Batch processing VHS to DVD Recordings

[jrobbio]

Due to a particular industry still using VHS recorders to retrieve their footage on site, I am still having to deal with the conversion of videos, but it is a rather manual process. These videos could be as short as 3 minutes or as long as 30 depending on what kind of service was requested. There is no copyright issue as it is our own footage and I only need it digitalised for the purpose of simplified logistics.

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to easily automate the DVD recording process so that when a VHS cassette has got to the end of the footage the DVD will stop recording? Is there a device that you can recommend that would do this well or even software if that is easier?

At the moment the office staff are having to watch the whole footage and manually stop the recording of the video.

Could multiple videos be recorded to the same disc in this fashion or would it have to be finalised each time?

Thanks for your help.

Rob

[orsetto]

I'm not aware of any hardware or software designed specifically for this task: as you can imagine, it is very specialized. There are some workarounds you can try. One would be to look for older-model 2006 Panasonic DVD/VHS combo recorders in the ES series, I believe the ES30 series was most popular for this but I forget the exact model (earlier and later Panasonics are not as flexible or programmable). These have several options you can program that automate the VHS transport and coordinate recording of segments to the DVD burner. With the right model, you could accomplish 90% of what you want. Look for posts on AVS Forum by the member DigADo: he has made a great deal of info available on what Panasonics have the most automation and reliability for exactly this kind of project.

Another alternative would be to look for good-condition used VHS editing decks along with their wired editing controller consoles. These are being dumped by the hundreds from professional video houses: setups that cost $8000 new are available for as little as $200 on eBay. You would modify your workflow so that an operator speed-searches thru the tapes, marking the beginning and end of each recorded segment on a tape using buttons on the edit controller. The tape is then rewound, and pressing "play" on the edit controller will then automatically run just the marked segments, blanking out any unwanted portions. Connecting this type of VCR to a DVD recorder equipped with hard drive will allow open-ended recording to the hard drive: when the tape finishes playing all segments, the operator would need to return to stop the recording and manually split up the segments on the hard drive for burning to DVD.

Yet another possibility is to track down second-hand pro software (or a PC/software combo) that automates the playback list of such a VCR and coordinates automated encoding of video to its own hard drive. Most of the old pro VCRs have serial port connections for these "non linear editing" devices. The trick here would be finding a system new enough to have an "encode to the MPEG2 dvd standard" option: many of these older PC/VCR packages are limited to professional TV studio standards. And they can be very difficult for a non-pro to learn how to use: pro editing software often relied on gibberish "EDL" commands dating back decades.

All these suggestions would require operator involvement at some point, to manage the digitized segments and burn them to DVD. If by some chance a turnkey, completely automated solution exists that would take your tapes in one end and spit out DVDs at the other, it is likely to be very expensive. You might try googling the phrase "non linear video editor" to check offerings from industrial/broadcast vendors: you never know what you might find. Try the Panasonic combo decks first: it would by far be the easiest option if you can make it work for you. Good luck!

[jjeff]

While what the OP wants sounds easy enough to do, stop the recording when the signal is lost and goes to snow, I don't know of any DVDR that does that. The ES-30v Panasonic is an excellent combo unit but one needs to know the time of the VHS tape to input it into the unit. It won't stop DVD recording when the VHS information stops. It would be a doable feature, my TV and VCR both go to a blue screen when the VHS tape starts playing snow, but again I've never seen the same circuitry used in a DVDR to stop recording.
Maybe Toshibas? aren't the new ones known to stop dubbing a tape when it senses a break in the recording? Maybe that's another issue, I'm not sure.
Another option would be a Philips 3576 w/hdd. One could feed a external VCR to it's line input and then set IR to the max time a tape might run, I think he said 30 min. Then one could easily edit the recording trimming off the end. Finally after several titles had been burned to the HDD one could high speed copy to DVDs. This would be quicker than realtime copies by any other method. Would this work Rob?
Wajo is the expert on the 3576 and their is a large thread about it usually on the first page of this forum.

[wabjxo]

..

[jjeff]

It's up to Rob but whether he would need to trim off only a few minutes or 27 minutes it takes about the same time on the HDD and since the HDD is rewritable the only thing wasted would be some total life hours on the recorder.
If someone were to notice the VHS had finished then they could just push stop on the Philips and save ware and tear on the machine. Then they could start the next VHS.
Finding a good VHS player might be the hardest part of this scenario

[lordsmurf]

The JVC would stop recording at snow, if it were an unfiltered signal. Because I use a TBC (as one should, when archiving VHS), the signal is "pure" and does not trigger a stop.

[jrobbio]

Hello All,

Thanks for the great responses, it has got me thinking quite extensively.

Lordsmurf could you tell me even if it was detrimental to the quality, which JVC model would stop recording when it encountered snow? If the quality was "acceptable" this may be the way to go.

Thanks,

Rob

[lordsmurf]

The JVC DR-M10S does it for sure.

Every once in a while, even with a TBC, the machine will "see" snow and stop, after it's been snowing for a long time on screen. It's not a fan of recording nothing.