Record VHS to DVD

I own a PowerMac7,3. It has an Ati Radeon X800 Xt video card, I would like to copy some VHS cassetes to DVD. Has anybody done this with success? Any help would be appreciated. My VCR is about ten years old and does have a S video.
Thanks
Erik

You will need a device to convert your S-video (or other source) to a digital signal for your Mac.
I've done a few VHS transfers using the Canopus ADVC-100 which is a slightly older version of the currently available ADVC-110.
The ADVC-100 and 110 are video analog to digital and digital to analog converters that use your Macs Firewire port in order to stream digital video to and from your Mac.
They convert to DV format (Digital Video), the native format used by iMovie, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. As an example with the ADVC device, you simply start up iMovie (or the other applications mentioned), and start importing or recording. Turn on your VHS deck and start playing your tape. When the tape is over, stop the import process, then get out your editors hat and have fun.
Once you have the movie in it's final edited format, you can export the movie to DVD Pro or iDVD to create the DVD.
There are of course all kinds of steps not mentioned, but this is the gist of the process.
http://www.canopus.com/
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php
Tom N.

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Recording VHS to DVD

Hello all,
I have been wanting to make dvd copies of my mom and dad's old home movies that they put to vhs. The original home movies were on super 8mm but my dad had them copied to vhs some years ago. Now it looks like vhs is going out and dvd's are taking it's place. I have a couple of questions that I would like you guys/gals advice on please:
1) Is there a way I can hook up my vcr to my imac and import the movies to my computer?
2) If yes, what pieces/software would I be needing to do that? I have imovie and idvd on my imac. Would I be needing any other software?
3) Should I go with the vcr/dvd recorders that is out there in the market to transfer the home movies? I heard some of them are not to good. I do not have to much money to buy the really nice ones that are around $800.
Thanks ahead of time, and I hope I put this question on the right board.
Prema

Hello All,
Thanks for the advice. I get what you are saying, the camcorder is like a converter. But I do not own a camcorder right now. {But would love to have one soon!} Thanks for recommending me some camcorders to buy. I always like to know what other people think of a product before I buy it.
I have about 15 movies that are on vhs. It would be nice like Paul says, to create custom menus. For the converters, would this work on my mac:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71208/wo/gS7m0zq ZQlRz2XFj4PgDlavryGE/9.0.15.1.0.6.25.7.11.0.3
What is a mini-VGA port so I can tell if I have one?
and the eyetv:
http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=shoponlineshop_eyetvwonderrefurb
I noticed that on the EyeTv web site it said you need a software program called Toast. Would I need that for all the converters (apples, eyetv, and camcorders) or would my idvd work?
Sorry for all the questions and a big thanks for helping me out!
Prema

Analog to Digital (ie VHS to DVD)

As much as I love the internet I think I've overloaded myself with information, lol.
I have some home movies on VHS that I would like to transfer to DVD and have them be compatible with tweaking in iDVD or iMovie (I'm totally new to Mac BTW, I've only had my Macbook Pro for a little over a month).
I know I need to buy a VCR.... this is where my confusion comes in ... should I just buy a VCR/DVD combo (I'm looking at an LG RC797T for $250 @ Best Buy) and record the VHS tapes to a DVD on the machine? Will that video on the newly burned DVD now be digital video that will be importable and editable (are those words?) on my MBP with iDVD and/or iMovie?
Or, do I need to go w/some sort of analog to digital converter? I was looking at purchasing either a Canon Elura 100 Mini-DV or Canon ZR700 Mini-DV camcorder since they do analog to digital conversion (would have to go from VCR, out via S-Video into the Camcorder and then out of the Camcorder via Firewire into the Mac (actually an external HDD will be necessary so I don't suck up all my space).
I'm not a guru when it comes to file compression and rendering and video formats and all that happy stuff - I'd like a simple method that works well and produces a decent quality DVD.
I think if I can do it w/just the VHS/DVD machine that'll be the route I take (it'll be least expensive). If I have to buy a camcorder along w/a VHS machine then that's adding $$ to the project and I still need to buy an external HDD - scouring good sales for that info.
Thank you a million times over in advance, I've researched and read and dug and shopped my brains out for the past week and it seems like there is no simple solution.
B's Fan

