How To Convert VHS Camera to Digital

I have an old tape camera that I would like to convert all of my tapes to digital so I can edit them later. I have the camera which still functions perfectly. I have a ton of tapes I just need in a video file. It doesn't necessarily need to be done in iMovie. I do not have a analog to digital converter and I am not looking to buy one. Is converting these tapes possible? How? It has a mini USB along with a Mini FireWire. I only have a USB cable but I could use a FireWire if necessary. I have an iMac that I would like to transfer all of the files to. I need the quickest way to get all of this done.
Thank You!

For maximum quality here is my procedure: ADVC300 > iMovie 06 > iDVD 11
I do not have a analog to digital converter and I am not looking to buy one.
Well, start looking here.
http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc300
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.
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.

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How to convert VHS home movies to DVD?

How do I get best quality converting VHS to DVD. I will need to use iMovie as some need heavy editing. I know I can get them into iMovie via firewire using the D/A converter on my newer Canon camcorder. My Question (s)? is /are: What settings & format should I use to import into iMovie8 and to export to iDVD for best possible quality when played on a large screen (50inch). Several of the tapes were in such poor shape that the D/A converter on the canon wouldn't play them and I had to digitize them by playing through Eye-Tv(not the best solution but the only one I could come up with). Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give.
Dave

How do I get best quality converting VHS to DVD.
Use iMovie 06 instead.
iMovie 08 now uses single-field processing. This means every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage.
I find I get the best quality using iMovie 06 and iDVD 08 (use Professional Quality encoding in iDVD 08).
iMovie 06 is a free download to iLife 08 owners. (THEY WANT YOU TO HAVE IT!)
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html
To get your VHS video into iMovie, look at the Canopus 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 08 (not sure about iMovie 08).
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 and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera).
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC300/index.php
You will need to use a "Real" Mac, (with a Firewire input).

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.

How to convert CaD-Cam Maps(PDF) to Flash Animation

Hi,
I am very new to this area of technology and have no clue as how we can convert CAD-CAM Maps (saved as PDF file) into Flash. I have a requirement to convert those maps into flash files and embed these files onto a portal.
Please suggest if you have any ideas.
Thanks,
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Hi,
I am very new to this area of technology and have no clue as how we can convert CAD-CAM Maps (saved as PDF file) into Flash. I have a requirement to convert those maps into flash files and embed these files onto a portal.
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How to convert VHS to DVD using FCP 7?

Hello. For a brief, non-technical, introduction: I have dozens of family VHS tapes that I'd like to convert into a digital format where I can edit them and eventually transfer them onto an external hard drive and possibly DVDs as well. Ideally, I'd love to do all of the logging, capturing, and editing in FCP, but I am having difficulty figuring out set up and proper format conversions to obtain the best results. I am not a computer wizard, so a "Just-For-Dummies" walk through would be greatly appreciated.
My questions are:
1) What should my flowchart of devices be from VCR to FCP? (ie: converters, cables, inside FCP setup)
2) What is the best video format for VHS to digital conversion?
Here are the specs for devices I currently possess. I realize I may need to purchase more, but this is what I have to work with at the moment.
MacBook Pro: Mac OS X Version 10.6.8. | Processsor 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 | Memory 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Final Cut Pro 7.0.3
VCR: Toshiba SD-v295ku (output is Red, White, Yellow RCA)
ION Video 2 PC converter: RCA cables to USB (this is already installed on my Mac and has successfully worked for video capture alone)
Sony Digital Handycam DCR-TRV330
My Passport 2TB Hard Drive
Thank you so much in advance for any help you can offer.

Buppas
Getting out of my depth here a bit.
I do have FCP 6 but have not used it much at all.
There are many people here that are more able than me who may come to your rescue but anyway here are a few suggestions to try.
Sony can be set to one of 2 audio modes, 12bit=32kHz, or 16bit=48kHz.Ensure set to 16bit , around page 85.
Capture has to match 16bit=48kHz.
In FCP7 User Preferences >General check box "Abort capture on dropped frames.On timecode break Make New Clip ".
Also in Preferences> General I noticed this but not sure if it will help...Check box "Sync audio capture to video source if present".
Coming back to the Sony, and still stabbing in the dark, there is a Time Base Corrector (TBC) setting that you could try both on and off.
Also,do not start and stop the VHS player frequently; let it run through from start to end if you can to avoid breaks.
Another option but not ideal.
What happens when you import into iMovie, do you still get out of sync?
If you dont then you could import to iMovie and then import the DV file/files to FCP7.
This will not take up double the space as FCP7 references the files in iMovie.
Other than this you could try a "search communities" or hope for more suggestions to come in.
Good Luck.

