Copyright question on older VHS tapes

Hey all,
My friend has some guitar instructional comercial VHS tapes he purchased in the 1990's. He has asked me to transfer them to DVD for him, as these tapes are not available on DVD.
These tapes have the usual warning at the begining stating:
"federal law prohibits any unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures and video tapes. (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 506)"
He has lawfully purchased these tapes and only wants to make DVD copies as back up for his personal use. He or anyone else will not be viewing both the original VHS tape and the DVD copy at the same time. He will not be selling them or distributing them in any way.
My queston is:
Is the above scenario allowed?
Thanks,

Hey Mark - sorry for being unclear, but then, whenever you talk about copyright, there's bound to be muddy waters. :)
My position is only that if you are copying/duplicating/rearranging or otherwise using material that you did not specifically get the copyright holder's permission to use, then you need to find a legal reason to do so. Fair use is the only provision for this, and those usages are actually very clearly outlined.
What you are talking about - copying your personal copy of a specific work for private use - only holds up when the duplicate is either used exclusively or is being kept as a backup. Not written into law yet, but held up by court precedent, is the more recent usage in mp3 players, home computers, car stereos...basically, copying your songs from a legally purchased disc to multiple locations held in your own private use. Again, this is not part of the law, but legal precedent has determined that it's OK.
I wouldn't worry about what you are doing, since it is simply an attempt to maintain integrity of a licensed copy of a particular work, and the intent seems to be clear that you are going to be destroying the original (the VHS cassette).
As concerns people having rights to copyrighted material....just remember that the law is clear about your rights ending where another person's begin. When a person owns a copyright, your usage - unless otherwise stated - is only limited to the copies you have purchased. To exceed your usage according to the terms of your license agreement or other legal provisions (fair use) would infringe upon the copyright holder's legal rights....and that, of course, is where your rights will end.
And yeah, let's all remember that Steve Jobs is just like all of us....he is a regular human being, and he has opinions. When someone uses words like "should" or "I think" or "we ought to"....opinion is present, and opinion is not a good foundation for legal defense. I guarantee his lawyers just sorta twiddle their thumbs, whistling and rocking on their feet everytime Steve Jobs says something like that in public. Of course, in Steve Jobs case, if the quote is correct, he claims that we "need to have the right..." which, of course, means that we do not currently have the right.
Music on your menus....well, again, putting it on your own DVDs and watching it with your wife and kids at your house would definitely pass the courts. However, if you take it over to Grandma's house, or burn a copy for someone else in your family, you broke the law. You are then creating a public viewing or deliberately duplicating a resynchronized track for the use of a non-license-holding entity.
In all these cases, be aware that you will almost never ever ever catch the eye of the law for these uses, fair or not. Even if you did, it would cost more money to sue you than could be reclaimed. The big boys are looking to make money, and unless they thought they'd make more money in the long run by making an example of you in court, they won't bother. They are very frustrated by all of this, because we keep finding more and more fair uses and setting more precedents in our favor. I'm not now nor would I ever condone or justify the illegal use of copyrighted materials. Only stating the obvious here....you will probably never get sued for it.
If you are happy with the odds and ready to accept the risks, then make your decision. Hope some of this was helpful!