Just a question.....if you have all these old VHS home movies, don't you already have a VCR? What have you been playing them on all these years?
I agree w/ Sue and Kirk. If you want to edit these old movies, you need to digitize the footage onto DV format.
I just connected my camcorder to my VCR (It is the VCR/TV combo unit and worked fine for this) and recorded the raw VHS footage onto DV tapes. Yes, there were a lot....I think I have about 150 DV tapes (one hour each).
I have been slowly importing them into my iMovies as I create them. I put my still photos and videos in chronologic order, so I import about one or two tapes per movie. Usually the 60min tape gets edited down quite a bit before I am finished. You know, you have plenty of bad shots, blurry images, terrific movies of the floor, ceiling, your hand, etc that can be cropped out.
If you really don't need to edit your movies, and just want them preserved as DVDs, I know that the Sony VHS/DVD combo unit works great. My brother copied some of his old Muhammed Ali fight tapes that he had recorded from tv. He didn't need to edit, just was afraid that the VHS tapes were degrading.
However, I recommended to him that he do the same as I, and get the footage on DV tapes to preserve them. I am sure that DVDs are not going to be the technology of the future. They can become broken, melted, scratched, etc. I save all my edited movies on DVDs and on more DV tapes. I (almost)always export my finished movies back to my camcorder after I have made my DVD.
The DV tapes are small, can be easily stored in a cool dry environment, and your memories are not lost.
Because VHS tapes are not great quality to begin with, you could (and I have done this also) copy the finished DVD to your camcorder by connecting them and recording from the DVD. Supposedly there is a quality loss, but you will not notice because the digital version of your movies will be so much better than the original. I have occasionally had to do it this way when I deleted my iMovie after making my DVD, but forgot to export it back to the camera.

Is quality better with software for converting VHS to DVD than using an actual converter?

Is quality better with software for converting VHS to DVD than using an actual converter?

Not sure what you mean by "actual converter".
If you mean if you just played a VHS tape to a DVD recorder and recorded like that... You will get close to the quality of the VHS.
If you have a good capture software and hardware you might be able to clean the video and audio up. But VHS is pretty limited in quality.

Best method for VHS to DVD

Hi, I'm just wondering which would be the best way to transfer VHS to DVD? Or the easiest. I know sometimes the easiest isn't always the best way.
1. Convert analog video (VHS) to DV using your VCR connected to a DV converter (ie. ADS Pyro AV Link), edit in Final Cut Pro, use iDVD or DVD Studio Pro to make a DVD (with chapter menu)?
or
2. Use a DVD/VCR recorder combo, or connect a VCR to a standalone DVD recorder, record DVD. Rip DVD onto computer, convert to MPEG, edit MPEG in Final Cut Pro, use iDVD or DVD Studio Pro to make a DVD (with chapter menu)?
And using this method, how much video can you record on a single layer DVD-R before the picture quality starts to look pretty crappy, what speed setting should it be set at?
And of the two, which would produce a better picture quality?
Or is there another way other than the two mentioned above?
Thanks for your input.
G4 AGP 1.2Ghz upgrade, 896MB ram, LaCie DVD RW Mac OS X (10.3.9) StarTech USB 2.0 card, 30GB, 80GB, 120GB HDs

Note to Mr. Schultz:
To start let me agree that any of Nattress' filters are worth the money you pay for them. Graeme makes great tools for us to use.
However, I cannot agree with your comments relative to the ADVC-300.
With all due respect to you, since your experience with the built-in filters in the ADVC-300 seems to be the exact opposite of mine, I would suggest that perhaps you are not using the built-in filters correctly.
I'm pretty picky when it comes to image quality, but I have had some very good results going through my ADVC-300 both directly into FCP and on to DV tape.
But to each his own. It's a free country and I'm not challenging your claim to have had bad experience with the ADVC-300.
But I am trying to point out to the original questioner that some of us do not share your experience of consistent failure with the built-in filters in the ADVC-300. That some of us think it is an excellent value and great tool if correctly operated.
I will admit the the ADVC-300 manual leaves a lot to be desired, and the whole filtering and level-adjusting process is not very intuitive. But after I figured it all out, I am consistently pleased with the results.
One note - I did need to find a used hardware waveform monitor and vectorscope to view the signal in and out of the ADVC-300 independently of FCP too make sure the levels and chroma in the outgoing signal were OK. If you are relying on the scopes inside FCP do this before capture, they are not reliable or accurate in this situation. That could cause error.
If you have the right scopes and have been taught how to read them correctly, a lot of this stuff is pretty easy to sort out.

