Hi,i have a lot of family events recorded on 8mm and vhs tape.at the moment my old 8mm camcorder is working also i have vhs player.i want to know how can i transfer all videos to dvd.i can use my camcorder and vhs as a player but linking to dvd recorder would it automatically convert into digital or we need something else.i have tried this set up once.linked my camcorder or vhs machine as player and dvd recorder.i thiught it is recording spent almost a week but at the end it turned out to be blank dvds.any help or idea is most welcome.i need to save my family collection on future digital format.thanks.
dvd transfer
- Thread starter saleem
- Start date
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In theory that should all work. There are a few things to check first though:
1) Does the DVD recorder accept an external signal? (Aux, Line-in etc)
2) Have you made the correct connections? Nearly every novice seems to get confused and mix up their inputs and outputs. The simple idea that signal come pout of devices such as VHS machines on output sockets, and they go in to recording or display device on input sockets just seems to be hard to grasp
3) Getting the correct switching. The DVD recorder certainly is capable of recording from TV. But to make it so that it "sees" the signal from the VHS machine then you'll need to select the correct Line input. Guessing or just leaving it to chance won't do. If it's not done right then you end up with a week's worth of blank discs
4) Hook up a display!! You can't seriously expect to make all these connections and get the switching options right without seeing the result on a TV. Without this step then you can't really move forward
5) Curing the VHS wobbles. Video tapes aren't the most stable source to record from. If you have adjusted the tracking control and yet your DVD recordings are still shaky or the recording fails in places then you'll need a piece of equipment between the VCR and the DVD Recorder to stabilize the signal. This is where you start to spend money.
You can go three ways here. The first is to ditch the DVD recorder completely and go for a video capture solution for the PC. This relies though on you having a decent PC or laptop with enough hard drive space for the large video files that you will create and, inevitably, some software to edit the data to tidy it up and make a DVD with a menu structure that will play on any ordinary DVD player or Blu-ray player.
The second is to stick with the DVD recorder and purchase a sync stabilizer device. These are known as Frame Store Time Base Correctors (TBC for short). Back in the 80's and early 90's when this technology was rare then a TBC would cost several thousand pounds. Fortunately for you these things are now available in the domestic market for under £150. This is decent without breaking the bank. LINK It has some picture control features too.
The third way still involves at TBC, but this time it is built into an altogether more useful device called an AV mixer. This is a mini post production studio that combines a vision mixer and audio mixer in a single console. Panasonic made the best of these. Their entry-level WJ AVE5. It does the job of fixing the sync tracks and a lot more besides:
Fade in and out from a background colour
Mix, fade and wipe between two video signals
Overlay video titles with a colour key effect - fade, wipe
Freeze frame, strobe effects
Posterise, pixelate and paint video effect
Audipo mixing from two video sources, a line source (CD/tape/MP3 etc) and a mic input for voice-overs and narration
Back in the day these things and their bigger brothers revolutionised semi-pro video production. Suddeenly it was possible to set up a small studio for under £5,000 and do decent video production. The mixers themselves ranged in price from £900 up to £3,000.
WJ AVE5's in decent condition change hands on Ebay for under £100. Bargain!
1) Does the DVD recorder accept an external signal? (Aux, Line-in etc)
2) Have you made the correct connections? Nearly every novice seems to get confused and mix up their inputs and outputs. The simple idea that signal come pout of devices such as VHS machines on output sockets, and they go in to recording or display device on input sockets just seems to be hard to grasp
3) Getting the correct switching. The DVD recorder certainly is capable of recording from TV. But to make it so that it "sees" the signal from the VHS machine then you'll need to select the correct Line input. Guessing or just leaving it to chance won't do. If it's not done right then you end up with a week's worth of blank discs
4) Hook up a display!! You can't seriously expect to make all these connections and get the switching options right without seeing the result on a TV. Without this step then you can't really move forward
5) Curing the VHS wobbles. Video tapes aren't the most stable source to record from. If you have adjusted the tracking control and yet your DVD recordings are still shaky or the recording fails in places then you'll need a piece of equipment between the VCR and the DVD Recorder to stabilize the signal. This is where you start to spend money.
You can go three ways here. The first is to ditch the DVD recorder completely and go for a video capture solution for the PC. This relies though on you having a decent PC or laptop with enough hard drive space for the large video files that you will create and, inevitably, some software to edit the data to tidy it up and make a DVD with a menu structure that will play on any ordinary DVD player or Blu-ray player.
The second is to stick with the DVD recorder and purchase a sync stabilizer device. These are known as Frame Store Time Base Correctors (TBC for short). Back in the 80's and early 90's when this technology was rare then a TBC would cost several thousand pounds. Fortunately for you these things are now available in the domestic market for under £150. This is decent without breaking the bank. LINK It has some picture control features too.
The third way still involves at TBC, but this time it is built into an altogether more useful device called an AV mixer. This is a mini post production studio that combines a vision mixer and audio mixer in a single console. Panasonic made the best of these. Their entry-level WJ AVE5. It does the job of fixing the sync tracks and a lot more besides:
Fade in and out from a background colour
Mix, fade and wipe between two video signals
Overlay video titles with a colour key effect - fade, wipe
Freeze frame, strobe effects
Posterise, pixelate and paint video effect
Audipo mixing from two video sources, a line source (CD/tape/MP3 etc) and a mic input for voice-overs and narration
Back in the day these things and their bigger brothers revolutionised semi-pro video production. Suddeenly it was possible to set up a small studio for under £5,000 and do decent video production. The mixers themselves ranged in price from £900 up to £3,000.