Converting VHS to editable digital files for iMovie

I am going to convert some of my old VHS tapes to a digital format that I would like to edit in iMovie. What format should I convert them to? Companies seem to offer AVI or Mpeg - which is better? Does it make a difference?
Can anyone recommend a company that does this type of work well?
Dan

It sounds like you are suggesting that I should have them transfer the VHS analot tapes into an uncompressed version - is taht you you mean by DV?
DV is actually a digital compression format -- I believe on the order of 5:1 which, for video, is not very compressed. Basically, each frame is a standalone compressed "information picture" and can be edited as such in a video editor unlike Group of Picture (GOP) formats which open with such a frame and then use "difference" frames to store changes between successive frames until the GOP ends and a new one begins. These files (like multiplexed M2V/AC3 files used on a DVD) cannot be edited at the frame level based on the method referencing data to previous frames. On the other hand, such formats are more highly compressed (say on the order of 15-20:1) and are very suitable as formats for the delivery and distribution of content. A typical hour of DV normally requires about 13 GBs of video data space or a data rate of about 25.0-28.5 Mbps. Depending on the type of audio included, this could double and is why DV is so well suited for tape storage over a DVD at say 4.5-9.0 GBs of total storage space.
Is DV a miniDV tape or can you save the file in a DV format on a hardrive?
An external, high capacity hard drive would be an excellent medium for transfer
1) If not transferring too many or too many at any one time
2) If the service can/will provide transfers to DV
3) If the service can write the files to an HFS formatted drive (needed for iMovie '08 to read them)
Some companies offer creating AVI files. Can these be read into iMovie or will these files also have the issue of too many cycles of compression and de-compression?
AVI is a file container used to contain "interleaved" audio content -- a of spatially maintaining synchronization between the audio and video content. QT, on the other hand, is a temporal media structure which synchronizes all content (audio, video, text, chapter tracks, text tracks, "Tween" tracks, etc.) are synchronized by an external clock reference. While the AVI file container is itself still supported by QT (even though its originator, Microsoft, dropped official support a decade ago), the codecs used to compress the audio and video content may not be supported. For instance, one of the current, more popular compression combinations is DivX/MP3. DivX is a proprietary, third-party video codec and MP3 audio is only supported by certain QT-based applications. Since iMovie '08 cannot access any third-party QT components, this file would have to be converted to one of the iMovie '08 "edit" compatible compression formats -- DV, AIC, Motion-JPEG, Photo-JPEG, and/or supported MPEG-4 or H.264 profiles with supported audio compression formats. So if you have a service create an AVI file that is not audio AND video supported, you will end up having to re-compress every one of you files to a supported format. You could, of course, switch to iMovie HD and, if the AVI audio/video combination is "conversion" compatible with QT (a lower requirement than being "edit compatible), then iMovie HD would automatically convert the AVI files as part of the import process. (I.e., if your open/create an iMovie HD DV project, then the files would be converted to DV. If an MPEG-4 iMovie HD project, then MPEG4/AAC.) Either method, as you noted, requires one extra cycle of re-compression before the content even gets into the editor for editing.

How to convert analog scalar into digital value

I have the DAQ connected to a system that sends a digital 0 or 1 through the analog BNC connector. If I use DAQ Express VI, I can convert the dynamic data type into a boolean (rather than scalar) array so it's easy to check if the value is 0 or 1. Because I'm running the VI in real-time, I can't use dynamic-to-boolean array conversion. The output I get is a 1-D waveform array which will give me scalar values. The task has a voltage range of -10 to 10 mV. How can I convert that into a 0 or a 1? Should I set the voltage range to 0-5V and simply have an if statement that checks if the value is, let's say, greater than 2.2V (which will mean it's a binary 1)? Is there a better method?
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Hi abdel2,
It sounds like you are trying to measure digital data from your system. If that is the case, you should be able to connect to a digital input line if your DAQ card had them. Then you can set up a digital acquisition in LabVIEW that will interpret the signal as a boolean input.
If you are not able to do this, you can approximate the digital behavior by reading analog data, and pragmatically determining a threshold (for example 2.2V), though this is a less efficient way to do it.
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Converting VHS tapes to Digital format to burn on DVD

Hi folks...
I did a search on this but was unable to find anything. So maybe some of you can help me out.
I have a number of VHS tapes that I want to get onto DVD. I do not want to spend hundreds of dollars though. Are there any in-expensive way of doing so??
Thanks

I did a search on this but was unable to find anything.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1015944
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1284669
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1557705
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1161010
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1809629

I have the CS5 disk but am not sure how to convert it to a digital file for my new Mac OS 10.9 desktop which has no disk drive??!! Thanks

Please help with converting my CS5 disk to download onto my new MAC OS X10.9 desktop

You can download CS5 from this site
Download CS5 products

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

Thinking of getting EyeTV Hybrid to convert VHS to digital - the right move?

