OK, first f all, I know nothing about this area so forgive me if I sound very stupid! If i get an external usb capture card & hook it up to my VCR & PC, then I can capture? Would that be right? Would something as basic as Windows Movie Maker be able to capture using this method? I am not overly concerned about the quality unless of course, it turns out to be totally unwatchable. So would that work??
Yes, that's exactly how you could do it. Most USB devices come with some sort of capture software, which will probably be better than movie maker. If you do want to use movie maker, capture direct to DV-AVI for the best quality. The .wmv format sucks. If you want to burn to dvd later, you will have to encode to mpeg-2. Some USB devices allow you to capture directly to mpeg-2, using GOOD software. This will save you the encoding time. Look for one that has a "hardware mpeg-2 encoder".
Would it be possible to just write to a CD without any of this encoding?(As i have never done any of this encoding) Or is encoding hard?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product_listing.gsp?cat=105664&path=0:3944:172479:62055:124623 For those just seeking to do a simple transfer of vhs to dvd then the price of stand-alone recorders is getting hard to beat. Stick a cheapo Sima "copy filter" between the vcr and recorder and your set to do most tapes. BTW- last time i checked, that ilo recorder from Walmart uses a Lite-On drive. If you'd rather get more serious and involve your computer then yes, look for devices that possess hardware (chip) to do the encoding so your cpu can handle the rest. Even then, have a 2ghz + machine with large drives, lots ram, WinXP or 2000.
