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[DarthWoo]

My mother has a huge trove of VHS-C tapes that she made when she was taking care of my sister's kids while they were still babies/toddlers. I was planning on trying to convert them to DVD myself, but just realized I had been under a couple erroneous assumptions. I had originally thought the tapes were MiniDVs, but she only got her MiniDV camera (that sadly does not have DV pass through, which could have eliminated a few steps) a few years ago, so the Firewire port in my PC is of no help except for the few tapes she's made with it since then.

I've been looking on Amazon for some sort of affordable USB analog video capture devices. I don't really plan on using this device much once I've gotten through her stockpile of tapes (probably around 50ish) so I don't want to spend a lot. VHS isn't exactly a great format anyway, so it's not like there's a huge amount of fidelity to lose. I see THIS THING which is pretty cheap and has mostly acceptable reviews, but at least one of the negative reviews subtly accuses all the other positives of being shills.

I also found out her original VHS-C camera seems to be missing the DC power cable that went between the huge battery charging block to the camera to power it without a battery attached. I've looked on Amazon and see I can get a third-party replacement for around $15 shipped, but are there ever any cheaper alternatives?

As I could also try lugging around a VCR to plug into the above device, would there be much difference between plugging the camcorder directly into the PC versus a VCR with the VHS-C adapter? The camcorder's AV cable only has the white RCA cable for audio, so that will obviously be mono, but will any video file I import still play the mono audio through both speakers or just the one?

 

[terrisus]

I see THIS THING which is pretty cheap and has mostly acceptable reviews, but at least one of the negative reviews subtly accuses all the other positives of being shills.

I had something similar to that back in the late 1990s/early 2000s, called the Dazzle MovieStar 5. It worked fine. So, don't see any particular reason that wouldn't, not that difficult of a connection to bridge.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

A few companies made these DVD Burner/VHS Players at one time. I owned one and it allowed you to burn your VHS tape to DVD. You could create simple menus and everything too. And some models also had Firewire out I think. I assume a VHS-C to VHS adapter would work fine in one. It was a set it and forget it type deal.

It's a long shot I know, but you might find one at a local pawn shop or goodwill/salvation army store.

 

[DarthWoo]

A few companies made these DVD Burner/VHS Players at one time. I owned one and it allowed you to burn your VHS tape to DVD. You could create simple menus and everything too. And some models also had Firewire out I think. I assume a VHS-C to VHS adapter would work fine in one. It was a set it and forget it type deal.

It's a long shot I know, but you might find one at a local pawn shop or goodwill/salvation army store.

I had considered the type of player, but saw they were all $100+ in various online stores. Didn't think to look at the Goodwill. There's one pretty close to my house that I might just visit for the heck of it anyway.

 

[DarthWoo]

I had something similar to that back in the late 1990s/early 2000s, called the Dazzle MovieStar 5. It worked fine. So, don't see any particular reason that wouldn't, not that difficult of a connection to bridge.

I guess things might be a bit different now than back then, but do you suppose that such a device should probably be able to function in the background while I'm doing other stuff? Since I know just the capture process will be a 1:1 time ratio with the tapes, I'd like to be able to just plug the camera in, start playing it into whatever program the thing comes with, and then do whatever else while that's going on.

I know in the 90/00s, you sometimes couldn't even do very much while just burning a CD lest you create a coaster, but surely our PCs are hardy enough to be able to do this now?

 

[corn_fest]

I've tried doing this a couple times, and every capture device I've tried has made potato quality video (noticeably worse than the tapes themselves, even over S-Video). If anyone's found one that doesn't suck, I'm all ears.

 

[terrisus]

I guess things might be a bit different now than back then, but do you suppose that such a device should probably be able to function in the background while I'm doing other stuff? Since I know just the capture process will be a 1:1 time ratio with the tapes, I'd like to be able to just plug the camera in, start playing it into whatever program the thing comes with, and then do whatever else while that's going on.

