vhs conversion

[ant]

Hi prob. not the right NG, but can you guys tell me which is a good easy to
use proggy for converting my vhs tapes to dvd please, must do it , there
taking up room, which i don thave , thx , for any help. Ant

 

[Terry Russell]

Hi prob. not the right NG, but can you guys tell me which is a good easy
to use proggy for converting my vhs tapes to dvd please, must do it ,
there taking up room, which i don thave , thx , for any help. Ant

wrong group , is a black art, read more forums and web pages

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2006/PL2006MULTIMEDIA.php
virtual dub
is okay to capture to avi
then you should be able to use nero or whatever software you got bundled
...most dvd burners have some video producer
to convert to a dvd image and burn to dvd, it may take some time..i.e. hours
for each dvd
on top of the hours to capture.


Unless you really need true dvd it is easier to keep them on a data dvd
as files and view with mediaplayer.

I dunno what codecs dub has builtin, I use the k-lite codec pack.
If you have a few hundred gig hd you can capture largest format raw and
post process, otherwise you will have to use a compression codec, which
means you need a 2 gig or better machine to do reasonable compression
on the fly
...chicken and egg ..if you have a fast big machine you don't need to use it
as much

depending on how bad the video is you probably can't capture more than
384x280 reliably on less than a 2 gig ..which is fine for most tape/TV but
far short of
DVD quality

 

[ant]

thanks, Terry, got a power pc, but dont think I,ll bother , sounds like too
much Hassle, thks, tho. Ant

 

[John Jay Smith]

You need more than software to do this.

You will either need a video capture card OR
a TV Tuner card.

Do you have this?

 

[ant]

yes , john , i have video cap. card , and alas, also, pinncle software , but
just cant get the bloody video to come thru to the screen from the vhs
machine, have all the right connections , was hoping there might be a nice
piece of easy to use freeware stuff around, not well into all this techy
stuff,oap, lol, thx tho

 

[John Jay Smith]

Wait this must be a cable connection problem

What kind of cable are you using and how are you connecting it?

The proper way is to either use RCA connector cables from the video and
audio out of the VHS player and plug them into your
capture card.. or because some VHS players dont have these, and only SCART

you will have to have a SCART connector that has RCA out cables,

I am imagining here that your capture card has RCA connectors.

If your connectors are right, it should work with the pinnacle software...
since capture cards are straight forward...
no tunning needed like with TV cards and antennas.

You can also try MOVIE MAKER 2 that you already have on your computer.. it
allows you to record video from a capture device

 

[Terry Russell]

thanks, Terry, got a power pc, but dont think I,ll bother , sounds like
too much Hassle, thks, tho. Ant

you could probably do small format okay with a 600 or 700, just that going
2x2 the size is 4x the processing so if compressing you are looking at
a 2gig to have a bit of leeway..otherwise it falls behind and drops frames
which means you have to tidy up the video before burning to dvd
( there are utilities to do it )
or you end up with problem like video and sound out of sync , on
a pc they play fine but on dvd they look like a bad kungfu movie

if capturing large format raw video you are looking at 25 meg a second
to disk, 100 gig an hour which means you need an system less than about 4
years old to be able
to keep up .
compression, you can get good-ish quality at 350 meg an hour if
you also compress the audio as mp3
which means you get about 7-10 hours on a data dvd

try virtualdub , play around, see how it goes, it can't hurt
just don't try any multi hour grabs until you are comforrtable with the
results
...I grab one hour or so at a time..it saves those odd occasions when
something falls over
at the end of 3 hours

 

[ant]

well thx for all the advice , connections are ok, but will ry movie maker
and see what happens, thx . Ant

 

[John Jay Smith]

Movie maker creates WMV files that are not suitable for making dvd movies
that play on home entertainment dvd players. If you want to play them on pc
its ok.

If you want dvd then you need mpeg2.
try VirtualDub that has a capture option and is opensource and free

www.virtualdub.org

I proposed Movie Maker mostly so you can see if your
hardware and cable were working...

