sex dvd & videotape

[Bisbee]

ok, no sex, just wanted to get you in here. :P

I just purchased a new pc with a dvd burner in it. I have an entire wall of movies on vhs (commercial stuff I bought, The Full Monty etc.), I would love to back up the collection on DVD and store it in something the size of a breadbox, have a vhs bonfire, and then put in a set of french doors instead of a wall of tape boxes. I can do the bonfire and the doors, I need a little help with the DVD part.

What is the easiest way to accomplish this transfer? I have seen ADS boxes and heard about capture cards but I'm new at this and have no idea what this stuff really is. If I spend $100 on a box is that it? If you copy vhs on a pc do you get the same distortion you get with a vcr to vcr copy? Will the box take care of that? Will it convert files into a DVD recordable format or do I need other software for that? I have succeeded in downloading DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink and IMG Tool, will any of this software help me?

TIA for any help, and please remember to make it idiot-friendly!


-- A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

[bugster]

Nothing in this life is as simple as you would like it to be! Start reading my friend

Capture

Convert

Author & Burn

Those are the 3 basic stages that you need to go through. Read some of the guides listed there and try a few things. Decide what capture route you want to go down and how much time/money/effort you want to spend. When you run into problems come back and ask specific questions we have a chance of answering, providing as much detail about your methods and what has gone wrong as you can.

Hope this helps.

[SLK001]

Damn... no sex. I'm out of here!

[LeoNapier]

Wha???
No sex!!?

ok, no sex, just wanted to get you in here.

Damn good marketing though, my friend!!!

I 'll have to second what bugster said... You need loadsa of reading b4 being able to even contemplate that VHS bonfire of yours!!

Just a word of advice: store yr VHS tapes for couple of yrs after you succesfully manage to back them up on DVD! It will save ya pulling yr hair out out every time a crappy, no good s**t DVD-r/+r decides to fail on ya!
Take this from somebody who now has a recceeding hairline!!!
Seriously though, DVDs are not 100% fail-proof so you might need to store yr VHS transfers on some other (HDD, etc) media just to be one the safe side!

Welcome to the Forum!
Good Luck!


LeoNapier

[jeddah_superstar]

NO SEX !! I 'm out of here ........

[rchiang]

The easiest way to backup VHS tapes is via a DVD recorder. Originally, I tried to backup VHS tapes via the capture/convert/author/burn method, but it took so long to backup 1 tape and the quality sucks. Too many settings to tweak and too many things can go wrong. Bought a cheap DVD recorder from Walmart ($259.99), and it works great. The quality is the same as the source VHS. No fuss, no muss.

So it comes down to this: If you have the time, don't want to spend money on a DVD recorder, and want to control every aspect of your conversion, go with the capture/convert/author/burn method. If you just want to get the job done with minimal effort, buy a DVD recorder.

One last thing: Most commercial VHS tapes are protected with MacroVision copy protection. If your TV has video out, use that as the video source to get around MacroVision.

[MikeV]

Remember to be legal you have to have an original movie on VHS or DVD.

[babyboo]

Wow...165 hits in just over an hour. I had better start putting "SEX" at the top of my resume

[BSR]

If you have a lot of tapes and not a lot of time, a stand alone DVD recorder method is probably the way to go as rchiang said. It'll give you a lot less headaches and it will be much faster.

If you have personal home videos that you will want to edit and get the best possible quality out of, definatley capture, edit, burn as stated above.

I too came here for the sex. Reminds me of some girls in college. Seen a lot of friends go home empty handed.

[Bisbee]

Thanks to all for your help. I had no idea this was so complicated! Sounds like the stand-alone DVD is definitely the way to go, installing a card isn't worth the hassle for the little bit of work I want to do.

[Sam Ontario]

..........

If you have personal home videos that you will want to edit and get the best possible quality out of, definatley capture, edit, burn as stated above.
.

A year later, this statement will no longer be true!

[snafu099]

I have ADS usb InstantDvd-2 http://www.adstech.com
No worry about macrovision
Excellant quality
Perfect sync
usb = no need to open pc
currently at 350+ of 800+ vhs to dvd achive
Bundled Ulead MF2-direct to disc, auto chapters, does all automatic. Capture, author & burn.
My sys setup takes aprox 5 min to start cap then is all auto, come back later and all done