (encoding to MPG, making the stupid folders, etc) for me? I don't care about menus, and chapter marks would be nice but not mandatory. Free is good, but a nominal fee may be acceptable.

Also, 90% of the tapes are home-recorded, but there's some commercial stuff too (really random crap that you can't get on DVD). Are there any broadcast-flag type stuff I need to worry about or will it just work (yay analog hole)

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Posts

  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Your best bet may be some TV Tuner capture cards. I have a Hauppauge 150 that works excellently for this type of stuff. Really, stuff with TV tuners are likely going to be cheaper than dedicated capture cards with less functionality just because of the prevalence of TV tuner cards. Going from VHS you certainly don't need an HD TV tuner card.

    For DVD creation I've used something from Sonic (DVDIt I think, not free) that works alright. Before that I was trying to use a bunch of open source tools (DVDAuthor among others) and while they are extremely flexible, at the time (2-3 years ago) they weren't very user friendly. This certainly may have changed since then.

    You shouldn't have to worry about any flags as you'll just be recording the same stream that the VCR would otherwise be sending to the TV.

    Daenris on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Check the phone book, usually you can find someone who does this professionally, saving you lots of time, and possibly money, too. If there’s nothing in the phone book ask friends from Africa or India—sometimes immigrants with big collections of foreign films get them transferred to DVD because they can’t be bought in the US.

    supabeast on
  • Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Check the phone book, usually you can find someone who does this professionally, saving you lots of time, and possibly money, too. If there’s nothing in the phone book ask friends from Africa or India—sometimes immigrants with big collections of foreign films get them transferred to DVD because they can’t be bought in the US.

    I haven't found a place that will do it for less than $20 a tape. Around a dozen tapes that starts to sound like a lot. As far as time goes, I'm really not too concerned since all it will take for me is a few clicks before bed and a few clicks when I wake up (times number of tapes)

    From what it looks like the old Hauppage WinTVs can be had for under 20 bucks. I don't need hardware MPEG encoding, so that looks pretty good. Sweet.

    Monolithic_Dome on
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  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    edited June 2008

    From what it looks like the old Hauppage WinTVs can be had for under 20 bucks. I don't need hardware MPEG encoding, so that looks pretty good. Sweet.

    You may want to reconsider. I have both a software encoded WinTV Go(?) as well as the hardware encoded WinTV 150, and I would highly recommend the latter. You can get one for $60 or less depending on how much you look around.

    Daenris on
  • Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Do the hauppage cards come with a decent capture utility? If I can capture right to MPG with the right settings that would skip a step (AVI->MPG).

    Monolithic_Dome on
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  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    They come with something. But I've never used the included program, so I can't say how good it is.

    Daenris on
  • HorusHorus Los AngelesRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I think if you have camcorder with connection for VHS to PC (Firewire connection) I think you can then use the cam as a transfer to your PC. I recommend check out Tekzilla, they just had an episode about this.

    Horus on
    “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
    ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
  • Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I never would have thought of that. D'oh. I definitely can get my hands on a DV camcorder from someone.

    I'll download that episode and see what they say

    Monolithic_Dome on
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  • PirateJonPirateJon Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I would just buy a VHS/DVD burner combo player, burn my movies, then return the player.

    $199 and you have 14 days to return it.
    http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8742462&type=product&id=1202648740010

    PirateJon on
    all perfectionists are mediocre in their own eyes
  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Horus wrote: »
    I think if you have camcorder with connection for VHS to PC (Firewire connection) I think you can then use the cam as a transfer to your PC. I recommend check out Tekzilla, they just had an episode about this.

    I'm not really sure how this would work, unless you're converting mini-DV tapes and have a DV camcorder. I can capture from my camcorder over firewire to my computer, sure, but there's no input to have the VCR run through the camcorder.

    Granted, my mini-DV is an older model so maybe this functionality is common on newer camcorders.

    Daenris on
  • FantasmaFantasma Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I do this kind of transfers from time to time, the equipment I use is just a cheap Advantek TV Tuner card with S-Video, Composite and Audio Input. To make things easier, I use an application called Virtualdub to capture the video/audio using a standard screen size of 352x480.

    If you don't like VirtualDub (which is kind of complex for new users, you can use many others such as VirtualVCR. I personally prefer ChrisTV Professional, but it costs money.

    My Setup is :

    VCR connected to TV Tuner Composite and Audio In using standard gold cables from Radio Shack.

    If you want more options, you can visit this place:

    http://www.videohelp.com/

    Fantasma on
    Hear my warnings, unbelievers. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos!
  • Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I've used vitualdub before, well at least I tried, but for what I was doing I really needed a non-linear editor.

    Anyway, virtualdub's not that bad. What did you use to convert to MPG and to burn the DVD itself?

    Monolithic_Dome on
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  • FantasmaFantasma Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I normally use TMPGEnc for mpeg encoding, and TMPGEnc DVD Author to create a compliant DVD file tree for burning.

    And of course, Nero Burning Rom to finally burn to a DVD+R disc.

    The applications mentioned above are commercial, with the exception of TMPGEnc which is free. If you cannot spend any money on this project, I am providing links where you can download and test several applications and choose the one you like:

    http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/video-encoders-mpg-dvd

    http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/authoring-dvd

    http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/burn

    Fantasma on
    Hear my warnings, unbelievers. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos!
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