VHS to DV?

hi-does anyone know of a cheap way to get my 1995 video footage off my old video camera into my mac? there's, of course, no usb or firewire hook-up, and i'm trying to make a project for a realive with old footage they took. i had a similar post and someone mentioned anologue cables (???)being hooked up to my newer video camera (which does have an iLink/firewire hook-up). if there would be a better category to post this question in that would be helpful to know too.
thanks for your help!

"how do i know if my camera has the "pass through" capability?"
Can you tell us the exact model of the camera?
You search the net, manual or wherever to locate the info. Most DV cameras have this ability. Digital 8 might. That's the unit that will do the Pass through in your case, if capable. If it does not, a dub will do if it can accept an external analogue signal. Specs required to confirm.
"and i'm not going to be importing major amounts of video-the end result will probably not be more than 5-7 minutes"
Simply convert or dub the bits you require plus about tens seconds either end.
"how do i get these analogue cables? or-i guess i'm trying to say "are they easy to find?" "
They are easy to find at any camera, hifi, electical store. They have RCA connectors (yellow=video, White=right audio, red=left audio) in most cases. A lot of smaller cameras have special cables that have video and auido in one mini jack. These are supplied with the camera. They are a bit harder to find if you've lost them.
Al

Similar Messages

No TV detected using mini-DVI to S-VHS/Scart

In my old laptop, I have used the S-VHS output from the graphics card, and in order to see the monitor on my TV, I had to set the TV as default monitor. Now I recently purchased an iMac with a mini-DVI to video. I put my s-vhs cable into this adapter and at the other end I put the s-vhs cable into a scart adapter and then into the tv. When I push "Detect displays"-button, I see a short flicker (grey lines) on my TV and then it becomes black again. I have tried all possible resolutions, but I have a feeling that the TV is not properly detected. I have also tried all possible codecs like NTSC, PAL and SECAM on my TV ++, but it doesn't work?! I'm a total newbie, so hopefully there is a simple solution:) - maybe some settings on the iMac?

Okay you should connect your dvi to S-video and then the other end of the S-video small round 7 pin connector to the S-video port on your TV.
Then set your tv channel to input or video in sometimes listed as L1 or aux in.
Once this is set to same as what you would connect a DVD or VHS via rca round pin red/yellow/black or white cables to the channel / input then press detect.
The screen should go black and then after say 5+ secs. you should see a colorfull / background or something on the tv and on your Apple and it will also show the resolution settings for each screen on that screen itself.
Then you can choose either to mirror the screens = same size display and desktop on both or each one to be independent.
Maybe set your tv then to 800x600 to be safe and select what ever tv standard is available in your country. (ntsc/PAL)
PS: the S-video looks like the old PS2 mouse connectors from windows PC's from before usb was discovered.

Unable to capture video from VHS through DAC-200

(Running Final Cut Pro 5.1.4)
I have a DAC-200 to hook up my VCR to my G5 in order to capture video from VHS tapes into Final Cut. I had this set-up working a few months ago, but it was disconnected to rearrange equipment and now I can't get it working again. I have followed the advice from the DAC-200 installation instructions and advice from other forum topics but can't seem to get it to work. I finally was able to get something in the log and capture window besides "preview disabled" and "cannot capture because there is no video." I now can get Final Cut to capture video, however it only captures a blank black screen (and this is all I can see in the preview window).
I've triple-checked every cable hook-up, the G5 recognizes the converter box, the video tape plays fine to a tv. I've even had our IT-guy here at work come check out my set-up for help and he can't figure out what is wrong either. (He did get my log&capture window to get white fuzz in the black screen at one point though. Does that mean anything?)
Any help is greatly appreciated! (I'm happy to answer any other questions too.) Thanks!

I had difficullty with the X.4.10 plus QT7.2 and put my info on the Forum as well as sending feedback to Apple. Shortly afterwards, Apple brought out a short security update which I downloaded and, hey presto, I was then able to use QT7.2 with OSX.4.10. It may be that you missed out on the later small update to QT7.2..... ? Another factor I found was that some little while later I again had a problem so I again installed QT7.2 and over-installed FCP5.1.4 which has resolved my problems for the time being. Worth a try if you still can't get through on the DAC.
Ron.

