Video tapes to DVD

[Colonel Blip]

Hello, All!

Is there a freeware package worth using that will allow playing a video
(family tapes) and covert and burn as a DVD. It is time to convert all of my
VCR tapes to something more permanent.

Thanks,
Colonel Blip.
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)

 

[dadiOH]

Hello, All!

Is there a freeware package worth using that will allow playing a
video (family tapes) and covert and burn as a DVD. It is time to
convert all of my
VCR tapes to something more permanent.

Step 1. Can you play the tapes via your computer? If not, you'll need
a card so you can.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[helmut]

www.videohelp.com for all your software and info on using it..also info on
hardware that you need..

 

[JeB]

Hello, All!

Is there a freeware package worth using that will allow playing a video
(family tapes) and covert and burn as a DVD. It is time to convert all of my
VCR tapes to something more permanent.

The easiest to deal with is a stand along VHS > DVD recorder. Not
free of course. Otherwise you need a capture card, software, etc.

 

[Terry Russell]

The easiest to deal with is a stand along VHS > DVD recorder. Not
free of course. Otherwise you need a capture card, software, etc.

That is the best way.

dunno about freeware but software isn't everything

if you have a decent capture card then
if you don't have lots of HD (100GB per hour and ntfs) then
you need a 1.8G or better to compress to reasonable quality on the
fly, with some losses and having to manage codecs and such
and inevitable teething problems that halt a 2 hour capture
for the 27th time.

then you have to convert for DVD if you want to use any player.

Depends what quality you want to keep the source.
Captured with compression to 800MB an hours gives you lots
6 or so hours as data files on a PC playable only DVD.
fine for weddings and video clips at 800Mb an hour but
not really for archiving with maximum quality.

It may be in time, but probably not yet, not cheaply and easily.

I always try not to generalise.

 

[Michael Laplante]

Hello, All!

Is there a freeware package worth using that will allow playing a video
(family tapes) and covert and burn as a DVD. It is time to convert all of
my VCR tapes to something more permanent.

You'll need either a capture card, or some sort of external capture device.
One end plugs into the VCR, the other end plugs into your USB port. Approx.
cost about $60 to $100 at most electronics stores. These usually come with
software that will burn to DVD. Reliability and ease of use of this software
varies widely. Pinnacle makes popular capture cards and devices. The capture
part of the software is great. The editing and burning part of the software
is crap and I would advise other software for this purpose.

I use and like Nero. I also use and like Ulead's VideoStudio.

There are freeware solutions for editing video but after exhaustive
experimentation with just about everything out there I concluded this is one
area where it is worth paying for a reasonably priced commercial package. It
will save you LOTS of time and aggravation.

M

 

[helmut]

I have found that its best to plug usb digitisers into one of the rear
motherboard usb ports..ie. dont use front panel or hub ports.same for
printers too.

 

[Colonel Blip]

Hello, Colonel!
You wrote to All on Wed, 21 Dec 2005 07:55:28 -0600:

Thanks for all of the replies. Sounds like I might wait another year before
I move on this. Maybe by then the area will have matured (gotten cheaper).
In the meantime I will take a look at the hardware requirements for my
system for the PC option and keep an eye out for the deals on the vcr=>dvd
all in one box.

Thanks,

Colonel Blip.
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)

CB> Hello, All!

CB> Is there a freeware package worth using that will allow playing a video
CB> (family tapes) and covert and burn as a DVD. It is time to convert all
CB> of my VCR tapes to something more permanent.

 

[Troppo]

The easiest to deal with is a stand along VHS > DVD recorder.

This was my solution also - get it on to DVD.

[...] Otherwise you need a capture card, software, etc.

I have been trying bus and USB2 capture devices on a PC with reasonable
processor speed, plenty of space on an ntfs disk, but there were too many
frames being dropped. The "minimum system requirements" seem to be a lot
higher than quoted.
Following advice from a.c.f I now transfer tapes direct to DVD recorder.
This is working well for tapes I just want to back up. If I need to edit,
then I rip/convert the DVDs, generate AVI (MPeg4), edit and rebuild using
an editor which came with a cheapo video camera. Someone's mentioned
Ulead's VideoStudio; there is also VideoImpression (came with DXG camera),
PowerDirector, MGI VideoWave (came with Belkin USB capture).
There will sometimes be artifacts generated by the original tape recording
to get rid of, eg interference lines at the bottom of the frame, scratches
on the tape etc.