Similar Messages

Best way to convert home movie VHS tapes so they can be edited in iMovie HD

Please help! I'm sorry this question is going to be long, but I'm a novice at this.
My goal is to get my VHS home movies (I have about 30 of them) into iMovie so I can do two things.
First I want to burn DVD's so I'll have a copy of the VHS tapes before they go bad.
Secondly, I want to be able to extract small clips from all of the tapes and combine them in a new iMovie project.
Here's what I've done so far:
I purchased a Canopus ADVC110 and got someof my VHS tapes converted digitally but the file sizes were HUGE and eating up my hard drive space. I was down to 6 GB of space left on my hard drive and almost crashed my Mac.
I deleted all these huge files and got my Mac back up to having 111 gigs of space left. Whew!
This week I purchased a Pinnacle converter and started all over. I took a VHS tape, and it was compressed into a nice small Mpeg-4 file and went to iTunes.
Then I tried to drag and drop it from itunes to imovie. That didn't work. I then dragged the movie to my desktop and then dragged it to imovie..... looks like this was going to take a long time to get into imovie. I'm thinking this is too many steps.
Now I am importing the file into iMovie by importing directly from itunes. The file size is 1.04 GB and it is 1 hour and 54 minutes long. It is taking a loooong time to import this movie....like 100 minutes.
I am afraid I am doing this the hard way.
Plus, after reading all the discussion boards and all the problems people are having... I don't even know if I'll be able to successfully edit this movie once it's imported. Plus, after I've edited it (if I can) will I be able to transfer the clips to another iMovie project?
I'm happy with the file size that the Pinnacle converter is giving me. I'm happy with the way the movie appears in itunes.
Because I have **so many VHS tapes** to convert, I'm asking you all if there is an easier way for me to complete this task!
Thanks in advance for any advise. Keep in mind that I'm not tech-sophisticated..... just a middle aged Grandma trying to preserve memories of my family!

_Share" the highlight as suggested_
Thanks Lennart..... I'm not sure I know what you meant by the above.
Do you mean that I share the little clips I want to use in the 'best of project'?
I read the MacWorld article.... it's great thanks!
I want to keep all these converted movies on my hard drive because down the road I want to extract other clips from them so I can make a 'best of' movie for my other family members. I may want to do that next year.... or whatever..... so I want to have the imovies available for me when that time comes.
In order to do this am I going to have to buy a lot..... and I mean ALOT of extra hard drive space? That darn Canopus was really making files for me that were like 60-80GB's per one half hour movie!!
Hey, I really appreciate all the time you are spending with me on this topic. Making these imovie memories are so very important to me.

Looking fora camcorder that also has an s-video or rca jack input to convert my vhs tapes to digital

looking fora camcorder that also has an s-video or rca jack input to convert my vhs tapes to digital.

Hi ltcps,
Thanks for writing us!
None of Canon's current camcorders include S-Videos, RCA or other auxiliary inputs.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

Audio Drift when importing VHS Tapes-Do I need a Canopus ADVC 300

Embarking on the daunting task of importing/editting >100 2hr VHS tapes, and want to get the best results for my efforts.
I pop a tape into a VCR connected via S-Video (video) and RCA (audio) cables to a Sony DVMC-DA1 AD converter, and from there to my Mac Pro via Firewire. Use FCE "Capture Now" using NTSC DV Converter setup. Start capture, let it run unattended, and return at my leisure to do some rough editting.
Problem is the audio on the imported clip gradually loses sync, by about 2 seconds by the end of the clip. The sync problem is present on the clip when played with Quicktime as well.
Questions:
1. Is there a reasonable way to correct this in FCE?
2. Since my Sony converter is nearing 10 years old, will use of a more recent AD converter such as the Canopus ADVC 300 result in a perfectly synced import?
3. If so, can you comment on the Canopus's purported video noise reduction and image stabilization capabilities? Is it noticable/worthwhile?
Thanks for your time.

Hello,
The problem is the audio is not 'locked' to the video, and your old Sony DVMC-DA1 does not appear to support locked audio.
The only way you might deal with this in FCE itself would be to capture shorter clips (say, under 15 minutes each) which would minimize the degree to which the audio drifts out of sync in each clip. (The longer the clip, the greater the drift.)
Given the large amount of video you wish to digitize (some 200 hours), it will be far preferable to use a Canopus ADVC-100, 110 or higher model - +they all support DV locked audio+ - so the video & audio are sync'd without the need for manual intervention or capturing short clips.
I have used the Canopus 100 & 110 extensively and have been very happy with the results. Sometimes, depending on the VHS tape, there is some slight banding at the very bottom of the image but 1) this is +usually not visible+ in the finished movie because it is outside the 'image safe area' and 2) if necessary can be compensated via about a 2%-4% enlargement of the image in FCE (which is not enough to soften the image).
I have not used the Canopus 300 because I never felt the need, as I am happy with my results from the 100 & 110. Users of the 300 have been pretty positive about its built-in TBC and image cleaning capabilities.

