VHS 2 VCD=Can It be done?

[yragha]

I must state that I am new @ this (that's an understatement) and was wondering how do I go about transferring say some of the old series Batman '66, etc to a VCD.
What equipment do I need?
Your comments would be appreciated AND NEEDED?
Thanks.

[DVWannaB]

Well first you need a capture device that allows to bring the video from your vhs to your computer. The device can either be internal or external of your computer. Search this site and the net and find opinions about certain capture devices. It has been my experience that to get the very best VCD quality, will take some time to get it there. Why?

You will have capture your vhs tape at a higher than standard bitrate or in raw video format (AVI). In each case you have to re-encode to standard VCD so it will be compatable with many DVD stand alone players. Pateince is the key.

I have an internal WinTV PCI card that captures raw *.AVI video well. I also have a USB Instant DVD (external device) that captures MPEG1&2 in real time. Many dont like this product, but it works really really well. Those who dont like probably never tried it. Word to the wise, dont capture VCD (MPEG) in real-time.

Since you are new, you must come in with a trial and error mind set, until you find a solution that works best for you.

Go here for good guides and some suggested hardware/software:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/capture.htm