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VHS to computer

Use elgato eye TV hybrid

I just converted a lot of VHS tapes to DVD using the elgato TV hybrid. Eye TV captures them in mp2 format perfect for DVD. This can be burned using Toast (no re-encoding). The quality is better than converting to dv going through iMovie then burning with iDVD as there is less transcoding loss. It is also quicker by far. The downside is the crappy editor in eye-tv.
It works for me.
Dave
 
1 - Check the volume slider in iMovie. It controls the volume on import as well as playback.

2 - Most people will recommend FireWire as it has a better sustained transfer rate. It is nice to have the option of both FireWire and USB. You can always build your own with a bare drive and enclosure. All you really need to know is how to use a screwdriver.

dlegend said:
Well first attempt just plugged it right it and it's working pretty well. Only 2 issues.

1, you don't hear sound when importing video into iMovie. I don't know if this is something that can be fixed or if that's how it always is.

2nd issue is I can't write video to my external hard drive. I suspect this is an issue on my end as its formated FAT32. I might purchase an external hard drive soon just for this so I'll make sure it's formatted correctly. Microcenter has some 1 and 1.5TB externals for sale, I can't decide if I should get a firewall HD or just USB. Also, they only have Seagate 1.5's on sale but I keep hearing bad things about them.
Click to expand...
 
cpjakes said:
1 - Check the volume slider in iMovie. It controls the volume on import as well as playback.

2 - Most people will recommend FireWire as it has a better sustained transfer rate. It is nice to have the option of both FireWire and USB. You can always build your own with a bare drive and enclosure. All you really need to know is how to use a screwdriver.
Click to expand...

1- Where's the volume slider? I don't have everything hooked up at the moment so I'm not 100% sure.

2 - Right now I just got a USB 1TB drive, if I find it's running too slow I'll upgrade a firewire drive and just use this one as backup.

Other than that it's going well, I haven't had that much time to work on this but everything seems to work great. I still have to test making some DVDs and seeing how they play back in terms of quality compared to the VHS tapes.
 
In iMovie 6, it's just below the right side of the viewer, looks like the one in iTunes. If you're using iMovie 8, I'm not sure if that's the problem or not.

dlegend said:
1- Where's the volume slider? I don't have everything hooked up at the moment so I'm not 100% sure.

2 - Right now I just got a USB 1TB drive, if I find it's running too slow I'll upgrade a firewire drive and just use this one as backup.

Other than that it's going well, I haven't had that much time to work on this but everything seems to work great. I still have to test making some DVDs and seeing how they play back in terms of quality compared to the VHS tapes.
Click to expand...
 
dlegend said:
1- Where's the volume slider? I don't have everything hooked up at the moment so I'm not 100% sure.

2 - Right now I just got a USB 1TB drive, if I find it's running too slow I'll upgrade a firewire drive and just use this one as backup.

Other than that it's going well, I haven't had that much time to work on this but everything seems to work great. I still have to test making some DVDs and seeing how they play back in terms of quality compared to the VHS tapes.
Click to expand...

If you're editing standard definition video, the USB should be more than fast enough. Also, be careful when exporting to DVD. If you're using iDVD, the quality will not be as good as the original tape because of the compression iDVD uses. It all depends on what kind of program you're using to burn DVDs. Just keep that in mind so you're not disappointed with the results...
 
farmercist said:
I just converted a lot of VHS tapes to DVD using the elgato TV hybrid. Eye TV captures them in mp2 format perfect for DVD. This can be burned using Toast (no re-encoding). The quality is better than converting to dv going through iMovie then burning with iDVD as there is less transcoding loss. It is also quicker by far. The downside is the crappy editor in eye-tv.
It works for me.
Dave
Click to expand...

does this method allow for HD capture using component cables?
 
Changepoint said:
does this method allow for HD capture using component cables?
Click to expand...

No, the hybrid only has an antenna connector and a breakout for S-Video/composite. You can use EyeTV with the Hauppauge HD PVR, which has component inputs. It's designed for cable/satellite set top boxes.

cpjakes
 
Alucardx03 said:
If you're editing standard definition video, the USB should be more than fast enough. Also, be careful when exporting to DVD. If you're using iDVD, the quality will not be as good as the original tape because of the compression iDVD uses. It all depends on what kind of program you're using to burn DVDs. Just keep that in mind so you're not disappointed with the results...
Click to expand...

What else would be a good program to use? I have iDVD as well as Toast 9.
 
any suggestions as to what program to use to burn DVDs? I've been working crazy hours lately and haven't had time to test anything out yet.

Thanks!
 
dlegend said:
any suggestions as to what program to use to burn DVDs? I've been working crazy hours lately and haven't had time to test anything out yet.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

iDVD is fine to use, although it may do a standard compression that may not give the best results. Any program needs to compress the video for DVD. Toast gives you some variable control over it and I think may be a little smarter in that if you only burn a half hour of video, it'll use a higher quality whereas iDVD will just pick one. Of course, the most thorough option is to use the Final Cut suite, which gives you really precise control. Probably out of the budget though...