 

[M.L.]

I have found that its best to plug usb digitisers into one of the rear
motherboard usb ports..ie. dont use front panel or hub ports.same for
printers too.

Even better, the analog source should be plugged into a FIREWIRE port
for sustained robustness. USB1 would be totally inappropriate for
capturing DVD quality mpeg2 video, and USB2 might not be robust enough
to avoid dropped frames.

There are freeware resources for every step except capturing. And it's
possible that the OP might already have the appropriate internal video
capture card, external USB/Firewire hardware capture device, camcorder
with analog-to-digital converter, or standalone DVD recorder to do the
job.

In any case, as previously noted, the OP should use www.videohelp.com
as a "How-To" resource for everything involving analog-to-digital
conversion, processing and burning.

 

[M.L.]

CB> Is there a freeware package worth using that will allow playing a video
CB> (family tapes) and covert and burn as a DVD. It is time to convert all
CB> of my VCR tapes to something more permanent.

Thanks for all of the replies. Sounds like I might wait another year before
I move on this. Maybe by then the area will have matured (gotten cheaper).
In the meantime I will take a look at the hardware requirements for my
system for the PC option and keep an eye out for the deals on the vcr=>dvd
all in one box.

There is no need to wait. If a $99.00+ standalone DVD recorder won't
do the job, there are $200 - $300 USB2 DVD player/recorders from HP
and Sony (among others) that connect directly to your TV/VCR or other
analog source and will play or record a DVD directly from it. Unlike
standalone DVD recorders, these devices will also connect to your PC
and capture DVD-quality mpeg2 video to your hard drive for editing and
burning. See www.videohelp.com for more info on these issues.

 

[Box134]

Before you fold your tent, I will give you the rundown on how I did this.
Like you I have VHS-C tapes with family videos on them.

You need a capture device. I wanted to use my laptop because I can take it
to the VCR. I bought an ADS USB 2.0 capture unit. It has the encoding
machinery in it, so your computer acts only as a file saver. The video leads
plug into the box and USB connects the box to your computer. Capture
software comes with the USB box.

You play a tape and the capture device creates an .MP2 file. ADS also
supplies a decent editing suite to join, split, and generally tart up your
video. Now this is the part that takes time if you want more then just a
bare record of your videos. As the last step, the editing software will
write your video to a DVD.

I could encode video on my ancient 666 MHz laptop this way. All I needed was
to add was a USB 2.0 PC Card to make 720 x 480 video. Without it, the best I
could get would be SVCD quality. I did it on my laptop, but you could do the
same with a desktop.

 

[John Fitzsimons]

There is no need to wait. If a $99.00+ standalone DVD recorder won't
do the job, there are $200 - $300 USB2 DVD player/recorders from HP
and Sony (among others) that connect directly to your TV/VCR or other
analog source and will play or record a DVD directly from it. Unlike
standalone DVD recorders, these devices will also connect to your PC
and capture DVD-quality mpeg2 video to your hard drive for editing and
burning. See www.videohelp.com for more info on these issues.

Well, IMO having the hardware isn't enough. Even a site like you
reference might not be ! I have access to a Panasonic DMR-E100H and
the manual doesn't make it at all clear what filetype is used for DVD
recording and hard disk recording. It seems to be mpeg4. Is that
better/worse than mpeg2 ?

Would a freeware editor that edits mpeg2 edit mpeg4 ? Or are different
programs needed ? Would converting from mpeg4 to mpeg2 be
recommended ? Needed ? Reduce the quality ?

Lastly, would a HDD/DVD recorder like the above save files in the same
format on both the HDD and the DVD media ?

Any clarification by you/others would be appreciated.

Regards, John.

--
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