Whats the best VCR to DVD converter?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

I want to get some software that will allow me to convert my video tapes into DVDs. My husband is hesitant, as he's not sure what is the best. Has anyone here had any experience, good or bad, with this type of software? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[NewHampshireDem]

1. Windows Movie Maker

I'm assuming you'll be using your PC for the conversion. If so, I recommend Windows Movie Maker 2. It's free and works very well. I've used a couple of other commercial products--ones designed for pro-am use--and found them to be too difficult to use.

Do you have a digital video camera? If so, you probably would find it easiest to go VCR-->DV Camera-->PC. I've done that myself and it is easier than trying to connect your VCR directly to your PC.

[democracyindanger]

2. If you want to do VHS-->DVD

you'll need a video card with capture ability, and software will be probably packaged with it.

[Skittles]

3. is it all really pricy right now?

is it a situation where it will be much cheaper in the future?

[democracyindanger]

6. You could get a decent card for around $200 I think

It'll get cheaper as time goes on, as technology does, but I don't think there'll be a major price drop in the near future.

[Rosco T.]

4. Save yourself much time/headaches/heartaches...

don't waste time using a PC to do the VHS/MPEG conversion... it ties up the PC, touchy cards, software hassles... I speak from experience having spent about 18 months doing PC/VIDEO conversion till I finally wised up..

- if all you want to do is 'basic' recording (transfer, remove commercials, add chapters, burn). Get a stand-alone DVD-Recorder with a hardrive in it. I personally have a pair of Panasonic DMR-E80's. The Panasonic DMR-E85, DMR-E95 or Toshiba RD-SX53 are all good choices. You can feed the tape to the DVD-Recorder (or record off air/cable/sat), stack up multiple programs on the HD, edit the commericals, make simple menus and chapters and then burn them off to DVD-R. While you have it on the recorders HD, you can then burn MULTIPLE COPIES.

- if you want to do 'fancier' editing (slick menus, et.al.) or minor effects, audio tricks, etc.. then you have to step up.

- STILL use the set-top recorder to do the VHS>MPEG2 capture. Then (and I specifically mention the above recorders for this reason) you can DUB the MPEG2 streams to a DVD-RAM disc.

- Then get a PC DVD-Burner that will READ/WRITE DVD-RAM (Iomega, Panasonic SW-9572) and copy the MPEG2 file to the PC's HD.

- use WOMBLE MPEG VIDEOWIZARD (www.womble.com) for editing the MPEG2 file (commercial removal, editing tricks (I use this to 'unsqueeze' the end credits of some shows).

- then find a DVD-Authoring sofware you like.. from the low end of TMPGENC DVD AUTHOR (google) to DVD Lab (google) to ULead DVD Workshop2 and you're in business..

I've done about 500 discs of old TV, movies, home movies and I've weeded thru the chaff... with the price of the stand alone recorders down to where they are.. it's not worth messing with the PC Capture route.

and DON'T LET SOMEONE TELL YOU YOU "DON'T NEED A HARDDRIVE" in the stand-alone recorder. for the price differential and the abilities/ease gained.. it's a no brainer.

[Deja Q]

8. What about store-bought tapes that can't be copied? Many DVD recorders

also prevent such duplication. :-(

[Rosco T.]

9. Google for "DVD Red Pro" and "Video Clarifier"...

those will solve all those problems.

[democracyindanger]

11. Or yet another option is

to have it done by a video house. I had a box of various sources--VHS, Beta, DigiBeta, 3/4"--that I took to a place that did the transfer to MPEG. It wasn't cheap in strictly monetary terms, but time saved and higher quality made it worth it. I ended up with raw MPEGs that I could edit, clean up, etc.

All depends if you have the knowledge/time to invest in DIY.

[bbernardini]

5. Alternately, you could use a digital camcorder.

If your computer's speed is up to the task, you could use a digital camcorder as a go-between, which is what I've just started doing. The VCR hooks into the camcorder, which then connects to my Mac via Firewire. I do the capturing in iMovie, and...well, I haven't done much more than that yet.

[Deja Q]

7. You also need digitizing hardware. And AVOID ATi's products.

ATi is notorious for crap drivers and won't let you archive your store-bought tapes. Most products won't, thanks to the DMCA.

Many low-end, rudimentary, software products that access capture hardware and edit are sufficient for most people. I use higher end equipment and amulti-stage process to improve video and audio quality (removing hiss, reducing that annoying VHS grain, et cetera. I could clean up significant video defects for videos I knew would not come out to DVD.)

Oh. The direct recorder device as stated above will be fine for most needs. I went the PC capture method because I wanted to remove audio hiss and improve video quality. But then, I'm a quality nut.

[Rosco T.]

10. DVD Recorder vs standalone...

"The direct recorder device as stated above will be fine for most needs. I went the PC capture method because I wanted to remove audio hiss and improve video quality. But then, I'm a quality nut."

So am I.

The Panasonic recorders have a built-in Time-Base Corrector that will clean up tapes mightly.

I got a BVP-4 to front end the recorders for things that require more 'tweaking'.

I have 20 band EQ that I run the audio thru to clean up the audio.

All of that lets everything stay nicely in sync without having to demux/remux the audio/video.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. Thanks, everyone!

I read every post to my husband, and he's very impressed with your knowledge and is grateful for the advice!