I know in the 90/00s, you sometimes couldn't even do very much while just burning a CD lest you create a coaster, but surely our PCs are hardy enough to be able to do this now?

Wasn't an issue for me even back then, so don't imagine it would be too much of an issue now.

Although, for what it's worth...

I've tried doing this a couple times, and every capture device I've tried has made potato quality video (noticeably worse than the tapes themselves, even over S-Video). If anyone's found one that doesn't suck, I'm all ears.

Yeah, the quality was kind of potatoes >.>

But, again, that was like 15 years ago.

 

[Syriel]

As I could also try lugging around a VCR to plug into the above device, would there be much difference between plugging the camcorder directly into the PC versus a VCR with the VHS-C adapter? The camcorder's AV cable only has the white RCA cable for audio, so that will obviously be mono, but will any video file I import still play the mono audio through both speakers or just the one?

You want one of the following:

1) Adaptec AVC -1400
2) Elgato GameCapture HD + Analog Cable

The Adaptec is no longer made, but it is one of the best USB devices for capturing analog SD signals. Hands down.

The EGC HD (original, not the HD60) can also capture analog SD. It is newer (so easier to find) but isn't quite as good as the Adaptec device IMHO.

As far as tapes, playback from the VCR w/a VHS-C adapter if you can. The playback heads in the VCR are likely of higher quality.

Capture at the highest possible settings and then convert to either H.264 (so you have a good digital master) or DVD video (for easy burning to a disc).

 

[DarthWoo]

You want one of the following:

1) Adaptec AVC -1400
2) Elgato GameCapture HD + Analog Cable

The Adaptec is no longer made, but it is one of the best USB devices for capturing analog SD signals. Hands down.

The EGC HD (original, not the HD60) can also capture analog SD. It is newer (so easier to find) but isn't quite as good as the Adaptec device IMHO.

As far as tapes, playback from the VCR w/a VHS-C adapter if you can. The playback heads in the VCR are likely of higher quality.

Capture at the highest possible settings and then convert to either H.264 (so you have a good digital master) or DVD video (for easy burning to a disc).

Is this what I'm looking for?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adaptec-AVC...159?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4fb2095f

 

[Syriel]

Is this what I'm looking for?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adaptec-AVC...159?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4fb2095f

Yep. I've gone through a lot of capture devices over the years, but hung onto that one for whenever I need to capture from older tapes and/or consoles.

I wouldn't suggest using the Adaptec software to edit.

Just use the device to capture, then do your editing/conversion in more current software.

NOTE: That auction is missing the USB cable (standard) and the TV tuner lead. The TV tuner lead is really only useful today if you want to capture form a REALLY old console that only outputs over RF. The device has NO digital TV support, so not having the lead likely isn't going to make a difference to you.


Edit: There was also a remote. But I never used it.

 

[Syriel]

Here is one, brand new in box:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GameBridge-tv-adaptec-avc-1410-New/351322269798

 

[DarthWoo]

Thanks, I found one for 18 cents less.

What software do you use to capture if not using the included stuff?

 

[davepoobond]

Are you sure that miniDV camera doesn't have a FireWire port? That would be very strange.


The configuration I have for converting to digital is VHS -> miniDV (video in setting turned on) -> FireWire to PC


I use premiere in that set up. As long as you use something that recognizes the device as a FireWire device it works in premiere. Otherwise you need software that can capture over USB

 

[DarthWoo]

Are you sure that miniDV camera doesn't have a FireWire port? That would be very strange.


The configuration I have for converting to digital is VHS -> miniDV (video in setting turned on) -> FireWire to PC


I use premiere in that set up. As long as you use something that recognizes the device as a FireWire device it works in premiere. Otherwise you need software that can capture over USB

It has a Firewire port, but no pass through. The bulk of the tapes I need to convert were VHS-C. I only got my mother the MiniDV camera a few years ago, well after all the prime baby memories were already recorded.