What piece of equipment is needed to transfer vhs tape to macbook pro?

I have several VHS tape I want to put on to my macbook pro as a digital file, I was wondering if someone could tell me what equipment is need and where I can buy it from?
Thanks
Gemma

Since the old MBP is dead the only option is to remove the hard drive and use a SATA/IDE to USB adapter to get all your stuff off the old drive.
One note though make sure you use the same user name and passord on your new MBP as you had on the old one.
As to software hopefully you have all the license information written down other wise you may have a hard time reinstalling some of it. Also be aware that OS X Lion will not run older PPC software. So if you have older programs that used Rosetta to run it will not run on Lion.
Good luck with everything.

One last question about capturing from tape

I have a box full of family VHS tapes that I will be capturing into the computer to digitally archive. However, I want to make sure I am doing it the best possible way. These are the two things most important to me:
1. Quality
2. Longevity
1. Quality
I have a VHS/MiniDV JVC SR-VS30 deck connected via firewire into my 2014 iMac. I know that firewire is typically the best option when capturing DV footage into the computer. However, is this still true for VHS and other forms of old tape. I can hook anything up to this deck via composite/s-video in and go out through the firewire connection. However, I wasn't sure if firewire was the best coming from a VHS tape. I also have an old video capture card that has a straight s-video/composite input. Which would be more native to the VHS/analog tapes as far as keeping original quality and the best possible image?
When I use the JVC deck, some programs will capture the vhs tapes and others won't because they won't recognize unless I'm using the DV side. For example, FCPX recognizes the deck, but when I go to import unless it's a dv, it will say "no tape" and I cannot capture anything. iMovie will capture files as .DV. Quicktime will also recognize the deck and capture files as apple prores MOV files. When I compare the QT and iMovie, the QT files look better in my opinion, though I don't know if they truly are. The iMovie dv files have jagged edges like tv lines or something during quick movement and like others say about firewire it looks a little "milky" (though I know this isn't necessarily a bad thing). The QT clips don't necessarily look sharper, but they don't have the hideous jagged edges.
So my question before I start this large project is:
Which capture methods above would you use, or what else would you recommend for best quality?
2. Longevity
Which file format would you recommend saving these files (or just keeping them as they are at capture) for long term storage? When I come back to these files in 10 years and need to convert them to something new, I want them to have the greatest chance of being compatible with whatever lies ahead. There are so many different file formats.
Many thanks for any help along this long process

I want to make sure I am doing it the best possible way.
I have done lots of that.
For maximum quality here is my procedure: ADVC300 > iMovie 06 > iDVD 09/11.
To get your VHS video into iMovie, use the Grassvalley ADVC300 . With the ADVC300 Audio and Video go in, FireWire comes out. It also comes with a nice Macintosh application that works flawlessly with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 11).
The ADVC300 has been discontinued by the manufacturer. The included software (which is not really necessary but does enhance performance) is not compatible with OS 10.7 or newer. You can still find the ADVC300 for sale in a few outlets as well as eBay. It will sell between 50% and 100% ABOVE its retail price. Yes, it's that good.
If you can’t find the ADVC300, use the Grassvalley ADVC110.
I have a drawer full of analog-to-digital converters. After using the Grass Valley ADVC300 I find nothing else acceptable.
The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material. The ADVC300 will take Audio and Video from any source (VCR, Tivo, Satellite Receiver) and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera).
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why?
iMovie 09, 11, and 13 uses 'single field processing' meaning every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage. iMovie 06 uses ALL of the image to form the video. (Also the latest iMovie CANNOT set Chapeters !)
After lots of experimenting I get the best results using OS 10.6, iMovie 06, and iDVD 09/11. My movies look just like Hollywood!
My primary computer is a Mac Pro, so I just use one of the four hard drives and boot OS 10.6. You can also partition a single hard drive to achieve the same results.
This may seem like more trouble than you want to go through. However, I find the superior quality to be well worth it.

