Strategies for transferring VHS to digital

[spncity]

1. Wondering if there are now cables that go from the VHS player to USB-C?

2. Is it best to go straight to a laptop with plenty of hard drive space or stick to recording on DVD first? See number 4.

3. Best method for Mac?

4. Seems like cables are more economical that buying a VHS to DVD recorder in the same unit, but would also consider that option and recommendations.

5. I should have done this a long time ago when those units were cheaper.


Thanks for comments.

 

[RunningBum]

I looked on Amazon for the ION VHS converter I got from Woot years ago for $30. It's been discontinued, but I did find this, which I think you might be looking for: https://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Converter-Capture-Support-Android/dp/B06X42H9VZ/

There are still a couple recorder boxes available too. Just look up "VHS to digital converter".

My ION converter worked good enough for the family tapes I wanted. The memories are still there even if the converted video isn't superb. I didn't bother to try to convert old movies.

 

[Animorph]

We bought this from Amazon for a little bit of flexibility:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R9RNDW6

DW liked being able to record to USB drive, and it may be handy for HD in the future. Otherwise there are cheaper options. There are plenty of others that should be OK for VHS. USB-C should be possible with an adapter. DW used a Mac and normal USB-A. I think she used "DVDStyler" to write DVD's using an external drive. That seemed easy enough. I did have to combine some videos that ran into file size limitations (2GB). The combined video looks fine, but required this extra step and a program to do it. Direct to computer wouldn't have that problem, but ties up your computer for a while.

DW is now converting LP's into MP3's, which has been a whole different story. She has had to process each album side separately, which has taken some time in Audacity. Audacity uses its own file format and songs must be manually exported to create MP3 or WAV files. Kind of a long time to watch it export, but too short to do something useful while you're waiting. It looks like once you have one track per file there are some programs that can batch process them, including Audacity. One of the programs that can batch process from album side to individual tracks might be quicker, though maybe error prone.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm going to try this soon. Just got the new computer up and running with large storage so I'm ready to attempt. I got this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NPFJJ7K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And am hoping for the best. My expectation is that it's best to save it to a hard drive directly and then try to go to a DVD if that's what you want. I'm not too interested in converting it to a DVD. I just want it digital so that I can get rid of the tapes.

Hope you have a VCR. They don't make them any more. I have two but one of them doesn't rewind. There's also one at my dad's that is in the guest room that I don't think has been used much at all. That's my back up.

 

[easysurfer]

I've transferred some of VHS tapes to DVD several years ago, but don't think I've rewatched the DVDs even once. I still have some tapes to transfer over but prefer to transfer over as MP4 files instead of DVD.

I a device in Nov of 2019 and it does work. Without the need of a PC. Handy that the devices used it's own LCD screen to monitor the transfer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V9JNRZY

 

[folivier]

I transferred family movies of the kids growing up using an Elgato directly to a portable HDD using my iMac. Gave each kid a copy, hopefully they'll add to it as their kids grow up.
But don't be surprised at what we thought was good quality video 30 years ago!

 

[easysurfer]

Thought I'd revive this thread as I've finally found a set up that I'm happy with in transferring some old VHS tapes to digital format.

Most important is to adjust my mindset. I'm thinking I'll transfer then watch the result clearly on a big screen, I'd be disappointed.

I tried the no pc required, built in LCD screen option (see post #5). But that was a fail. Results of video came out too dark.

I tried the elgato USB device route. Close but still wasn't satisfied. Picture was okay but not as good as the input from the VCR.

After some "googling, and the proper hardware" what's working for me to get a digitized result about as good as the original version of the tape is:

1. PC with a Firewire400 card
2. firewire cable for the card
3. Canopus ADVC110 analog to digital converter device (no longer manufactured, but can be found on ebay ... prices vary. Got mine from ebay auction for about $70.
4. If your VCR has an S-video port, a S-video cable helps too for better quality than RCA type cables
5. Software called WinDV (works on Win 10). There's other video capture software out there too but WinDV is the first I tried and simple to use. No need to look for another.
6. of course, VCR + tapes
7. Lots of patience if you have a lot of tapes

The WinDV software records a straight copy to AVI format. The quality is of the output is like the input from the VCR. But because of size, probably need to convert to something like MP4 in more shareable format. Other programs (I previously used a very old Mac Laptop with iMovie as the capture software) may record in other formats. But image quality could be different. I like the idea of a straight copy and then use other programs to tweak as needed.

My suggestion is if you want to convert on your own and don't care too much if the quality isn't as good as the old VHS tape, then the elgato would probably work out just fine. Very easy interface (did have some minor audio/video sync issues with longer videos).

If you want quality about as good as the Tape input and don't mind hunting around, might want the firewire/analog to digital device setup. I bit more geeky, but better results. With this setup, haven't encountered any audio/video sync issues.

