another question for the techie types

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
With the discussion about longevity of floppies and such, it occurred to me that we have a VHS tape in the safe deposit box that has tremendous personal value to our family.
I contacted a business locally that has been in the video business for more than thirty years. He told me that VHS images cannot be transferred to CDs or DVDs, only the audio was transferable.
Seems strange to me since so many old movies are now available on CD and DVD. But, wadda I know? :dunno:
In fact, I have been under the impression home equipment was available that would allow this to be done on a computer that can burn CDs and DVDs.
Wadda y'all know about this?
 
Your local guy is blowing smoke. Lotsa ways it can be done.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...z=1B3GGIC_enUS260US261&ie=UTF-8&aq=1&oq=vhs+t

Probably the most straightforward way is with a set-top DVD recorder like Jay used...something like this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+Factory-Refurbished+Multiformat+DVD-R/-RW/%2BR/%2BR+DL/%2BRW+Recorder/9684667.p?id=1218146397595&skuId=9684667&st=dvd%20recorder

Or a little less expensive, a video converter that send the VCR signal to your computer for recording on the DVD burner...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pinnacl...d=1209166068373&skuId=8853797&st=dvd recorder

For a single tape, I'm sure you can probably find companies on the Web who already have the equipment, and can do the conversion for less that it'd cost to buy your own. If you want to convert several tapes, it might be worth the investment to get your own recorder (or video converter that will use the DVD burner in your computer).
 
Some camcorders actually give you the ability to do this. Hang with me here for a minute... :D

I've got a little sony handy cam that has a firewire out. I can also use it as a 'recorder'. I've hooked up the firewire to the pc, and the camcorder to ANY video source that has an RCA plug out for video and RCA plug (or two for stereo) for audio.

Using my camcorder as an intermediary, I can stream the video from that source (perhaps a VHS recorder) straight into a video editing program on my pc. Works like a charm, but it was a pain to figure out how to do it...
 
Thanks all, I might just buy one of those units and do it myself. We have a lot of other memory tapes that would be nice saved on DVD. This particular one is, for us, super special, that's why I keep it in the safe deposit box at the bank.
I figgered it had to be simple.
And, this guy is supposed to be an expert. He makes videos for commercials and stuff. :huh: Oh, well.
 
And, this guy is supposed to be an expert. He makes videos for commercials and stuff. :huh: Oh, well.

Frank,

Don't blame him too much. In lay terms, the VHS will be much lower quality than people are used to with DVDs. It's possible he's been burned by high customer expectations on quality issues over which he has no control. It's pretty tough to get HD quality off a VHS tape... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
I think the issue is still photos - it's possible to capture them, though they'll look awful.

You can get video input devices for the PC relatively cheaply, though the easiest option is to find someone with a direct video-input DVD burner and use it instead. Buying such a burner secondhand may actually be cheaper than many VHS-to-DVD services, though not by much.
 
Frank, another option would be an all-in-one combo VCR/DVD box that does it all with the push of a button or two:

eBay Listings


Not necessarily saying eBay is the way to go (although I've had good success with new electronics on eBay), but it shows there are some pretty reasonably priced devices out there.
 
Frank,

Don't blame him too much. In lay terms, the VHS will be much lower quality than people are used to with DVDs. It's possible he's been burned by high customer expectations on quality issues over which he has no control. It's pretty tough to get HD quality off a VHS tape... ;)

Thanks,

Bill

I rephrased the question - again. He responded moments ago saying he can do it. I'll probably let him do it. I know he has professional grade equipment and the price is only $25.00. I can burn copies.
But, I will look into the items mentioned here. We have many 'memory' type tapes I would like preserved.
 
Hey Frank, I was jumping for joy when I found that Radio Shack has a phonograph that will hook to the computer so i can make CD's of some of thos old priceless records I have gathering dust. I even have some old 78's. I collected lots of classical music albums and inherited some from the folks that are very hard to find in modern format. I even have an album that my mother recorded. She was a classical pianist. I bet I could even clean up the pops and crackles with the computer magic. :guitar::clap::clap::clap:
 
My father took a bunch of old 8mm movies and some vhs movies to Walmart and now they are on DVD and he said it was a very reasonable price
 
Hey Frank, I was jumping for joy when I found that Radio Shack has a phonograph that will hook to the computer so i can make CD's of some of thos old priceless records I have gathering dust. I even have some old 78's. I collected lots of classical music albums and inherited some from the folks that are very hard to find in modern format. I even have an album that my mother recorded. She was a classical pianist. I bet I could even clean up the pops and crackles with the computer magic. :guitar::clap::clap::clap:

Most of those are extremely awful. You're much better off using your own turntable, and instead buy an in-line phono preamp and decent soundcard.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/40-630&CAWELAID=220417963
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...701368&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26048317
 
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