Editing VHS and Digital Tapes?

[syracusefan1]

Not sure if this topic should be in this section, but I have a a couple of questions about editing VHS and digital tapes:

1) What equipment/programs do you need in order to put VHS tapes onto a program like Vegas, and be able to edit the video on the VHS? Also, what are the steps required to putting VHS tapes onto your computer?

2) Same thing for Digital tapes?

I want to put basketball footage from both VHS and digital tapes onto my PC, and then be able to edit them in Vegas.

[pijetro]

Your tapes are analogue..You need to digitize them to get them to your computer and edit with Vegas..
Since your intent is to edit with Vegas (primarily an .AVI editor), u should seriously think about digitizing your footage with a hardware DV Device...Look in the capture card section..You're primarily looking for a DV converter..Your material will get digitized to DV compression, within an .AVI housing, and Vegas can run smoothly. Some popular names are ADS Pyro A/V Link, Canopus ADVC-100,300 etc...
Of course, if your video camera is MiniDV format, and it supports pass through, then you can use this hardware instead..
Then you'll need to learn to export to DVD, but that's another story...

Of course, there's the option of capturing directly to DVD, but that's another set of hardware differences..

For better quality, you should read the stickies on the Restoration forum...Great tips on buying better VCR's, and TBC (time base correction) issues related with older tapes..

Good luck!!!

[edDV]

Not sure if this topic should be in this section, but I have a a couple of questions about editing VHS and digital tapes:

1) What equipment/programs do you need in order to put VHS tapes onto a program like Vegas, and be able to edit the video on the VHS? Also, what are the steps required to putting VHS tapes onto your computer?

2) Same thing for Digital tapes?

I want to put basketball footage from both VHS and digital tapes onto my PC, and then be able to edit them in Vegas.

You need a capture device and capture software for analog video. You need to specify quality and budget expectations. A $30 "tuner" card will get you started but these need an expensive computer to deal with the data flood it will generate. An alternative for a normal home computer is an encoding card like the Haupauge PVR series $70-200. The latter will save you time and embarrasment.

Please define your digital formats. If DV (MiniDV or Digital8), your task is simplified. You just need an IEEE-1394 interface on your computer. If you don't have one, figure $9-50 for a PCI card depending on shopping skills.


PS: As stated in previous post, a "pass through" DV camcorder can also use the camcorder to capture from VHS.

[syracusefan1]

Thanks for the responses guys, but to be honest I'm a rookie to the whole video thing...and what you wrote is almost like reading another language.

Maybe I should ask this:

1) Is it possible to put VHS tapes onto your computer by simply having a camcorder and a cord attachment that connects to your USB port? If you can, what are the negatives of this?

2) Is it possible to put digital tapes onto your computer by simply having a digital camcorder and a cord attachment that connects to your USB port? If you can, what are the negatives of this?

[edDV]

Thanks for the responses guys, but to be honest I'm a rookie to the whole video thing...and what you wrote is almost like reading another language.

Maybe I should ask this:

1) Is it possible to put VHS tapes onto your computer by simply having a camcorder and a cord attachment that connects to your USB port? If you can, what are the negatives of this?

2) Is it possible to put digital tapes onto your computer by simply having a digital camcorder and a cord attachment that connects to your USB port? If you can, what are the negatives of this?

1) I'm not aware of models that do this over USB2, but there are several DV models with "analog pass-thru" feature that do a credible job if your computer has a IEEE-1394 port.

2) You need to say what digital tape format you are talking about. No for USB2* port and tape. Check one from below:

Digital8 tape
MiniDV tape
HDV tape
Camcorder DVD
Camcorder Flash Card
Other

*unless you are talking about the CIF 352x240 high compression webcam streams that some Sony models will do.

[pijetro]

syracusefan1 wrote:

and what you wrote is almost like reading another language.

Well, you want to edit with Vegas (which is an advanced editor), so you've got to expect advanced answers...
You can run with the suggestion by your friendly forum friends, or you can learn to crawl first by reading up on the basics...

My suggestion:
Tell us exactly what you have, what you want to do, what's the hardware that you've currently got, and where is your final destination..
People might better serve you...

