VHS to DVD OR PC

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

First question is how many VHS tapes are we talking about. There are many places that will do this for you, for a fee. If only a few, it may be less expensive to pay someone to do it than invest in equipment you likely won't need after converting.

That's an option too but keep in mind any of these larger places are just using off the shelve DVD recorders/VHS decks. It's simple, it's easy, it's fast but it's not ideal. You're taking poor quality video and exacerbating the issues due to the MPEG technology. There are others out there that will do this right but it's going to be $$$.

If you go the DV route you can import it into virtualdub(or other editors) and apply a light denoiser and then convert to MPEG, that simple step can produce a very large difference. You can do that with MPEG too but you've already taken a step backwards converting to MPEG in the first place. I've been doing this for years and have a considerable process the video goes through, people usually give a small audible gasp when I give them a price. I'm not trying to get business here either, please don't ask.

Just another thing to add if you have tapes that are skewing or have what appears to be a tracking issue a professional can fix that in a lot of cases. The big box store is not going to be able to help you here.

[Bill236c]

There are many places that will do this for you, for a reasonable fee.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

I do a LOT of archiving of VHS tapes to DVD as I do regular recording for my classes ("regular" meaning hundreds of tapes per year) and use old TV/VCR combos for that. I use a Magnavox DVD recorder/VCR combo. I think they still sell them (I have 3 of them bought over a period of a few years, and they all get pretty heavy use and still work). It's a cinch to do non-copy-protected transfers with these machines -- only slightly more complicated than setting up the VHS tape, putting in a DVD disc (I use DVD+RW to begin, then burn to DVD+R on my computer, although you could just burn to DVD+R to start), and hitting the "dub" button.

I have also copied some copy-protected videotapes (that I own) to DVD using a regular DVD recorder (also a Magnavox); I had to put a copy-protection-removing device in between the VCR and the DVD recorder (so I could not have used the Magnavox DVD recorder/VCR). I only did this with movies that were not (at the time) on DVD, which luckily wasn't a whole lot of them (and some that I transferred to DVD have since come out on "real" DVD, which of course is MUCH better quality). I got the copy-protection-removing device on ebay many years ago -- I think they called it a "video stabilizer," which was a bit of a joke.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

I think they called it a "video stabilizer," which was a bit of a joke.

They actually had to take them off the market. I have one I purchased for testing. They work but degrade the video. They notch out the section of the video signal where the MV signal resides taking some of the legitimate signal with it.

Bottom line is considering how cheap DVD's are it's not worth the time and effort unless you have something unavailable.

[Jaxson]

Originally Posted by vmaxnc

Buy a VHS/DVD combo recorder for $150 or less and DIY.

We've tried that the DVD would only play in the recordable DVD player not on the computer so I could edit or on any other DVD player. But thanks.

Originally Posted by thecoalman

You may actually already have the capability to do this, if you have an old DV camcorder some of them have a feature called "passthrough".

I'll check that out we are in the process of moving so when I get to the other house I'll look. I have that camcorder in the sale too perhaps I should yank it back out.

Always keep the original DV file you captured for the next and greatest tech/format. Treat it like a negative for film.

Never would have thought about that thank you very much!

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

First question is how many VHS tapes are we talking about. There are many places that will do this for you, for a fee. If only a few, it may be less expensive to pay someone to do it than invest in equipment you likely won't need after converting.

We have over 30 and nowhere around us transfers video to DVD. Funeral homes will put still photos on a DVD running them as a slide show only thing we've found locally. We are rural mostly around here.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Jaxson

We've tried that the DVD would only play in the recordable DVD player not on the computer so I could edit or on any other DVD player. But thanks.

Generally speaking a computer DVD player should be able to read anything. Having said that the software you were using was probably balking at reading it because you haven't finalized the disc.

I'll check that out we are in the process of moving so when I get to the other house I'll look. I have that camcorder in the sale too perhaps I should yank it back out.

Check the model number and post here or you can look it it up here, that information is usually under the "other features" section:


Find a camcorder with our lab tested reviews and ratings - CamcorderInfo.com


Here's sample of what you're looking for:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der_review.htm

The GL2 has a digital pass through option so that the camcorder can convert analog video coming in through either the S-Video or the RCA port to digital video outputted through the FireWire port on the fly.