Summary: Copying VHS tapes to a DVD or your computer and from there to a DVD, is not that difficult, with the proper bits and pieces.
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Could you tell me how to connect my VCR to my PC so I can put my videos onto DVD disks? |
VHS tapes are disappearing from the landscape as digital technology rapidly takes over. But what to do with all those old VHS recordings you might have of your own?
Copying them to a DVD or your computer and from there to a DVD, is not that difficult, with the proper bits and pieces.
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The simplest, but least flexible way is to simply get a DVD recorder. No computer required. Once connected, push record on the DVD recorder, play on the VCR and come back when the tape's done.
To capture on your computer, you'll need either a video card that can take a VCR's video and audio as input, or a video tuner card that can tune to the TV channel that the VCR broadcasts on. Another nice alternative is a VCR or camcorder that can output on a firewire connection, and then capture to a firewire card in your PC.
Once it's on the computer, a DVD burner and some burning software, and you're in business. The nice thing about capturing to your computer is that the burning software typically includes some rudimentary editing functionality, and there are several higher powered editing packages available as well.
As you can imagine, there are many variables. I've included some resources below that should head you in the right direction.
Related:
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Sign Video - How to Convert VHS to DVD
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Imation - Convert VHS Tapes to DVD
Article C2353 - May 16, 2005
i tape off tv shows on a vcr and then play tape and copy to a dvd recorder - i edit out the ads - but somone said this is illegal even to copy a tape i copied to a dvd or to give the dvd to someone else - i think parts of the copyright law are stupid - the tv station pays for the video and they know people will tape it
Posted by: jan sterling at April 29, 2009 2:18 AMhi leo ,i have a nvidia geforce 9800 gtx+ ,is this good enough ? or to new to copy vhs or beta ro dvd?
Posted by: alex at June 9, 2009 2:26 AMI got your vhs2dvd wizard this past week did everything it said to do the screen comes up on pc but the picture from vcr is all gargle up although the picture is great on my tv checked it out a numerous times still i cant get it to transfer over can u help thanks
16-Jul-2009
Posted by: norma brinton at July 15, 2009 3:56 PM
My son wants to convert old vhs tapes to be able to see them on the computer. These tapes are commercial movies. If copying them won't work, as seems to be what you are saying in the first comment, is there some way to instead hook the VCR up to the computer so he can watch the vhs tapes directly on the computer? Thanks.
Posted by: Susan Ulanowsky at September 14, 2009 9:04 PMi am trying to copy a vcr tape to dvd and keep getting an error message "protected signal detected, copy abort"
Help please!!! much appreciated....thanks
Posted by: lisa silverman at September 22, 2009 8:50 AMThere are a lot of video transfer services that can convert your VHS to DVD for you. Most of these are direct VHS to DVD transfers like you would get if you used a VCR/DVD recorder.
I wanted a bit more of a customized option and discovered StashSpace.Com They transfer VHS to digital then let you watch and edit your video online. This worked really good for me because I wanted to combine two tapes onto one DVD, add titles, and remove some unwanted footage. I was vary pleased with my final DVD.
Here is a link to their website with more information:
Posted by: Al at September 28, 2009 4:08 PMhttp://www.stashspace.com/video-transfer/vhs-to-dvd.stm
I have been researching this for my dad. He has tons of old VHS tapes of the family from when I was growing up that he wants to preserve. I figured that moving them to DVD would be the best way. I have found many different ideas to do this but the easist recommendation came from this list of software: http://www.burnworld.com/software/video/vhs-to-dvd-review.htm I purchased the Roxio product and it came with the cable I need to hook up the VCR to the computer, that way I was able to capture the video and then burn to a disc. I hope others find this useful and easy.
Posted by: Michael Nantz at November 13, 2009 9:56 AMThis doesn't really answer the question. It doesn't tell you what cables you need to connect the VCR to your computer (except for mentioning a firewire cable), it doesn't tell you where to plug them in, it doesn't deal with different kinds of VCRs (of which there is a 20+ year history that spans hundreds of countries), nor does it tell you about different kinds of video cards, really. So thanks, once again, for wasting my time. I do not know why I continue to use the internet. It is a [edited].
Posted by: Matthew Dickinson at December 9, 2009 7:01 PMYou can make backups of your tapes for your own use only, not to sell or give to other people (unless you also give them the original as well). If you are struggling because of Macrovision protection to backup your old videos you can buy a SCART cable that removes Macrovision. These are only legal if you are using it to copy protected programmes that you own and that you keep the originals. Sonel make one here - http://www.sonel.com/ at £29.99 for the UK. Also one other thing to try is on some VCRs and many DVD recorders they have two scart sockets, if you get blank screens with no pictures and/or no sound try swapping the scart sockets over (preferably ensure the VCR goes into the one labelled VCR), their is usually a difference between the two sockets and if you plug them into the wrong sockets then you can either get no picture or nothing at all. This is also the same for TV's as well, one SCART is usually for your satellite box on the TV and the other is for DVD recorder/VCR (on many TV's the VCR socket is coloured blue and states VCR or shows the tape symbol, although not all manufacturers follow this colour/naming scheme).
Posted by: Darren at December 13, 2009 12:45 AMI agree the best solution to copying vhs to dvd is to use a stand alone player/recorder but you can also get excellent results via software and a usb dongle(easyCap) Now to address the garbled video issue its a little copyright protection monster called Macrovision which is present in most commercial vhs tapes to stop piracy. The only way around this is to buy an image stabilizing black box that sits between the vcr and dvd recorder. These are available online if you google it but theyre getting scarce as they are now illegal.Try googling Macrovision defeat. Hope this helps. BTW Disney tapes are the worst for Macrovision embedded protection.
Posted by: digitrunner at December 15, 2009 10:25 AM