[syracusefan1]

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, and I definitely appreciate the help. But, all I'm saying is I'm not a computer whiz by any means, and don't understand a lot of the terms.

[edDV]

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, and I definitely appreciate the help. But, all I'm saying is I'm not a computer whiz by any means, and don't understand a lot of the terms.

So we are to conclude you have no camcorder, just an Athlon XP1800 with 40GB hard drive and a stack of VHS tapes? Is this a notebook?

Question 1. What do you want to do?

Question 2. How much can you spend?

[thecoalman]

2) Same thing for Digital tapes?

I'll start with the easy one first. Digital tapes like Digital 8 or mini-DV store video on tape as a digital stream. To simplify things it's not much different than a external hardrive. To get it to your computer you only need to to plug it in, for most digital camcorders you need a firewire cable and firewire port on your computer... it's very simple and basic. what ever is on tape gets transferred to your computer bit for bit... an exact duplicate.

1) What equipment/programs do you need in order to put VHS tapes

VHS is analog and has to be converted to a digital format. For that there's many options. As mentioned above if you have a digital camcorder it may have a pass through feature. You hook the VHS deck to the digital cam which in turn is hooked to your computer. The digital cam converts the VHS to a digital format. In any event you need something to convert it to digital.

[syracusefan1]

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, and I definitely appreciate the help. But, all I'm saying is I'm not a computer whiz by any means, and don't understand a lot of the terms.

So we are to conclude you have no camcorder, just an Athlon XP1800 with 40GB hard drive and a stack of VHS tapes? Is this a notebook?

Question 1. What do you want to do?

Question 2. How much can you spend?

I have an Athlon XP 2300+, and just got an additional 250GB on top of my 40GB hard drive. No, it's not a notebook.

1) I am going to be making basketball mixes, and I will be given both VHS and digital tapes of full length basketball games to edit. So, all I want to do is capture certain clips from the games. Which means I don't need the full games to remain on my computer.

I'm guessing I will need a camcorder for VHS tapes, and a digital camcorder for digital tapes. But, what else will I need?

2) Hopefully less than $150 (not including the camcorders).

[lchiu7]

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, and I definitely appreciate the help. But, all I'm saying is I'm not a computer whiz by any means, and don't understand a lot of the terms.

So we are to conclude you have no camcorder, just an Athlon XP1800 with 40GB hard drive and a stack of VHS tapes? Is this a notebook?

Question 1. What do you want to do?

Question 2. How much can you spend?

I have an Athlon XP 2300+, and just got an additional 250GB on top of my 40GB hard drive. No, it's not a notebook.

1) I am going to be making basketball mixes, and I will be given both VHS and digital tapes of full length basketball games to edit. So, all I want to do is capture certain clips from the games. Which means I don't need the full games to remain on my computer.

I'm guessing I will need a camcorder for VHS tapes, and a digital camcorder for digital tapes. But, what else will I need?

2) Hopefully less than $150 (not including the camcorders).

Since you have identified yourself as being technology challenged in this area, perhaps the simplest solution would be the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2

http://hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html

I think they can be purchased for less than $150.

Then you play your tapes on your various recorders, feed the signal into this box which is plugged into the USB2 connection on your PC and with the provided software capture the video. I think the Hauppauge kits even provide some software to edit the video

[edDV]

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, and I definitely appreciate the help. But, all I'm saying is I'm not a computer whiz by any means, and don't understand a lot of the terms.

So we are to conclude you have no camcorder, just an Athlon XP1800 with 40GB hard drive and a stack of VHS tapes? Is this a notebook?

Question 1. What do you want to do?

Question 2. How much can you spend?

I have an Athlon XP 2300+, and just got an additional 250GB on top of my 40GB hard drive. No, it's not a notebook.

1) I am going to be making basketball mixes, and I will be given both VHS and digital tapes of full length basketball games to edit. So, all I want to do is capture certain clips from the games. Which means I don't need the full games to remain on my computer.

I'm guessing I will need a camcorder for VHS tapes, and a digital camcorder for digital tapes. But, what else will I need?

2) Hopefully less than $150 (not including the camcorders).

Your computer profile needs update.

You need a VHS VCR to play VHS tapes.