WJ AVE5's in decent condition change hands on Ebay for under £100. Bargain!
hi lucid.thanks for bedt reply so for.i did new a lot about these mixers in my early days and at one stage ead going to buy one.i have been looking on one on ebay after your reply which had come off a production suit.guy who is selling says its oll lights are on i have means to fully test it.it has come off fully working set up.as i understand it only has analouge in and out puts.if you are familiar with this mixer,can you tell me if i be hook up dvd recorder to transfer all the hi 8 or vhs stuff.i believe it would not support proper hd resolution if i get proper hd camera which i am looking for may be dslr.on audio side does it have xlr audio input or output.if you have used this mixer then please give me as much info as possible.thanks.
These mixers are for SD video only. Hi8 is still SD. It just uses S-video to maintain better resolution than video8. Also, DVD recorder is only SD device, not HD.
For HD video from DSLR you must edit with a computer. Keep the signal digital, and then burn to Blu-ray disc with PC Blu-ray burner drive to maintain HD resolution. If you record on to DVD then you will lose the resolution advantage.
You can copy from SD to HD, but this won't change the signal to HD or make it HD resolution.
For HD video from DSLR you must edit with a computer. Keep the signal digital, and then burn to Blu-ray disc with PC Blu-ray burner drive to maintain HD resolution. If you record on to DVD then you will lose the resolution advantage.
You can copy from SD to HD, but this won't change the signal to HD or make it HD resolution.
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What kind of DVD recorder do you have?
I would strongly recommend the PC option that Lucid mentioned. I used Pinnacle Studio, and later Corel VideoStudio, to transfer my videos to PC. The advantage of doing it this way is you can edit it as you go along, though it takes a bit of learning to make the most of it.
Once on your PC, the end results can be burned onto DVDs which can be read by other PCs, and by most DVD players.
Once on your PC, the end results can be burned onto DVDs which can be read by other PCs, and by most DVD players.
...or get a combined HDD/DVD recorder, such as those made by Panasonic, where the editing software is already built in, has little or no learning curve, and which can be used as a regular Freeview recorder as well as copying the 8mm and VHS tapes .... ?
Hi,i do not have pc but have laptop.laptop does not have analouge in puts,they have usb standard connections.how do we make 8mm camcorder or vhs machine connection to laptop.so called pinicale studio or coral studio are they haedware and software togather.
If you were previously able to connect them to a DVD recorder, you'll be able to connect them to an HDD/DVD recorder. The one I have has SCART sockets for inputs.
An HDD/DVD like the Panasonic allows you to edit, crop, create chapters etc on the HDD, with a very intuitive menu system, then allows you to transfer at high speed to a DVD internally.
Pinnacle and Corel are both software, though Pinnacle will also sell you a video card with the software if you need it. My video camera connected to my PC via a Firewire socket, and I believe they can also connect via USB2 if you have the right cable. You can get USB to firewire adapters http://www.amazon.co.uk/IEEE-1394-F...0850269&sr=1-2&keywords=usb+firewire+adapters if you need, and you can get a free trial version of Corel Videostudio http://download.cnet.com/Corel-VideoStudio-Pro/3000-13631_4-10029706.html.
I've done editing for the best part of a quarter century. Everything from crash editing with two VHS machines to 3 machine A/B roll on a Beta SP broadcast suit to digital editing on an AVID broadcast PC system.
Having used DVD/HDD recorders for editing out commercials or simple butt-editing of camcorder footage I'd say they're okay. They're simple to use, self contained and you end up with the finished article on a disc that should play on anything as long as it is finalised correctly. What's lacking is any facility to mix between two video sources, or add titles, or music, or a voice-over. This is so much simpler to do on a PC and the results look far more polished and professional.
Having used DVD/HDD recorders for editing out commercials or simple butt-editing of camcorder footage I'd say they're okay. They're simple to use, self contained and you end up with the finished article on a disc that should play on anything as long as it is finalised correctly. What's lacking is any facility to mix between two video sources, or add titles, or music, or a voice-over. This is so much simpler to do on a PC and the results look far more polished and professional.
Hi,at the moment my first priority is to save material on future format.i still have working camcorder and most of stuff is on 8mm or hi 8 but some on vhs.i can use camcorder or vhs as players now to transfer it to dvd or computer.i have sony analouge camcorder which has svhs or normal phono type out put.how do i conect it to lap top which only has usb conection.this laptop also has a 15 pin square nonnector do not know what is this for.sometime i wonder if i spend about 500 pound on decent hdd/dvd recorder coul i get a new laptop around this price.woul you recomend any reasonale price laptop for video editing. thanks
You can get an HDD/DVD machine for less than £350.
The £500 machine is/was the one with VHS/HDD/DVD, but that seems to be unavailable at the moment. That would be ideal for your VHS tapes.
You won't need to download anything, you won't need to install anything, you won't need to be concerned about whether or not it has the right inputs - it will just work straight out of the box, and you'll also be able to use it as a regular broadcast Freeview recorder/receiver once you've done the tapes.
You'll also be able to monitor the process on your TV, not on a little 14" laptop screen......
The £500 machine is/was the one with VHS/HDD/DVD, but that seems to be unavailable at the moment. That would be ideal for your VHS tapes.
You won't need to download anything, you won't need to install anything, you won't need to be concerned about whether or not it has the right inputs - it will just work straight out of the box, and you'll also be able to use it as a regular broadcast Freeview recorder/receiver once you've done the tapes.
You'll also be able to monitor the process on your TV, not on a little 14" laptop screen......
Hi.if i buy this pinical studio with this small cable connector would it connect to laptop directley.looks like it has phono and svhs connections on one side and may me usb to link it to computer.if i use this method and use large size external hard drive least i can save all the material in digital format which i can edit later on.
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