Digitizing VHS Cassettes

[Kong]

This has been discussed before, but the last thread (that I could find) was 3 years ago.

What are some inexpensive ways (<$200) to digitizing VHS cassettes? (I'm not looking for a service, as I do not want to convert to DVD entire tapes, but capture and digitize segments only.)

Thanks!

Keith

[DB83]

3 years !!!! There are literally 00's of topic about the transfer of VHS, and other formats per your other topic, on here. Most apply to Windows but some of the devices will also apply for a Mac.


Only 1 or 2 days ago I provided a link for some software that appears to fit your needs. Here is the Amazon.US link for it.


https://www.amazon.com/Video-2-PC-Video-Capture-Windows-Vista/dp/B0049BE3TA/ref=sr_1_1...s%2C263&sr=8-1

[KarMa]

This has been discussed before, but the last thread (that I could find) was 3 years ago.

What are some inexpensive ways (<$200) to digitizing VHS cassettes? (I'm not looking for a service, as I do not want to convert to DVD entire tapes, but capture and digitize segments only.)

Thanks!

Keith

This is like going to McDonald's and asking them if they ever heard of a hamburger. This website runs on analog tape capturing. Even have a popular section on the topic. https://forum.videohelp.com/forums/10-Capturing

[lingyi]

Start with the basics.

What equipment do you have? VCR make/model?
PC or Mac?
Capture device make/model?
How many tapes?
How are you planning to save/view/distribute the videos?
What are your expectations? Cheap, Very Good and Fast are mutually exclusive.

Start by reading and digesting the articles in this thread: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/388179-Whatss-in-a-Professional-Video-Workflow-to-...log-Videotapes to get an understanding of what takes to get very good to excellent captures, then decide how much time and money you're really ready/able to spend. Again, Cheap, Very Good and Fast are mutually exclusive.

[lordsmurf]

What are some inexpensive ways (<$200) to digitizing VHS cassettes? (I'm not looking for a service

For that budget, seriously, nothing.

You can't even get a quality VCR for $200. Don't use that ratty old VCR from 20 years ago, stuffed in closet/basement/attic, and expect it to not need maintenance (ie, eat tapes). And it may have never been quality.

Good captures cards are under $150.

Even minimalist ES10/15 for hopefully-passable TBC(ish) will run about $125.

You can cross your fingers, hope to hobble by on a $500 setup. Unlikely that it will convert everything, but at least 50%. Realistic budgets for VHS conversion projects starts at $1000. Better is $1500 (better quality, less nuisance to use). Best currently is $2000 (flawless quality, ease of use aka "it just works").

Perhaps you last read/posted at digitalFAQ.com instead of VH?

Only 1 or 2 days ago I provided a link for some software that appears to fit your needs. Here is the Amazon.US link for it.

You linked to a garbage capture card, using garbage software. Good luck with that. You'll still need a VCR, and some sort of TBC -- preferably also not junk, or the person will just give up in frustration. Or be wholly disappointed in quality that looks worse than decade-old Youtube video. Or both.

[lingyi]

So glad to see lordsmurf on this thread!

Kismet! I returned to say to be aware of posters who talk about alternative methods that work for them but are contrary to the guides I posted links to, which lordsmurf wrote! He's one of the small couple of handfuls of regular members here who have worked professionally in the field of video and/or have extensive knowledge of video in general. Despite some claims to the contrary, high quality video capture equipment and techniques haven't changed in the past decade+.

[lingyi]

Perhaps you last read/posted at digitalFAQ.com instead of VH?

Homepage of digitalfaq.com


[Attachment 53261 - Click to enlarge]

BTW, lordsmurf is an admin at digitalfaq!

[Kong]

Well guys, that was quite a thread. I looked, perhaps not deeply enough, for VHS digitizing. Sorry that I missed all of the info already here. The threads I saw were color space threads, and a host of other technical things I've never delved into. Bear in mind I'm a hobbyist, not a professional videographer or editor.

I have a 2017 iMac, which is not built for this task -- at least I do not think it is. I also have an older PC, complete with FW800 ports. I think maybe with my aging-but-recently-maintenanced mini-DV camcorder may be the only way to do this. $1500 is nuts.

I have an 18yo VCR, which is working like it just came out of the box. All of my tapes are self-made, consumer tapes. Nothing so special that I need to worry about pristine VHS quality -- which by its very technical nature is not pristine. And, I have a cable that gets the data to the above-mentioned camcorder.

I came here a few months ago, and I was advised on some capture software which I've tried and which has worked. I simply wanted to save the wear and tear on my aging camera. But $1500 is the price of a new computer, and I'm simply not making enough.

Thanks for taking the time to write.

