Unable VHS to PC via EasyCap

[SugarbushJim]

I bought and installed EasyCap and have Ulead Video Studio up and running. I am unable to change the source from WebCam to the VHS player. When I select OPTIONS>AUDIO AND VIDEO CAPTURE OPTIONS is greyed out. How can I get the video image from the VHS to show up on my PC so I can begin the capture?

[hech54]

Unless you bought it here:
http://www.ezcap.tv/
....you are most likely in for a headache.

[usually_quiet]

I bought and installed EasyCap and have Ulead Video Studio up and running. I am unable to change the source from WebCam to the VHS player. When I select OPTIONS>AUDIO AND VIDEO CAPTURE OPTIONS is greyed out. How can I get the video image from the VHS to show up on my PC so I can begin the capture?

First, did the EasyCap come with drivers suitable for Windows 8.1? Some of the devices sold as an "EasyCap" don't have drivers that work for Windows 8.x.

Second, Ulead VideoStudio may be incompatible with Windows 8.1. Ulead VideoStudio is at least 8-9 years old. The name of the product changed to Corel VideoStudio soon after Ulead was acquired by Corel in 2006.

[SugarbushJim]

Thanks for your elucid reply. Your information will surely carry me through the difficulty I am encountering. This is my first posting so I now know what to expect.

[usually_quiet]

Thanks for your elucid reply. Your information will surely carry me through the difficulty I am encountering. This is my first posting so I now know what to expect.

Thanks for the smart ass reply to my perfectly reasonable questions.

Several types of hardware are sold as an EasyCap. You won't see a device name anything like "EasyCap" in Device Manager, ever. Asking about the drivers you received with the device seemed like a good place to start.

You say that you installed your device, but based on prior experience with people who have "EasyCap" problems that doesn't mean there are no issues with the drivers. Do you know how to use Device Manager to find out if the drivers installed correctly?

Just because you have Ulead VideoStudio up and running does not mean your version is fully compatible with Windows 8.1. You neglected to mention which version you have.

[SugarbushJim]

usually quiet,
I seem to recall that I had to go on line to get drivers. I can understand that I need software to capture and edit something on my PC screen, but my problem is getting an image from the VHS to the PC screen to begin with...I actually have another software package which would capture and edit it. Can you tell me whether software is required to migrate a VHS image to the PC?

[LMotlow]

Can you tell me whether software is required to migrate a VHS image to the PC?

Yes. The software must must be able to communicate with the capture drivers and the device.

[SugarbushJim]

Then perhaps I am not communicating with the VHS machine with the current set of drivers I have installed. Ideas?

[SugarbushJim]

usually quiet, my smartass reply was for hech54...your questions were a valid attempt to solve the problem...his response was redundant to the situation.

[SugarbushJim]

With regard to the drivers, no, they do not show up in Device Manager.

[usually_quiet]

usually quiet, my smartass reply was for hech54...your questions were a valid attempt to solve the problem...his response was redundant to the situation.

hech54's reply was too blunt, but essentially truthful.

The biggest problem with buying the generic "EasyCaps" from wherever is that the product comes with no support. No driver downloads, no software patches and no user forum. ezcap.tv does offer some support for their products via their website. The same is true for http://easycapexpertti.mybisi.com/

Sometimes it is just easier to get a different capture device that presents fewer problems.

With regard to the drivers, no, they do not show up in Device Manager.

What device name corresponds to your EasyCap?

[SugarbushJim]

Snagit

[manono]

hech54's reply was too blunt, but essentially truthful.

I don't think it was too blunt. In fact, I thought he was being unusually polite this time. Probably unknowingly, attracted by the low price, SugarbushJim bought a useless piece of junk. He may or may not ever get it going but much quicker and with better results in the long run might be to return it for a refund or toss it in the trash and buy a real EasyCap or a Diamond VC-500 or some other decent capture device. Which is what you suggested. Why should the people at Videohelp.com provide support for a bunch of crooks trying to cash in on the EasyCap name?

[ezcapper]

you might have to experiment with installing drivers, here are a few versions.
http://www.visser.io/2015/06/easycap-drivers-for-windows-8-1/

if you could right click on the device somewhere where it shows up and see what it refers to itself as, it would be easier to find the right driver to install. But this might not be an option for you. For example, some of them are called eMPIA Technology USB 2861 Device, etc. Then you google "ezcap drivers (device name) (operating system)" and get the right ones. To record off vcr, you will probably need to use a tutorial off of youtube such as

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E7GSQA4xoY

but none of it will work until you have the right drivers installed.

