How do I convert vhs to dvd?

[Deleted User]

There are specialist companies who will convert old VHS tapes to DVD. They don't cost the earth and the results are guaranteed (as long as the tape itself hasn't degraded too much).

Buying a product specifically for just one cassette may not be cost effective. Have you actually played the tape lately? What condition is it in?

MattGb

You need to send your VHS away to a business that will do the conversion. Google will give you loads

Annie1960

Annie1960 wrote: »

Many thanks for all the advice.

I have ordered this:

http://www.climaxdigital.co.uk/epages/BT3449.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3449/Products/111168

It arrived a couple of days ago, and I managed to set it up and make a copy of my VHS. I discovered I don't need to put it onto DVD as I have it on my hard drive, and I have also saved a copy on my memory stick.

This model works both on Mac (which I have tried) and Windows (which I have not tried yet).

Does anyone know if this device can be used to record from my Freeview recorder? I record some of the crafting channel programmes, and would like to keep some of the demonstrations.

googler

Annie1960 wrote: »

Does anyone know if this device can be used to record from my Freeview recorder? I record some of the crafting channel programmes, and would like to keep some of the demonstrations.

Does your Freeview recorder have outputs that correspond to the inputs on this device? If so, it should just be a case of playing back the Freeview progs, the same as you did to play back the VHS.

Annie1960

googler wrote: »

Does your Freeview recorder have outputs that correspond to the inputs on this device? If so, it should just be a case of playing back the Freeview progs, the same as you did to play back the VHS.

I'll give this a go. I wasn't sure as the device transfers analogue to digital, whereas my free viewrecorder is digital.

googler

Annie1960 wrote: »

I'll give this a go. I wasn't sure as the device transfers analogue to digital, whereas my free viewrecorder is digital.

Your Freeview recorder may well record digital TV, but if it has the same outputs as this device has inputs, they will be outputting an analogue signal.

What outputs does the Freeview recorder have? What make/model is it?

almillar

You could take the hard drive out of the Freeview recorder, and plug it into your computer, and there may be tools available, depending on what model it is, to copy the files off it.
OR
Use that gadget you just got to do it.
It looks like it has composite input - that's the yellow (picture), red and white (audio) plugs. Your Freeview recorder may have those outputs. It looks like it also comes with a SCART block that connects to these - if your Freeview recorder has SCART (and surely it does) you could just plug it through that. Quality won't really be affected either way, but copying from the hard drive will obviously be the best result technically as the files stay digital.

DoaM

almillar wrote: »

but copying from the hard drive will obviously be the best result technically as the files stay digital.

Albeit some transcoding may still be needed which could affect quality.

Annie1960

Thanks, everyone, I was able to put the craft demos from my Freeview box onto my computer using the device. It was very easy.

The quality is fine as I just use the demos to make stuff, then delete them, so the quality is not vital.

However, these files do take up a lot of space on my hard drive (over 4GB per hour of recording).

droopsnoot

Are there any quality settings you can decrease, to cut down on the space used?


On my DVD recorder I can choose from a selection of settings that will record anything from one hour per disc (usual DVD capacity for a single-layer disc is 4.7Gb) up to about eight hours, just by decreasing the quality. I have it set to take three hours per disc for archiving, because broadcast TV doesn't lose much quality at that setting and it ties up nicely with an old 180-minute VHS tape.