So I'm going to take on the task of taking my family's old VHS-C tapes and converting them to the digital age for preservation. I figure the best way to do this is to just transfer them to video files on my computer, and then afterwards I can make DVDs with those files if needed.
I've been trying to do some research on this but I'm not entirely confident on what the best/easiest way to go is. Are DV Tapes the same as VHS-C? Because I see some products advertised as for DV Tapes, but I'm not sure if that would work or not.
So....what do I need and how do I do it?
Thanks in advance for any help. Trying to preserve history here before it's gone, so it is really important to me.
@TripMasterMunky: I have no experience on this. My first instinct would be to get a capture card and hook up a player to it and record it that way. You might be able to send them away to have them professionally done for a fee.
Unless you have the equipment on hand or your model of camera supports video output, it might be cheaper to just send them off to be digitally encoded. Otherwise you are going to have to hunt down a VCR, VHS-C to VHS adapter (basically a regular sized VHS tape that the smaller tape goes inside of) and then capture the output of that. Either way, to do it yourself you are going to need some kind of capture card. Alternatively, there are VCR/DVD recorder combo drives that can record a dvd of the VHS iirc but they will likely be a) hard to find, b) expensive, or both. Depending on how many tapes you have, it may be worth it to just send them off. If you have a bunch of tapes, it might be worth it to do them yourself.
EDIT: Sorry, I missed that last question. DV tapes and VHS-C are similarly sized (sorta) but they way they are recorded to is different. I don't remember if you can playback DV tapes in the VCR with one of those adapters, I don't think you can but I might be wrong. If the tapes you are trying to record are actually DV though, the camera likely has a Firewire port which makes converting them a much easier process :) Just use Windows Movie Maker and connect the camera tot he computer via Firewire :)
Well, I already have a VHS Player and a VHS-C to VHS Adapter. So all I would need would be the capture card, which I don't really know anything about. Anyone have any recommendations?
And as far as sending them out to be converted for a fee, anyone have any experience with any places that they would recommend? I know there's quite a few places out there. I'm looking at this one place that converts VHS-C, but they charge like $20 per tape. I'd have to count up my tapes, but I think I probably have between 10 and 20. I think I might just be better off doing it myself.
This was my method. I purchased the ADVC110 about two years ago. It's been working great for me since. Quality is about as good as you can expect from a VHS rip.
I know this is one old topic, but I still haven't done this yet. Just haven't had time lately. Now I'm looking back into it again after giving all of my options serious thought. I think I'm more comfortable just converting myself rather than sending in my tapes to a service to have someone else do them.
I've looked at what I need, what the most efficient way to do it is....I've decided to put the VHS-C tapes into a VHS adapter, which then goes into a VHS player. This will then be connected up to this converter software/device to be connected to my computer through USB.
Just curious if anyone has used that software/device before. From my research it seems a lot better reviewed than the Dazzle and such, and is cheaper as well. Figured I'd make one last call for advice before I dive in and do this.
I've been trying to do some research on this but I'm not entirely confident on what the best/easiest way to go is. Are DV Tapes the same as VHS-C? Because I see some products advertised as for DV Tapes, but I'm not sure if that would work or not.
So....what do I need and how do I do it?
Thanks in advance for any help. Trying to preserve history here before it's gone, so it is really important to me.
Anyone have any ideas?
@TripMasterMunky: I have no experience on this. My first instinct would be to get a capture card and hook up a player to it and record it that way. You might be able to send them away to have them professionally done for a fee.
Totally different things from what Google tells me when I asked it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS-C
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDV#Magnetic_tape
Unless you have the equipment on hand or your model of camera supports video output, it might be cheaper to just send them off to be digitally encoded. Otherwise you are going to have to hunt down a VCR, VHS-C to VHS adapter (basically a regular sized VHS tape that the smaller tape goes inside of) and then capture the output of that. Either way, to do it yourself you are going to need some kind of capture card. Alternatively, there are VCR/DVD recorder combo drives that can record a dvd of the VHS iirc but they will likely be a) hard to find, b) expensive, or both. Depending on how many tapes you have, it may be worth it to just send them off. If you have a bunch of tapes, it might be worth it to do them yourself.
EDIT: Sorry, I missed that last question. DV tapes and VHS-C are similarly sized (sorta) but they way they are recorded to is different. I don't remember if you can playback DV tapes in the VCR with one of those adapters, I don't think you can but I might be wrong. If the tapes you are trying to record are actually DV though, the camera likely has a Firewire port which makes converting them a much easier process :) Just use Windows Movie Maker and connect the camera tot he computer via Firewire :)
Well, I already have a VHS Player and a VHS-C to VHS Adapter. So all I would need would be the capture card, which I don't really know anything about. Anyone have any recommendations?
I found this link http://www.ehow.com/how_5104193_convert-vhsc-digital-format.htmlThey make it seem simple enough.
And as far as sending them out to be converted for a fee, anyone have any experience with any places that they would recommend? I know there's quite a few places out there. I'm looking at this one place that converts VHS-C, but they charge like $20 per tape. I'd have to count up my tapes, but I think I probably have between 10 and 20. I think I might just be better off doing it myself.
I've used the Dazzle, which I normally use for retro videogames, to capture VHS and the quality is as good as the vhs tapes themselves.
How-To request: Converting analog home movies to digital
This was my method. I purchased the ADVC110 about two years ago. It's been working great for me since. Quality is about as good as you can expect from a VHS rip.
I know this is one old topic, but I still haven't done this yet. Just haven't had time lately. Now I'm looking back into it again after giving all of my options serious thought. I think I'm more comfortable just converting myself rather than sending in my tapes to a service to have someone else do them.
I've looked at what I need, what the most efficient way to do it is....I've decided to put the VHS-C tapes into a VHS adapter, which then goes into a VHS player. This will then be connected up to this converter software/device to be connected to my computer through USB.
Just curious if anyone has used that software/device before. From my research it seems a lot better reviewed than the Dazzle and such, and is cheaper as well. Figured I'd make one last call for advice before I dive in and do this.
Thanks for all the help so far.
Sorry, I don't have any experience with that particular product.