Topic: How To Convert Vhs Tapes To Dvd, What Card to buy

[Pinotu]

I beg your pardon, I am an inexperienced person and I need your help.

I have some old VHS tapes that I would like to convert to DVD.

I know I need to buy a card to convert the tapes to digital format on my hard drive and then I need to edit them and author them before burning to DVD.

I need to know what card to buy to get the best video from the VHS tapes.

A friend of mine bought a Hauppauge Card which he seems to like but there may be something better.

 Many thanks in advance,

     Pinotu

[hummat]

If you have digi-video camera, you should be able to pass through that and use it's firewire output into your comp.

-jay

[Pinotu]

Thanks hummat, but I have no VCAM, I have only a lot of VHS I have bought in the past years, and with the age the tapes grow worsen. It would be better to transfer the content on DVD.
One may find on the market many VHS<->DVD dubbers, but I don't know which is the better one.
Many thanks anyway.

[stevetoney]

Better in the context of your query is a subjective opinion.  There are lots and lots of cards out there I'm sure that will do the job well.  I have a Hauppauge WINTV PVR-150 that works great for the purpose.  What you probably want to make sure you get is a card that has...hmmm not sure exactly what to say here...I guess video processing chips on the the card.  What I mean is that some cards rely on your computer's processor to do all the video processing.  Other cards have chips on the card that takes some of the burden away from the computer itself.  For those cards, you can still be working on your computer and don't need to worry about video drop-outs because the computer can't keep up.

Whichever card you buy, don't rely on the software drivers that are included on the discs in the box.  Go to the manufacturers website and download the up-to-date drivers from there.  This is one of the reasons that Hauppauge is not a bad selection..they do seem to support their products decently, although as I recall when I bought my card a LONG time ago, the in-box stuff was really weak.  Anyway, I had no problem at all with Hauppauge's drivers loading up and running properly on my XP-based machine.

Since you're dealing with old VHS tapes, you definitely want your playback VCR to be decent quality.  Essential ingredients on that end are 4 heads and digital tracking...digital tracking being more important than anything else.  Since I had a TON of video tapes to transfer, I invested $300 into a box called a Datavideo TBC-1000.  It's a Time Base Corrector and can save a video tape that has significant tracking problems and won't play right in your VCR.

You don't need to have the TBC if you have really good digital tracking on your VCR, but then again the TBC is probably better at correcting tracking issues that even the best built-in digital tracking.

Anyway, that should at least provide some simple answers to your questions.

[stantheman1976]

If you are just wanting no-frills VHS to DVD transfer a set top recorder would probably be your best bet.  It will save you having to install a card and learn the ins and outs of getting all the settings right.  If you can find one with a TBC it would be good.

[Pinotu]

Many thnaks to all for your suggestions!!!

[Cools]

You can also get something like the Canopus ADVC110 (http://desktop.thomsongrassvalley.com/products/ADVC110/index.php).

It's box that attaches to your computer through Firewire. You can then attach S-video or composite from your VHS player and import the footage through any video app that can capture through Firewire (most apps do this).