Hope this helps others know there are options out there .

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I've transferred some of VHS tapes to DVD several years ago, but don't think I've rewatched the DVDs even once. I still have some tapes to transfer over but prefer to transfer over as MP4 files instead of DVD.

I a device in Nov of 2019 and it does work. Without the need of a PC. Handy that the devices used it's own LCD screen to monitor the transfer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V9JNRZY

We just bought that and a used VCR since our old one broke. It is one of our pandemic projects.

 

[easysurfer]

We just bought that and a used VCR since our old one broke. It is one of our pandemic projects.

Have you had a chance to use that device? Were you satisfied with the results?

I thought the device was really handy with no PC required. But the resulting picture was just too dark and washed out for me. Even after using some software to adjust after the fact.

I then tried the elgato with better results, but still not as good a the original VHS. So after doing some more internet searching, I was reading praise for that ADVC110 device, so had to see for myself.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Have you had a chance to use that device? Were you satisfied with the results?

I thought the device was really handy with no PC required. But the resulting picture was just too dark and washed out for me. Even after using some software to adjust after the fact.

I then tried the elgato with better results, but still not as good a the original VHS. So after doing some more internet searching, I was reading praise for that ADVC110 device, so had to see for myself.

We haven't used it yet. We bought the transfer device first, then realized our VCR no longer worked, so we bought used VCR on Amazon that just came in the mail yesterday. I will report back with our results. If this doesn't work we'll try your list. Thanks for posting what worked for you.

 

[easysurfer]

We haven't used it yet. We bought the transfer device first, then realized our VCR no longer worked, so we bought used VCR on Amazon that just came in the mail yesterday. I will report back with our results. If this doesn't work we'll try your list. Thanks for posting what worked for you.

Hope that you have good results with the device. Look forward to your thoughts. Yay or nay.

 

[easysurfer]

We haven't used it yet. We bought the transfer device first, then realized our VCR no longer worked, so we bought used VCR on Amazon that just came in the mail yesterday. I will report back with our results. If this doesn't work we'll try your list. Thanks for posting what worked for you.

I know you probably haven't had a chance to use your tape transfer device yet, but thought I'd ask what's most important to you? To get vhs transferred over with less fuss? Or the best quality output?

I ask because I've been doing some more converting today. With my setup,to convert a 2 hour tape involves recording to digital in real time (so 2 hrs). Then about another 2 hrs to convert from AVI format to MP4.

If your transfer device doesn't give good results and you don't want to extra conversion time and would be satisfied for not terrible but not the best quality output, then the elgato may be better than my digital converter setup. A matter of priorities, I guess.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I know you probably haven't had a chance to use your tape transfer device yet, but thought I'd ask what's most important to you? To get vhs transferred over with less fuss? Or the best quality output?

I ask because I've been doing some more converting today. With my setup,to convert a 2 hour tape involves recording to digital in real time (so 2 hrs). Then about another 2 hrs to convert from AVI format to MP4.

If your transfer device doesn't give good results and you don't want to extra conversion time and would be satisfied for not terrible but not the best quality output, then the elgato may be better than my digital converter setup. A matter of priorities, I guess.

DH started getting the videos transferred now, once the VCR arrived. They are a little darker than optimal with the VCR / transfer device combo, but I think for us just saving them at all is the 80/20 and will probably be good enough. DH emailed video clips to the kids of when they were toddlers and they didn't seem that interested, so other than finishing the transfer I don't think we will spend a lot of time perfecting the quality.

 

[easysurfer]

DH started getting the videos transferred now, once the VCR arrived. They are a little darker than optimal with the VCR / transfer device combo, but I think for us just saving them at all is the 80/20 and will probably be good enough. DH emailed video clips to the kids of when they were toddlers and they didn't seem that interested, so other than finishing the transfer I don't think we will spend a lot of time perfecting the quality.

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a good plan. Happy that you and your DH found a solution you are happy with.

My trying to get the best quality was an adventure. Glad that I took that route but had to jump through several hoops to get there.

 

[jollystomper]

1. Wondering if there are now cables that go from the VHS player to USB-C?

I have a video capture adapter that goes from VHS player (composite or S-video) to USB. It might work with a USB-C adapter, I have just not tried. It came with software that will then capture the video stream from the VHS player directly to disk.

I believe the device could work with any video capture software since it presents a Windows device driver interface, I just have not tried it.

 

[easysurfer]

Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In

I mistakenly erased a HDD that contained about 20hrs of digitized VHS tapes .

Doing too many things at once, I confused myself and thought I already had a back up before erasing the HDD.

The moral of the story, keep the old VHS tapes just in case. At least I still have the tapes and VCR so can create again. So, mostly what I've lost is just time ... and my pride .