There was an instructional post, before the crash with the 'old' ISP, by Minion, I think, about converting VHS to DVD. I've seen MANY websites and posts on the subject, but I really need a start to finish outline, please. Basic VCR to computer (which hardware/software required/desired) and computer to DVD burner, hardware/software. Most posts talk about pieces...how about the whole flow, with recommended/desired software/hardware. I have purchased a recommended piece, the Canopus ADVC100, and have a great PC and DVD burner, good VCR, just don't know the flow from there. Any help, please?
Well I guess First you would Capture the Video with your Capture program and then you would edit the File you captured ,This is if you need to do any editing, and then depending on the software you are useing you would either render your Project as a DVD Compliant Mpeg2 file or render as a DV AVI file and then encode the File to Mpeg2/DVD and then you would use a DVD authoring Program to author the Mpeg2 file to DVD and then you will have a finnished DVD..This would be the Order you would do things in but how you would go about it all would depend on the Software you are useing....I would Suggest something like Adobe premier for Capture and editing or even better would be the "Vegas Video 4/DVD architect" Package as it would be the Only software you would need to go from VHS to DVD, I have the Same Package and Many Many others but I use a seperate Program for DVD authoring so I can"t give Much Instruction on how to use the DVD architect Part of the Package..This Package is Rather Expensive ,at least twice what you paid for the ADVC-100 but still cheaper than other Software Packages , I"m lucky being in the Buisiness I get super discounts on most software and even get a Lot of it for free..You should also have a dedicated fast and Larg Hard drive for Video capture because captured Video takes up a Lot of Space ,At least 120gb would be Good ,I have 280gb of Drive space and even that can get used up pretty Quick ,I just Picked up an ATA/133 160gb Drive for $80 US on e-bay and it is a Pretty Good drive and can hold about 10 hours of Low compression AVI Video which should be plenty for most Poeple..If you have any specific Questions about Things that you aren"t sure about let me Know and I"ll try to help you the Best i can...Talk to you later...Cheers
Hi Minion...you're the one I was looking for. Thanks for the response. I'm a 67 year old engineer/computer tech, still building and working on systems. I'm currently running an Intel 875MB, 3 Ghz processor, 2GB RAM, 2-200GB HDD's, Sony firwire DVD +/-R/RW... I'm sure the system will handle it, but [bold]I'M[/bold] the [bold]weak[/bold] link here! Over 40 years in computers, but new to video. It looks like Adobe or Vegas are a little over-kill for me, right now. I know VHS is not as good a quality as DVD, but I'd like to copy my old VHS to DVD at least as good a quality as the original. Using my ADVC100 to the PC, what capture program will do the job for me? Can I capture directly to MPEG2 for burning, or better to go through AVI? (No editing, for now.) And then, a good authoring program to burn to DVD...GOOD program, just no requirement for the best (again, for now). Need a good tech? Maybe I can get in on the 'freebies', hehehehe. Again, thanks for the response, looking forward to your inputs. John
Minion...do I need a capture card, too. Or, is the ADVC100 with firewire input to the PC sufficient for capturing, with the right software? What additional concerns do I need to address to capture copyrighted material from the VHS?
Hi, If you want to do Just simple Captureing to DV AVI and even some Basic editing you can use something simple like "Windows Movie Maker" which is free at the Windows Web site...I never Liked the Program Personally because it try"s to push it"s WMV format on you but it does Capture From Most Devices...The ADVC-100 is all the Hardware you will need for Captureing from VHS as it is one of the Best Capture devices for captureing Analoge Video...There is Copy Protection on VHS Tapes that can distort the Captured Video But luckily there is a way to disable the Macrovision Detection on the ADVC-100 so that you don"t have to worry about copy Protected Material, I saw how to do it one some site a while Back, I"ll see if I can Find it again and let you Know how to do it...You Can capture Directly to Mpeg2 with a Program Like WinDVR 3.0 but you would get better quality if you captured to DV AVI and used a High Quality Software encoder to encode the File to DVD Compliant Mpeg2...Becides a Good Quality Mpeg encoder you will also need a DVD authoring Program of which there are many Different ones ,the One I use for Most of my Basic DVD"s is Called "DVD-Lab" it has Lots of Cool Features and Makes very Nice looking DVD"s ,For more complex DVD"s I use one Called "Sonic DVD Producer" or "Sonic ReelDVD" which have support For Multiple Audio Tracks and Subtitles but these are Pretty High end Programs and cost a Fortune ,I actually Just Picked up a Very High end DVD authoring Program called "Sonic Scenarest 3.0" which is what they use to make the DVD"s that you rent at the Video Store, this Program retails for between $15,000 and $35,000 US and is Highly Complex but I don"t think I"ll ever really use it, Most Poeple Can get away with useing something simple Like "Tmpgenc DVD Author" which will make a Very Basic DVD with simple Menu"s and chapters but it is still very Functional....Well If there is anything else you need let me Know...Cheers
well i did all my converts the hard way on the pc with good results my sister wanted to convert all her tapes to dvd to and i did not want to spend endless hours doing it for here so she bought a panasonic DVD-R RECORDERD WITH 40 GIG HARD DRIVE and i sat with her for about 2 hours going over a few things and she is now turning out perfect dvd-r with no problems and they have great quailty when 1 hour per dvd is used and seam to play on a wide range of of set top players the only bad thing i can say is that editing is very limited and there is almost no menu abilty but if you want to convert vhs or dv it has a firewire port also it gives great results tommays
I also did as tommays did. I've been converting people's wedding videos to DVD. I had tried several different capture programs, only to be dis-satisfied with the results. I found there were dropped frames, and overal the picture appeared to be choppy. I bought the Panasonic DVD recorder and never looked back. The resulting DVD's are as good as the VHS, if not better, thanks to the Panasonic sending the video through a digital comb filter. That's my 2ยข.
ken0042, what model of Panasonic DVD-R recorder did you get? I'm looking to maybe go this way too. thanks, cwmson
the current base modle is DMR-E80H which means 80 gig hard drive mine was DMR-E40H 40 GIG HARD DRIVE .the 40 gig modle is cheaper but may be very hard to find as the DMR-E80H is now the base tommays
Sorry, was on vacation. I bought the DMR-e50. At that point the 80 was just coming out and was about $200 more. Looking back I should have gotten off my wallet.
DMR E50, E80, E100 will not capture protected (copyrighted) VHS. Disney Videos are all protected. You have to use macrovision filter. I use for instance this one http://www.xdimax.com/English/dvd_recorder.htm Take care not to buy video stabilizers without DVD recorders support. Capture protected VHS on pc can work if you can disable macrovision detection. BTW if you know how to do it on ATI All-in-wonder I eould appreciate your help. Thanks.
If you want to Back up DVD"s it is better to Rip them to your HD and burn them to DVD than it is useing a DVD Recorder to Record them as you will get much better quality ripping the DVD as opposed to Recording them with a DVD Recorder... XOLX: I have Backup up Many VHS Tapes useing an ALL In Wonder Card when I used to own a "ATI Radeon All In Wonder 8500DV" which was an awesome card that did everything and there is a Macrovision Hack for All In Wonder cards that works with many VHS Tapes but not on DVD"s...If you are haveing a Problem in this are I would be more than happy to help out if I can....Cheers