Import VHS Tapes to DVD and iMovie

I have many old VHS tapes I want to finally digitize so I don't lose them. Most are old football games, generally between 1-2 hours per tape. I am working off of a new iMac - 27inch 3.1gHz 1TB hard drive.
I want to do 2 things:
1 - Backup each tape to a high quality DVD for backup purposes - to be played in a DVD player
2 - Store lower quality versions on my iMac hard drive to be viewed/ edited/ possibly uploaded to YouTube or other web based video sites
I have iMovie, and would like the ability to edit if possible - nothing major, ading scores, dates, etc...and possibly manipulating video (cropping of scenes, etc...) but not much.
I have researched and found a few different options. Most threads I have read seem to indicate the need for one of the following:
Canopus ADVC300
Canopus ADVC55
Elgato Eye TV Hybrid
I am willing to spend $100 - $200, but this I'd rather not go crazy. At a certain point it would just be easier to sed them away to be professionally archived to DVD.
Any advice?

I have many old VHS tapes I want to finally digitize so I don't lose them.
I have done lots of that.
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 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).
http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc300
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why?
iMovie 09/11 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 09/11, 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 11 is a "lossless" combination.

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.

I have been trying to import VHS video into iMovie via a Hollywood Dazzle bridge. Did not have trouble until I upgraded to mavericks. I have a mac book pro, 10.9.1, iMovie 10.0.2. Says it is recording, but when I go to check, it says the file is empty.

I have been trying import VHS video into iMovie via a Hollywood Dazzle bridge. I have been successful doing this in the past, but now it is not working. I have a mac book pro, 10.9.1, (mavericks), iMovie 10.0.2. Everything in iMovie looks like it is working. It reads "recording" in the upper left hand corner of the pane while the video is playing. When I stop the process to check on my clip it says that the file is empty. The only thing that has changed since I did it successfully is that I upgraded to mavericks from whatever I had previously. My system is about one year old. Any suggestions?

Hey, Clinton,
     Thanks for your help! I was able to go to iMovie 9.0.9 and import video. I was still curious as to why it didn't work in version 10.0.2, so I contacted Apple tech support. They were't sure at first as to why it wouldn't work, so they had me delete iMovie 10.0.2 and then re-install it just to see if something had gone wrong when it upgraded. That didn't change anything. In the end, they determined that 10.0.2 doesn't support the Hollywood Dazzle DV bridge. But I have a workaround path from them that I will share so that it's possible to import to 9.0.9, then move it to 10.0.2.
     1. Open iMovie 9 (finder/applications/iMovie 9.0.9
     2. Import from Dazzle Bridge to iMovie 9, note which event you are importing the clips into
     3. Close iMovie 9
     4. Open iMovie 10 (probably in the dock)
     5. File/Import Media...navigate to home(this was my name, on the left side of iMovie, under Favorites)/Movies/iMovie events. Find the event folder that contains your Dazzle clips (tip-try sorting by date modified to look at recent events.)
     6. Select the clips and import. Click the blue "Import Selected" button on the bottom right.
You may get a message that some files cannot be imported. Click continue import. It's a little glitchy. It imports your clip, and also makes a copy of it, too. On the copy, the audio is normal, but the video is choppy. In any case, you would delete the copy, anyway.
Hope this additional information helps somebody else. Thanks again, Clinton for helping me!

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!

VHS to iMovie 09

I used EyeTV Hybrid to capture the VHS contents to disk. (The resulting .eyetv file plays fine within EyeTV.)
I dragged the .mpg file from within the .eyetv package into MPEG Streamclip. (The file plays fine within MPEG Streamclip at this point.)
I used MPEG Streamclip to export using QT/AIC. The audio and video are now out of sync. The audio precedes the video by about 2 seconds in the resulting .mov file. What settings should I use to avoid this during the export/conversion?
I have the latest version of QuickTime Pro. Do I still need QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component to make this all happen?
Thanks...

I would use better hardware.
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 08/09 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 09).
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
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 "lossless" combination.

DVD from VHS tape

being new to the Mac G5, can someone help me to convert analog VHS videotape to DVD's?

http://elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvhybrid

Connect macbook to TV by S-VHS

How can I connect my macbook to TV using a S-VHS cable? Because my TV isn't LCD and isn't HDTV.

