Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Question: Converting DVD to VHS?

T

The_Dood

macrumors member
Original poster
I just finished creating a 30min. movie using iMovie and iDVD for my jr. high school students to give as a graduation present (in Japan graduation is in March). The only problem is that some of them don't have DVD players, as it's a very rural area.

Does anyone know of a way I can (easily) convert my iDVD onto a VHS tape? I know it's possible to do VHS -> DVD, but I haven't been able to find any legit info to go the other way (that's not about stealing copyrighted material, etc.)

Any help/advice is appreciated!! Thanks.
 
The_Dood said:
I just finished creating a 30min. movie using iMovie and iDVD for my jr. high school students to give as a graduation present (in Japan graduation is in March). The only problem is that some of them don't have DVD players, as it's a very rural area.

Does anyone know of a way I can (easily) convert my iDVD onto a VHS tape? I know it's possible to do VHS -> DVD, but I haven't been able to find any legit info to go the other way (that's not about stealing copyrighted material, etc.)

Any help/advice is appreciated!! Thanks.
Click to expand...
Since the output from iMovie/iDVD is not protected (by Macrovision, etc) it really is as simple as hooking up a VCR to a DVD player and recording the output. If you want to capture all the menus, extra stuff, what-have-you, then that's another story. There is no way to duplicate a random-access medium on a sequential-read medium. You would have to step through anything extra manually while letting the VCR record.

An easy option is one of the combo DVD player/VCR's (I use a Go-Video) that lets you drop in the DVD, pop in a tape, and hit one button to copy from the DVD to tape.
 
I would suggest, like IndyGopher, to record using a VCR. You could connect your Mac or a DVD player to it. If you can, use an S-Video or better connection, instead of RCA Video (the yellow colored connectors), as it will bring out more of the stupendous DVD quality.

Incedentally, I live in Tokyo, and don't have a DVD player. They're not quite as popular in Japan as in America.
 
IndyGopher said:
Since the output from iMovie/iDVD is not protected (by Macrovision, etc) it really is as simple as hooking up a VCR to a DVD player and recording the output. If you want to capture all the menus, extra stuff, what-have-you, then that's another story.
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for your input. For the vhs tape, I'm not interested in capturing the menus and stuff, because I'm sure it would look strange on just a regular tape, and it's definitely more of a dvd feature. I was planning on just recording from the beginning of my movie. I think I will try to hook my vcr up to my dvd player... now I just need to figure out all the input/output cable setups. Any quick advice on this?
 
japan's video standard

Yes, Japan is NTSC same as North America.

I have many import Japanese Laserdiscs that are NTSC and play on US systems.

To copy, match video out to video in. Do the same with audio (red and white plugs)

You might have to buy a small video out adapter if you using a Mac.

I.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back