You need a digital camcorder of the right format to play digital tapes. Ask someone what format the tapes are before you buy or rent the camcorder.

There are various ways to capture the video to the computer. The PVR-USB2 is one way. It captures to MPeg2 so the editor needs to be MPeg2 capable. A digital transfer would get better results. That could be handled cheaply with an "analog pass through camcorder"* if you have a budget for a new camcorder. Then spend the $150 on a IEEE-1394 port and cable and decent editing-authoring software.

Define "basketball mixes". What effects are in your plan? If you are just making clips, a simple editor will work. No plans for a DVD or anything? Why not just use a VCR or DVD recorder for editing? What do you expect the computer to do? The $150 could be applied to standalone DVD recorder.

Frankly, I'm wondering if you are up to the task of learning a program like Vegas. It gets far more complicated than this. Better to get someone locally to help.

You can download a trial version here. See if it does what you want.
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=583
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/download/Step2.asp?DID=617


* hint Google "analog pass through"

[syracusefan1]

I already have Sony Vegas 6.0 on my computer. Not that difficult to use at all. Pretty basic actually.

I have a feeling there might be a misunderstanding on what I want to do.

[edDV]

Get your digital camcorder type figured out. Probably Digital8 or MiniDV but could be many other tape formats.
Look for a camcorder model with "analog pass through" so you can capture VHS through the camcorder.

Connect it with an IEEE-1394 cable to the computer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812189110

If your computer doesn't have a IEEE-1394 port, add one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815104226

Use Vegas' capture program to transfer the video or use WinDV.
https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?tools=285&madeby=&formatconversionselect=&howtosel...or+List+Guides

[pijetro]

I have a feeling there might be a misunderstanding on what I want to do.

Nope, you've stated what you wanna do...

Just a recap....
Your VHS footage needs to get digitized (captured) to DV with the hardware tools i mentioned earlier..VCR, to DV hardware converter (perhaps your camera), computer...In that order.

Your digital tapes get transfered to your computer via Vegas. Rather than capturing, Vegas transfers the 1's and 0's from the tape to the hard drive. so technically, it's considered transferring..You'll have to read up on the Vegas Help file as far as capturing is concerned..Pretty standard..Plug in your firewire port from the camera to the firewire to your computer..Access the capture menu within Vegas, and therefore, you can operate the camcorder directly from Vegas. The software and hardware communicate with each other..Press "Play", camcorder plays back. Press "Record", and the information starts gettiing copied to the hard drive...

Once you've created your masterpiece, you need to output to DVD..I'll assume Vegas can also do this...

[syracusefan1]

It seemed so much easier in a video class I took this past year. After we finished filming with the digital camcorder, all we did was:

1) Attach a cord that connected the digital camcorder (with the tape in it) and the USB Port.

2) Turned the digital camcorder on.

3) Opened up Adobe Premiere, and used the Capture mode.

4) Play the video (pressing play on the digital camcorder).

5) Then capture the clips I wanted from the whole tape.

[pijetro]

Same thing...... but at least with the firewire, you can control the camera from within Vegas..
USB isn't recommended for video feed..
Perhaps transferring your stills, but definately not the video..

[edDV]

If you could identify the digital tape format, we could get more specific.

[thecoalman]

1) Attach a cord that connected the digital camcorder (with the tape in it) and the USB Port.

That is incorrect, very few cams have the ability to stream full DV over USB. This cannot be stressed enough. Under the assumption that there were many people in this class they would all have different cams with a most if not all without the ability to stream full DV over USB. It's low quality video... so much for the class.... Sounds to me as if the instructor needs a class.

4) Play the video (pressing play on the digital camcorder).

When you connect via firewire you don't have to do that. You can control the cam from your computer. I don't understand what you find so hard to understand... take it one step at time. Get your digital cam hooked up via firewire and take it from there.

[edDV]

1) Attach a cord that connected the digital camcorder (with the tape in it) and the USB Port.

That is incorrect, very few cams have the ability to stream full DV over USB. This cannot be stressed enough. Under the assumption that there were many people in this class they would all have different cams with a most if not all without the ability to stream full DV over USB. It's low quality video... so much for the class.... Sounds to me as if the instructor needs a class.

