VHS to MP4

[mralan]

Hi all,
now be gentle with me if this has been asked before....

I have over 100 videos I want converting to digital format......What I want to be able to acheive is put all my videos on a hard drive,.


What would you suggest the best hard and software to achieve this, and a breif explanation.I have been told (as I am going to watch them mostly on l large TV MP4 would be best.

Also can you explain this all in "explanation for dummies" mode



Thanks In advance

[yoda313]

What are you using to playback the mp4s? Is this a video game console or a dvd player or a bluray player? Does the tv itself playback the mp4 files on a usb drive? The answer will dictate some of the advice. Each device has its own requirements for mp4 playback - some won't play mp4 at all but most should. Also mp4 is just a container, usually its used for h264 video.

For vhs you can use just about any capture device as long as the original quality is decent. It can get expensive if you want specialized equipment to eek out the maximum quality available.

Devices from hauppauge, pinnacle and others all have usb adapters you can use to capture video from vcrs. If you want to get more technical you can get pci or pci-e capture cards that plug inside your computer. It is up to you how much you want to spend and how sophisticated it gets.

You have to be sure that the hardware you choose saves in mp4. You also have to make sure it outputs into the format you need. If its an xbox 360 or ps3 for example it should have a preset mode for those units if its made in the last several years - really old capture units will have to be manually adjusted to get an output just right - and may not even have an mp4 mode if its really old.

The external boxes or sticks are probably the best if you don't open your computer very often. They just plug in and then you install the software. Plug in the video cables from your vcr and record away.

Also please note that your playback device most likely has a fat32 harddrive restriction. This means whatever playback you are using (assuming you're not playing back on a computer) will require a harddrive or memory stick to be formatted to fat32. That means you can't have a single file size that is larger than 4gbs. That means you have to make sure your recorded file size is lower than that or it won't be read on that device.

Once you let us know what your playback device is than we can get more specific. Unfortunately even a "dummies" explanation gets very complex.

The simplest route for you in the longterm may in fact be to get a set top dvd recorder that you hook up to your tv and vcr. Than simply press play on the vcr and record onto a blank dvdr on the dvd recorder. It won't be in mp4 format but it will be on a dvd disc that you can use just like any dvd. You can then rip (ie copy) that to your computer in any given format you want to.

The options you need to consider are these:

1 - budget

2 - format

3 - device capability (what your playback device can and cannot play)

4 - how complilcated you want to get in this endeavor - if time is more important than flexibility in your capturing process

5 - your desire to learn

Once you layout your plans than your situation becomes a little clearer. You started on the right foot by finding this website and asking a question. Now we can help guide you the rest of the way with more information about your desires.

There are also plenty of guides on these topics on the left of the screen.

https://www.videohelp.com/capture

That is probably a good place to start. Once you get a feel for the process and you get a sense of direction we can get into specifics.

Edit - I see you posted you're in England. I can't help with specific models for European users. I'm in the US and only have experience with capture devices used over here. But I can recommend brands but not specific models as I'm not sure what the equivalent is over in your neck of the woods.

But we have many world wide users here and should be able to point you in the right direction for models you can get locally in your area - or on the internet of course.

[hech54]

I have been told MP4 would be best.

Since you most likely wont be capturing to MP4....that advise is complete nonsense.

[mralan]

Hey Yoda313.......Thank you so much for a very in deth explanation. I guess I should have mentioned that...I all ready have a video- to DVD unit, but what I wanted to acheive is by pass the DVD stage as I want if possible to put ALL my videos. and my DVDs on to a huge hard drive (or several) I want it in the best format possible, as i will be watching it on a 42" TV...So in theory I want to be able to just plug in the hard drive to the TV and watch.

I Also would want to ( and I know this is getting complicated but...when transfering my video to MP4 ( although Hech54 thinks this would be the wrong format but does not expalin why) so what ever the best format is....I would like to edit the video and title the video up so when watching back on my hard drive I can navigate as I would a DVD..hope this makes sense.

Yes I am willing to learn and spend a bit of money - as long as at the end of the day I acheive what I want.

Look forward to yours and other replys.
Alan

[yoda313]

Ok if you already have a dvd recorder and have some dvds you want to make into digital files you can use a bunch of video converters for that. Super, xvid4psp and format factory are just a few to look into.

