Transfer VHS tapes to computer for DVD

[idiott]

I have abt 20 vhs tapes I wish to transfer them through my computer to DVDs. I bought a product called EzGRABBER. Unfortunately it has not performed as well as I would have wished it would in fact it is just not working on the 32 bt desktop and only partially works on the 64 bt
Any suggestions of a better model converter will be appreciated. The supplier has been helpful to a degree

Thank you

 

[Lucid]

The Ezgrabber software is said to be glitchy. Have a look here a Diamond One-Touch http://vhs-to-dvd-review.toptenreviews.com/diamond-one-touch-video-capture-device-review.html There's reviews of other products too.

One big hurdle to overcome with any capture software is the stability (or lack thereof) with tape based analogue video. Even after setting the tracking correctly, the sync signal from VHS is all over the place. There's a lot of modern TVs that struggle displaying VHS correctly because of this. Capturing the video and audio is an even harder task, so there may be a limit to what can be done with spending a fortune on sync stabilisers.

 

[idiott]

Lucid

Thank you

 

[Sam Gangee]

I did this some years ago using an ElGato EyeTV200 box connected to the Scart output of a VCR, with a Firewire cable to my Mac. The results were what you'd expect of composite video but there were no problems with sync pulses or anything else. I bought the EyeTV200, used, via eBay for a ludicrously small amount.

 

[JBR]

I have done this successfully by connecting an old VHS recorder to a new DVD recorder, via SCART.
Of course, the quality of the VHS recording is nowhere near what we've come to expect from DVD.

 

[ericmark]

I got a Aldi DVD recorder and transferred most but this after some years failed did get money back but replaced with a Philips which had some anti-pirate software built in and would not allow me to transfer most of the remaining videos.

I got a USB dongle but that seemed to warp the picture so still have a load of VCR's I have failed to transfer. In the main films which have been shown on TV anyway and either captured from TV or bought the DVD.

The camcorder still a problem to my main laptop with firewire OK but the dongle is useless.

Pity I would like to transfer films from Sky+ to PC. But it makes everyone rather tall.

 

[idiott]

Many thanks to those who replied I have no success and have decided for time being ONLY to give it a rest. Its become time consuming with no results.

I hope to give it a try latter as I am not giving up

Thank you

 

[efiste2]

I have done a lot of VHS to DVD Conversions, with good results, However the transfer box I purchased was a CANOPUS ADVC 100 Analogue to Digital Video Capture, its more of a serious amateur tool, it was around £199 a few years ago, but it beat any of these PC World products hands down. I did a lot of research on the best way to do the conversion and the software to use. To sum it all up, if you have a poor VHS copy, you wont make it THAT much better.
You can edit and slightly enhance though, BUT it all takes TIME. 50 minutes of VHS with a little enhancing etc etc took around 17 hours to convert to DVD format on my middle spec PC. More modern PC's may be a lot faster.

If your after the best quality possible its worth the time and effort, ie you can adjust all the video settings to ENHANCE your film. if its just to keep it for posterity have a look around for a transfer service that can do it for you.

Any questions please feel free to PM me, Im no expert but I learnt a lot about VHS to DVD during my transfer time. mostly by trial and error.