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Author Topic: Xnsferring VHS to DVD -or- capturing to PC Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-27-2009 09:48 AM                       In packing for the move to my new apartment this week, I had to wonder about my old VHS tapes of the family recordings -- many of which contain precious images of my children when they were young, including my late daughter. At some point soon, I really should archive these on DVD before they are lost. What are the current methods of transferring VHS tape to DVD? Or, what about capturing them into my computer for editing, and then outputting to DVD (this would be my preferred way to go)? Are capture cards even made anymore? I had a video capture card 10 years ago, but it was very low resolution. I know that since DV has become commonplace, cameras create their own native video files, which sort of obsoletes video capture. What are my options? Suggestions?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-27-2009 10:20 AM                     This is one of the things I do at home to make a few bucks in my spare time. You will need a digital video converter such as the Grass Valley/Canopus ADVC300: http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ADVC300/index.php You will, of course, need a computer and software to make the conversion. If you look around in the electronics stores, you should be able to find a DVD-burner/VCR combo unit that can burn VHS tapes directly to disk. As far as I know, the price of either solution will be about the same. Somewhere between $100 and $200, depending on what you buy. One thing to look out for is whether the burner or computer setup you buy has a time base corrector. If your video tape does not play back at exactly the same speed it was recorded at, you will see a fuzzy picture and the colors will appear to be off. The time base corrector buffers all the incoming video and ensures that the picture information is complete before releasing it downstream. The ADVC300 converter I showed you above has a line-based TBC built in. Some DVD burners have TBCs built in. You have to check. You can also buy an outboard time base corrector to put in-line with your system. http://www.avtoolbox.com/avt8710.shtml (I didn't pay $269 for mine! I paid about half that.) When it comes down to it, unless you already have the gear, it's going to cost you a couple-few hundred dollars to do it. Depending on how many videos you have to convert to DVD, you might be better off paying somebody to do it for you. I'm not necessarily plugging my own services, here. I'm just giving an example: I charge $30 for whatever fits onto a 2-hour DVD. Straight copy & burn. No frills. The disk auto-plays when inserted in the DVD player. If you want extras like menus, that's an add-on. If you want editing, that's charged per-hour of work. Do the math. If you have about 10-15 hours or less of material on tape and all you want is "copy and burn", it will probably be cheaper to have somebody do it for you. If the main goal is to learn how to do it yourself, then it's going to cost you anywhere from $150-$300 to get started. (Assuming you have a computer and software that can do the work.) If you have a lot of stuff on video tape and you want it all converted to digital, it will probably pay you to spend the money and do it yourself, especially if you want to do any editing. (I usually charge $50 per hour of work. The real pros charge $100/hr. and up.) BTW: I have a Canopus/Grass Valley video card I don't use. I was an idiot and didn't look to see what kind of interface my computer had before I bought the card. I've got this card sitting around collecting dust: http://www.avtoolbox.com/avt8710.shtml (Street price on these is about $250. If somebody made me an offer, I'd be willing to part with it.)  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-27-2009 10:54 AM                       Thanks, Randy! Good info. My computer is already set up to edit film-resolution files, from my trailer-making days. I've just never done video.  |  IP: Logged Bruce Hansen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 847 From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-27-2009 01:24 PM                     If you have a stand alone DVD recorder, and a VHS player, just hook the output of the VHS deck to the input of the DVD recorder. You may be able to then load the DVD into your computer, and do editing, then dump back to DVD.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-27-2009 03:05 PM                     Yes, you can hook your DVD burner up, directly to your VCR and it will work but there can be problems with that arrangement. If your video tapes stretch or warp, they won't play back at a constant speed. This is especially prevalent with those high capacity cassettes because they used thinner tape that is more prone to stretching. If you play a tape back on a different machine than it was recorded on, it's not guaranteed to play back at the same speed it was recorded at. Even the same player isn't 100% guaranteed to play a tape back at the same speed it was recorded at. Now, if we're talking about audio tape, these variations aren't so critical. A small pitch change or a small amount of wow/flutter can be ignored. Many people won't even hear it. But, in video, this is critical. This can cause a "wavy" picture. It can cause colors to be off and bleed into each other. It can cause the picture to look grainy or snowy. It can cause a whole bunch of odd things to happen. If you have a crappy picture on playback of a video tape, the DVD will record a crappy picture. That's what will be recorded on the DVD for all time to come. Your DVD recorder will faithfully record all of these defects. Essentially it's G.I.G.O. -- Garbage in. Garbage out. What is needed is something called a Time Base Corrector. (TBC) A TBC buffers the video signal until it has a complete frame then it passes on that information at the correct frame rate to make a clear picture. Some VCRs have time base correctors built in. Mostly professional/broadcast equipment. Few consumer players have TBCs. If you want a TBC you will need to get a separate unit that can be hooked in-line between the devices. The benefit of an outboard TBC is that it can have adjustable settings that allow you to correct for sharpness, color, brightness, tint and contrast. The one I have can also convert between PAL and NTSC. The cheapest standalone TBC that I know of is made by a company called AV Toolbox. http://www.avtoolbox.com/avt8710.shtml The Mfg. list price is $269 but I got mine for less than that. This device by Grass Valley/Canopus has a time base corrector built in: http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ADVC300/index.php But it is only a LINE-Based TBC and not a Frame-based TBC. It will correct most minor problems and allow minor adjustments to picture but it's not quite as robust as a frame-based TBC. If you're looking for a broadcast/editing VCR, you can find them on this website cheap: http://www.bstock.com/3col/ It's a good website but it's still "caveat emptor" because he's only the broker and not the direct seller.