Converting analog to DVD « Videomaker Community Forums

nobody
Member

I have been shooting video as a hobby to share with family and friends for almost 20 years. So I have a large collection of VHS and S-VHS tapes (original footage and edited masters) that I want to preserve by converting them to DVD. Obviously I want to save my historic footage to a more dependable format but I also want the ability to reedit the converted footage on the DVDs to create newly edited DVD versions of the old footage. Obviously the digital world offers all kinds of flexibility I never had in a linear environment.

Based on what I have read in your magazine, I am concerned that my S-VHS and VHS analog tapes will apparently be converted into the MPEG-2 format. Your magazine indicates that editing with compressed MPEG-2 is difficult and problematic. Apparently the quality might suffer, I might lose footage, and I may have difficulty reediting these new DVDs.

I recently purchased a Panasonic PVGS120 mini DV camera and I am about to purchase a new computer which I plan to use for both video editing and regular computing (thinking about the Dell XPS). I am trying to decide on a computer, the editing and authoring software, and a converter package for my old analog tapes.

How do I covert my old tapes to digital in such a way that I maintain their integrity, can reedit them in a digital environment, and combine this footage with my new mini DV footage that I just started shooting. Is there another format that the old tapes can be converted to or am I going at this the wrong way.

Sorry for the long post but I am a novice in the digital editing world and I want to make sure I can actually do what I want to do. Thanks. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted 7 years ago #
Kingkool682
Member

The best solution for you would be to hook your new video camera up to the VCR and record the VHS footage directly to mini-DV. Then you can download the footage to your computer via Firewire. From there you can edit your footage however you like and export the results 1)back to mini-DV or 2) out to DVD. The Dell XPS sure is a beefy system. More than capable with the type of job you want to do. As far as which editing software you should use? I like the Sony family of NLE products. Vegas is for the more serious hobbyist, while Sony Screenblast is for the begginer to novice. I'd reccomend getting Sony Screenblast as it is cheaper and will be able to do everything you wish. If you have any other questions feel free to drop me an email.

Posted 7 years ago #
nobody
Member

Thanks for the feedback. I know my question has probably been asked a lot of times. That's a big help.

Posted 7 years ago #
nobody
Member

I'll second the previous suggestion of recording from your VCR right to the DV camera.

What really worked well for me was I used a S-VHS VCR that has an S-Video output. It was a little JVC deck that I picked up at Costco for about $100. I don't think it's unique to the JVC, but the S-VHS deck has the ability to increase the on-screen resolution so your old standard VHS tapes look much better. If you watch movies on video tape, it is a real improvment.

I got excellent results and would certainly recommend getting a good deck to do the play back. You'll want the best possible output to the new medium.

As a side note, I used Pinnacle Studio version 8 and then version 9. The version 9 has a neat feature that you will find useful. It can remove much of the shakes and jitters you have from the hand-held shots. Works just like that feature on the new digital camcorders. Highly recommended.

Posted 7 years ago #
nobody
Member

here's an alternative to using a camcorder to getting your analog video (VHS) to DV (onto your computer):

--Get a standalone analog to DV converter

There are many converters out there that will do this. I personally recommend checking out Canopus' line of products. They carry an large line of products that specialize in this, each having their own unique features. I myself use the Canopus ADVC-100. It works GREAT. It captures/exports both analog and DV video. All it is, is simply a small box that attaches via a firewire port on your computer. On the back there are all the outputs you need (s-video, composite, IEEE, etc) and on the front are the inputs (s-video, composite, IEEE, etc). You can even connect to DV devices at once and/or use the device to connect to an external monitor while editing (I myself do this). Since the ADVC-100 connects via firewire, your computer reconizes it as if it were a camcorder/recorder. With that, you don't need to install any drivers and all NLEs support it. When capturing analog, you simple connect your analog source (VCR, cam, etc) and capture it using your NLE to capture. The converter transfers the analog video to DV so when you capture video, you are capturing it in the same format as if you had a camcorder connected via firewire. This means ANY NLE can capture your analog video and there's not need to worry about quality (as it is HQ DV video). I have ALWAYS had wonderful experiences using Canopus' products and I highly recommend going to http://www.canopus.com and looking at their products. They offer a very affordable alternative to using a camcorder. I bought my ADVC-100 new for about $240. This will also save LOTS of wear and tear that you'd get from using your camera.

Once you have your footage in DV on your computer, you have many options. You can edit your footage, clean it up, etc etc. Or if you want to just transfer it to DVD, you can encode it to MPEG 2 and burn it onto a DVD.

If you have any questions, you can email me

Good luck

-Jim

Posted 7 years ago #
nobody
Member

A friend of mine had the same problem last year. He hates to put any extra wear and tear on his camera so he bought one of these: HR-DVS3U

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?productId=PRD4602000&pathId=49

and it works great. He uses the fire wire to dump his new material into his computer with out using his DV camera's tape drive system. I think this is the way to go. Also if you wan't to put the old footage on DVD, a stand alone DVD recorder is great. I just bought a Philips DVDR-615 and it works GREAT! I'm converting all my old finished stuff to DVD and the quality very good. As a feeder I am using a sony SLVR1000 thru S-Video cable to the DVDR-615. To que up the tape I am using the S-Video capture port of my RTX10 card using the capture window of Premiere 6.5. This allows me to capture and devide the new DVD into selectable chapters.

Posted 7 years ago #