Compressor 3 best presets for VHS to DVD

I used iMovie to edit footage that was injested into my MAC from the easy roxio vhs to dvd kit. I ran it through compressor because the video was not recognized by iDVD or iMovie. I used my preset iphone to FCP 6. just to see if it worked to solve my first problem and it did. Now I am curious as to what would be the best preset/droplet to build that will produce the best quality out of the VHS footage? I did notice there was a color drop from the iphone preset I used. That preset is an Apple ProRes 422 HQ and audio is listed as multi track passthrough. Thanks for the help!

>They come in as an MPEG-2 from roxio's easy vhs to dvd kit
Exactly. MPEG-2 is a highly compressed format with a lot of information for 14 out of every 15 frames being thrown out. And as you've discovered, it does not work natively in FCP or iMovie. So when you place an MPEG-2 video clip on the Timeline and render, you're converting the video yet again, suffering more quality loss. Then you exported ... which is yet another level of compression and another quality hit. Then it will have to be compressed to MPEG-2 again for the DVD process. Your chosen workflow is adding so much compression and conversion that it only degradates the image quality.
If this is the only way you have available, you could have used MPEG Streamclip to convert the Roxio MPEG-2 files so they matched your Seqeuence settings in FCP, thus eliminating the need to render (rendering converts the video so it conforms with the Sequence settings). Or better yet, purchase, rent or borrow a DVD recorder and record directly from VHS to DVD in one step.
Good luck with your project,
-DH

Dubbing form VHS to DVD

I purchased a new DVR670KU . I follow the directions for a VHS to DVD dub and always end up with a flashing icon "VHS to DVD" symbols . it will flash for a second and then quit and the VHS to DVD dub fails to take palce. What should I do?

DVD Recorder DVR670KU
I don't know if it will help, but you might consult the Support Bulletins here.
-Jerry

I have a football game recorded on a DVD R disc that I was trying to view on my MacBook using DVD Player. The video comes onto the screen, but immediately freezes, and then disappears. An error message comes up saying that DVD player unexpectedly quit.

I have a football game recorded on a DVD+R disc that I was trying to view on my MacBook using DVD Player. The video comes onto the screen, but immediately freezes, and then disappears. An error message comes up saying that DVD player unexpectedly quit. My MacBook operating system is Mac OS X, version 10.5.8. DVD Player is App version 5.0.3, framework version 5.0.7.
However, the DVD+R works on both my Dad's and my brother's laptops. My Dad's laptop is an iBook G4 with Mac OS X operating system, version 10.3.9. The DVD Player is version 4.0. My brother's laptop is a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X operating system, version 10.7.2. The DVD Player is App version 5500.26.1 and framework version 5.5.0. The DVD+R plays fine on their laptops, but will not play on mine.
Anthony

Lao Bo,
yes, you can locate and copy a file from your HD to a USB key using UNIX commands. If you know the exact name of the file which you’re trying to locate, try this:
find / -iname filename -print
This command will search your entire internal disk for the particular filename. If you know that it’s within a particular user account, then you can save search time with this variation:
find /Users/username -iname filename -print
Either variation of this command will print all files found which have the given filename. Presuming that you’re able to identify the correct file, you can copy it to a USB key using the command
cp -p filename_returned_by_find /Volumes/USB_volume
If you’re not sure which volume name your USB key has, this command will show you what the possibilities are:
ls /Volumes
Please let me know if you have any trouble with these commands.

After using video capture device to copy VHS to DVD, burnt DVD will play on computer but not

After using video capture device to copy VHS to DVD, burnt DVD will play on computer but not on DVD player. Tech support for the VCD said my HP DVD burning software has to burn "DVD Video and not DVD data" and to check with HP. How can i check myself.

Grahamster, welcome to the forum.
I recommend trying CDBurnerXP for burning video CD's. I have been using it for years without a glitch. I use it mainly for burning ISO's, but have used it for all types. Please let us know if it works or not.
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Can't record sound from DVD player

I just built a new DAW with a Gigabyte MoBo that has the Realtek sound chip on board. I installed an M-Audio external Fast Track Pro connected to the computer with USB 2.0. With the two sound devices I can play Band in a Box (my main band) through the Realtek and out put to my mixer. I then use my Line 6 Pod XT as a preamp to my guitar that also goes to my Behringer mixer. I connect the main out (R&L) from the mixer to the 1 and 2 inputs on the M-audio. I set Audio Hardware setup in AA3 to use the M Audio device for input and am able to record mixer output to tracks in AA3. I tried several configs and this is the only one that I found that works. All is good so far.
I installed a SATA DVD player (Lite on 24x) that works fine, but it plays through the M-Audio via USB, bypassing the Realtek chip, and the sound does not show up in AA3. I'm thinking I need to route the DVD output to the mixer to use the channel that is already set up. I've been trying to output the DVD player through the onboard Realtek but can't find any way to direct it to do so. I don't necessarily need it to play through the Realtek, but I want to be able to record from the DVD player.
So, does anyone have any idea how to direct the output of the DVD player to the sound card of choice? I'm stumped.