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 09-27-2009 03:25 PM                        Do this while you still can! My primary Super-VHS machine's heads just started dying (it can't track for shit anymore or something). JVC sure started building awful products in the last decade or so of VHS' existence. I have one spare Mitsubishi Super-VHS and then a regular VHS that plays S-VHS tapes in VHS resolution. After those die, I am screwed if I ever want to look at material that I have stored on tape again.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 09-27-2009 05:02 PM                     I bought a Magnavox VCR <> DVD deck at WalMart for just over $150 and have been getting good results transferring my VHS tapes to DVD. I first tried Roxio Easy VHS to DVD S/W which comes with a USB capture card and was less than impressed. You could always transfer to DVD and then import it into your PC for editing. For that task I have been using Xilisoft DVD to WMV Converter for several years. Editing, I use CyberLink Power Director, one of many similar suites out there. Have fun...  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 09-27-2009 06:09 PM                     Go with the all in one VHS/DVD unit, they work well and can be had these days for as little as $79. Won't do all the cute things the computer can do but it's simple and fairly quick and cheap. Also eliminates the temptation to monkey with things better left alone.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 09-27-2009 08:49 PM                     quote: You will need a digital video converter such as the Grass Valley/Canopus ADVC300: I took a peek at the Thomson/Grass Valley site associated to this link and notice other models of the converter. Could the smaller '55' unit do the same justice of service as does the '300'? For, basically, I'm in the same question area as Tim is in: plenty of VHS tapes with precious information encoded on them that is screaming for a better archive/storage method. thx-Monte  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-27-2009 09:12 PM                     I actually use the ADVC110. It works very well. The main difference between the products is: ADVC55 - A/D converter. http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ADVC55/index.php ADVC110 - A/D and D/A converter. http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ADVC110/index.php ADVC300 - A/D + D/A converter PLUS line-based TBC. http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ADVC300/index.php ACEDVIO - Essentially the same as the ADVC110 except that it is built on its own interface card, thus eliminating the need for a FireWire port. http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/ACEDVio/index.php There are some other feature differences but these are the hilights. Check the links for the whole story. As far as I understand, the analog-to-digital chip is the same in all four units. I chose the ADVC 110 because it does NOT have a TBC built in. I wanted to have an external TBC that I can adjust or completely disable if I find it necessary. Plus, the AVTool TBC has PAL/Secam to NTSC conversion capabilities. Bill, Yes you can use a DVD burner/VHS player to copy tapes to disk but you are probably going to need time base correction. This will be especailly true if your tapes are old. Many consumer DVD recorders do not have time base correction. I'm willing to bet that $79.00 unit doesn't. Your idea will work but if you want any kind of quality... I figure most Film-Techers do... you're going to need that TBC.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 09-27-2009 10:05 PM                        I need a capture card that can capture component video. High definition would be a plus. But this is all I can really find (though I haven't really searched too hard yet). Cheap it is not. [/slightly off topic]  |  IP: Logged Cameron Glendinning Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 845 From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia Registered: Dec 2005 posted 09-28-2009 12:39 AM                     I use to use my DV camera, ie sony trv 900 as a input for vhs and standard betacam, the results were rock solid in the computer.  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 09-28-2009 09:49 AM                     I am surprised no firm (even those cheapie Chinese ones like Oppo) has come up with a reasonable DVD recorder which will at least take the HD signal via the Component Inputs and then make an anamorphic SD DVD which will be an acceptable compromise for now. I found one recorder with component inputs and then found out that they did not function for recording. I wonder if the studios made a deal with them not to make it easy for the consumers to archive in HD. My firewire output on my Motorola 6412 DVR from COMCAST has been turned off after being active for a while. But even when I followed some online advice in using the firewire port, the transfer was cumbersome and not desirable quality.  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-28-2009 12:01 PM                     I would like to offer a note of caution to this thread. Despite what is claimed by the manufacturers, recordable DVD media is not archival. I have had too many experiences with recorded discs as little as 2 years old being full of errors and not able to be played back properly after just sitting in a case on a shelf in the house. The media itself is made up of dyes that are burned away during the recording process. What else are we all familiar with that has dyes that fade over time? If you transfer your memories to recordable DVD, please make several copies and get into the habit of checking them every couple of years and make new copies as you see fit. At this point, I'm finding that I trust digitally recorded magnetic tape based media out of all possible solutions. When I digitally capture material from an analog source in the interest of "archiving" it goes onto MiniDV tapes that are stored in a climate controlled environment. I then also dump the content to a recordable DVD for convienent viewing. So far, I've yet to encounter a MiniDV tape that won't play back even after a decade. Conversely, I have VHS tapes that are 20 years old, and one that is 30 years old that still playback with no problems whatsoever.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 09-28-2009 03:36 PM                        No consumer media is "archival". Well, maybe you could buy a bunch of 4 or 8GB flash cards and just store your media on there forever.  |  IP: Logged

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