I want to convert my odd VHS family movies to either DVD or the hard drive. I might edit them later on.
So what is the best format to transfer to with the lowest losses?
I was told to use a caputure card.
Another person told me just buy a DVD home stereo recorder and record directly to dvd and then edit afterwards.
I vote for the VCR to DVD Recorder method.
I converted most of my commercial movie tapes this way - and since your tapes are home movies, you don't have the aggravation of Macrovision protection to contend with.
In my own case, I am using a combination VCR/DVD Recorder to convert my VHS tapes to DVD. When I started my project, I did not own a VCR, so I needed that anyway. I put the tape in one side of the unit and a blank DVD in the other side and hit the dubbing button. The tape plays and records to the DVD in real time. It can be as simple as that. The particular unit I bought was the Magnavox MWR20V6 available at Wal-Mart; it is probably the least expensive of the units. If I want to edit them later on, I can copy the files from the dubbed DVD to my computer hard drive and go from there.
I will say that converting your own tapes is very easy with the combo unit. I have done this for myself and several friends. Put tape in one side blank DVD in the other, hit go and thats it. Oh, dont forget to time it. However if you are converting old purchased tapes you will need a stabilizer. I have been working on this for hours and hours. I did not find the real instructions from the company for hours and hours. I knew I was doing some little thing wrong but couldnt figure it out. I found them moments ago. There was a little trick with the remote and the combo unit. I followed them exactly, and wow, the little machine worked as advertized and now I will finish my project of copying all my tapes and clear out my closet! Yipppie.
I have a lot of old Disney movies on VHS for my children, but they are getting extrelely worn out from use. I would like to convert them to DVD. I do not own a DVD recorder combo, I have heard that the copywrite protection will not allow you to backup the movies. So can I hook my VCR up to my CPU and download the movies to my hdd then burn with imgburn?? Any easier suggestions would be helpful as well. Thanks
You will need a capture card in order to hook your VCR to your CPU, and one that will ignore Macrovision too. I was sucessfull using a Hauppauge capture card in converting mine. I know that the card I used, a PVR 150, ignores Macrovision.
If you are looking to place Disney movies on dvd, it might be easier and quicker to find used dvds on ebay, amazon or other similar sites. I know the picture quality would be better on the dvds vs the tape transfer to dvd.
