Need recommendation...convert vhs-- usb, etc.

Question

Hello:
I realize this is probably a VERY old topic because I'm the last human on earth to get around to wanting to digitize old vhs cam tapes....but hoping someone here can give me some good recommendations. I have a nice (but OLD) JVC vhs-compact camcorder. It has mono audio out & video out rca jacks. Need a converter to USB I assume to import to my white macbook. These are old family home movies. I *don't want to spend $100 on a converter box (if i can help it)... I've seen things on amazon.com for 1/2 that price or less, but again, want some recommendations from the collective wisdom of mac users.
Thanks!

Answer 1

I realize this is probably a VERY old topic because I'm the last human on earth to get around to wanting to digitize old vhs cam tapes.
Not by a long shot, many are doing it.
Need a converter to USB I assume to import to my white macbook.
If you have the better white macbook with FireWire, use the FireWire port. When I switched from a USB converter to a Firewire converter (Canopus) I got better results. Many others have reported a similar experience.
If you have no FireWire port on your Mac, follow AppleMan's advice above.
These are old family home movies.
Aren't these movies important to you? Don't you want the best quality possible?
I *don't want to spend $100 on a converter box (if i can help it)...
A good one is around $250.
but again, want some recommendations from the collective wisdom of mac users.
I have done lots of this.
The ADVC300 is vastly superior.
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 08/09.
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 bit it WORKS.
The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material.
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 08/09, why?


iMovie 08/09 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.

 If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie '08 / 09, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480. The end result is obviously not as good.


iMovie 06 and iDVD 08/09 is a 100% "lossless" combination and my DVD's look like they came from Hollywood!