If by S-VHS you mean an s-video cable then there really isn't anything like a VGA to s-video cable that will work on just _any_ VGA output because you need an active converter to modify the VGA signal into s-video. So, what you _may_ need is an analog video converter that accepts VGA and outputs a standard definition, analog TV signal (in composite, s-video, or component formats). The inexpensive converters usually support just composite (one yellow RCA plug) and s-video (round plug with 4 active pins and a key). These converters run between $50 - $100 (U.S.) and up.
Thus, what you'll probably need is one of Apple's mini DisplayPort to VGA adapters which would then be connected to a video converter box as I've described above.
Without one of these converters you'd need a special type of video card with a VGA port that can be switched over to supply composite and s-video outputs. However, to the best of my knowledge the new MacBooks don't have that type of VGA output (i.e. there is no way to switch the video card so that it can natively supply s-video as an output). Earlier generations of the MacBook and Mac mini had the ability to output composite and s-video using a simple adapter; however, the new MacBooks do not have this capability.

Solutions to importing VHS and Hi8 video to iMovie6?

I would like to import into my G4 tower with OS10.5 my old VHS and Hi8 videos for editing in iMovie 06. I've tried creating a DVD first but iMovie doesn't recognize it from the internal DVD player or as a file. I tried shareware Rippers but not able to import the results into iMovie.
I've looked at the PYRO Analog/DV Mac Video Capture - In & Out device at $210. This looks like it may be the only thing that works. It converts any signal to DV and then connects via Firewire to the computer. Thus I assume is readable by iMovie and may even create clips at the appropriate places.
What solutions have you found that work? Ease of use is nice but not essential. Modest price would also be nice but what do I have to do to make this work. I anticipate having additional Hi8 tapes in the future to edit then make into DVDs as well as what I have now. All help appreciated. Thanks, Ken

Check out the Canopus AVDC110 digital video converter. http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php?lang=EN

Advice on sequence settings - frame size for VHS video in FCP

Hello,
I was hoping that I could get some advice on editing and output for video captured from VHS Tapes to ensure the best quality possible.
My current workflow to digitize the VHS tapes is:
VHS signal from JVC S7600u with TBC into ADVC 300 (no de-interlace or other filters set) into a Mac Pro via firewire. Capture preset in FCP is DV NTSC 48khz.
Once in FCP - the captured VHS video frame size is 720 X 480, Vid rate is 29.97, pixel aspect is NTSC-CCIR 601 and field dominance is lower (even)
My questions are:
If my final destination is for You Tube sharing , are these the best sequence/ frame size settings or should I convert the sequence frame size to 640 X 480, or should I leave at 720 X 480 while working in FCP and then output to Compressor and select the H264 you tube sharing video setting and change the frame size to 640 X 480?
Should I de- interlace for internet/youtube destination?
Should I de-interlace for DVD/TV destination?
If I want to burn the finished project to DVD and watch the video on a progressive montitor/ TV screen, what would be the best settings/frame size for that?
If any of you out there have experience with editing vcr/analog video in FCP and have a good workflow to ensure best quality, I would really appreciate any advice/suggestions.
Thanks in advance.

Digitize to 720X480 frame size in FCP. In compressor, your YouTube preset will automatically deinterlace and a square pixel aspect ratio.No deinterlacing for DVD.
Russ

Want to connect JVC analog video VHS to IMAC IMOVIE Two rca's out one labeled Video, One labeled, Audio. Do I need a digitizer to get edit capabilities in I-Movie?r

Trying to import video tape vhs to digital video of acceptable quality to use in I Movie, 2 RCA's out 1Video,1AUDIO, do I need an expensive A to D converter @ $200. plus? or is there a cheaper way?
Thanks'
Rich'

Yes!
Look for the Canopus ADVC110, which connects to your VCR via the RCA cables and your Mac via Firewire.

Final Cut Pro HD 4.5 freezes on output to VHS and other weridness!!!

Gents and Ladies,
First time poster...I feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside...really I do...
My Brand New G5 dual 2.7GHz blah blah blah is freezing up on out put to VHS. I am using a JVC SR-VS30 Mini-DV/SVHS dual deck.
Why VHS? I work for a school district and that's the cheapest stock possible.
Anyway... the board meeting tape I output last night all the sudden freezes after like 45 minutes of recording. It litterally screwed up right after I left the office last night. I actually stayed with it for 45 minutes and "held its hand" to make sure everything went along alright. Right after it left..."feeeze frame, freeze frame...now freeze..du du du na na na"...did you ever hear that song?
Anyway...to make a long story short...while watching the tape this morning...it was just stuck for like an hour like that. I turned it off after 30 seconds but after fast fwd'n the tape...it just kept recording like that.
Totally unbelieveable. I love how Macs need to rest before it starts to work. It grabs a cup of Joe and a bagel...reads the morning paper...returns a few emails...then it MIGHT be ready to work...if your lucky. And then...if your not looking...it'll randomly fail. I love that...so..what I do...is I try to trick it into working for me...yeah...I trick it...:)
Anyway...so I want to run Disk Warrior. My screen saver is turned off, my hard drives don't go to sleep, all the things you might think would cause it to go off line over the course of 3 hours... I have turned off. It would seem...at least to me...that when it tries to Auto Save the glitch kicks in.
The other thing is that I record the meetings on an NNovia Quick Capture HD DVR via Firewire. It has worked many times before...flawlessly. The copy is fine...the file in Final Cut is fine. It even previews to a TV monitor nicely...but on output...its choking on the toothpaste when rinsing.
JB
G5 Dual 2.7ghz H2o cooled Mac OS X (10.4.4) Double dipping on RAM