[DB83]

@Smurfy


The purpose of the link was to highlight what was potentially available for Mac-compatable software. Both of us know that there is far less available on that platform than under Windows. Older Macs could also handle DV but one also knows your opinion about that in NTSC-land.

[lingyi]

List exactly what equipment you (make/model) of what you have and what you've done in the past, especially the VCR, PC specs and capture device. There may be things you can do to improve what you're able to do with your equipment and budget. It may not help you directly, but someone else visiting this thread may benefit.

[Kong]

List exactly what equipment you (make/model) of what you have and what you've done in the past, especially the VCR, PC specs and capture device. There may be things you can do to improve what you're able to do with your equipment and budget. It may not help you directly, but someone else visiting this thread may benefit.

I have an old, JVC dual VCR/DVD player.

I have a cable that connects to the red, white and yellow ports in the back and to a single AV port on my camera, which is the digitizing device.

That camera's a Canon Vixia HV30.

My computer's a Westmere Mac Pro, ~10 years old, but still kicking hard. It runs Windows 10, has several FW800 ports, and I use a program that someone recommended here, though the name of it escapes me.

Anyway, I've already captured a ton of clips using this combo. I was just hoping for an inexpensive method of capturing old cassettes to save wear on my camera, which has just seen a doctor.

[lingyi]

You're confusing me.

Your camera is DV which you asked about in your other current thread. This thread about VHS. Are you transferring your VHS tapes to DV and outputting from there?

Seems you're looking for an alternative capture device. Correct? If so, contact lordsmurf as he may have a USB capture device that fits within your budget. Still far from ideal, but at least you won't have to use your DV camera.

[DB83]

VHS >> DV >> PC/Mac


But why digitize in the camera ? Surely you can simply pass-through the signal from the VCR straight to the PC/Mac. The Windows software was probably WinDV

[Kong]

You're confusing me.

Your camera is DV which you asked about in your other current thread. This thread about VHS. Are you transferring your VHS tapes to DV and outputting from there?

Seems you're looking for an alternative capture device. Correct? If so, contact lordsmurf as he may have a USB capture device that fits within your budget. Still far from ideal, but at least you won't have to use your DV camera.

Sorry about that LOL Let me try to clarify.

I have old digital-8 tapes from a standard-def digital camcorder that used Hi-8 tapes. I want to be able to capture those to disc.

The camera I have today is a mini-DV, HD camcorder, and I've found that it accepts inputs from sources like VCRs. So it makes a fine digitizer. Problem is, I have hundreds of VHS tapes, and this camcorder's over 11 years old. And, I just had to send it to a repair shop. So, if there's another way to grab what I want from these aging VHS cassettes, I'd like to find it -- unless the price is too high. I simply don't have the budget for a "cheap" solution of $500, or a great solution at 2G.

Does this clear things up?

I'll contact Lord Smurf. Thank you.

Lord Smurf! Where art thou? I shall message thee...

[Kong]

VHS >> DV >> PC/Mac


But why digitize in the camera ? Surely you can simply pass-through the signal from the VCR straight to the PC/Mac. The Windows software was probably WinDV

The motherboard and the CPUs are enough to handle standard-def resolution at 30fps? If so, holy crap. What sort of cable connects a VCR to a PC? is there an RCA to FW cable?

[Kong]

Lord Smurf! I have sent thee a private message.

[lingyi]

You need a capture device which takes the output of your VCR and outputs a digital signal either directly (in the case of an internal card) or via USB. DB83 linked to a device in his first post, but lordsmurf may have much better (though expensive) devices. Note that a VCR>capture>PC is the minimum required. It may be possible to use your camera a capture device without having to record to DV. Others can advise if that's possible.

Your PC is fully capable for video capture, which doesn't require much CPU power.

Do yourself and others who are trying to help and read the the article I posted to in my first post: http://www.digitalfaq.com/editorials/digital-video/professional-analog-workflow.htm, to understand the process. The most important section of the article is:

"What is a video workflow?
The dictionary defines a “workflow” as a process comprising multiple sequential steps to go from initial raw materials to the final product. Furthermore, each step in that sequence may require different tools for completion.

And that’s exactly what a video capturing workflow is ― the tools (hardware) needed to capture tapes to digital.

Note that I wrote “video capturing workflow”, and not just “video workflow”. When discussing converting tape to digital, and hardware required for said capture, it’s only a capturing workflow. And its usually only the first step in the overall video project/workflow. In addition to capturing, you also have editing workflows, restoration workflows, and output/delivery-format workflows [encoding, authoring, etc].

What does a basic capturing workflow look like?
A basic/minimalist/essential workflow is

1. the tape player or camera
2. something that does timing correction and/or frame sync
3. digital device (computer capture card, DVD recorder, DV capture box/camera)
Again, workflow = sequential steps. The analog signal is played, then corrected/prepped for digital acquisition, and then captured, in that specific order. And the middle TBC step is required, not optional.