80% in such a class probably use a DV format camcorder. USB for such a cam is intended for stills or webcam streaming and at best gets minimal CIF video. You wouldn't want to watch it and your basketball buds will think you need to go back to training camp in shame. 352x240 or 320x240 video at low bitrate just won't make the team.

Some may have MPeg2 native DVD or hard drive camcorders. Those use USB2 to transfer MPeg2 to the computer but are not the best for serious editing.

Some may have expensive XDCAM or DVCProHD $10,000-26,000 which can transfer DV format over USB (as a file) if you want. They are built to do it all and you are paying for that capability.

Those are the exceptions, normally you transfer DV format over IEEE-1394 and get it right.

syracusefan1 went to a class where everything was prepared and the student just needed to push a few buttons and pretend they knew what they were doing. The realworld test is to replicate the results from your own installation. Dive in make mistakes and ask better questions.

[syracusefan1]

I'm 16 and worked with video for a couple of months man, I don't know what questions to ask. Take it easy. This is a response I got from someone who edits off of tapes to make basketball mixes...

"all u have to do is get a firewire cord that hooks to ur cam and the back of the computer. To capture it most use Pinnacle. the firewire cord is like 40-50 bucks and you should be able to find both of these things at best buy or circuit city."

Looks a lot easier to understand.

[Cornucopia]

I'm 16 and worked with video for a couple of months man, I don't know what questions to ask. Take it easy. This is a response I got from someone who edits off of tapes to make basketball mixes...

"all u have to do is get a firewire cord that hooks to ur cam and the back of the computer. To capture it most use Pinnacle. the firewire cord is like 40-50 bucks and you should be able to find both of these things at best buy or circuit city."

Looks a lot easier to understand.

Looks easier, yes. Will it end up being easier, I doubt it.

Your friend didn't say anything about the fact that a Firewire Card/Port is REQUIRED on the computer 1st for this to work at all. (Cost ~$15-100, depending on brand, chipset, # ports features)
BTW, Pinnacle is popular, but "most" don't use it. You already have Vegas, so you don't need to worry about that part.
Assuming you've spent ~$50 on a VHS vcr, ~$500 on a DV camcorder w/passthrough (pray you don't also need a digital8), this and the above will get you from videotape onto a HD on the computer as DV-AVI files.

Once you've edited (to more DV-AVI files), you'll need to compress to MPEG2 ($50+ for encoding software/plugin) and author to DVD using DVD authoring software (?? free--$1k) and a DVD burner (~$75 for a decent Multi, DL internal). And Discs.

Then you're good to go.
If you don't take ALL these things into account, you'll be stuck.

Scott

[syracusefan1]

Is there such thing as a dual DVD-VHS Recorder? If so, how much would one cost?

[edDV]

Is there such thing as a dual DVD-VHS Recorder? If so, how much would one cost?

Sure. Like this?
http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=12073912/search=panasonic%20dmres40vs

Make sure you understand what they do and don't do.

[syracusefan1]

Thanks for the link. I think those might be too expensive for me. I might have to go one of the other routes.

[thecoalman]

I'm 16 and worked with video for a couple of months man, I don't know what questions to ask. Take it easy. This is a response I got from someone who edits off of tapes to make basketball mixes...

"all u have to do is get a firewire cord that hooks to ur cam and the back of the computer. To capture it most use Pinnacle. the firewire cord is like 40-50 bucks and you should be able to find both of these things at best buy or circuit city."

Looks a lot easier to understand.

We are taking it easy...trust me. The advice your friend provided is no different than what I posted above except I provided a little more very relevant information...

Digital tapes like Digital 8 or mini-DV store video on tape as a digital stream. To simplify things it's not much different than a external hardrive. To get it to your computer you only need to to plug it in, for most digital camcorders you need a firewire cable and firewire port on your computer... it's very simple and basic. what ever is on tape gets transferred to your computer bit for bit... an exact duplicate.

This is by far the best advice you've gotten yet:

Dive in make mistakes and ask better questions.

You have the knowledge for getting the digital video to HDD, go ahead and use it.

[syracusefan1]

Thanks a lot guys.