Again we will need to know what playback device you will use. Just because you want to play it on your tv doesn't mean we know the best way to accomplish that. Every device has its own nuances and best practices to get good results. Generally there is no silver bullet one size fits all answer that will work every time for every device.

If you want to capture directly to the computer than get a capture card or usb box. Make sure it does mp4 if you really want that format. Nothing wrong with it but you'll probably want to do h264 in mp4 - h264 is the codec fyi what is actually inside the mp4 container. That information will be on any capture you buy whether or not it can record to that format. Many do but not all.

If you want to go high end and eventually do high def with component cables get the hauppauge hd pvr. It can do h264 to a mp4 file with 5.1 via fiber optice. It can also do standard definition to h264 via composite or svideo cables. It is a bit pricey however.

If you only want to capture standard definition from vhs than more basic devices can be had that do h264 capture. I believe most of the pinnacle usb sticks do that but you have to make sure the version you are buying does in fact do that in realtime. Otherwise you'd have to convert your captured file afterwards and take more time and effort.

Look here:

https://www.videohelp.com/capturecards

If you really want mp4 you probably want to get a card that does h264 like I said.

Regardless of what format you record into you have to make sure it is compatible with what you are playing it back on. That is why it is critical to know what device you are going to playback on. Just saying you want to watch on a tv is not enough. We need to know what box you will play it back on.

If you don't already have something and want to buy a playback unit you have many options. If you are not interested in a game console a wdtv media player is an excellent choice. It can play h264 mp4 files directly from a ntfs harddrive. It can connect to your tv and has a remote just like a dvd/bluray player. It is not the only choice though. THere are many hd media players available. You can check the web for them.

Once we get more specifics we can offer more advice.

Also like I said you can get started with the dvds you already have. You will need either dvdfab or anydvd to rip (copy) them to your computer first. Dvdfab has a freeware edition but anydvd is payware (it has a hd version that is more but can rip bluray discs).

So we can continue to guide you once we get the model of the unit you will be playing the files on and the capture device you decide on.

Or since you do have a dvd recorder already you can still use that and then rip the burnt disc to your computer and edit and convert those. You really don't have to get a capture card if you don't want to. Ripping a disc doesn't take very long.

Edit - you don't need the payware version of anydvd to rip (copy) homemade dvds. Ones you make on your dvd recorder are not protected. You can use the freeware version of dvdfab to copy those. It's only backing up commercial dvds that you need dvdfab - and only the newest movies have protection that require an update to defeat. So for homemade stuff freeware works just fine.

Edit 2 - there are tvs that can play off harddrives but they tend to be very picky about what files they can and can't play. I also don't believe any would use ntfs drives which means you'd be stuck with the 4gb file limit of fat32 drives. There may be some tvs that would work with ntfs but I don't know which ones.

If you have a tv that can play video files off a usb drive you will have to check the tech specs to see EXACTLY what type of files it will play. Than we can help you with that aspect if it can do it on its own. Otherwise you will have to get an external player and hook that up and conform the files to that device.

Edit 3 - menu navigation and button layout and stuff like that is also highly dependent on the playback device itself. THe wdtv media player can do it by file list or video thumbnail. Each device is different so some may be more basic than you want and others may be too complex for your needs - probably not just have features you may never use.

[mralan]

Thanks YODA!, ok..I need to do a litle more search on what TV I am going to buy, I beleive it has to have codex if you want to play direct off a hard drive, and have DLNA if you want to play it wirless....I will do some more research and let you know how I get on....again thanks for the help you have given me.
alan

[yoda313]

and have DLNA if you want to play it wirless.

One more piece of advice - wireless and video are not a perfect combination. They can be but conditions have to be ideal. Also wireless N should be the standard to use if shooting for hd video over the network. But regardless unless the receiver and router are in the same room eventually buffering issues are inevitable since its being transmitted through the air instead of by cable.

Using a lan connection is by far the best bet to ensure a stable video feed over a network. I'm not saying wireless can't be good and can't be stable I'm just saying nothing is certain with wireless unlike it is for wired when discussing signal strength.

You are forewarned. Also be weary of wireless "ready" and "built in". "ready" usually means it is compatible with a wireless device but is sold separately. Whereas a "bulit in" wireless unit SHOULD have everything internal hence "built in".

