VHS to CD

[oldbutnotdead]

You may indeed have a parrot, but having used both video capture cards and DVD recorders in my profession, there is nothing to beat the simplicity of using a dedicated DVD recorder.
Press play on the VHS player, press record, on the recorder, come back in several hours! Simples

Yeah, manual recording from VHS to computer is very boring, then add rendering time to convert to DVD format, v dull.
I have been gently copying a load of unique VHS tapes to digital- due to the current cheapness of massive hard disks I've just left them as AVI files on portable 2Tbyte drives.

 

[Mottie]

I have been gently copying a load of unique VHS tapes to digital- due to the current cheapness of massive hard disks I've just left them as AVI files on portable 2Tbyte drives.

How did you do that? I am thinking of converting my VHS and Mini VHS tapes to digital (not CD). I have a video player as well as my video camera that I can play the mini tapes on and a fairly decent laptop with windows 10.

I was thinking of getting something like this:



Would that be suitable for what I want to do?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Probably. I used my old DV camcorder as the converter- it was a rare beast with video in (used it with external cameras as a GoPro before gopros existed), then Adobe Premiere as the capture/edit software and Adobe Encore for the DVD conversion- lets you title, put chapter heads in, all that jazz

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

How did you do that? I am thinking of converting my VHS and Mini VHS tapes to digital (not CD). I have a video player as well as my video camera that I can play the mini tapes on and a fairly decent laptop with windows 10.

I was thinking of getting something like this:

View attachment 259673

Would that be suitable for what I want to do?

If those white, yellow and red plugs work for input, then that should do it. Ask the seller to confirm it.. Old multi-media PC's would have Scart and DIN sockets on the back.

 

[Mottie]

If those white, yellow and red plugs work for input, then that should do it. Ask the seller to confirm it.. Old multi-media PC's would have Scart and DIN sockets on the back.

My laptop has no scart or din sockets on it anywhere. It has a Sandisk card slot, three USB ports and one HDMI port.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

How decent is your laptop- tried a similar usb device on mine (hdmi capture to usb)- wouldn't have it with only 2gb RAM and a 2 GHz processor . Mind, hdmi video is a bit denser than 200 lines from VHS

 

[Mottie]

How decent is your laptop- tried a similar usb device on mine (hdmi capture to usb)- wouldn't have it with only 2gb RAM and a 2 GHz processor . Mind, hdmi video is a bit denser than 200 lines from VHS

I don't know how decent - it's a few years old now. Would this do?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I don't know how decent - it's a few years old now. Would this do?
View attachment 259701

Should be ok, see if the blurb on yon toy mentions minimum processor/memory - if you get it from the river-based online emporium you can always send it back if it doesn't work

 

[SandyLyon]

I bought a used Panasonic VHS to DVD recorder off eBay, transferred all my old VHS family recordings onto DVD then sold it again on eBay for a small profit

 

[Mottie]

I bought a used Panasonic VHS to DVD recorder off eBay, transferred all my old VHS family recordings onto DVD then sold it again on eBay for a small profit

That was my initial thought but then I read that DVD's degrade and can get lost/damaged plus you'd need to drag out a DVD player each time and scroll through it to get to the bit you want. My plan, if it works, is to make separate files to keep on a memory stick, a hard drive or even on the cloud that family members can access that won't degrade or get lost and label them such as 'Ian's 21st', 'Florida holiday', 'Center Parcs' etc etc.

My mate had some VHS's put onto CD's recently, wasn't expensive but that was all they did - copy the whole two tapes onto a DVD including bits of Coronation street!

 

[SandyLyon]

1st step is to get it off the VHS Tape and onto a HDD, once there you can edit it etc.

Getting it onto a DVD first maybe a good first move before the tape further degrades or gets damaged.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

1st step is to get it off the VHS Tape and onto a HDD, once there you can edit it etc.

Getting it onto a DVD first maybe a good first move before the tape further degrades or gets damaged.

If I were to buy an old tape player, I would be making cleaning the head a first job to ensure the best quality, but the heads are extremely delicate. The subject needs to be well researched first.

 

[JohnD]

You can clean the rubber rollers with isopropyl alcohol.

The magnetic heads in a video recorder are not meant to be touched, but you can (could?) get a cleaning tape. In an ordinary tape recorder they are usually smooth and (almost) flat and you can use cotton buds and alcohol.

Some dirt, including sugary spilled drinks, and blood (I once caught my finger on a sharp edge) have to be cleaned off with water, preferably warm and distilled.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The magnetic heads in a video recorder are not meant to be touched, but you can (could?) get a cleaning tape. In an ordinary tape recorder they are usually smooth and (almost) flat and you can use cotton buds and alcohol.

I found cleaning tapes useless. Dirty heads are the main issue for reproduction (playing). The correct implement for cleaning them is a sponge tipped tooth pick type implement, with (as you suggest) isopropyl and very carefully. Cotton buds shouldn't be used, because the cotton fibres will snag on the video heads and wreck them. Cotton buds are fine for use on rollers and audio tape heads, but never video heads.