Toast has some stock menus and things, but what I like about it is the ability to have no menu and just have the video start when you put the disc in. Sometimes you don't need menus, and while not impossible, it's a pain to do in iDVD.

And in general, Toast is a great program to have for all around disc burning. It's practically an iLife application with all of its integration with your pictures/music/etc.

cpjakes
 
thanks for the info guys. I'm going to try to do some tests with idvd and toast. I'll see how it compares to the VHS tape.
 
thought I'd give a quick update, I haven't tried Toast yet but with iDvd there are 3 different levels of quality that you can select.
 
dlegend said:
thought I'd give a quick update, I haven't tried Toast yet but with iDvd there are 3 different levels of quality that you can select.
Click to expand...

If you're using iDVD '08 or later, I would recommend "Professional Quality." It doesn't compare with quality of say, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro, but it would be difficult to tell the difference unless you're looking for it. And, if you're keeping the original video files, the iDVD solution would be good enough for the time being. If you're so inclined, you can use a different kind of DVD program or encoding method further down the line.
 
I'm playing around with a Canopus ADVC-110 (the DV/Firewire transfer hardware) + AV Tool AVT-8710 (external TBC for stabilization of the signal) + Panasonic AG-1980 (professional editing SVHS VCR with TBC/DNR) combination right now on my MBP. I got the Panasonic VCR used off e-bay ($175 + shipping) and the other two are brand new for a total cost of around $600. I will probably sell the equipment once I've transferred all my VHS and Laserdiscs over to AppleTV compatible MP4/.H264 and/or DVD-R. Frankly, I'm still learning what settings on the Panasonic to use to get the best results, but transferring a Tori Amos video ("Crucify") over from VHS has provided more than satisfactory results.

In this case, the video for her song "Crucify" that is available on DVD has a very different soundtrack used with it (re-edited/re-mastered version of the studio album as opposed to the edited "single" version of the song that was originally used with the video). As you can imagine, the DVD version sucks because of the audio switch. The iTunes store only has the DVD version. I mostly got the setup to transfer priceless home movies over, but it's nice to transfer VHS and Laserdiscs (I have over 80 of those as well) that never made it to DVD or were modified or which I don't really want to purchase again on DVD over to play on my whole house audio/video system. I figure I can get most of my money back selling the system when I'm done and possibly transfer a few videos for people for a price to make up the difference first.

I'm not sure how the Canopus ADVC-300 compares to the 110 + 8710, but it was a cheaper combination and was highly recommended by several people when I was reading about it. My old JVC stereo VHS player just seems to turn itself off after starting a tape lately so getting the used Panasonic was probably a good idea for more than a few reasons. A decent new stereo VHS would probably cost at least as much as this did used and near as I can tell it's working perfectly thus far.
 
So I've been slowly working on this and it's going well except for 2 things.

1. Still can't get volume to work while I'm importing video. Not a huge deal, I just don't watch the video and come back 2 hours later.

2. I just started working on importing another video and the video would show but when I was importing it the screen would flash to blue every couple seconds. When I stopped it it played back fine, but i stopped it since I don't think it should be happening. Anyone have this issue? Know how to fix it?
 
dlegend said:
So I've been slowly working on this and it's going well except for 2 things.

1. Still can't get volume to work while I'm importing video. Not a huge deal, I just don't watch the video and come back 2 hours later.
Click to expand...

check the volume works on the final version. if it does then no worries.

2. I just started working on importing another video and the video would show but when I was importing it the screen would flash to blue every couple seconds. When I stopped it it played back fine, but i stopped it since I don't think it should be happening. Anyone have this issue? Know how to fix it?
Click to expand...

is this a commercial videotape? looks like macrovision vhs anti-copy protection.
 
Still no volume but it works when played back so I'm fine with that. Also the blue-blinking has stopped.

Does anyone know if it's possible to set up imovie or automator so I can stop recording after 2 hours? I was thinking if I could do that I could set up a movie everyday as I left for work and it would be done when I got home.

Thanks,
Derek
 
How about using a DVD Recorder then transferring the DVD to the mac and then edit in imovie?
 
Joemero said:
How about using a DVD Recorder then transferring the DVD to the mac and then edit in imovie?
Click to expand...

The main problem with that method is that you're starting with low resolution/quality VHS then compressing the heck out oif it to MPEG-2 for the DVD, then have to reconvert it for iMovie (or other editing app). Each time it gets converted to another format, you're losing quality.

-DH
 
dlegend said:
What's the best way to get old family VHS movies onto my macbook? I have a firewall port on my computer. Through some searches on the board I've narrowed it down to either the EyeTV Hybrid or a mini-DV camcorder. I like the idea of making my computer a DVR but a camcorder could also be useful. For roughly the same price as the EyeTV could I get a mini-DV camcorder that would allow me to copy the movies?
Click to expand...

Theres a miniDV camera with analog pass through or you could just go ahead and get a Canopus box which would do the same thing. You could always get a USB solution like the Roxio VHS to DVD.
 
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