[Jammer09]

Heilsa!
I have looked up some stuff concerning this issue but I kind of like the recommendations that most here at PC World provide. So here is what we are wanting to do is convert all of our old VHS movies over to DVDs using a PC. The PC is an HP, has something like 511 mb of RAM, it has a DVD burner already, it has some DVD burning software already and burns movies fine. I need to know what else is needed like the special Graphics card, what USB to cable is needed, converter box, cable if needed?

Here is some of the stuff I came up with:


www.amazon.com/ATI-Technologies-Wonder-Radeon-Graphics/dp/tech-data/B0000630TE/ref=de[ua[/u]smtd]


[http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cbcentral.com/hardware/images/radeonaiw8500dvcard.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cbcentral.com/hardware/previews/radeonaiw8500dv.html&h=270&w=300&sz=27&hl=en&start=2&um=1&usg=4-JjSMEDPPuFxZxF3uiqflJmpFM=&tbnid=8AwveLxCugbYMM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3DATI%2BTechnologies%2BAll-in-Wonder%2BRadeon%2B8500DV%2BGraphics%2BCard%2Bpictures%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX]


Don't know if I need this one, don't actually know what all we need: [http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-VC500-Touch-Capture-Device/dp/B000VM60I8/ref=pdbbssr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1220847461&sr=8-1]


What all is needed to do this if anyone would care to help out in this area? I know this is not the section for this question either but since it pertains to this thread I will ask it too. Do I need any special software to go with this hardware too? I need to know how to do the whole thing step by step if at all possible for you to provide that.


Ves Heill! Farr Heill!

[techie4fun]

I will let others recommend what's best but if you buy the TV Tuner (Radeon HD) graphics card, you do NOT want the one touch graphics device. For $34 you aren't going to get much out of it.

[crazy4laptops]

From what i've experienced with tv tuners/video adapters is that you need a powerhouse computer to capture quality video and keep the audio in sync.
The computer you have right now, will either work ok, or the videos will look terrible and possibly have some ghost images. (i'll post an example if needed)

Only computer that it has been known to work with is a dell d820 with centrino duo 2.3 ghz, 2gigs of ram, dedicated nvidia graphics.

What's the processor on your hp computer?

[mjd420nova]

I have already built a system to do just what you're after. It is a duo core Intel CPU on a ECS motherboard. It has 2 GB of ram with a low end BGF FX-5500 Nvidia video card overclocked to 800 MHZ. with 512 MB memory. The DVD burner is an off brand as I think any will work well. I use the Haupage video capture card that will take in S-video or composite video. I take the line output of the VHS deck directly into the composite video input of the capture card, save to the hard drive for editing and burning to DVD. Actually pretty simple. The easiest method is to purchase a single unit that will copy any VHS directly to DVD without a PC and runs about $125. You would only need the PC method if you want to edit the video before burning.

[rgreen4]

MJD - your connections are OK, but I would recommend that you consider using the S-VIdeo rather than the composite video. It will give you a little better image than the composite. Not as good as component, but not input cards are available with that level of quality.

[coastie65]

I guess I'm just plain lazy, but I have three different DVD recorder/ VHS combos and as long as the Tape is in good shape than the transfer will be of good quality. Easier than trying to use the computer. :D coastie

[Tech4me]

Heilsa...All you need is this.........(We use it for hundred of VHS to DVDs...) Very simple.The lease expensive.

www.amazon.com/Dazzle-DVD-Recorder-OLD-VERSION/dp/B000FCA0P8

!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[mjd420nova]

Coastie: I agree wholeheartedly, using the stand alone VHS playback DVD recorder is much simpler to use when I just want to copy the tape in whole. But if I have a tape that has six or eight hours on it, then I'm not going to use that route as I wind up with something left over on the end that won't fit on a single disk. I use my video PC unit just for that use, as I've had tons of 8MM film and twice that much in slides that I needed to get transposed to DVD. The 8MM was the toughest as the films were over 45 years old and on their last legs and tons of editing was required. Not an easy job and one I wanted to pay a service for nor would have been happy having to edit and reburn.