Connect older vhs to 50L1350U

I recently purchased a 50L1350U and I'm having trouble watching vhs tapes using an older (10+/- years) dvd/vhs player, SONY slvd530P. I found another thread that refers specifically to different devices, but it may give a hint to my problem:
http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Televisions/Hooking-up-dual-deck-VCR-DVD-to-Toshhiba-50L2200U-HDTV/m-p/...
That thread says that "you need to have it connected with composite cables." Is that likely the same problem that I'm having? Unfortunately, the slvd530P does not have composite connection capability for vhs (only for the dvd function).
How can I connect the VIDEO LINE OUT of the slvd530P to the 50L1350U?
TIA
Phil

What types of video output does that have? I can't find a user's guide online.
- Peter

Capturing a VHS tape into FCP

Hello
I have a short VHS tape I need to get into FCP-6 and onto a DVD. I have my old Canopus ADVC-100 so I know the hardware.
My question is can I record directly to the timeline or do I need to log and capture? Reading the manual says something about 'capture now' to capture the entire tape.
Do I just connect my VHS player to the ADVC FW into the MAc Pro and go into FCP?
Thanks
Allen

Yes, you use the NTSC preset... I think you could also use Apple Pro Res as the compressor... it will look slightly better then NTSC DV... You simply Log and Capture... as you mentioned, just hit Capture now then hit Play on your VCR....
I do suggest though not capturing the entire tape in one session. Incase there is a glitch and you waste 45 minutes of recording... divide it into 15 minutes stretches. (I am speaking of experience)...

I would appreciate some help in capturing some VHS tapes into PP-CS6.

Aloha,
Just loaded CS6 and my 1st project is to convert some VHS tapes into HD DVD's. The VHS player I'm using has R/G/B Component video out & HDMI in/out. My PC video card is a Radeon 6750 with 1 x HDMI (in use for my monitor), 1 x DVI-I, and 1 x D-SUB. My mobo, a Gigabyte GA-MA78GN-US2H, has 1x D-SUB, 1 x DVI-D, & 1 x HDMI. I don't believe I can use both HDMI slots simultaneously. I'm not even sure I can use any of the onboard graphica ports while I'm using an external video card.
So my questions are; 1) which available graphic port on the video card will offer me the best VHS tape capture? 2) what are the capture settings (i.e. frame rate & resolution of most VHS tapes either home recorded or professionally recorded) that I should use?
Mahalo-n-aloha from the big Island where the water is always warm and clear, and where now (Jan-March) the Humpback Whales play.
konadon

Usually, video ports on a video card or motherboard are out only. You would need a capture card, or external box to get VHS video digitized into your computer.
For VHS tapes, I would recommend getting a Hauppauge HD-PVR available here: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
It would save you a lot of headaches and make your job much easier.
If you'd like specifics: the HD-PVR has component inputs with optical audio, along with S-video and composite connections.
I've used it to capture many VHS tapes, and never had a problem.
Good luck!

CONVERTING VHS TAPES FOR PREMIER

Hello,
I have many analog VHS tapes that I would like to import into Premier. Can this be done direct or is there an intermediate software that the tapes need to first be input to and then possibly converted to a Premier friendly digital file. These are not commercial tapes or movies with copyright protection but rather family vacation and home movie material. I recentlly began using a product to convert vinyl to digital audio files and I am hoping that there is something similar for VHS material. I am currently running with PE 4.0..Thanks Tom T