O.K. cool.
I did change Auto Save before any of this even happens. I made all these very changes on my previous dual 2.0 G5. That machine...although much slower...always worked...never faultered...very dependable. Quite honestly the best Mac I ever worked on...until new versions of stuff came out and ruined all my fun.
I have changed all the pertinant settings...at least I thought.
Do any of you think I should ask for the upgrade to 5.0? Does it have any fixes in it that make it worth it? The new machine is what has made the bugs pop up. For a while it wasn't even recognizing my deck then one day it started working. Any thoughts on that... let me know. I am not a huge fan of the Dual JVC deck but it has worked pretty well. Now I use this DVR and it works really well for long running board meetings. At least VHS does what its told...:) With DV you always got to wonder if you've dropped some frames. Even if I am recording to a Hard Drive.
Before this gig I worked on the "last run" dual something G4 Quicksilver's and they all ran horrible. FCP3 and bugs everywhere. After that disaster I then jumped ship all together to a Canopus Premiere Pro system on a DVStorm2 Pro + card. That is a nice system. Great Chroma Key stuff. Now at this gig I have been working in Mac again. I was hugely surprised by how well the G5 performed. It did get a little slow for me eventually. Honestly my single P4 in combonation with the Canopus Realtime Preview Board really beat it up quite badly. Even that still had to render in the end but at least I could see everything while I was working. Render time was pretty fast in the end too. I think that has been my favorite DV Editing solution on PC.
I really like Final Cut Pro. I think it quick and dirty...just the way I like it. I started out learning on Avid and if the company I worked for used it...I would prefer that truthfully but I have been riding FCP for 3 years and counting and every place I work at is Mac so...I am totally on this boat.
Any opinions on the Intel stuff yet? I would be interested in perf as I would like to get a Mac system at home and sell my Canopus rig...all thought I do love it so.
BTW...no...no error messages at all...
...and I would've styaed with it last night if I didn't have to finally leave after another 10 hour day...tonight I have a 2 hour video after work and then Sat/Sun we have a huge music festival and that will 2 12hr days...so...if I didn't need sleep...I would'e been able to stay some more...
;)~
...Oh and I have a 250 GB Serial ATA system drive and a 250 GB A/V Storage drive.
FCP stuff on A/V Drive
iMovie/iDVD stuff on system
...has always seemed to run better like this.
Many thanks for the ideas and for any future input.
JB

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.

I have captured a VHS movie from a VCR to my Mac. I used a Roxie program and it said "capture to IMovie". I said yes. It shows in my events with a green asterisks but it is not showing up in iMovie, It is in my doc but won't go into iMovie. Why?

I used a Roxie program to bring in my video from VHS. I know it's in my computer and when I right click in the event in IMovie and click "capture movie, a screen comes up showing it but it won't capture it and bring it into IMovie. What am I doing wrong

Firefox can find plugins in several locations, but Firefox 21 changed the location of the "shared" plugin folder so older installers like the Microsoft Windows Media Plugin no longer drop the DLL file in the correct location.
There apparently are two ways to address this:
(1) Change a Firefox preference so that Firefox checks the old location. Here's how:
(i) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(ii) In the filter box, type or paste '''plugins''' and pause while the list is filtered
(iii) Double-click '''plugins.load_appdir_plugins''' to switch its value from false to true.
This will take effect after you restart Firefox.
(2) Copy the plugins folder to the new location. Here's how on Win 7 64-bit:
Open a Windows Explorer window to:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
Right-click and copy the '''Plugins''' folder
Double-click the '''browser''' folder to open it
Right-click and paste
Right-click the new copy of '''Plugins''' and rename it to '''plugins'''
After restarting Firefox, the plugins in that folder should now be available.
''Edit: I suggest just doing #1.''

VHS to DV?

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