Here's how to copy your home movies from videotapes to DVD. It doesn't have to be difficult or time-consuming.
A few weeks back, I was trying to tidy up the dumping ground of old technology known as my attic. While digging through this graveyard of old PCs and cables that no longer plug into anything, I found some VHS tapes containing movies I shot years ago. In the spirit of spring cleaning, I decided to put these movies on to DVD.
Here is exactly how I did it.
Getting started
The first thing I needed was a VHS player. Although we replaced our VCR with a hard disk recorder some time back, I still had an old VHS deck lying around. But I didn't just stick the VHS tapes I wanted to copy in there; instead, I connected the VHS recorder to the TV and recorded and played back some TV on a blank tape. That way, I was certain that the device was still working and wasn't going to destroy the tapes I wanted to preserve.
Mechanical devices like VCRs can chew up a tape if they haven't been maintained, and ones that haven't been used in some time are especially prone to this.
Next, I had to decide how to copy the video to DVD. The simplest solution would be to connect the output of the VHS recorder to the input of a set-top DVD recorder. But I wanted to take video from several different tapes and compile it on to one DVD, which is awkward to do with a set-top device.
It's possible - you just record each video as a separate video on the DVD - but you can't easily edit the result. And you can't improve the quality of the videos you're transferring.
I decided to use a video-capture device instead. This would allow me to copy the video on to my PC, then edit it and output it to DVD. Plenty of these devices are available; I decided to try out ADS Tech's DVD Xpress DX2.
The DX2 has a video converter that can accept composite or S-Video signals. It converts these to digital format and sends them to a PC via a USB connection. It comes with Ulead VideoStudio 9 SE DVD software for editing the video.
After installing the software and connecting the DX2 to my PC, I connected the composite video and audio outputs of my VHS recorder to the appropriate inputs on the DVD Xpress device using the set of cables that came with it, and started the Ulead VideoStudio software.
NEXT PAGE: capture, edit and transfer the video > >
Comments
Bigbyl said: Sorry for being thick, but what actual cables do I need in my hand to plug the VHS into laptop? we have scart cable, scart output on VHS, but no scart input on PC. No s-video.
Cantlos said: Personally - I have my VHS player plugged into a spare SCART input on my DVD recorder and after transferring films to the DVD recorder I burn a RW disk. The RW disk I then put on my computer and copy them into AVI files or MPG4 files on my computer for editing and processing as required. Total cost - £0.00.
Anmol96 said: you need to make sure you have the cables connected properly and make sure you select the correct source for example composite or svhs. www.video2dvd.zoomshare.com
Adrian said: Yes, this is correct but it's always better, if possible, to use the S-Video or Y/C connector if you VHS machine has one. The video to dvd quality will be noticeably better than using the Composite video that is likely in the SCART connector.http://www.thegreatbear.net/vi...
Taysider2000 said: Hi , I've tried 'Dazzle' by Pinnacle and 'Easy DVD' by Roxio.(seperately). I can, in both cases, see the appropriate screen and watch video in preview screen, however the 'capture' button stays greyed out, so can't procede any further. Any ideas please ?
Gary Wang said: Well done..there are also some pretty cool programs out there to help you make backup copies of these VHS-to-DVD DVDs. You can also make copies of any DVD movie, here's a list and full reviews of the best DVD copy software out there (I like DVD neXt Copy Pro): www.dvdxcopy.com
david thomas said: I have had several video recorders over the years and none had an S-video output and I'm not too sure about composite either,what happens if you only have a video recorder with a Scart output ?
Auntie Pupule said: We just cleaned our home this weekend. This is exactly what I was going to look for. Now, all I have to do is go to a pawn shop and buy a VHS Player! :)Thank youAuntie PupuleHawai'i