I am using Acoustica's Spin It Again Ver.2.
http://www.acoustica.com/spinitagain/index.htm
It has a very easy to use interface and has a host of cleanup combinations to minimize clicks and pops and tape hiss. Its only tricky quality is the feature that auto sets its recording level. In order for the auto feature to set itself properly you need to play the loudest passage of the record your transferring. That isn't always easy to either remember from having played it or finding it on the record without some sampling.
If you already have a stereo with a record output, turntable and a cassette tape deck its almost plug and play. You can begin transferring almost immediatly. The computer also needs to have an audio input as well. I've had two computers dating back to the late ninteys and both had them.
The only other feature that can be a little troublesome is the feature that breaks the recording into tracks. That requires a break in the audio. But all is fixable after the transfer. I like playing around so I don't mind going in and adjusting as necessary but for most albums it works just fine.
If your hooked up to the internet while your transferring it also has a nifty lookup feature that will automatically plug in all the track titles from what must be the largest database of recordings in the world. This is really neat and saves a lot of typing.
It has a voice prompt setup wizard, which you can turn off once you get the hang of everything and a fairly decent instuction book plus a users forum as well to help with any difficulties with setup and operation. There are other softwares on the market but this one gives the best performance for the non audio engineers among us, and for the cost. Even they, who populate the forum like this product for its diversity, ease of use, and quality of transfers.
I hope that this helps. Hollar if you need more details.......Tom T

Dub multiple VHS tapes to same DVD?

I have dubbed a VHS tape to a DVD but can't figure out how to dub more VHS tapes to the same DVD. Help?

Formatting a DVD is not done for DVD-R or DVD+R. Formatting is done to prepare a disc to be recorded on.
Finalizing a DVD is done for DVD-R and DVD+R. Finalizing is required before a DVD-R or DVD+R can be played elsewhere.
So when you first insert a DVD-R or DVD+R, you can start recording right away. You don't and can't format it.
(When I refer here to "title" I'm referring to something you have recorded, such as a DVD dubbing from a VHS tape).
Nothing recorded on a DVD-R or DVD+R is erased unless you specifically delete the title. Note that once you delete the title, the space used for that title cannot be reclaimed.
So if you start recording a new title on a DVD-R or DVD+R, and it already has titles recorded, the existing titles will remain.
DVD-RW and DVD+RW are different. I can comment about those once you're clear on DVD-R and DVD+R.
Normally, I'd suspect your existing DVD that won't play elsewhere needs to be finalized. You should be able to press SETUP then DVD Menu then Finalize (as described on p. 32). However, you said that you found DVD Menu to be grayed out. Based on what you're describing, I don't think you've actually recorded anything on the disc yet. You can't finalize an empty disc, so DVD Menu would be disabled at that point.
I had recommended not to autofinalize since I think it is better to control when you finalize, after you have specifically what you want on the disc.
I hope I've answered your outstanding questions (except about the RW discs). If you have further questions or follow-up questions, please post them to this forum so that others can benefit from them. (i.e. don't send email to ask your questions).

Conversion steps and equipment of VHS tapes

I have seen on the forum several different (but usually old) references for converting VHS tapes. What I would like to see listed is a professionals explanation of the steps and equipment that will yield the best results. Specifically here is what I want to do with a lot of family VHS tapes of reunions, vacations, etc.
What is the best file format to store the new digital movies if you are going to further edit them using FCP X? When playing the tapes through a VCR and going through a converter, what are some possible converters to use now days? Is it best to use a Time Base Corrector? I know some of these things probably don't matter but if a person can afford to purchase a decent converter and TBC why not? Especially if it will yield better source files to work from. If some of this is overkill and it is just as easy to cart the tapes to a local Video store that will convert the VHS to DVD should this be done?
Again, after converting the analog VHS to digital, is there a preferred file format or file type to use?
Before I start editing the raw files I would like to have the best possilbe file and then I will select clips from within and make a more watchable home movie.
Its a big project but I would enjoy the process and learning more about FCP X in the process.
Any thoughts you have would be helpful.
Many thanks,
Greg