[Knifeblade]

The primary advantage of using your PC to transfer your old VHS tapes to DVD is that you can use video-editing software to clean up some of the signals as they are recorded, and do some nice editing that you really can't do with a stand-alone recording deck. The disadvantage is the cumbersome {sort of} way you go about everything to get the movies into your comp. {let's not even go into the gobbling up of HDD space available}. And the time fussing with the signal before you record it to the disk/s. {very time consuming, trust us on that}.
My thought is with a few other members, get a stand-alone DVD recording deck {I have a Toshiba D-R410KU off Ebay for $50, it does a great job of recording}. After thinking about trying what you want to do, I decided the KISS principle was the best way to fast and furious the conversion. So I bought the recorder, direct-inputted my separate VCR into the recorder, and let it all do it's thing. I simply outputted the DVD recorder into my TV, replacing the former VCR output into the TV, and substituted the VCR's output into the recorder itself. {For monitoring and basic editing purposes}. A very simple solution, just some cable switching, no lugging a deck to the PC and all that would be involved with power, hookups, PC setup, cards, none of that. As I write this, I am recording 6 hours of VCR tape onto DVD, while I am sort of watching the History Channel while posting this.
So far, and it's a project coming to an end now, using my way, I have converted over 80 T-120 and around 15 T-160 VHS tapes to DVD, took around 6 days, mostly just running the tapes and recording them, leaving the decks alone to do their thing. I still have around 20+ VHS tapes to go, but I'm almost there now. In some cases, I used the recorder's timer function to just record some of the VHS movies on the specific tape, and didn't bother recording any of the rest, which took some time to sync and find, a few buttons to push, but not a big deal. I may have wasted some DVD disck space, e.g. having to use 2:30 hours timer'ed for a 2:10 VHS movie, but that's what the skip function is for in playback, ;). Simple set and forget method.




Now, I haven't checked out yet how to do PC editing of those burned disc's, to further clean them up to a better signal disc, but the disc's IN QUANTITY are being quickly made. If you have a large old VHS library, as I do {well, more correctly did, LOL}, I suggest a stand-alone deck rather than fussing with getting a VCR deck signal into your PC. One other advantage of a stand-alone DVD recorder deck is that you can, with a bit of understanding and some small cabling effort, record audio sources onto DVD, such as vinyl records or old cassette tapes B-). And, the same process follows, you likely can clean those DVD recorded audio signals up with software to clean out hisses, pops, etc., onto a fresh DVD off your PC software. Best of all worlds, IMO, by using a stand-alone recording deck.

Last thought, if this is what you decide, get a deck that is both + and - REWRITABLE. That helps correct any OOPS or "man, I didn't want that" recordings. I could go farther into capabilities for CD-R, MP3 and Jpeg, but I've already gobbled up too much posting space.

Hope this option is worth thinking about.

[smax013]

Others have given some good advice already, so I won't repeat too much.



I do agree that the "simplist" method would be to get a stand alone DVD-VHS device that can do all the work without a computer. If you are doing pure converting with no editting, then that is definitely the way to go.



If you want to do some editting, then a computer is the way to go. I will note, however, that you will likely want to do it with a beefier computer than what you have (you did not mention what kind of processor, but did say it had about 500 MB of RAM...which suggests a rather old/weak processor). Just the process of encoding the video that has been imported into the computer to a form that can be used and burned to a DVD will benefit HUGELY from a fast processor...that process is HUGELY a processor intensive task. This is not to say that a slower processor cannot do it...but it will take a LOT longer. I did a couple DVD video disks on my old PIII computer before it was "retired". It would literally take about a half a day or more for it to process the video before burning the DVD...and this was for about 1 hour long DVDs. My newer computer with a P4 still takes many hours...but my MacBook Pro with a Core Duo (still not a recent Core 2 Duo) will take 1 to 2 hours. And if you are edditing video, then you will want LOTS of hard drive space.

[coastie65]

Hi mjd, I have a Samsung that pretty much has the 8 Hr. thing covered as well, as it will write to Dual Layer or DVD Ram ( what ever that is ).

[smax013]

coastie65 said:

DVD Ram ( what ever that is ).

That is the "original" burnable DVD format. It is mean to be a pure "data" format (i.e. it will NOT play in a standard DVD player).

[coastie65]

Hi smax, Thanks for clearing that up. I have the Samsung on the HDTV as it is a 1080p upconvert. I do like the Dual Layer thing though, for some of my overly long tapes. coastie

[Jammer09]

Heilsa!

I want to thank everyone for their very sound advice in this situation and we decided after analyzing all of it to go with a stand alone recorder, I guess you call it. He's getting one off of Ebay. Not the 50 dollar one recommended by one of you but then again you can only recommend. Thanks again!

Ves Heill! Farr Heill!

[Knifeblade]

I'm fairly sure I can say You're Very Welcome from all of us. Glad you decided your option {wouldn't have mattered to me which way you decided, we just laid out out our thoughts so you and friend could make YOUR best decision for you.}.

Just as a parting thought, and as a just in case, do some research into the various decks, so you feel good with the one you decide on. My deck doesn't do as much as some other higher-end units, but it's right for me, not necessarily anyone else.



Take care and Happy Burning, LOL.