Converting VHS to DVD

[Cawchy87]

I am taking on the massive task this summer of converting family VHS into DVD format. My thinking is this and please correct me if i am wrong:

VCR ----> Dazzle video editor -----> ATI AIW 9000Pro ------> my computer -------> burn onto dvd

I know that it is a little harder than simply going from my computer to the dvd, but i am not worried about the software right now. Just wondering what hardware i would need for the task. I am probibly totaly wrong, but that just seemed to make sence to me. Can't wait for feed back, thanks guys in advance.

 

[Description]

A capture card. Depending on the hardware, it may have video (possibly including DVD) editing software included. For straight video (no menus), you might be able to find a freeware DVD burning app.

 

[Cawchy87]

What is considered a Capture card? an ATI AIW card?

 

[niall]

As I'm thinking of doing similar tasks (without the DVD burning as I don't have a drive - yet), maybe I can help somewhat.

If by "Dazzle video editor" you are referring to the external USB boxes with video/audio inputs, it is in itself a capture device, and you would not need an All-In-Wonder card; the video card would be used strictly for viewing, since the Dazzle boxes do most of the encoding. Current generation (not counting x800/6800) cards are powerful enough to help with whatever external encoders can't do by themselves.

I hope this helps, but by all means look for other confirmations. I can't guarantee any of my opinions in this matter until I've actually built and tested my rig.

 

[Cawchy87]

Thank you very much for you input. Yes, i was refering to the dazzle boxes. And by "USB boxes" do you mean that i plug the Dazzle box into a usb port rather than the back of the video card? The thing i was worried about for my vid card (9600XT) is that there isn't any video in, so if they do indeed plug in through the usb that would save me some money on a new vid card. Thank you very much, and if you get any other info, please pass it on.

 

[Todd33]

The Dazzle will do the analog to digital conversion you are looking for. Then edit the video once on the hard drive and author a DVD. It's pretty easy, you just need to learn the editing software. I use Pinnacle Studio 9, but there are many.

 

[paruhd0x]

http://www.videohelp.com

 

[GullyFoyle]

VCR ----> Dazzle video editor -----> ATI AIW 9000Pro ------> my computer -------> burn onto dvd

You can drop either the Dazzle video Editor, or the ATI AIW 9000Pro. Both act as capture devices. If it were me, I would drop the Dazzle. A fairly discriminating friend of mine had an older AIW version and he thought the captured video quality was excellent compared to several other alternatives. Plus, it has a TV tuner. Plus, I spent some time over at the Pinnacle forums and saw a lot of disappointed Dazzle owners. (Pinnacle bought out Dazzle)

 

[stingygrrl]

wouldn't it be better (less CPU use) to get a hardware encoder card like the hauppage PVR25- to capture the video to the PC? I know it's a TV tuner, but can't it be used from the VCR using an RF cable?

I really don't know the answer to that last question, but if yes, then it might be better than the software encoder card like the AIW and Dazzle

 

[Greg04]

I would forego the computer step -- get a DVD Recorder standalone unit. You can get one from Amazon.com and use it for 30 days. Not happy? Return it. That way you get the VHS converted to DVD format and from there you can edit the raw footage on your PC without worrying about the annoyance of VHS to PC hardware issues. I did it this way and have never looked back.

 

[hahher]

Originally posted by: Greg04
I would forego the computer step -- get a DVD Recorder standalone unit. You can get one from Amazon.com and use it for 30 days. Not happy? Return it. That way you get the VHS converted to DVD format and from there you can edit the raw footage on your PC without worrying about the annoyance of VHS to PC hardware issues. I did it this way and have never looked back.

you can edit dvd footage without re-encoding?

 

[gsellis]

Alternately, there are now places that will convert to DVD for about $10 (no edits.) If you have spare change, get the Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV. The DV version uses Firewire. If you decide to upgrade later, the DV version has a better chance of being recognized by an advanced editor.

@hahher - It depends on what you mean by edit. You can delete sections and change some options without re-encoding. But, if you want to really edit it, you would need an editor that supported mpeg2 (and you have to extract it) or tools to decode it. Since MPEG2 is compressed, taking it back and forth to an editor can lose image quality. If it were content with AC3 encode audio including a 5.1 track, it gets even harder.