vhs to digital file

[drewdunnrespect]

hiya gang i have an old VHS video camara which records on to vhs kessetes and is ausome cos its one of the first digital vhs video camcordors. Now i was going to upgrade in a couple of months to this

but thats been thrown out the window cos most of the seven hundred i had saved has just payed for a new tyre, exhaust and mot for me motor

so when i asked a techy friend how to get the old vhs on to me computer he said i needed a converter but every converter we have looked at says converts to dvd not a digital file on pc that i can edit using say photovideoshop or elemants six.

so some advice please cheers drew

 

[JonathanD]

Can't you record onto DVD and transfer from that?

 

[drewdunnrespect]

no due to once it writes it puts a code on it to stop copying and plus it mean using a dvd recorder i dont have and would never use for anything else so cant see the point in buying one if theres a way round it

 

[Laurentius]

I have a pinnacle dazzle, it connects to a video recorder and to my computer via USB and converts to DVD format, you can save the files direct to DVD or on the computer, and the .vob files are editable as mpegs.

It is usually a matter of software or sometimes you have to manually rename the file type to get it to load into an editor as with the rather bizarre .mod files from my JVC camcorder.

I can certainly edit the files that the dazzle creates in adobe premiere.

 

[Trev]

Heyho ,
As far as I know most converters will provide you with a digital file on your PC ( A DVD FILE ) which you can then do what you want with , never heard of one that copy protects . What would be the point of that . A dvd by definition is digital . And I'm fairly sure you can get the kits for about £25-30 quid and then just use basic editing ( even windows media would do it although there are better free ones )
Total novice though , so wait for expert opinions .
Cheers ,Trev .

 

[Old Bones]

There are a couple of ways to convert a VHS (analoge) signal to DVD (digital). The easiest is to use either a VHS/DVD machine or, even better, a DVD/HDD machine (Sony , Panasonic and Toshiba all make them). If you don't want to buy one, then ask if you can borrow one for a while. But even though I sell them part time (and therefore biased), I wouldn't be without the hard drive recorder now - it makes life a lot easier.

Use normal RCA leads (like the ones for a Wii), and plug them in Line 2/3. Start the HDD, then start the video. The video will then go on the HDD, and then you can edit by frame, etc. Burn it to a DVD, and your done. Or transfer over to a PC for any more advanced stuff. There is no copy protection on a DVD burned from a HDD/DVD recorder, other than making sure you finalise it.

Although thats the way I did mine in the end, I started with a TV card in the back of the PC, but I did find that my slow PC had problems handling the data on one drive. But if you get a usb convertor, its even easier. I think I saw one at Lidl/Aldi? the other day for about £20, but http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grabber-designed-capture-source-editing/dp/B000S0QIPI/ref=dp_cp_ob_computers_title_0 has got one for £18.99. The software for editing, etc normally comes bundled (although its usually a bit basic), and you can then burn it in the normal way.

You can find them for less than a tenner on ebay, try looking for video grabber. All of them should output to Avi or Mpeg, which means you can use MS Moviemaker (its on your PC, even if you've never noticed it) to edit. AV Forum has lots of info.

The other bit of advice is record a bit first to see the quality output quality . VHS looks terrible now, and although you can improve it by upping the transfer bit rate, there comes a point where there is no point making a huge file - the source simply isn't good enough to make a huge difference.

And if your thinking of transferring a film from VHS to DVD, unless its not on DVD already, don't bother - it will look rubbish and you've wasted a couple of hours into the bargain - buy it on Amazon instead.

 

[Large Sack]

Hi Drew,
PM sent mate
Cheers
Sack

 

[Gweedo]

I use Magix Movies on DVD 7 - bought it at PC World as 'Save my Videotapes' or something like that - it cost in the region of £40 or so and came complete with the cables to connect a VCR to your USB port. You can choose the format you want to save the file to (AVI, MPEG, DVD etc) as well as creating your own chapters, titles etc.

Works fine for me.