Eric,
Thanks for your reply. Realtek audio works only in playback. There is a stereo mix in the mixer but the recording controls are not operable with no sliders in the mixer for any recording option. Slider controls appear to be grayed out. Can't figure out how to enable them. Downloaded newest drivers to no avail.
The M Audio control panel has no apparent option for recording stereo mix. Adobe ignores the sound from the DVD or CD and shows flatline.
I'm trying to record the sound from the DVD not rip the track.
When I go to Audio Driver Setup and select Audition 3.0 windows sound, there is no input device installed.
I'm thinking of going back to a decent internal Soundblaster card like I have on my 8 year old machine I am replacing.

I used Roxio VHS to DVD for Mac (have iMac with Snow Leopard) and the audio does not synch with the video when playing in iMovie. Any suggestions to fix?

I used Roxio VHS to DVD for Mac (have iMac with Snow Leopard) and the audio does not synch with the video when playing in iMovie. Any suggestions to fix?

Thanks for the reply. I tried playing with detaching the audio in iMovie, but with 20+ hours of video to correct, it would take too long. After 28 hours, Corel/Roxio tech support replied that it is a known bitrate mismatch problem and they have no real fix. I strongly suggest not to buy this product.

How to record vhs tape to mac

how to record vhs tape to mac

Most "on the fly" digitization for the Mac was abandoned as "just too fussy" for successful daily use. Instead, cameras that pre-digitized and passed the digitized packets (with NO time contraints) were adopted instead.
The Hardware to do this capture is now old and cranky, and never got substantially cheaper. It is not a good value.
The affordable way to transfer VHS tapes to digital form today is to find a local service to do a one-time transfer for a fee.

Is the software from Roxio that converts VHS to DVD compatible with Yosemite?

Is the software from Roxio that converts VHS to DVD compatible with Yosemite?

Check the Roxio web site.

A good program to record WAVE to dvd 1 & 2 laye

I have Audigy 4 pro , what I found is that I can't find a program that records wave to dvd & or 2 layer (it would be good if it burned cd too.) Can anyone recommend a program that will do this ( it would be nice if it did not break the bank if you know what I mean) nero or roxio will not do it . Thanks for any help with this simple problem. I have had no luck maybe one of you have the answer.

Eric...Thanks a million. They look promising.
As an aside, me being from San Diego, and therefore a frustrated Padres fan, I have to envy both your Cubs and your fans, especially the fans that can reach from the stands onto the field and almost catch a foul ball.
I understand you folks lynched poor Mr. Sussman (I may be wrong on the name).
Again, thanks-
iMac Intel Duo/MacBook Pro 2 Gigs RAM ea. Sony VAIO/ 3 keyboards 2 hands Mac OS X (10.4.7) iMac 20" Intel core duo-250Gig HD-2Gig RAM/Macbook Pro Parallels/80/120/160 HD's

Converting old VHS to DVD

I am in the process of converting some old VHS to DVD. I am running the VHS feed in through my cameras analog input which converts to digital on the fly. The footage seems dull and I am wondering if there is a loss of saturation or maybe just a gamma adjustment that will fix it up. I wasn't sure if it was something I should do in FCP with a filter or if I can possibly just fix it in compressor on output. Any ideas on what is happening on import to dull the footage and what recommended steps I should take?

It will lose a little saturation on the capture, which can be corrected with the CC filter.
It will not look the same, as the video on the computer monitor is only a proxy representation, and the monitor gamma is different. You should hook the TV to the output of your camera and monitor FCP over Firewire. Then you can really tell.
As a side note...If all you need to do is convert VHS to DVD, and don't need any fancy things like menus and such, look at the JVC SR-MV40/45 or MV55 combo decks. They have good quality hardware compression (better than standard Compressor software settings), and are much more convenient. MV-45 can be had for around $400. I recommend it with two thumbs.
tim

Record VHS to DVD

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