 

[VanWinkle]

Are you sure that miniDV camera doesn't have a FireWire port? That would be very strange.


The configuration I have for converting to digital is VHS -> miniDV (video in setting turned on) -> FireWire to PC


I use premiere in that set up. As long as you use something that recognizes the device as a FireWire device it works in premiere. Otherwise you need software that can capture over USB

He said it's VHS-C, not miniDV.

 

[Syriel]

Thanks, I found one for 18 cents less.

What software do you use to capture if not using the included stuff?

Using the included software to capture is fine.

What I meant was, AFTER you have the raw capture on your hard drive, then use other software. Don't try to produce a final file with the included software. Just use it to configure the device and do the capture.

Anything else, use software that's more current and has more advanced codec support.

 

[davepoobond]

It has a Firewire port, but no pass through. The bulk of the tapes I need to convert were VHS-C. I only got my mother the MiniDV camera a few years ago, well after all the prime baby memories were already recorded.

ah ok. the mini dv camera i have has a pass through. What brand is it?

Usually mini-DV cameras have the pass-through if they were designed during the 00's, but if it is a "new" miniDV camera i can see how it wouldnt have the option anymore. I'm guessing you probably already know that...

He said it's VHS-C, not miniDV.

I understand that. You can use a miniDV camera as a pass through from a VHS player into your PC via Firewire. My Sony Handycam from the early 2000s is able to pass through the signal to firewire and i can capture digitally.

It essentially acts as one of those converter boxes.

 

[DarthWoo]

Using the included software to capture is fine.

What I meant was, AFTER you have the raw capture on your hard drive, then use other software. Don't try to produce a final file with the included software. Just use it to configure the device and do the capture.

Anything else, use software that's more current and has more advanced codec support.

Whoops, I knew I read that but somehow I mixed it up in my head when I came back to it later.

ah ok. the mini dv camera i have has a pass through. What brand is it?

Usually mini-DV cameras have the pass-through if they were designed during the 00's, but if it is a "new" miniDV camera i can see how it wouldnt have the option anymore. I'm guessing you probably already know that...



I understand that. You can use a miniDV camera as a pass through from a VHS player into your PC via Firewire. My Sony Handycam from the early 2000s is able to pass through the signal to firewire and i can capture digitally.

It essentially acts as one of those converter boxes.

It's a JVC GR-D750 that I got cheap on clearance a while back. It's pretty barebones as far as camcorders go. The manual doesn't say anything about pass through, and I definitely couldn't find anything in the system menu for it.

 

[davepoobond]

It's a JVC GR-D750 that I got cheap on clearance a while back. It's pretty barebones as far as camcorders go. The manual doesn't say anything about pass through, and I definitely couldn't find anything in the system menu for it.

well, i checked the manual and there doesnt seem to be the capability for that model. the only possibility seems to perhaps be dubbing from your analog source to the JVC camera and then capturing from that miniDV tape to your PC. that would be a pain, though, and i wouldnt suggest doing that unless the tapes were very short.

it also might just work without flipping a switch on if you dont have a tape in the camera and connect via the AV cable and also connect the firewire cable. Might be worth trying if you have the right gear with you. its possible that something just pops up once you have things all plugged in.

 

[Link1110]

I used to this for my dads one hour photo. Get a dvd recorder which should only run like 150 and a vhsc-vhs adaptor for like 20 and that's all you need. Nor expensive than that usb thing but I haven't had any luck with usb ones, but again that was like 15 years ago

 

[corn_fest]

You want one of the following:

1) Adaptec AVC -1400
2) Elgato GameCapture HD + Analog Cable

The Adaptec is no longer made, but it is one of the best USB devices for capturing analog SD signals. Hands down.

Thanks for the info. Thinking of picking one up, but I'm curious: are you keeping a Windows XP machine around to use the Adaptec converter? Looking online it seems like there are some driver issues with Vista/7.