Just more buzz words to look out for.

[lacywest]

Since you are in Liverpool ... which I believe is in the UK ... video standards are different there.

I would think of using a DVD Recorder ... which I believe you say you have in your second post. What machine is it ?? Do you have a link to it ??

I use Panasonic DVD Recorders to go from VHS to DVD ... or to DVD-RAM and then I take the VRO file from the DVD-RAM and process it ... in in your case ... the VRO video files could be converted to mp4.

I could also use the Hauppauge 1212 ... HD PVR ... they cost 200 bucks in the USA ... not sure how well this would work in the UK.

I've already got a Mitsubishi S-VHS VCR connected to a Panasonic E85H DVD Recorder [160GB hard drive inside] ... that is how I do VHS to DVD.

[mralan]

and have DLNA if you want to play it wirless.

One more piece of advice - wireless and video are not a perfect combination. They can be but conditions have to be ideal. Also wireless N should be the standard to use if shooting for hd video over the network. But regardless unless the receiver and router are in the same room eventually buffering issues are inevitable since its being transmitted through the air instead of by cable.

Using a lan connection is by far the best bet to ensure a stable video feed over a network. I'm not saying wireless can't be good and can't be stable I'm just saying nothing is certain with wireless unlike it is for wired when discussing signal strength.

You are forewarned. Also be weary of wireless "ready" and "built in". "ready" usually means it is compatible with a wireless device but is sold separately. Whereas a "bulit in" wireless unit SHOULD have everything internal hence "built in".

Just more buzz words to look out for.

I guess I will be NOT going wirless..thanks for the info, again..Yoda!
Alan

[mralan]

Since you are in Liverpool ... which I believe is in the UK ... video standards are different there.

I would think of using a DVD Recorder ... which I believe you say you have in your second post. What machine is it ?? Do you have a link to it ??

I use Panasonic DVD Recorders to go from VHS to DVD ... or to DVD-RAM and then I take the VRO file from the DVD-RAM and process it ... in in your case ... the VRO video files could be converted to mp4.

I could also use the Hauppauge 1212 ... HD PVR ... they cost 200 bucks in the USA ... not sure how well this would work in the UK.

I've already got a Mitsubishi S-VHS VCR connected to a Panasonic E85H DVD Recorder [160GB hard drive inside] ... that is how I do VHS to DVD.

.

Hi Lacywest,
my machine is a JVC, on the manual the model no is MV1S/DR -MV1B....I think the DR -MV1B is the USA version..could wrong
I guess what I want to do ..well is not out there yet. Convert all my videos without having to put them on DVD first, and....have them edited titled up on to a hard drive of sorts I can play on a TV.... I guess Iam looking for some sort of miracle machine

[yoda313]

Convert all my videos without having to put them on DVD first, and....have them edited titled up on to a hard drive of sorts I can play on a TV.... I guess Iam looking for some sort of miracle machine

Not without a computer no. Though there are dvr docks for those portable archos media players. I believe they allow you to record directly to a portable format like divx directly to the archos machine. Then it is already set up. However I don't know how things like labeling files are done without a keyboard unless it has a keyboard attachment. That would probably be the closest you could get without using a computer and going straight to a compressed format from your vcr.

------------------------------

Also I don't mean to frighten you completely away from wireless. I just want you to know what you might run up against. You might be able to use a wireless n router and receiver and never have a buffering issue. But that is not a certainty. With lan you don't have to worry about it at all. That's all I'm trying to say.

-------------------------------

One last thing. This isn't a cheap alternative but it might be the most effective. If you get a ps3, xbox 360 or a apple ITV box you can buy all sorts of videos directly from their respective stores. Than you can save them to the harddrives. You can external storage for the game systems but i don't know about the itv if you can hook up the harddrive to that to expand it.

That way you just buy a settop device and go to its online store and buy all the videos you want. It's pricey but you don't have to do any conversions or hassles at all. It just costs money and you'll be rebuying your same videos again and they will only play on those players but its easy as all get out.

Just more options to consider.

[mralan]

Hi Yoda..thing is
I know to buy these online again would cost me a fortune..they are not films but "how to do videos" and Teach videos, hence why I will have to convert them. With all the info you have given me, I will have a good search on the web and see what suits me best having weighed all things up.....Thanks again!