VHS was typically half-resolution broadcast, that is: 580 to 640 x 240. Some high quality units had 480, up to 520 lines of vertical resolution... but those were a long time ago and you really can't find any players today that support that resolution. If you have one of the older high-end players that still function well (I always wore mine out every 2 - 3 years) check the documentation and see how many "lines" of resolution you get from it.
I have an ADVC-55. It works with FCPX directly. It shows up in the Import media window as a directly connected camera. These units do not require "driver software" - they work "right out of the box." Quicktime Pro 7 can also import/record video from the ADVC-55 directly: just set QT7 to record and play your source. [Select the Video Source: ADVC-### in Preferences > Recording.] Quicktime X can record from the ADVC-55, and surprisingly, exporting (saving) preserves the framerate and codecs [click the disclosure triangle in the record window on the transport controls and select the ADVC unit from the Camera portion of the menu.]
The input (into FCPX) from HD sources (camcorder) is 720x480 (29.97 interlaced) and necessitates setting the Anamorphic Override to Widescreen.
The documentation does not specify whether timecode is supplied by the unit, but it does. Selecting Get Info for the saved recording shows the codecs used as: DV/DVCPro - NTSC; Linear PCM; Timecode. These are the codecs which the converted video will be saved. These are all perfectly compatible with FCPX and can be used natively or you can opt to transcode optimized/proxy media if you wish. You won't have much trouble editing SD video in FCPX. It's actually "smaller" than HD proxy media (which is 960x540 prores 422.)
The docs also do not specify whether TBC is used... it just states something about its ability to apply video "gain". I can state that it does a pretty good job of stabilizing video (from VHS decks). The fancier units probably do a better job. These converter units also seem to improve the video quality (as opposed to playing directly to a television set) -- a little more "vibrant."
The difference in price between the ADVC-55 and the 110 right now is about $31 US. If your budget is tight, get the 55, otherwise, don't skimp. I will offer this caveat as well: the 55 does not require an external power supply AS LONG AS you have FW400 connections (6-pin Firewire.) If all you have is 4-pin (FW800) then you will need to buy the "optional" power converter AND a FW400 to FW800 converter "cable" (or just the FW800 male/FW400 female plug -- phantom power is not transmitted through these converters cables). For the 55, you can connect anything that has *composite* connectors AND/OR S-Video (use S-Video if you've got it.) With the 110, you can connect a DV cable directly.
I have also used USB converters... two different kinds -- the kind you can buy from Roxio (they're all rather generic and specialized for just this one purpose), and the EyeTV Hybrid adapter set... don't waste your money -- there is no way to "clean up" the video from a VHS player -- they're cheap for a reason. At least the EyeTV Hybrid is an awesome tv receiver.
Here is a sample from the ADVC-55:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH7QeY__jCI
The VHS tape was about 10 years old and recorded on another recorder (tapes play best on the player they were recorded on), and I believe it was 2nd gen (a tape from a tape, aka, a dupe). The Player I used was a rather recent Sony VHS/DVD recorder combo thing (not "great", but adequate -- if you don't have a good transport, you won't get a good playback, you'll have tracking problems you can't fix.) Post was in FCP7.
Here's another sample that was in much worse condition starting out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvtrDwLkbPI&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL706EBF3 00562916B
Good luck!

How to convert old VHS tapes to digital

I am hoping someone can give me an overview of what kind of equipment/software is necessary to convert VHS tapes into a digital format that could be saved in iMovie. Do I just need the right cables for the VCR or something more complicated? Thanks!