 

[DarthWoo]

Thanks for the info. Thinking of picking one up, but I'm curious: are you keeping a Windows XP machine around to use the Adaptec converter? Looking online it seems like there are some driver issues with Vista/7.

Hmm...just saw all the same information about the driver issues, specifically with it not working in a 64-bit environment. Some people have supposedly gotten around it by running Windows XP as a virtual machine, but that sounds rather complicated. I haven't really seen if anyone's managed to make a homemade driver for it, but that seems unlikely.

 

[Syriel]

Thanks for the info. Thinking of picking one up, but I'm curious: are you keeping a Windows XP machine around to use the Adaptec converter? Looking online it seems like there are some driver issues with Vista/7.

I still have an older XP machine around, though I have used the Adaptec on a Win 7 netbook (32-bit version of Win 7).

I haven't tried it on Win8/10. Can't say I messed with it on 64-bit at all. I can probably give it a go with the Win10 beta machine and see what it does.

 

[DarthWoo]

So it looks like I'll have to go the VMware/WinXP route. I know XP has fairly low requirements relative to today's average system, but will I need to devote a bit of extra to it in the same way a console emulator needs more resources on a PC than the console itself actually has?

I'm running an i5-4460, 8GB RAM, 1TB+2TB HDDs. Would dedicating 1GB of RAM and 50GB to the WinXP VM be sufficient? I'll just be moving the converted videos from the VM drive to the main drive after each conversion anyway, and it won't be used for anything but holding the WinXP install and a couple conversions at a time at most, so that seems like it ought to be more than enough, right?. (Especially considering I had XP running on a 20GB HDD back in the day.)

 

[neobiz]

So it looks like I'll have to go the VMware/WinXP route. I know XP has fairly low requirements relative to today's average system, but will I need to devote a bit of extra to it in the same way a console emulator needs more resources on a PC than the console itself actually has?

I'm running an i5-4460, 8GB RAM, 1TB+2TB HDDs. Would dedicating 1GB of RAM and 50GB to the WinXP VM be sufficient? I'll just be moving the converted videos from the VM drive to the main drive after each conversion anyway, and it won't be used for anything but holding the WinXP install and a couple conversions at a time at most, so that seems like it ought to be more than enough, right?. (Especially considering I had XP running on a 20GB HDD back in the day.)

That's plenty.

edit:I suggest going virtualbox since it's free vs vmware. I know vmware offered 'free' but I haven't used the free version in years so I'm not sure how good it would be.

 

[DarthWoo]

That's plenty.

edit:I suggest going virtualbox since it's free vs vmware. I know vmware offered 'free' but I haven't used the free version in years so I'm not sure how good it would be.

Strangely, the Virtualbox installer is giving me a "This app can't run on your PC" error message.

 

[DarthWoo]

I feel I should have done more research prior to this. If I'm reading things correctly, I need to have Win 8.1 Pro or Enterprise to even consider running a VM?

 

[davepoobond]

IMO just buy a miniDV camera that can throughput the signal

There's also a program called PInnacle studio which can work as well. Comes with a converter box

 

[DarthWoo]

I've gotten the Adaptec working in VMWare now. Took a bit of fiddling with VM, but it all seems to be pretty low impact on my system. So it seems that capturing the video is going to be the easy part, if a bit tedious.

What I need to figure out now is the fastest way to convert the MPEG that the capture program outputs to a proper DVD video. The issue I'm having is that Windows Movie Maker seems to be unable to read raw MPEG. I have to convert the MPEG to MP4 in another program, and then open it back up in WMM to crop off the opening and closing static of the video. Both of these steps take almost as long as the video itself. Is there any more streamlined but free means of doing this?

 

[davepoobond]

I've gotten the Adaptec working in VMWare now. Took a bit of fiddling with VM, but it all seems to be pretty low impact on my system. So it seems that capturing the video is going to be the easy part, if a bit tedious.

