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Looking to convert some vhs to dvd...
- Thread starter waloshin
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monokakata
macrumors 68020
The yellow RCA jack is going to be "composite" video, the lowest quality.
See if you can find a VCR with "s-video" output, which will give you higher-quality video. They are out there.
I have a Panasonic AG-1980 that gives about the best VHS output you can find. You might be able to find one of those.
See if you can find a VCR with "s-video" output, which will give you higher-quality video. They are out there.
I have a Panasonic AG-1980 that gives about the best VHS output you can find. You might be able to find one of those.
How many VHS tapes do you have? What is their quality and how much work do you want to do and what's the budget?
Are you after the best quality transfer and you only have a very few tapes then i'd say hire the job out to a company who has already invested in the high end gear. If you have no budget go to the drift store and get whatever VHS machine they have. Either solution is reasonable.
No one here can tell you what's best without knowing more about your project and if you will have own-going needs or just doing one tape.
That said you can pick ups some really good studio (not home) quality machines for cheap now. I had something very much like one of these once.
https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A00DZ7/Panasonic-AG-8700E-S-VHS-Hi-Fi-Editing-VTR-PAL/
Notice the "jog shuttle" control, it's the big round knob with the depression for you finger. It lets you cue up a seen frame by frame or screw at high speed. Must of the better machines had this and composite output too. These cost as much as a small car when they were new and now sell for pennies on the dollar.
Are you after the best quality transfer and you only have a very few tapes then i'd say hire the job out to a company who has already invested in the high end gear. If you have no budget go to the drift store and get whatever VHS machine they have. Either solution is reasonable.
No one here can tell you what's best without knowing more about your project and if you will have own-going needs or just doing one tape.
That said you can pick ups some really good studio (not home) quality machines for cheap now. I had something very much like one of these once.
https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A00DZ7/Panasonic-AG-8700E-S-VHS-Hi-Fi-Editing-VTR-PAL/
Notice the "jog shuttle" control, it's the big round knob with the depression for you finger. It lets you cue up a seen frame by frame or screw at high speed. Must of the better machines had this and composite output too. These cost as much as a small car when they were new and now sell for pennies on the dollar.
monokakata
macrumors 68020
I agree with ChrisA about sending it out if you don't have much to do.
But if you do, well -- no matter what recorder you end up with, Waloshin, you'll still have to digitize it. There are many ways, but I had great success with this device. Easy setup, never failed to do its job, can handle S-video or composite.
Plug & play and when the tape is finished you have an h.264 video file on your Mac.
It seems to be discontinued, but I'm sure there are used ones out there.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...Design_VIDREC_Video_Recorder_USB_Capture.html
If you can find an ex-studio deck, great, or the AG-1980. I seem to remember that Sony made some models that were current around 2004-5 that had S-video output, and they were just home players.
But if you do, well -- no matter what recorder you end up with, Waloshin, you'll still have to digitize it. There are many ways, but I had great success with this device. Easy setup, never failed to do its job, can handle S-video or composite.
Plug & play and when the tape is finished you have an h.264 video file on your Mac.
It seems to be discontinued, but I'm sure there are used ones out there.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...Design_VIDREC_Video_Recorder_USB_Capture.html
If you can find an ex-studio deck, great, or the AG-1980. I seem to remember that Sony made some models that were current around 2004-5 that had S-video output, and they were just home players.
ProjectManager101
Suspended
If you have one and you do not have a capture card or a good VCR, you could ask some company to do it just right. It may even cost you less than getting the equipment yourself and learning how to do it right.
Just one? Pay Scan Cafe (use Google) $20 and be done with it. They charge $20 per VHS tape and for that you get hand corrected color and a DVD menu with scene selections. The hand corrected color is with the price.
There are of course other services but this is the one I know. The DVD will actually look better than the old VHS.
I really appreciate this thread and everyone commenting on it. For years I have been considering transferring my stuff to DVDs/digital files given that the current format is more than dead. However I have always been very unsure about hiring people or doing it myself. I guess that doing it myself would be very educational and why not also say "lots of fun," but I'd rather rely on something professionally done since the least I'd expect is a final product that would look exactly what the VHS recording looks like. But there are several companies doing offering said service and I don't know how to go about picking one of them. They all want to throw in stuff like color correction, scaling, etc, to sweeten the deal it but I never know what is really doable in a transfer like this. Let's face it: besides the actual state and quality of the source material, there's not much one can do if the "remasterisation" isn't being done by a Hollywood like studio. Also, the more people you have working on it, the more you'll pay. And, as an example, in a process like color correction you do need human eyes instead of a computer software calibrating everything. I'd love to hear your impressions and suggestions regarding all I've just said.
Hey ChrisA, I hear that people are very satisfied with Scan Cafe's photo scanning service. I never met anyone who used their VHS to DVD service though. What do you think about it? Why did you pick them? I know they exploded in popularity back in '07 and by then they were the best online service... but I know nothing about how their service has been like lately.
Hey ChrisA, I hear that people are very satisfied with Scan Cafe's photo scanning service. I never met anyone who used their VHS to DVD service though. What do you think about it? Why did you pick them? I know they exploded in popularity back in '07 and by then they were the best online service... but I know nothing about how their service has been like lately.