Hello,
I am soon going to be going back to Macintosh after a failed 17 year experiment with Windows and one of the things I will be wanting to do is transfer some home videos I own into a format that I can edit likely using I-movie.
I have reviewed several discussions on-line, and think I will be going with EyeTV Hybrid but I am wanting some fresh advice to make sure I am making the right decision. The videos I will be wanting to transfer come in, what I believe, are two analog forms VHS-C (which I would play back using a VHS cartridge converter as the camera is dead) and Hi8MP which I would play back using a Samsung SCw62 Camcorder.
Essentially, I am looking for a good conversion but it does not have to be great. I would like to be able to do some editing once they are converted, but these are home movies and I am treating them that way and not looking at producing a professional quality video.
So here are the options I have gathered online. As I said, I think I am likely going to go for EyeTV Hybrid but would appreciate any feedback as to whether it’s the best option for me or whether I should be considering something else. Money is an issue and I really don't see myself going much above $200 on this.
From what I have read, EyeTV Hybrid seems like it might be my best option. Its priced at around $150 which fits my budget and I understand the results are fairly good. Any reason why I should be wary of this option? Is it fairly straight forward to use? From what I understand, I all need to buy is this and it comes with the necessary software – am I correct?
I have read that video pass through in which the camera essentially converts analog to a digital signal. This does NOT appear to be an option for me unfortunately. As I mentioned, I own a Samsung SCw62 Camcorder and I also own a Sony HDR-CX110. Reading through the manuals I could see nothing that would suggest they could do this but I would be delighted to be informed that I am wrong.
There appeared to be a consensus on the threads I read that the Grass Valley ADVC300 analog DV converter would produce a high quality transfer. However, the price that I have seen is about $400 and this is far more than I am willing to pay and I haven’t seen a used one on ebay.
The ADVC110 does fit my budget but I am wondering if it would be much better than the EyeTV Hybrid as the prices I have seen have been a little more than $200.
There appears to be a consensus that the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD will result in a fairly low quality video and is not recommended. Anyone disagree?
Are there any other options I should consider?
Finally, as I noted I want to make some nice home movies using my old analog tapes is there any reason why investing in Final Cut Express would help in the conversion process?
Thanks to everyone for your help.
Cheers

There appeared to be a consensus on the threads I read that the Grass Valley ADVC300 analog DV converter would produce a high quality transfer.
I have a drawer full of analog-to-digital converters (including the EyeTV Hybrid). After using the Grass Valley ADVC300 I find nothing else acceptable. I appreciate your concerns about the cost you just have to decide how important these videos are.
Compared to today's standards DV Video's quality is not that great, so I don't want to lose ANYTHING in my conversion, I have no quality to "spare".
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.
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.
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.

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.

I would like to convert my LPs to digital on my new mac book pro with retinal display . How can i do this?

would like to convert my LPs to digital on my new mac book pro with retinal display
. How can i do this?

The new Mac's do not have analog audio in so you will have to go with a USB audio in device or else if you do not yet own a turntable (or are looking to upgrade) you could get a turntable that has USB out.
The Griffin Technology iMic USB Audio Device is a low cost consumer grade solution if you already have a turntable.
For recording I use Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder which does a good job and has the ability to run the audio signal through various filters.

How to convert a analog signal to digital signal

Hello,
How to convert an analog signal into digital signal such that every sample of analog signal corresponding to 1.2V will be represented as '1' in digital signal and other samples of analog signal(that are not 1.2v) will be represented(converted) as '0' in digital signal.
And how to display both wavefroms or signals in graph indicators.
Thanks.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

If you have 1000 samples, and you want to convert to digital, you are going to get 1000 digital values. Attached is what I mean.
Unofficial Forum Rules and Guidelines - Hooovahh - LabVIEW Overlord
If 10 out of 10 experts in any field say something is bad, you should probably take their opinion seriously.
Attachments:
Analog_to_Digital Hooovahh Edit.vi ‏52 KB

Software to convert VHS- DVD (w/out digital camcorder)?

Hey everybody,
I was wondering if anybody was aware of any software for converting VHS tapes to DVD wth your Mac that is Lion-ready? I'm looking to be able to plug my VCR into my Mac and encode in real time via some sort of component to USB cable (because I don't own a digital camcorder). If you could also point me in the direction of the required hardware to complete this process that would be awesome!
Thanks,
Tyler

Have been doing this for some time, my setup:
I use an ancient "Symphonic" VCR player connected to an Elgato Eyetv Hybrid USB dongle. That plugs into my G5 Mac, 10.5.8, which runs Eyetv software v. 2.5.3.
Recording is dead simple after fiddling around a bit with software settings for channel, etc. Start the player, hit "record" on the software and wait for the end.
The recording is saved in some obscure ".eyetv" format with file size about 4 GB per hour of recording. The software has export to a variety of formats including QT Movie which results in a substantially larger file size.
Quality? Well, it's viewable and usable for archive purposes. I'm fine with it but more discriminating folks may want something better. I end up burning the video on a DVD using iDVD and that's not the greatest anyway.
There are various Elgato units available, and the Eyetv Hybrid seems to run bout $130.
Hope that helps.

How To Convert VHS Camera to Digital

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