What I need to figure out now is the fastest way to convert the MPEG that the capture program outputs to a proper DVD video. The issue I'm having is that Windows Movie Maker seems to be unable to read raw MPEG. I have to convert the MPEG to MP4 in another program, and then open it back up in WMM to crop off the opening and closing static of the video. Both of these steps take almost as long as the video itself. Is there any more streamlined but free means of doing this?

try a program called Video Pad. It can export and burn DVDs.

 

[ShowDog]

Funny I'm doing this as I'm typing this. I'm just using iMovie on an old FireWire MacBook, a thrift store vcr, a mini to full size cassette adapter and a FireWire analog video capture device.

This equipment is all super old I've been meaning to complete this project forever but it takes time. The biggest pain in the ass part is putting stuff on DVD, I've moved on and am putting stuff on YouTube or digital playback locally.

 

[Syriel]

I've gotten the Adaptec working in VMWare now. Took a bit of fiddling with VM, but it all seems to be pretty low impact on my system. So it seems that capturing the video is going to be the easy part, if a bit tedious.

What I need to figure out now is the fastest way to convert the MPEG that the capture program outputs to a proper DVD video. The issue I'm having is that Windows Movie Maker seems to be unable to read raw MPEG. I have to convert the MPEG to MP4 in another program, and then open it back up in WMM to crop off the opening and closing static of the video. Both of these steps take almost as long as the video itself. Is there any more streamlined but free means of doing this?

Skip Windows Movie Maker.

If this is a one-off project, download Premiere Pro from Adobe. Free trial for 30 days.

If you want to do this long term (and don't mind paying), buy Premiere Pro. It will give you the full workflow that you need.

If you want to do it on a budget, check out Premiere Elements ($100).

If you want to do this long term (for free), download Lightworks:
https://www.lwks.com/

The free version is limited to a maximum output of 720p, H.264, but that's way more than you need here.

Load everything up in Lightworks. Do all your editing. Either pay for a month to output to the format of your choice, or just stick with the free version and output a high quality H.264 file. You can then play that back from USB on any PC, game consoles, etc. You can also burn the files to disc for archiving, or easily convert them to a playable DVD with your choice of DVD burning software.

 

[DarthWoo]

Funny I'm doing this as I'm typing this. I'm just using iMovie on an old FireWire MacBook, a thrift store vcr, a mini to full size cassette adapter and a FireWire analog video capture device.

This equipment is all super old I've been meaning to complete this project forever but it takes time. The biggest pain in the ass part is putting stuff on DVD, I've moved on and am putting stuff on YouTube or digital playback locally.

Apart from a more straightforward transfer process, I suppose there isn't going to be a terribly huge difference in quality between something like the Adaptec and a Firewire transfer device, right? It's mostly down to the quality of the VCR and cables, and a loss of quality is pretty much inevitable? I saw the Pinnacle devices mentioned on eBay, but they tended to be out of my price range. Still can't really find any cheap MiniDV cams with the necessary feature either.

Skip Windows Movie Maker.

If this is a one-off project, download Premiere Pro from Adobe. Free trial for 30 days.

If you want to do this long term (and don't mind paying), buy Premiere Pro. It will give you the full workflow that you need.

If you want to do it on a budget, check out Premiere Elements ($100).

If you want to do this long term (for free), download Lightworks:
https://www.lwks.com/

The free version is limited to a maximum output of 720p, H.264, but that's way more than you need here.

Load everything up in Lightworks. Do all your editing. Either pay for a month to output to the format of your choice, or just stick with the free version and output a high quality H.264 file. You can then play that back from USB on any PC, game consoles, etc. You can also burn the files to disc for archiving, or easily convert them to a playable DVD with your choice of DVD burning software.

