VHS to PC

[allgonepetetong]

Hi Guys, Happy 2007 to you all.

Do any of you know if it is possible to upload my old vhs cam corder footage to PC for editing and if so, how it's done?

thanks

Pete

[ThePassenger]

Get a capture card.
Connect VCR to PC.
Queue up the tape, hit record on the software that came with the TV card.
Hit play on VCR.
Possibly use Windows Movie Maker to edit out adverts, etc.
Use something like Nero Burning ROM to convert that to a quickie DVD.

Bingo.

[hut49]

I bought an ADVC-55 (Canopus) - see here, but you need to attach this to a FireWire-equipped PC or notebook. It makes transferring video from VHS, S-VHS, Hi8 etc a doddle even for the technically-challenged like me. I use Windows Movie Maker to edit the uploaded video.

[allgonepetetong]

Looks good, I'll check it out.

Is Window Movie maker an expensive app as I don't have it at present?

[greenlandy]

If you are using XP it comes bundled with it.

[ThePassenger]

greenlandy said:

If you are using XP it comes bundled with it.

But is hidden. Trawl through the Program Files directories in Explorer and you'll normally spot it. I believe it's also a free download from Windows Update?

[allgonepetetong]

Thanks Guys

I've got 2 options to check out, a PCI card based Adaptec Video-Oh with bundled software and the Canopus ADVC55 via USB with Movie Maker.

I'll see what I can get out here in Hong KOng and let you know how I get on

thanks for the advice

Pete

[zumbruk]

ThePassenger said:

greenlandy said:

If you are using XP it comes bundled with it.

But is hidden. Trawl through the Program Files directories in Explorer and you'll normally spot it. I believe it's also a free download from Windows Update?

It is. It wasn't included my XP box, but it's a free download. Quite good too, apart from its (presumably deliberate) inability to write mpg's, even though it can read them.

[rodney59]

I purchased Adaptec Video-Oh about a yr ago. PC Whatsit had it on special offer. I got the PCI version.

I never got the software to work. Kept crashing, and the solution was to go to the website and update the version. Only then I found the licence I had purchased expired about 20 days ago, so no free upgrade.

Back it went to PCWhatsit. Not been done the video route again. But everything I have read is that you must have a fast pc P4 2Ghz+ normally.

I'll be interested to know how you get on.

[hut49]

rodney59 said:

I purchased Adaptec Video-Oh about a yr ago. I never got the software to work.

That's the advantage of the Canopus device - no software needed. You're right about the need for processing power and also memory - capturing VHS requires around 1 Mb per minute of original tape time.

[ThePassenger]

zumbruk said:

ThePassenger said:

greenlandy said:

If you are using XP it comes bundled with it.

But is hidden. Trawl through the Program Files directories in Explorer and you'll normally spot it. I believe it's also a free download from Windows Update?

It is. It wasn't included my XP box, but it's a free download. Quite good too, apart from its (presumably deliberate) inability to write mpg's, even though it can read them.

The official, legit, direct from the MPEG standards group stuff... costs money. Hence in the 'old days' the official MP3 encoder from them cost money. Of course it's such a simple format most people have reverse engineered it, not a position MS can get in to due to the grey area legalities of clean room engineering these days.

As for specific software / hardware, I was thinking more along the lines of a Hauppage PVR-150 / 250 / 350 TV card. My 350 has RF and S-Video inputs (as well as FM radio but never used it). True a dedicated caputure card would be better suited and have more inpts available but after you've done the project you can then at least bolt an antenna on to the PC and watch telly

The computer itself is important. Any modern PC has the processing grunt to manage the stream, although for on-the-fly transcoding (i.e. DV -> DivX) more does = better. Hard drives are important, if you're thinking of using a USB2 external drive to store the incoming stream.... slap yourself and go put on the dunce cap However massive amounts of storage is required as you will initially be dealing with relatively uncompressed video... which is big. Plan for 30Gb+ and before setting the machine to record defrag the HDD so that the drive can just go blat without having to work around small chunks of data (which will slow it down and cause frames to be dropped). Disk speed is, as you can tell, highly important. Drives come in two main flavours 5,400rpm and 7,200rpm, often a manufacturer will slap in a 5.4k drive due to the cheapness, check the specs of your system. A 5.4k drive can cope, but it's best if you don't do anything else whilst the system is recording.

For special effects (fades, zoom-ins, etc) or anything that manipulates the video to do something snazzy expect this to take a while to happen when you come to publish the final piece of work as they are often rendered in 3D so it will crank the settings up as high as possible. Although the preview stuff should be quite quick... if a little jerky.