dominicb

Hi all

I want to transfer some old VHS videos to DVD. Now, I have the relevant burning / video editing software but I think I lack the relevant hardware. Can anyone recommend / tell me what I need and are there any web sites I can consult, that will perhaps step though it? All the ones I can find want to charge me to transfer it for me.

Thanks for your thoughts

DominicB

codeman0013

I just did this for my dad went to best buy and got a dual recorder dvd and vhs side by side and did it all that way.

Redbull{wings}

the above will work but if u would like to do it on your computer then i would recomend a tv tuner card or better yet an ati all-in-wonder this way you could transfer the files to your computer for editing and such

The_Other_One

I do my converstion though a computer using a capture card of some sort. It might take a bit longer, but if you're converting something that has commercials, it's easy to remove them.

Or, there's also DVD-Recorders. I have one of those too, mostly just as a VCR replacement, but it's very possible to export from VHS and record. I'd reccomend getting one of those rather than a 2-in-one just because if it fails, you just have to get one device(rather than say the DVD portion failing of a DVD/VCR)

__________________
Desktop * Athlon X2 4200 | 2G RAM | 160G HD | 7600GT
Laptop1 * C2D T5550 | 3G RAM | 120G HD | Intel x3100
Laptop2 * C2D T5250 | 2G RAM | 160G HD | Intel x3100

Starman*

You will need some means of getting video into your pc. It can be via the composite or s-video input of an existing graphics card, an add-on tv tuner card that has either of those inputs or an external usb device. Usb is the easiest to add but is slightly more likely to give problems later. For maximum compatibility with dvd players you need something that can record in mpeg2.

You can burn the mpeg2 directly on to a dvd but for max compatibility it's best to author as a video dvd, even if you have the most basic menu system (play all the video when disk inserted). It's probably worth making some trial runs with a dvd rw that you can erase and try again.

You should experiment with the bitrate so that you can get what you want on a dvd at the quality you want (ie no worse than the vhs when played back). No point in making the bitrate too high with vhs, which is relatively low quality video. If you transfer the video at the required bitrate it will save time at the authoring stage. Also, make sure the tone is correct at transfer. Adjusting later hugely increases time to finish the project. Get this all sorted out before you start transferring in earnest.

If you just want to snip out ads, join mpeg videos with no other editing, I would highly recommed VideoReDo (payware but very simple and accurate editor).

There are plenty of guides on how to make transfers, Google "vhs to dvd". Videohelp has a few guides and a lot of useful info. Most capture devices come with software for the capturing and instructions on use.

It's such a wide subject, and many ways to do it, I'll leave my contribution at that.

Starman*

dominicb

Wow! Thanks for all your suggestions guys. I am still keen to transfer it onto my PC first, so I can edit out any unneeded bits before burning. There should be enough here to get me started.

Thanks again.

DominicB