[victoriabears]

Having stuff stored on a network storage system is a great neat and tidy idea, accessed by LAN or wireless if it works well.

If the hard drive goes wonky-so does your precious archive.

My understanding from my business network techie is that a RAID system is best as it provides back up, but It will be along time before I give up my DVD storage for hard drive type replacement due to the possibility of losing so much so easily.

I have spent 5 years converting and finding replacements for my vhs archive, so my advice in order of sanity:-

get it on dvd or download if it is available and throw the vhs in the bin.

Any stuff you cannot get from other sources and if you need help finding anything PM me. , use your JVC combo to go from vhs to dvd and then take it to the computer, learning computer capture for 100 tapes aint worth it, I tried to learn for my many hundreds of tapes and gave up as the quality I obtained from very good s-VHS vcr(NOT Typically JVC,but Panasonic) > TBC (AVT8710 or tbc1000)> dvd recorder (JVC)

Most of my valuable stuff was PAL like you, and I still have the machinery here sitting waiting for the last Hurrah of my really important tapes to finish and sell the equipment.

PAL is a completely different animal for converting to DVD than NTSC, but if your tapes are recorded in SLP or LP and/ or have hi-fi tracks the JVC does not usually play them well.

Try what you have FIRST, if you like the quality thats great, if you want better use the dvd recorder side of your combo and get a s-vhs panasonic VCR, a more modern model like the 860/930 range with built in TBC/DNR , thay are rare though-I have 5 !

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=panasonic+vcr+s-vhs&_sacat=0&_odkw=panasonic+vcr&_o....c0.m270.l1313

seems like they have got expensive, mine cost 80 uk pounds 5 years ago, now 300 ! thats if he sells it of course. An external TBC is not crucial unless yourtapes are poor, for PAL, if your tapes are copy protected this is what I have:-

http://www.markertek.co.uk/Catalog/Time-Base-Correctors-Frame-Synchronizers/AVT-8710?g...FRg8gwodgzs11g


The holy grail of picture quality can be achieved and many on here have, but do you really want to spend many months learning and have you got the time for 100 tapes?

http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video/introduction-record-capture.htm

is the start of the holy grail, and why anyone would want to convert vhs to mp4 is beyond me (but many things are), keep it simple, use dvd or you start getting into difficult play formats, unless you want to go the ps3 / media player set up route, rather than using your dvd player.

[mralan]

Thanks victoriabears for another good peice of advice....but I guess what you have told me ..there is no such thing as father christmas LOL
what I wanted to do is ...Keep another back up on a hard drive, so like you say if one went , I would have a back up. It's just for space wise I wanted to drop all my "edited" videos on to hard drive. And not just them the 100s of DVDs I have too.

Just one thing ..why would it make a diffrence if I played my videos on a super vhs machine (because they are normal tape anyhow) and transfer them to DVD.

Well I guess I have a lot of work . hours to put in.....I am not looking forward too....DOH!

Thanks

Alan

[lacywest]

Your JVC unit is a VCR - DVD recorder ... so ... Put those VHS tapes on DVD before the tapes go bad.

Also ... from what I just read on the PDF file ... it can burn DVD-RAM disks.

Record onto DVD-RAM disks and then process the VRO video file to a MP4 video file.

Some of the other programs talked about here at Video Help ... can take a DVD Video on a DVD Disk and process it to a very large mpg 2 video file ... then ... you can convert it to a Mp4 video file.

[yoda313]

Just one thing ..why would it make a diffrence if I played my videos on a super vhs machine (because they are normal tape anyhow) and transfer them to DVD.

They are usually better playback machines than normal vcrs. The ones with tbc (time base correctors) offer more synchronization enhancements to provide a clearer picture.

[mralan]

Your JVC unit is a VCR - DVD recorder ... so ... Put those VHS tapes on DVD before the tapes go bad.

Also ... from what I just read on the PDF file ... it can burn DVD-RAM disks.

Record onto DVD-RAM disks and then process the VRO video file to a MP4 video file.

Some of the other programs talked about here at Video Help ... can take a DVD Video on a DVD Disk and process it to a very large mpg 2 video file ... then ... you can convert it to a Mp4 video file.

Thanks again Lacywest!

