VHS to DVD?

[natemoen]

I have a few VHS home videos and I am too cheap to pay someone to do it for me. I am looking for a way to do it on my computer and to be able to chop up the different segments into separate chapters. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Elevener]

I was in this same place last year, I ended up going to amazon and buying a dvd/vcr player. Recorded vhs to dvd, then put on comp to edit.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Nate,

You need to have a special video capture card on your computer to be able to record in real time the VHS signal to computer format before then being able to "AUTHOR" it into DVD format.

I happen to have that type of equipment, and would be happy to do that for you. Just mail the VHS tape(s) to me, and provide descriptions of the different segments you want to isolate, etc.!

If you don't have a proper DVD authoring program, I can do that also.

PM me if you're interested....NO CHARGE for services...just mailing/shipping fees!

I've done this for my boss..Doctor and his family videos of his 2 sons growing up...from being born, thru their 6th birthdays. Also did this for a coworker for her 2 kids. And recently did this with a 10 hour/10 tape set from NASA...their 1995 25 years of Nasa a coworker had...it was/is only available on VHS....and her father who had passed away this past year worked at NASA, so it meant a lot to her to be able to see it in DVD format.

T.C.

[b.walker5]

A little cumbersome and time consuming, but i used my Canon digital video camera. It has an AV input, and a DV output (firewire). Hooked the VCR to the AV input, and the DV output to my laptop. Cant remember exactly how I set up the camera (and wouldnt ya know it, I cant find the book right now) but basically I just used the camera as a playback device and recorded the firewire output directly to my harddrive. Edited them and saved with DivX author (keeps the file size down without sacrificing quality) and burnt to a DVD.

A bit of shagging round, but I'm a tight bastard so it didnt cost me for anything more than some blank disks.

[Jerry]

We used a $40.00 adapter box by DIvX (I think, will have to look.) Has RCA jacks on one side to connected to a deck, other side has a USB port to connect to the PC. Have to have a disk burner in the PC. basically you install the included software, put the deck on pause, start the PC proram running and hit the Play button in the deck. System takes the video output and converts it to a diital signal and burns it to the disc.

No real editing capabilities. Quality depends on source video. Once you have it in digital form you can do more.

It is a cheap and functional way to convert VHS tapes to digital format. Just get ready to leave your PC alone for as long a the VHS tape runs. Theoretically you can do other things in the backgound, but I found this didn't work really well.

[rover]

VHS to DVD

Walmart sells a VHS player/DVD recorder/player for $158

[TopCatGr58]

Just some FYI regarding these types of machines. They are for HOME RECORDED or non copyrighted videos only. They have built in copy protection that will NOT allow you to convert an old ie. Disney VHS to DVD.

Nate, unless you are planning on doing a lot of converting, it doesn't seem worth the $$ to invest in a video card or tape/dvd combo deck for this.

My offer is still on the table....can provide quick turn around time as well.

The VHS deck(s) I have are professional grade editting decks, using S-VHS cables to my video capture card, not just RCA cables. I also have the ability to enhance poorly lit video...brighten up or increase gain/color on dark dingy video source. I also have that fancy little adapter for using the Mini VHS type tapes in a full sized VHS machine.

T.C.

[rover]

VHS to DVD

Thanks for the heads up, T C. I was just about to buy the machine from Walmart, as I have about 80 or so VHS tapes. I do have TV-VHS in my van, and a lot of pre recorded tapes my son likes to watch on long trips' but have DVD in one car and all the working players in the house are DVD. I have an AC-DC converter large enough to run a refrigerator in the van. Also have a bunch of homerecorded VHSs. About half of the tapes are pre recorded, and I would have been pi$$ed if I bought this machine and could not copy the tapes. Is there a cheaper and easy way to copy all of them?

[Rasputin]

Yup me too! I have a VHS that has played about 5 tapes in its life and a whack of VHS tapes I would like to record to DVD/CD?whatever I can see it in these days. Would love to be able to make a direct recording and play it as original. Not looking to share it as in a peer to peer site just want to be able to play them when I want, like maybe twenty years from now. I do not want to keep a VHS around for that long..Dunno why maybe it is just me..

[Jerry]

I checked the box we used. Its called DVDXpressDX2, about $90.00 retail. Their web site is:
http://www.adstechnologies.com/index...=index&cPath=1

No interest, blah blah blah. Its what we used to convert quite a few VHS training videos to DVD. Worked OK, although we were not interested in doing much editing.