Irene Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 We have some old VHS tapes which I would like to copy to DVD.The DVD writer is in my PC.Is there some way to connect the Video Player to my PC and copy to HD or directly to DVD?Maybe I need some software or interface... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 I've been inquiring about that and my local PC shop advised to get hold of a stand alone DVD recorder and copy directly to that then you can edit 'till the cows come home. However, if anyone has a simpler solution, i.e. not going out and buying a DVD recorder I would be interested as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted October 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 I've been inquiring about that and my local PC shop advised to get hold of a stand alone DVD recorder and copy directly to that then you can edit 'till the cows come home. However, if anyone has a simpler solution, i.e. not going out and buying a DVD recorder I would be interested as well. I would have thought that with all this modern technolgy, that there should be some way of hooking up the VHS player to a PC. But then, I am not at all knowledgeable in this area. Once it's on the PC it's plain sailing from there. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 The problem arises in that video tape is analogue and all computer related things are digital. It is necessary to convert your analogue signal to digital.Some graphics cards have an analogue video input (usually a yellow RCA plug/socket). This, in combination with the analogue sound inputs (that all computers have) and appropriate software is the "correct" way to do it.What I have is a PVR unit attached to a computer. This is a television tuner so that I can record TV programmes on the computer for editing and viewing later. It also has an input to accept a VCR so that I can accept analogue video from tapes etc. I find this easier than recording to a DVD on a DVD recorder and then playing around with that although I do have a DVD/hard drive recorder it tends to sit unused in favour of my other setup.If you want more details of the equipment I use, I'll be happy to post it (I am going out now though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Yes please pops do post some more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Pinnacle - and other manufacturers - produce a range of VHS analogue capture devices. Some are USB and others internal cardsFor ExampleRead thisA jolly good googling will find more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Expanding on Alan's post, I've never had any success with Dazzle products or with Pinnacle, who now own Dazzle and as far as I'm concerned, deserve each other. My first experience of video transfer was with a Dazzle "Hollywood" converter which promised loads but delivered little. Worst of all was the construction - it was the most badly made piece of kit I have ever seen which put you off the thing before it was even plugged in. It cost, back in 1998, nearly £200.After a lapse of several years (getting over the disappointment) I then promoted myself to a Pinnacle Studio 10 with breakout box (top of the range system). Again the breakout box (the analogue to digital link) looked as though it was only half finished and was connected to the computer by a cable almost as thick as the power cables you see when they dig up the road. The Pinnacle system was far from successful. OK, it converted the tapes to digital and placed them on the hard drive the problem then was to get them off there on to a DVD. Pinnacle Studio 10 proved a complete disaster. For starters, it is a huge, huge program full of things that you will most likely never need or even know what the are. It is slow, almost infinitely so as it has to do several passes during rendering to complete the processing, increasing the danger of faults and more often than not crashing part way through (usually in the middle of the night because it takes so long, you leave it to get on with things). Worst of all, though, was that it didn't let go of files it had used in rendering and as it unnecessarily created gigabytes and gigabytes of these, I soon found the hard drive stuffed up with useless files - remember this was in the days when hard drives were a lot smaller than they are now. Again, I gave up, thinking that it was all a myth that you could convert video tapes to digital.My next venture into this field was with a small device (can't remember the name of it now) which I bought from Scan that claimed to do what I wanted. It did but the software was rubbish and the manual written in Finnish translated into English by a Martian so I gave up with that as well.The system I use now was bought originally for transferring television programmes to computer for editing and transfer to DVD. As it has an AVI input for analogue video and audio, I have transferred all of my old video tapes (well, the ones worth doing) to DVD. The box I use is Hauppauge Personal Video recorder click hereI have no complaints about it at all although I don't use the provided video editing software.I use the box a lot because I grown very averse to watching "live" television. Using this system I can easily edit out all the rubbish pre and post programme, advert breaks etc. but, best of all, link together these series that show a little bit one night, a little bit the next taking a couple of hours of time but when the rubbish is removed, there is a complete program lasting just about an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Thank you pops will be following that through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted October 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Very many thanks for all the information... wonderfully abundant, as always. I'll take a look at the links over the weekend. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted November 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 I just thought that I would bring anyone who is interested up to date with where I got to with this query....Well..... since I already use Pinnacle Studio and I am familiar with the screens, I opted for the software, Dazzle Instant DVD Recorder. B) The most difficult obstacle was selecting the correct cable between the VCR and the Dazzle hardware.I am sure that for anyone who was more cognisant, they would have 'sussed' it immediately. However, for the benefit others similar to myself....The instruction leaflet describes leads with only the Red, White and Yellow leads. We tried 'every-which-way' to connect a cable, which was already in our possession into our VCR.WRONG!! After a telephone call to our local Maplin store, we collected a fairly hefty cable with a scart connection (for the VCR) at one end. It cost about £15, I think.I now have a superb link with which to transfer all of my VHS tapes, either directly to DVD or onto my PC's hard disc, where I can edit prior to burning it to DVD. I am delighted with my purchase (which incidentally I purchased from eBay). :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted November 9, 2007 Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 Fascinating Irene. How do you connect to your PC though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted November 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 Fascinating Irene. How do you connect to your PC though?There is a USB lead which comes directly from the Dazzle box, which I plug straight into my PC (needs to be a USB2 connection).The only thing to be aware of, is to install in the order as prescribed on the installation instruction. (i,e, software first etc.). You first select the source (video camera or in this case Dazzle), then you can choose where the output destination will be. We have some VHS tapes of our grandson when he was a baby. You know the drill. Hours of recording to capture that instant of gurgle or smile!! It is going to be perfect for editing that type of recording (even though it was 'edited' at the time!).I have a long line of material awaiting attention! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted November 9, 2007 Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 So have I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted November 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 So have I.I think that one of the longest processes will be viewing the VHS tapes, to decide if and how much of each tape to use. Having said that, it will probaly give a lot of pleasure. I must admit that they have not really been viewed recently. Perhaps I can do a better job of editing, now that I have the computer to assist. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted November 9, 2007 Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 Careful, Irene. Editing tapes can become very addictive. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panarchy Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 We have some old VHS tapes which I would like to copy to DVD.The DVD writer is in my PC.Is there some way to connect the Video Player to my PC and copy to HD or directly to DVD?Maybe I need some software or interface... My brother is a video editing maniac!I remember hearing somewhere that you can buy a VHS drive for the computer.But I think you can also, if you have a good enough graphics card, connect your VHS player to your computer.If you need more info, I will ask my brother...Panarchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 My brother is a video editing maniac!I remember hearing somewhere that you can buy a VHS drive for the computer.But I think you can also, if you have a good enough graphics card, connect your VHS player to your computer.If you need more info, I will ask my brother...My new hardware, Dazzle Instant DVD Recorder, does that job for me.I just connect one cable lead from Dazzle to the VCR and from the other side another cable connects directly into my computer via a USB2 port. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panarchy Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 ^oh... that's good to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted November 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 Fascinating Irene. How do you connect to your PC though?Doug, just one word of warning...You need oodles of free gigabites. :0 Fortunately, I have a 500GB external HD, so it was not a problem. When I transferred a full VHS tape, it took something like 40-odd GB!!! It took me all day to edit and burn a 47 minute DVD of my grandson (as a baby). Bearing in mind, that when you camcord a baby, you tape forever, just waiting for that special moment.... Still it was worth it. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.