[mralan]

Just one thing ..why would it make a diffrence if I played my videos on a super vhs machine (because they are normal tape anyhow) and transfer them to DVD.

They are usually better playback machines than normal vcrs. The ones with tbc (time base correctors) offer more synchronization enhancements to provide a clearer picture.

Gotya! Thanks again Yoda

[egallobr]

I have just converted all my VHS videos to a DVD using an old Philips DVD Recorder (DVDR 615) and an even older Sony Video Cassette Recorder. I've just connected both using RCA cables.
Now I want to have digitized to my HD and keep the DVDs as a backup copy.
I'm using Handbrake on my iMac to convert but I can't find the appropriate setting. Here are examples what I've done:

One DVD movie with 14 minutes:

Alt 1 - Handbrake with "Legacy -> Classic"; FFmpeg codec; Average Bitrate: 1000 kbps ---> took 3 minutes to convert and the file was 122 MB
Alt 2 - Handbrake with "Legacy -> Classic"; FFmpeg codec; Average Bitrate: 2500 kbps ---> took 4 minutes to convert and the file was 282 MB
Alt 3 - Handbrake with "Legacy -> Classic"; h.264 codec; Average Bitrate: 2500 kbps ---> took 20 minutes to convert and the file was 287 MB
Alt 4 - Handbrake with "Apple TV 2"; h.264 codec; Average Bitrate: 2500 kbps ---> took 20 minutes to convert and the file was 314 MB
Alt 5 - Handbrake with "Apple TV 2"; h.264 codec; Constant Quality RF 20 ---> took 20 minutes to convert and the file was 422 MB
Alt 6 - Handbrake with "Legacy -> Classic"; FFmpeg codec; Average Bitrate: 10000 kbps ---> took 25 minutes to convert and the file was 976 MB

The truth is that none of the conversions resulted in the same quality as the DVD itself.
What is the settings recommended to maintain the quality. Or what converter should I use instead. I use Mac OS.
Thanks
Eduardo

[hech54]

The truth is that none of the conversions resulted in the same quality as the DVD itself.

Then just copy the DVD.....stop converting to another format/codec.

[egallobr]

Thanks Hech54. But maintaining in an ISO format will require much more space in my hard drive and I won't be able to neither stream to other devices at home (like Apple TV using iTunes or PS3) nor copying to a pen drive and play it on a Blu Ray player, for example.
Also, many DVD contains more that one movie. Converting allow me to separate them...
That's why I'm looking to convert all of them to mp4...
Thanks

[hello_hello]

I think the High Profile HandBrake preset is the only one which uses x264's default settings. Well not quite default, but they're very close. I probably wouldn't use any other preset without good reason, and I'd always use CRF (quality based) encoding. Between 18 and 20 should give very good results. I use 18 for most encodes myself. The file sizes will vary all over the place but that's why it's called quality based encoding.

I don't use HandBrake myself so I don't know if leaving the de-interlacing etc enabled all the time can effect the encoding quality. Which resizing/encoding method are you using?
Anamorphic "strict" will give you the most accuracy (it doesn't resize and simply encodes whatever video is left after cropping). Anamorphic "none" will resize the DVD to square pixels but it reduces the resolution a bit, which can rob you of some detail. The idea would be to use anamorphic "strict" if your player plays the encodes correctly. Not all players support anamorphic (non-square) pixels in MKVs so they won't display it using the proper aspect ratio. If using anamorphic "strict" causes the video to look squashed on playback, switch to "none". Generally when encoding an NTSC 16:9 DVD and resizing to square pixels you'd resize it to something like 720x404 (cropping aside). For maximum quality though, rather than reduce the height when resizing you'd increase the width instead so you'd end up with something like 854x480 (cropping aside). The trouble is though, I don't think HandBrake will let you resize "up". Someone else may be able to confirm if there's a way to do it.

For the record, the x264 encoder has it's own built in speed presets to use when encoding, which the current version of HandBrake doesn't give you access to. Apparently the next release will. Vidcoder does, but I don't know if it'll run on a Mac. I really know nothing about Mac software. The default x264 speed preset is medium and it does a perfectly good job at around CRF18 to 22. Slower presets slow encoding time but might produce slightly smaller files (CRF encoding) and/or increase the quality a little.