Thanks for all that, it definitely looks like a much better option. As far as my test run went, I ended up with three different programs (not counting VMware just to get the capture device to work ) and three different video files (the original MPEG, the converted MP4, and the cropped MP4). Though your suggestion will make the conversion unnecessary, would there have been a significant quality loss when I converted from MPEG to MP4?

 

[Syriel]

Apart from a more straightforward transfer process, I suppose there isn't going to be a terribly huge difference in quality between something like the Adaptec and a Firewire transfer device, right? It's mostly down to the quality of the VCR and cables, and a loss of quality is pretty much inevitable? I saw the Pinnacle devices mentioned on eBay, but they tended to be out of my price range. Still can't really find any cheap MiniDV cams with the necessary feature either.



Thanks for all that, it definitely looks like a much better option. As far as my test run went, I ended up with three different programs (not counting VMware just to get the capture device to work ) and three different video files (the original MPEG, the converted MP4, and the cropped MP4). Though your suggestion will make the conversion unnecessary, would there have been a significant quality loss when I converted from MPEG to MP4?

1) Capture devices (including MiniDV passthru) vary greatly in quality. Ask anyone who dealt with analog video and they'll tell you that capture hardware can make a huge difference.

2) You will always get some quality loss when converting. The way to minimize that is to capture at the highest possible bitrate. Then, while editing, combine everything into your project. When you are done, output two files. One "master" h.264 file (or h.265/HEVC if you go with Premiere) at a high bitrate. Keep this in case you ever want to convert to a different format for someone. File two should be a standard h.264 file (standard MP4) at a typical bitrate. Use this for passing along to family and friends. Or posting on YouTube or Facebook.


When I say combine everything in your project, I mean titles, any cuts or dissolves, special effects, addition or removal of black bars, insertion of photos, overlays, etc. All of it. You do it in one project, with all of your source files being the original MPEG-2 captures. This way when you output that master file, you are only doing one conversion and minimizing any potential quality loss.

 

[DarthWoo]

This is a bit of a silly question, but since I don't really want to go out and buy a new composite cable (already have one, but it's kind of cheap) would a heavily shielded component cable likely make any noticeable difference versus a very thin composite? (Using one of the three video plugs as video, and the two others as audio of course.)

 

[Syriel]

This is a bit of a silly question, but since I don't really want to go out and buy a new composite cable (already have one, but it's kind of cheap) would a heavily shielded component cable likely make any noticeable difference versus a very thin composite? (Using one of the three video plugs as video, and the two others as audio of course.)

The shielded component cable will likely have less chance of interference.

Composite and Component cables are the same cable, with the same ends. They can be used interchangeably with the only difference being in the quality of the cable itself.

If you don't have any external RF interference then you won't see a difference in cable types. If you do, then the shielded ones can produce a better result. In most cases the difference is minimal.

 

[DarthWoo]

Thanks again for the Lightworks recommendation; I'm having a bit of fun learning it. I learned how to do a bit of NLE a long time ago, but I guess I'm way out of practice.

I'm going to go the free route, so I understand I only have the one export option. I did a test of just cutting out a 3 minute clip I thought I'd email to my mother so she can see what I'm doing. It came out a bit larger than I expected, at around 84MB for a 3 minute clip at 360p. Oddly enough, when I exported it again at 240p, it went up to 87MB. Is there a way to reduce that a bit, or would I probably be best served running the result through a converter into another codec?

 

[GraveRobberX]

Sorry for hijacking this thread I have a question also.

My dad bough a PAL camera during the late '80's, he recorded our memories and I really want to save these before the VHS degrade

Problem is we don't have the camera, but we do have the 3 system VCR we play the VHS movies.

Is there anything out there where I can put a converter behind my VCR it has both composite in and out that I can play the PAL VHS movies, while they get converted to NTSC, DVD quality.

My mom did convert 6 hours worth of tape but it cost her like $50 for 6 hours for 2 DVD copies
We still have roughly 80 hours left, lol, would cost a fortune, worst part was no menus or splash screen created, just basic PAL VHS to NTSC DVD conversion.

