VHS > Powerbook - best way?

[agentphish]

As the subject says, whats the best/fastest/most easy way for me to rip a VHS tape to my powerbook?

Would it be A/V cables out of the VHS and into my powerbook somehow and use imovie or what?

Thanks

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

You need a Digital-to-Analog (D/A) converter. If you have a DV camcorder with A/V inputs and Firewire output, you probably already have everything you need. Read the user's manual for details on how to use your camcorder as an D/A converter (also sometimes called a bridge).

Alternatively, you need something like this:
http://mail.formac.co.uk/webapp/products_av_studiodv.php

Here's an Apple support article on the topic:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61745

And the full list of devices supported by iMovie:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/camcorders.html

 

[munkees]

Yes I used my DV camera to rip my vhs into imovies then on to idvd. It did have problems with commerical vhs, which I just wanted to move to dvd so I no longer need to plug in the vhs into the TV.

 

[chaos86]

or if you had ever thought about tv on your mac, and thus recording tv to ipod, elgato eyetv will do the trick.

 

[balamw]

Yes I used my DV camera to rip my vhs into imovies then on to idvd. It did have problems with commerical vhs, which I just wanted to move to dvd so I no longer need to plug in the vhs into the TV.

Ah Macrovision...

I have a Sony TRV-11 camcorder I have been using for this purpose and am in the process of converting some VHS tapes that were originally Super8 film. Wish I had the original film to skip a generation, but they are gone.

Note that if you don't already have a suitable DV camcorder, and don't want or need one, you can often pick up a broken one on eBay for < $100 where the A/D conversion circuitry is just fine by the lens or the tape transport mechanism is shot. Generally dedicated DV compatible A/D boxes are as costly as a lower end DV camcorder that will also support the same function.

B

 

[teerexx52]

As the subject says, whats the best/fastest/most easy way for me to rip a VHS tape to my powerbook?

Would it be A/V cables out of the VHS and into my powerbook somehow and use imovie or what?

Thanks

I use EyeTv 200. Works great for VHS