VHS conversion please HELP!?

[karterius]

Hello,

I am creating a wedding video, and my fiance and I both have most of our childhood on VHS. I would like to start converting these over to edit into the video.

What's the best way to do this? Should I buy a standalone VHS to DVD burner, and then rip the DVD? Or buy one of the VHS USB capture devices? I want the best quality output, but speed is an issue.

MANY THANKS to everyone's input.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The best quality would be using a direct signal converter instead of a VHS/DVD combo, as you need to further transcode the DVD video to an editable format, which involves another 20 USD for software.

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1. VHS-DVD Recorder combo unit
2. Verbatim archive quality DVD-R
3. Pen to write on them
4. Handbrake to rip them

 

[charlieegan3]

..as you need to further transcode the DVD video to an editable format, which involves another 20 USD for software.

would Handbrake (free) not do that?

 

[monokakata]

I've been using this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...Design_VIDREC_Video_Recorder_USB_Capture.html

for about a week. It does exactly what it's meant to do. I'm completely satisfied.

I have a Panasonic AG1980 VHS recorder (a high-end one, in its day) with S-video output, TBC, and so on.

The key thing is unattended operation. I start up the Black Magic device (having previously set the parameters, which I haven't had to change), start the VHS deck, and walk away (or do something else).

When it completes, there's a H.264 file on my drive. I edit it, or just save it as an archive for later editing.

I can't imagine that it gets any easier than this, except for sending the whole job out. I have about 20-30 tapes to convert and the task doesn't frighten me at all.

I have a hard time remembering when I bought any device that solved a problem so neatly and with so little effort.

It's not cheap, though.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

would Handbrake (free) not do that?

Not into an editable format, as HandBrake only uses MPEG-4 codec variants and not something like the Apple Intermediate Codec or ProRes or DV codec, for which one has to use MPEG Streamclip and the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component (19.99 USD).

Get footage from a video DVD into an editing application
Video: Ripping a video DVD (.mp4, 28s, 2.8MB)
Video: Transcoding ripped video to a format iMovie understands (.mp4, 75s, 7MB)​