I recommend that you download the free iMovie HD6 for those with iMovie 08 who do not have a prior version of iMovie HD6. You can get it here: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html
And, do this tutorial: http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/tutorial/
It is more capable of creative editing and you have a quite a bit more control over your iMovie with it.
+So, your method worked using just a VCR, a camcorder, and your computer? No special converters?+
Yes, I just used the AV connectors that came with my camcorder to hook the camcorder to the VCR....which was in a combo TV/VCR unit so I could see the footage on my tv, just to make it easier. The AV connector cable has a special prong that fits into the camcorder, and those white/red/yellow prongs at the VCR end. The TV/VCR is a few years old, certainly not anything fancy or new.
I didn't bother with a converter since I just used the camcorder.
My computer and that VCR are not physically close enough to try to import directly, and since I wanted the digital tapes of the original footage, recording first to the miniDV tapes worked for me. Canopus makes a couple of nice converters...they are around $150-250, I think.
Then, to connect to the computer with the camcorder you will need a 4-6 pin Firewire cable.
+I might do it sooner or I might put it off for awhile while I practice messing around with iMovie.+
The benefit of recording from VHS to miniDV tapes is that the tapes are digital, they store easily and the footage will not degrade before you get around to creating your iMovies and DVDs. iMovies can take up lots of drive space, so don't be thinking that you will just import them all and save them for editing later. You would need a huge amount of space for this. Most of my movies are just under 2 hours, and occupy between 25-40 GB each. A couple of my movies were well over 100-140GB!!!! Yes, that is correct. I have a couple of external drives that I use for my movies while I am creating them. I usually have about two or three that I am working on at the same time.
+We want to put them in a digital format that will be easier to store and play and safer from eroding over time, so I guess the end format I'm looking for is DVDs.+
Because DVDs can break/crack/warp/melt/etc, you should consider exporting your finished iMovies back to the camcorder so that you have the miniDV tapes for more permanent storage and as a backup to your DVDs.
That is one of the big reasons that I don't use iMovie 08---it does not permit exporting back to a camcorder.
Although I do not save my created iMovies on my computer after I have made the DVD and exported the edited movie back to tape, I do save all my iDVD projects as disk images. A disk image can be up to 4.7 GB--even my large movies were automatically compressed down when put into iDVD. The limitation in iDVD is the total length of the movie in TIME, not SIZE. I use single-layer DVDs, which can hold up to 2 hours of content. Creating disk images allows you to have an exact copy of your iDVD projects, self-contained so that you can delete the original iMovies and the original iDVD projects. You can use the disk image to burn your disks when you first create them, and any time in the future. It is a good backup for the entire DVD.
Enjoy being creative with your movie projects! Post back with any more questions, and feel free to email me if you want.
Regards,
Beverly

Any way to use standard VHS deck to convert VHS tape to digital file (iMac)

I use FCE/iMovie. I've had old 8mm films converted to digital files to make family movies - very costly. Is there a way to use a standard VHS deck as a source with my newer iMac to convert old VHS tapes to digital files for editing?

I purhcased the Canopus 55 - it is working well. You can't preview in iMovie, though, which is a challenge and was a comment in reviews on Canopus 55. I did buy the power source with it based on reviews.
However, I am posting a question about iMovie 08 which has quit making thumbnails & writing the video even though the import screen appears to import.

IMovie quits importing with gaps in VHS tape

I'm using a Canopus ADVC110 to import old family VHS tapes into iMovie, and the import will quit whenever there are gaps in the VHS tape. Unfortunately there are many gaps, because it was our habit to separate clips that way. Is there an iMovie setting to prevent the import from quitting? I currently have to sit with every tape I'm importing to identify where it quits, and the start a new import, repeatedly, and it's frustrating. I'd rather edit clips once the whole tape has imported. Thanks for advice!

I'm using a Canopus ADVC110 to import old family VHS tapes
The Grassvalley ADVC300 will fix this.
The Grassvalley ADVC300 will "fill in" any missing time codes from tape.
This is a prosumer deck. The time code function is alone worth the price if you have old analog footage. Absolutely NO "Out Of Sync" audio.
I've played around with countless other conversion systems, ranging in price from $79 to $399. Short verison, this is the ONLY unit to own. No dropped frames at all, even with questionable quality tapes, no jitter, great color, excellent sound quality. Zero setup with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11. ( iMovie HD 06 is the best to import VHS tapes. )
ADVC300 is for anyone who wants to do editing and is concerned about quality of color and speed, for the novice it is an incredible gizmo that will restore VHS tapes to a state close to the original fixing midtones, highlights and shadows on the fly. Not only can you simply convert analog to digital you can actually manipulate the signal going in (if you want to).
A bit pricey but it WORKS.
The ADVC300 has been discontinued by the manufacturer. The included software (which is not really necessary but does enhance performance) is not compatible with OS 10.7 or newer. You can still find the ADVC300 for sale in a few outlets as well as eBay. It will sell between 50% and 100% ABOVE its retail price. Yes, it's that good.
For sale on Amazon and eBay.

Copyright question on older VHS tapes

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