Can someone point me to a medium priced option?

 

[DarthWoo]

I'm afraid I have no answer to that.

As for the conversion process, I've run into a rather tedious issue. I'm about halfway through all the tapes, although some of the latter half may be from after I taught my mother about the extended play function on her camera, so those might take a while longer. Unfortunately it seems like a great many tapes are giving me false Macrovision detection anytime there's more than a second of static. It'll even happen right at the beginning of the tape if I hit record on the program at the same I hit play on the VCR. It's not hard to fix, although it forces me to break up tapes into multiple files, and I'm afraid I'm wearing out the tapes having to rewind to find where the last file left off. Hopefully the hour-long EPs won't do this as much. Makes it much harder to just leave a conversion running in the background while I do other stuff.

 

[DarthWoo]

Finally finished all the conversions, and ended up with about 70GB of raw video. I've watched a few tutorials on Lightworks, but they don't seem to tell me how to change the folder to which it saves my project, or at least media that I've transcoded for a project. Is this something only available in a paid version? Might I be better off just using the "create link" function for importing?

 

[Syriel]

Thanks again for the Lightworks recommendation; I'm having a bit of fun learning it. I learned how to do a bit of NLE a long time ago, but I guess I'm way out of practice.

I'm going to go the free route, so I understand I only have the one export option. I did a test of just cutting out a 3 minute clip I thought I'd email to my mother so she can see what I'm doing. It came out a bit larger than I expected, at around 84MB for a 3 minute clip at 360p. Oddly enough, when I exported it again at 240p, it went up to 87MB. Is there a way to reduce that a bit, or would I probably be best served running the result through a converter into another codec?

I believe you'll need a paid option to optimize output. I've only messed with the free version of Lightworks, but as an example, in Premiere, you can fully tweak the output in terms of codec selection and encoding parameters.

I'm assuming the paid version of Lightworks will enable similar functionality.

Sorry for hijacking this thread I have a question also.

My dad bough a PAL camera during the late '80's, he recorded our memories and I really want to save these before the VHS degrade

Problem is we don't have the camera, but we do have the 3 system VCR we play the VHS movies.

Is there anything out there where I can put a converter behind my VCR it has both composite in and out that I can play the PAL VHS movies, while they get converted to NTSC, DVD quality.

My mom did convert 6 hours worth of tape but it cost her like $50 for 6 hours for 2 DVD copies
We still have roughly 80 hours left, lol, would cost a fortune, worst part was no menus or splash screen created, just basic PAL VHS to NTSC DVD conversion.

Can someone point me to a medium priced option?

You can use the Adaptec device mentioned in this thread. That will allow you to capture the raw PAL video. Once you have it digitized, you can convert as necessary.

I'm afraid I have no answer to that.

As for the conversion process, I've run into a rather tedious issue. I'm about halfway through all the tapes, although some of the latter half may be from after I taught my mother about the extended play function on her camera, so those might take a while longer. Unfortunately it seems like a great many tapes are giving me false Macrovision detection anytime there's more than a second of static. It'll even happen right at the beginning of the tape if I hit record on the program at the same I hit play on the VCR. It's not hard to fix, although it forces me to break up tapes into multiple files, and I'm afraid I'm wearing out the tapes having to rewind to find where the last file left off. Hopefully the hour-long EPs won't do this as much. Makes it much harder to just leave a conversion running in the background while I do other stuff.

False positives suck (as you shouldn't be getting Macrovision on home videos), but to be honest, having the files broken up shouldn't be a huge issue. Smaller files are always easier to work with.

Finally finished all the conversions, and ended up with about 70GB of raw video. I've watched a few tutorials on Lightworks, but they don't seem to tell me how to change the folder to which it saves my project, or at least media that I've transcoded for a project. Is this something only available in a paid version? Might I be better off just using the "create link" function for importing?

