VHS Videos ? Can I ?

EycplUK

Message from the Boss Get rid of all those VHS videos dear or I will !
So before they go to the tip is there any thing out there that will let me copy from VHS to Disc ?
Regards
PS: anyone want up to 250 VHS videoes ? :rotfl: :rotfl:

https

If you have a dvd recorder, then the simplest method is to connect the output of the VHS recorder to the input of a DVD recorder.

There are other ways too, such as to a pc, or a video capture device.

aerostar

http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?criteria=video+capture

Or Ebay search for

video capture

marsbar989

I also are in the position having many mini VHS camcorder tapes (the 45min type tapes that a JVC camcorder used in the 90s). They have all of the children growing up and holidays etc. In total about 75 odd tapes. A few SVHS ones. I have the "converter" that I can use to place these tapes in a full size carry and play on a standard VHS machine (the camcorder having long gone). And I have an old Sony VHS taperecorder. What I was looking at doing was purchasing a DVD recorder on Ebay and connecting the VHS deck to that via Scart. Getting the tapes recorded on to DVD and then using the PC to sort them out. I have read lots about PC capture cards and basically unless you have a powerfull PC - forget it seems to be the view. Hence why I thought for £30 or so a cheap DVD recorder will do. Then I can ditch it again ebay.

bob_a_builder

I have read lots about PC capture cards and basically unless you have a powerfull PC - forget it seems to be the view

not really so, - if you where going to be going lots of editing then maybe so but just transferring is ok

I vote for pc capture

The time to convert a tape to digital is going to be the running time of the tape regardless of the medium.
quite happily converted many vhs to pc on a pretty ancient P4 2.6 with 1 GB of ram using a capture card

better to go straight to PC then burn the odd disc as reqd or stream them from PC to the TV

dvd is just another fragile media, which will again be supeceeded.
disk is fragile too so make sure, you fully back them up to another hdd ( not dvds)
but much more future proof than moving to dvd IMHO

can you be sure a dvd made on your recorder will be playable on another dvd player - I never could so gave up with dvd recorder a long time ago (i suppose they may have improved over time?)

I used LINK

googler

I vote for the Panasonic VHS/HDD/DVD machines.

Example HERE

Pop a VHS in before you go to bed, by the morning, it's on the HDD. Editing software is built in to the machine. Split titles, trim any unwanted passages, compile in the form you want on DVD. Copy to DVD at high speed. Trust me, once you've used one of these, you won't want to do this on a PC......

Has the adantage that it also doubles as a Freeview recorder, and won't raise any eyebrows from The Boss when installed in the lounge.

How much are you willing or able to spend on the project?

discoass

Be careful buying a cheap capture card,I bought one for £15 (win 7 compatible and latest drivers) is pretty useless blocky capture etc...I also have one that doesnt work in win7 (no drivers available/doesnt work in compatability mode),but does work very well in vista ..do a bit of research and take note of the reviews .

googler

Out of interest, are they commercial release VHSs or ones that you've made yourself from TV programmes and the like?

Ectophile

Unless the tapes are important, you may be better off slinging them out. You will only be able to play them in "real time" to record them. If you have 250 tapes, that will take weeks to do.

googler

Ectophile wrote: »

Unless the tapes are important, you may be better off slinging them out. You will only be able to play them in "real time" to record them. If you have 250 tapes, that will take weeks to do.

It takes some time, so it should be abandoned, is that it? It's only a worthwhile exercise if you can run a copy at high speed, or copy a file? Pah.

Yes, if it takes 3 hours to transfer a tape, the OP won't be able to do anything else with the hardware during that 3 hours, but it shouldn't require any attention. The OP can do something else in the meantime.

If the OP can transfer (say) two tapes every evening, then that's 125 days, or 4 months or so. Who are you to say that isn't their time well spent?


Yes, it takes time to transfer music or video from pre-digital formats, but that's no good reason to abandon it.