VHS to DVD

gday folks heres a question for ya, how do ya convert vhs tapes to dvd because i have from 1983 to present of complete bathurts 1000s inc top tens and i think its time to convert them to dvd cause the vhs tapes r starting to loose their colour. wot sort of pc hardware do ya need to do this and wot kind of software, im in australia so it would need to be compatible to australian vhs.
cheers


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When you have a TV card (that uuslly come with some kind of virtual VCR program) it's easy. Just plug your VCR into the TV vard and record the tapes on HD. Then burn the files in DVD format. If you want menus, use a DVD authoring program like I recommend DVD-Lab Pro or but Nero Vision Express.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

Or use a dvd writer (the type you plyg into your tape recorder or tele). Just connect the tape recorder or tv to the dvd writer and burn straight to dvd !!

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That's the easiest way. Otherwise you're going to be buying a capture card, some software to use with it (most of the bundled software is absolutely pointless) and you'll have to learn all about it. Just take the PC out of the loop if you're not going to be editing it.

rito, im a absolute novice when it comes to this, so bear with me, this writer thing is it different to a burner? will i need a normal dvd burner if it is not a normal dvd burner? can i put menus in with the writer, how long would each dvd go for? and wots the quality like, do i need dual layer discs? and how much would one of the writers cost? and r they available at any local computer store?. i know u said the writer was is easier but would it be better quality and so forth the other way.
im sorry for so many qs but im one of those ppl who must know everything that im goin to do and lay it out
cheers


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I remember on the Playboy Mansion episode of Cribs, ol' Hugh was converting his videos to DVD.


Ask him.

torana_05 Wrote:
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> rito, im a absolute novice when it comes to this, so bear with me,
> this writer thing is it different to a burner? will i need a normal
> dvd burner if it is not a normal dvd burner? can i put menus in with
> the writer, how long would each dvd go for? and wots the quality like,
> do i need dual layer discs? and how much would one of the writers
> cost? and r they available at any local computer store?. i know u said
> the writer was is easier but would it be better quality and so forth
> the other way.
> im sorry for so many qs but im one of those ppl who must know
> everything that im goin to do and lay it out
> cheers

Well, pretty much everything you're looking for there needs some sort of editing, so you'll be looking at doing it on a PC. You'll need a capture card, something along the lines of this from Pinnacle at minimum [www.scan.co.uk] though this, also from Pinnacle would be a bit better, though obviously costs a lot more [www.scan.co.uk]. I've just used Pinnacle as an example for continuities sake. They're one of the major players. You'll get some software with it, but in all honesty, you'd be better off looking at something a bit more main-stream, so if needs be, you can revert to guides and help from others.

The free Virtualdub should allow you to capture the video. If not, I'm sure the software with the card will be quite sufficient to produce a basic video - hopefully uncompressed. Adobe Premier Elements ([www.adobe.com]) would be a better all-round piece for doing the all the capturing and editing, but that's up to you. Premier Pro ([www.adobe.com] - £750 normal, £270 educational) would be lovely if you are able to get it at educational prices. Again, there's hundreds of help guides to help you through the thing on the web, and better still, video tutorials, the ones from Lynda.com ([www.lynda.com]) I can personally recommend but they're not the only ones.

You'll also need the cabling to hook up your VCR to the PC. Composite or Svideo input for the PC (and a line-in for the audio signal), with a SCART output from the video. All the elcheapo cables you get bundled with video cards don't work with me - they tend to convert PAL signals into black and white on the PC, so I've just ordered some nice stuff from svideo.com ([www.svideo.com]), namely the SCART to Svideo one, plus a couple of other odds and ends. They ship to Europe, free, if this is where you're based.

Once you've done any editing, you'll need something to make a DVD for you. I personally use NeroVision, which is usually bundled in the Nero suite. It's certainly in the Nero 7 Premium suite. It's good, basic, and talks you through in a wizard sort of way, not letting you deviate from the task in hand. There'll be better and more powerful options out there, but I don't know of any yet. I've only just started ripping DVDs from MCE2005 so this is a new scene for me. NeroVision can do pretty much all of it for you if you really want it to. It can capture from VHS pretty much straight to DVD, but you can't edit the footage, so you'll probably still need Virtualdub or Adobe Premier/Premier Elements.

I've rather drawn this out, but in essence all you need pay for is the capture card, a few cables, and Nero, which can be had rather cheaply [www.scan.co.uk]. If you're serious or going to be doing this a lot, you can look at Premier or Premier Elements. Nero, Premier and Premier Elements are all available for free trial. I'd take a look at those before spending any of your hard earned.

Only other thing is hard drive space. You'll not be wanting to compress your captures before ripping them to DVD, in which case hard drive space can quickly disappear while editing. A 1 hour 30min recording at 720x576 (PAL resolution) is around 2.50gb in MPEG2 format. That's not much, but when you start editing, chopping, backing up and things, it adds up to a hell of a lot very quickly. That 1:30 footage (the French GP F1 race I'm using as an example) uses around 2/3 of a basic 4.7 (single layer) DVD.

The only other option you have is a standalone DVD recorder, something that can record footage, then burn it to DVD. It's just a normal DVD player, but with recording ability. No editing, no PC needed, nothing fancy. Just a straight copy, VHS to DVD.

cheers everyone for the help i will try to get round to doin it, but its a fukin ass cause its such a big job and i dont have time ohh well cheers


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got to be the world's most comprehensive answer- well done gav!!!

i need to do something similar with a bunch of VHS tapes, but am going to replace the capture card in gav's response with a digital video camera. eg, record from the VHS to MiniDV on the camera, then capture that onto the computer. i may lose a teeny bit of quality, but it saves me buying extra stuff

i've got Premire Pro to edit with which is great, but you can even do simple editing things using Window Movie Maker which i think comes with XP doesn't it?

nero is very good for burning, very easy to use and is what i mostly use.

torana if you have a camera already or can get your hands on one it may save you spending the money and buying a capture card, and the camera should have the appropriate cords with it, eg Svideo/RCA to get from your VCR to the camera and a USB or Firewire to get from the camera to the computer should be all you need.

We've got a combined VHS and DVD recorder. With that, you just shove the tape and a DVD in and you can make a copy onto the DVD. They codst about £150 in the UK, though...

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gareth Wrote:
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> got to be the world's most comprehensive answer- well done gav!!!
>
> i need to do something similar with a bunch of VHS tapes, but am going
> to replace the capture card in gav's response with a digital video
> camera. eg, record from the VHS to MiniDV on the camera, then capture
> that onto the computer. i may lose a teeny bit of quality, but it
> saves me buying extra stuff
>
> i've got Premire Pro to edit with which is great, but you can even do
> simple editing things using Window Movie Maker which i think comes
> with XP doesn't it?

That video camera's not a bad idea either if you've got input on it. Nice one! Wouldn't imagine any quality loss would even be noticable - it's coming off VHS after all, which is pretty bad.

WMM does come with XP. Movie Maker 2 is also out (might be in SP2, wouldn't know - I can't stand .wmv).