-Ken

 

[rich]

yes , john , i have video cap. card , and alas, also, pinncle software ,
but
just cant get the bloody video to come thru to the screen from the vhs
machine, have all the right connections , was hoping there might be a nice

If the VHS tapes are retail rather than 'home' recorded you will probably
run into a macrovision-encryption problem.
Macrovision was used to prevent unauthorised copying and the ATI capture
cards I have had in recent years will not record the input from one of these
tapes. There used to be software fixes for this but not AFAIK since the ATI
AIW Pro 128 about 6 years ago.
If this is the problem, one solution, again hardware, is a filter, these can
be expensive, an example see:
http://www.multi-region.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=674

piece of easy to use freeware stuff around, not well into all this techy
stuff,oap, lol, thx tho

Another way is to use a stand alone DVD recorder which IMHO is the best way.
Quality is somewhat better than my ATI 9000 capture card.
Again DVD recorders generally will not record a macrovision tape, however on
many of them, especially the cheaper OEM ones, this can be circumvented.
Example: my Relisys (a rebadged Sampo) will record providing the tape is
started before the DVD recorder.
A search of the DVD forums can be enlightening.
While I do not condone illegal copying, transfering your vhs tape collection
so that you can get rid of one more box connected to tv must be plus.

 

[The Wizard]

thanks, Terry, got a power pc, but dont think I,ll bother , sounds like
too much Hassle, thks, tho. Ant

A question asked quite a lot on the DVD software newsgroup Ant.

Most reply with getting a DVD Recorder with them going really cheap now, No
fussing around with TV cards/Capture devices or conversion programs.

Simply record your VHS Tapes straight to DVD.

(We all know trying to copy commercial VHS to VHS was pretty much impossible
without a macrovision killer but most tapes will record perfectly to a DVD
Recorder

VHS being lower quality, You can also save space by putting two movies on
the one disc.

This may sound silly but I use DVD Ram,Then copy across to my PC,Then use
Nero just because I can make a fancy menu rather than the plain title my
Panasonic DVD Recorder would put on them.

You're only problem then is finding room for all those extra DVD's (one way
around it was to buy those 8 or 10 disc DVD Cases,Especially for TV Series)

T.W.

 

[Terry Russell]

A question asked quite a lot on the DVD software newsgroup Ant.

Most reply with getting a DVD Recorder with them going really cheap now,
No fussing around with TV cards/Capture devices or conversion programs.

good idea but still more expensive than using a pc you already have
Usually most people avoid the bleeding edge and wait until it comes with
3 yr warranty at $99.99 at Target..right next to the kids back to school
sale.
Probably another 24 months.

Simply record your VHS Tapes straight to DVD.

(We all know trying to copy commercial VHS to VHS was pretty much
impossible without a macrovision killer but most tapes will record
perfectly to a DVD Recorder

vhs to vhs to vhs often worked ( depending what the passthrough did)

VHS being lower quality, You can also save space by putting two movies on
the one disc.

This may sound silly but I use DVD Ram,Then copy across to my PC,Then use
Nero just because I can make a fancy menu rather than the plain title my
Panasonic DVD Recorder would put on them.

You're only problem then is finding room for all those extra DVD's (one
way around it was to buy those 8 or 10 disc DVD Cases,Especially for TV
Series)

yup, or a 24 disk zip pouch if it going to travel..the cheaper 10 disk cases
tend to end up dropping a leaf or two and disks disappear
I keep a copy of any data files just in case , if it took hours to get/code
it is worth 50 cents to backup.

most eps of lower quality that you can fit 2 on a dvd will look okay
one per cd-r which is usually much faster to code and create

 

[ant]

thx to all , decided to take the dvd rec. way. makes good sense in the long
run, so thx to you guys, enjoy the weekend. Ant

 

[John Jay Smith]

although the OP did choose this expensive route (dedicated home dvd
recorder)...

I WOULD NEVER do such a thing! lol...

Computers replace all dedicated machines.
My audio stereo, my tv, my alarm clock, my telephone,
My Vhs recorder all have been replaced by computers. All these original
machines are
gathering dust, and I might as well gift them to someone who has nothing (I
probably will).

The only thing I have not figured out a way to replace, is
washing machine and stove... lol

 

[Key Bored]

although the OP did choose this expensive route (dedicated home dvd
recorder)...

I WOULD NEVER do such a thing! lol...

Computers replace all dedicated machines.
My audio stereo, my tv, my alarm clock, my telephone,
My Vhs recorder all have been replaced by computers. All these original
machines are
gathering dust, and I might as well gift them to someone who has nothing
(I probably will).

The only thing I have not figured out a way to replace, is
washing machine and stove... lol

Easiest way to replace a washing machine and stove is to get married. :>)

Key Bored

 

[John Jay Smith]

Easiest way to replace a washing machine and stove is to get married.
:>)

Key Bored

 

[Al Klein]

The only thing I have not figured out a way to replace, is
washing machine and stove... lol

Turn off the fans on your computer and you'll solve both problems at
once.