I love easycap for sd sources, and you are recording sd. The only device I liked better was the blackmagic intensity shuttle, but that is much pricier and might end up more complicated to use.

The best thing is to get somebody you know who is a big nerd to help you with the driver installation. If they waste enough of their life with computers, they can help you capture as well with a program called virtualdub and the huffyuv codec using youtube instructional videos. The youtube video recommends debut, which is probably pretty simple for a regular person to use, unlike virtualdub, which is the best program. The Ulead thing is terrible and probably won't even work, like you said.

a good guy to answer your questions would be if you google easycapexpertti.

If you copy and paste the link you bought the easycap from, I can try and find the right drivers.

[SugarbushJim]

Gentlemen,
I did buy it because of price, and it appears to now be useless, in part because of my inability to delve into the intricacies of how video works. For $9, shipping included, I am not pissed and am no worse off for what I have learned from you guys. Had I paid something like $50 for a product like Diamond VC-500 which works, but not necessarily in my hands, I would have been pissed.
What I should have done from the outset is joined this forum and asked "What software do you recommend for moving VHS to PC?"
Buying trash software is a bit like the lottery...little chance of success, but little downside risk and substantial upside benefit if it hits. This philosophy must be appropriate because surveys have shown that more than half this country (USA) believes the lottery to be a better risk for retirement than savings.
Anyway, thanks for all your thoughts...I am now a member and will monitor other issues. Shifting interest now to ****tail hour in this time zone.
Goodbye

[ezcapper]

For what it's worth, I think you bought a great device. You just need someone who is very good with computers to spend 15 minutes with it and have them watch an easycap virtualdub youtube tutorial. There's no reason to try to solve the problem alone. You have to remember with this site that half the time people will make an honest attempt at answering your questions and half the time they will just try to make you feel like a jackass so they can feel better about their sorry lives. It's like playing the lottery.

[SugarbushJim]

(Now armed with a martini)
I now see that hech54's first response to my original thread was, in fact, a bit of wisdom shared. Too late for me, unfortunately. On the ezcap.tv website it is pretty obvious that I fell for a knockoff from China. In fact, it was a counterfeit, not a knockoff, as it claimed to be the original. The good news is that the videos I hoped to download to my PC are of myself, and it turns out nobody else wants to see them. I now pursue the issue for academic reasons only, just to see it thru so to speak.

[usually_quiet]

Snagit

You found that name in Device Manager? It doesn't seem likely... Maybe you are not looking in the right place. The device name should show up in Device Manager under "Sound Video and Game Controllers" or "Unknown Device". It will probably not be anything like "EasyCap" but "Snagit" isn't one of the device names I have seen before.

[SugarbushJim]

Usually Quiet
I misunderstood. Snagit is the other software I have to capture and edit video on my PC. The Device Mgr does not sow anything corresponding to EasyCap. it shows Intel Display Audio and Realtek HD Aduio. There is no Unknown Device option.

[manono]

Had I paid something like $50 for a product like Diamond VC-500...

Closer to $36 shipped:

http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Camcorders-supporting-composite-connection/dp/B000VM60I8/

Or the real EZCap for $37 shipped. Not too bad:

http://www.amazon.com/EZCAP-TV-Converter-Camcorders-Satellite-Supports/dp/B003YGJLWU/

[usually_quiet]

Usually Quiet
I misunderstood. Snagit is the other software I have to capture and edit video on my PC. The Device Mgr does not sow anything corresponding to EasyCap. it shows Intel Display Audio and Realtek HD Aduio. There is no Unknown Device option.

The capture device has to be plugged into the PC for anything to show up in Device Manager under either heading. If it was plugged in, then either something is wrong with the USB port, or your EasyCap is broken.

[joeandmarg0]

If this helps,I have the genuine EzCAP,116,which was bought about 7 years ago.The installation cd has the drivers for XP and VISTA and the driver version is3.2A.The genuine maker's name is 'Forward Video" and the web address on the cd is "szforwardvideo.com" The software cd has "ArcSoft Showbiz DVD2",which I've never used,have NERO instead.
A successful installation,on mine,shows in Device Manager,under "sound,video and game controllers" as USB2861 device and USB EMP Audio Device.If you are still having problems,it might be possible to copy the cd and send it to you.I have NOT tried it on my Win7 machine,it lives on my old XP