VHS to DVD (PC)

charlieharper

charlieharper

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I'm doing a bit of research, on what I need to be able to convert my VHS video cassettes to DVD, as I have VERY valuable tapes that I would like to copy to dvd.

  1. What hardware would I need?
  2. Recommended Software (I would edit with Pinnacle)
  3. Drivers
  4. And cost?

Thanks
 
You should look to get a capturing card. That includes all drivers and software. DVD-Maker is a product I've seen. Costs around R400.
 
Yes, thats exactly what i'm looking for, A Capturing card. Not sure what to go for though, as there are so many diffrent products related to the same thing..
Can you please recommend a specific card?
Thanks
 
if you are doing it for family memories or some such exercise, then do it right and buy the best hardware. This is not a time to go cheap.

But if it is just to back up your existing VHS movie collection, then forget it... the quality will be too crap. Just re-buy or re-download the movies you want.
 
Sorry r911, not trying to hijack your thread, but is there a big difference between a R400 capture card and just hooking up your (cheap) VCR to your PC (I assume via the graphics card?).

I've captured my wedding video straight from a VCR into my PC and the quality is obviously not great. Can you increase the quality substantially with a decent capture card?

I'm assuming with filters and stuff you can get better results, but the cheapo VCR is probably the biggest culprit? For one video I should probably have it professionally done.
 
Garyvdh said:
if you are doing it for family memories or some such exercise, then do it right and buy the best hardware. This is not a time to go cheap.

But if it is just to back up your existing VHS movie collection, then forget it... the quality will be too crap. Just re-buy or re-download the movies you want.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what I want to do, for all our "family Memories" eg B-days, holidays...ect.
VHS tapes lose quality dramatically over the years, and such memories cannot be replaced..:( So backing it up to dvd should be my best solution.
 
My digital camcorder has analog video in which it then converts to digital. No idea what the quality is like as I have never tried it.
 
What about getting a set-top DVD recorder? They are fairly cheap these days and you can plug in your VCR and record straight to DVD - no software or mean hardware needed.

I backed up all my personal VHS tapes (not retail tapes) to DVD with my LG RH1999H and still use it today for TV recording and DVD backups - IMHO was worth the outlay and I also still help out family and friends with conversions...
The great thing about the model I have is that I can capture to HDD, then burn to DVD if I want. All basic editing can be done on the recorder before burning, so there is no need for transfer to PC.
For intricate editing, I remove the HDD from the recorder and hook it up to my PC, edit, then burn to DVD on the PC - the file formats are all MPEG2, so I just drag and drop.

Remember that if you go the TV Card or Capture Card route, get one with a decent built-in hardware encoder (usually more expensive), unless you have an uber-powerful PC - If you have a software encoder card, and a medium spec PC, you will get dropped frames and audio sync issues.

My 2c worth :)
 
Yup, just get a cheap compro tv tuner, it comes with software bundled so won't cost more than R500 if you have the cables already and record via AV input.

if you want quality recording, a good hardware encoding card like hauppauge is the way to go.
 
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