The free version saves your project to a default location. You only have the choice of where to export the final final. I believe once you upgrade to paid, you can configure the project working location.

 

[DarthWoo]

Thanks again. It seems I might be better off just going with create link anyway, as when I tested with a few transcoded videos, the end result inexplicably came up with what looked like a bunch of interlacing artifacts. The camcorder timestamp that was on every video was vibrating up and down for the entire duration. That didn't happen when I just linked to the raw videos.

 

[Syriel]

Thanks again. It seems I might be better off just going with create link anyway, as when I tested with a few transcoded videos, the end result inexplicably came up with what looked like a bunch of interlacing artifacts. The camcorder timestamp that was on every video was vibrating up and down for the entire duration. That didn't happen when I just linked to the raw videos.

Yeah, you want to avoid transcoding if possible.

Focus on keeping your clips in the original capture format until you are ready to do the final output render.

The greater the number of transcode/render steps, the lower the quality of the final file.

 

[DarthWoo]

I noticed a strange thing as I was exporting some test vids. My originals, being VHS, should obviously be in a 4:3 ratio, which is what it seems to be, but checking their info lists them as 720x480. I guess that's just what the conversion program captured them at, although if I actually take a screenshot and measure the media player screen in Photoshop, it's around 657ish by 480, so I'll round that to the proper 640x480. Not sure why file info says 720x480 then. When I export a video in Lightworks, it bumps the width way up, so the file is now 852x480, or 16:9. It actually shows when I play the videos in WMP, as they now have pointless black bars on the side. I've looked in all the settings in Lightworks, and can't seem to make any alterations that would prevent that. It's not really a huge problem, but it seems kind of silly.

 

[Syriel]

720x480 is native NTSC DVD resolution.

852x480 is playback resolution for 16:9 DVD video.

You probably captured 4:3 video, but imported into a project with a 16:9 template. That's why black bars will be added.

If everything is going to be 4:3, make sure you're defining your project as 4:3.

As a side note, any HD project (aka 720p) will be 16:9.

 

[DarthWoo]

I have REALLY procrastinated on this project, but now I'm nearing the end. Just have to double check that my edits are in the correct chronological order, encode them, then burn them to DVD. I'm already copying all the videos to a flash drive so there will at least be that with little lossiness. However, I was using Ashampoo or something else on my initial test disc back when I started this, and for some reason it insisted in compressing everything terribly. When I checked the remaining space on disc before burning, it said that 2 hours of video was only using around half of the file space. I couldn't seem to adjust any settings for it to burn to DVD at a higher bitrate. Is there any free program that can take MP4s and burn them to disc at as high a bitrate as possible given the length of video desired?

 

[MikeDown]

while this a topic, any good ways to digitalize films?

 

[davepoobond]

I have REALLY procrastinated on this project, but now I'm nearing the end. Just have to double check that my edits are in the correct chronological order, encode them, then burn them to DVD. I'm already copying all the videos to a flash drive so there will at least be that with little lossiness. However, I was using Ashampoo or something else on my initial test disc back when I started this, and for some reason it insisted in compressing everything terribly. When I checked the remaining space on disc before burning, it said that 2 hours of video was only using around half of the file space. I couldn't seem to adjust any settings for it to burn to DVD at a higher bitrate. Is there any free program that can take MP4s and burn them to disc at as high a bitrate as possible given the length of video desired?

try using Video Pad. it has a lot of options and settings.

while this a topic, any good ways to digitalize films?

what are you converting from, exactly?

 

[moorecore]

In theory if everything is on VHS-C and you have an adapter, you'd probably be best using a VHS/DVD Recorder combi unit. You can record everything from VHS to a DVD then pull the video file from the DVD using a PC if you wish

 

[DarthWoo]

try using Video Pad. it has a lot of options and settings.




what are you converting from, exactly?

Thanks, it didn't have the burner itself, but as an add-on which seems to have worked much better than Ashampoo.