But since analog video signal are chaotic, it’s not as simple as using any VCR, any capture card, or any device claiming to be a “TBC” (or have TBC functionality). Therefore, the suggested minimal workflow is:

JVC or Panasonic S-VHS VCR, with internal TBC (to the clean image quality)
external TBC (to clean the signal quality); usually DataVideo TBC-1000 or green Cypress AVT-8710
internal ATI AIW card, known-good USB capture card, or LSI chipset-based DVD recorder
But sometimes people act as if those 3 items are “overkill” (translation = “too expensive”). It’s almost always due to not wanting to spend the money. Yes, that sort of setup generally costs up to $1k. And the common response from the person is “I don’t want anything fancy, I just need the basics”. But it is the basics! That’s an entry level workflow. It’s not a “fancy” professional one, and not even close!"

lordsmurf will bite my head off by stating a Time Base Corrector (TBC) and a JVC or Panasonic S-VHS VCR isn't absolutely necessary, but they will help correct many issues you're likely to come across. IMO, he IS the amongst the most knowledgeable and experienced member here and at Digitalfaq, but with all due respect, his expectations of the minimum acceptable quality of capture is a good bit beyond what many people would accept.

The big issue you have is that with hundreds of tapes, you'll very, very likely come across issues that many others have experienced (which is why understanding the process and thoroughly searching for the answers here and at Digitalfaq is critical) and your VCR is on a very limited lifespan (could be years, could be hours), possibly damaging your tapes beyond repair on the way to its death.

Set your expectations according to what you have, what you're willing to spend, what you're willing to learn, at fair to good at best. Read, study and thoroughly learn before asking future questions as just about anything you have to ask has been discussed dozens or hundreds of times on both forums. You're very fortunate that anyone other than myself has posted here, particularly lordsmurf. As KarMa stated, you've basically walked into "...McDonald's and asking them if they ever heard of a hamburger."

[johnmeyer]

I have old digital-8 tapes from a standard-def digital camcorder that used Hi-8 tapes. I want to be able to capture those to disc.

If you have Digital-8 tapes, those record in digital format. To get those into a computer, you use a 1394/Firewire cable and simply copy the digital bits on the tape to your computer. There is no encoding and no capture, just a copy.

[lingyi]

Don't know why the OP mentioned the Digital-8 tapes here. He has another thread in which he asked about it here: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/397174-Want-to-Capture-D8-Cassettes. Mixing apples and oranges here.

BTW, good to see you here johnmeyer! Hopefully a few other respected regulars come here to help before a certain someone (thankully the other one is banned) comes here spouting his nonsense and confusing the OP even more.

[Kong]

Holy crap guys, that was a LOT of typing you did!! I don't know what to say, except that a debt of gratitude is in order.

I may be able to transfer directly to my computer AS my camera's receiving the signal. Come to think of it, I don't see why not. But, I won't count my chickens just yet.

Anyway, I think I'm going to save this thread and take time to digest it. There is a lot here. Hopefully I won't need to bug anyone here with this again.

[lordsmurf]

I also have an older PC

Anything from the past decade (2010s) should be fine. What are the specs?
Many from the 2000s are fine.
After all, I was capturing to MPEG/lossless digital in 2001. (At that time, a new/powerful P4 was required.)

lordsmurf will bite my head off by stating a Time Base Corrector (TBC) and a JVC or Panasonic S-VHS VCR isn't absolutely necessary, but they will help correct many issues you're likely to come across.

Newbies will wrongly assume those "issues" are some sort of minor quality issues, but that's not what we're talking about. Major issues not of just quality, but the process of capturing altogether can halt/fail.

But you are correct, it's not always necessary. All rules have exceptions, but exceptions do not overrule rules. And anybody that thinks they're the exceptions generally are not. Exceptions tend to only happen when extensively testing. Generalities (general rules) exists because they're generally true. Yet certain VCRs, and only in combo with ES10/15, can suffice at times.

The big issue you have is that with hundreds of tapes, you'll very, very likely come across issues that many others have experienced

Essentially 100% guaranteed.

what you're willing to spend,

Also take into account resale. This is a project purchase, not a forever purchase. Buy it, use it, resell it. Don't stick it in a drawer or closet when done. The quality gear holds value, and is always in demand.

"...McDonald's and asking them if they ever heard of a hamburger."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6oeAdemFZw&feature=youtu.be&t=52

[Kong]

Hey folks...

I'm going to go the very simple route of through my camcorder, as someone here had suggested. (I've done this before with my old D8 camera. Don't know why I didn't think of it.)

If this works, it will meet all of my requirements: low/no cost, and low/no wear & tear on my camera.

You guys are great. Muchos grassy ass for taking all the time you took to provide info to this hobbyist.