Capturing VCR output to computer

[Jim Bancroft]

I'm new to the market for video capture. What are the best options out there for converting VCR output to the PC and burning to DVD from there?

I've got a DVD burner already, but should I get a special card for the capture or are there general ATI and Nvidia cards that can do the job? I'd like a quality result if possible, but would like to keep costs under control too, so whatever advice you have I'm listening...thanks all.

 

[Matthias99]

If you search, there are many, many, MANY (did I mention there are a lot of them?) threads on this topic. You can also check out www.doom9.org for lots and lots of information on DVD authoring, encoding, etc.

I would suggest buying a PCI video capture card; even the cheapest software encoding card will be more than sufficient for crappy VHS tapes. A video card with VIVO (or an ATI All-In-Wonder / NVIDIA Personal Cinema card) will work, but then you're paying extra for the video card and cannot upgrade your video card without losing the video capture capabilities. With a separate card, you can update them separately (or, for instance, put the capture board in another computer at some point).

 

[Wolfshanze]

I recomend the KWORLD "XPERT DVD MAKER PCI". This is a PCI add-in card and like Matthias said, saves you money in not having to keep finding a VIVO card every time you upgrade your video card. It's cheap too! NewEgg sells this card for a very cheap $29 bucks, and to top it off, the card comes with the VERY excellent Cyberlink PowerProducer2 Gold software.

I was new to this not too long ago either... didn't know squat about making VHS to DVD. I bought a DVD burner and this card (with the Cyberlink software) and was making DVDs with fancy menus in no time! Very simple to use. The software was worth more then the card I think, but the capture card is very good too! Comes with composite and S-VHS inputs for video and of course sound inputs too. I literally had eveything installed and was ready to start porting VHS tapes in minutes after opening my package from NewEgg.

If you're new to this, do yourself a favor and invest $29 bucks for this card and software, you won't be sorry! Also, if you really like the PowerProducer2 Gold software, I found PowerProducer3 for $10 bucks at Software Outlet.

P.S.
This capture card has a five-star rating after 203 votes by NewEgg customers... I don't think you can go wrong getting this capture card and software for $29 bucks!