VHS-C to DVD

[marie1105]

Hello! I wanted to convert our VHS-C tapes to DVD as a Christmas present for the family. We have about 30 tapes, however, all the places I found online that will do this (conversion with chapter placement, etc.) for you are in the $600 range. Is there a cheaper way for me to do this on my own?

I understand the basic steps are 1)getting the video onto your computer 2)editting the video in some sort of video-editting software 3)Burning the disc to DVD

I have a VHS-converter tape that allows me to play the tapes in a VHS player. I have an IBM Thinkpad computer with Windows 7, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M520 @2.40GHz, and 32-bit Operating System. My computer also has Windows DVD Maker.

1) How do I get the video onto my computer to edit?

2)Would it be easier/cheaper to have a company or friend with a DVD recorder copy the raw footage onto DVD and then edit it myself and add chapters in Windows DVD Maker?

3) Is Windows DVD Maker a good software to use or should I buy a better software?

4)I would like to make each seperate event on the videos as a separate chapter. For instance, on one video tape there are 2-3 different events. Is there a way to separate these in Windows DVD Maker (or another software) to make each separate event a separate chapter?

Any information would be very helpful! thank you!

[lowellriggsiam]

Windows DVD maker is fine for general use, but if you want to edit them a program like Sony Movie Studio would be desired. To get the video to your pc you'd need a video capture card, this will generally produce better quality than a usb video capturing device.

[Vidd]

1) How do I get the video onto my computer to edit?

Since you are asking this question, I would suggest using a standalone DVD recorder.

You can then copy it to the computer if you want to edit it.

I suggest TMPGEnc DVD Author (Authoring Works) to edit. You can trim, cut, and easily place chapter points. Also creates menus. Download the free trial version to try if first.