VHS to DVD conversion

[Ace_2000]

I have a couple of questions. I have several KISS shows on VHS (copied directly from the master, not sure of the equipment used) and want to put them onto DVD. I do not own a standalone DVD recorder. I do own a VHS player/recorder and a Dell laptop (no TV Tuner). What would be the best way for me to get these shows onto DVD?

A folllow up question, would I be able to share these shows with the Traders' Den community after I record them to DVD?

[Ace_2000]

I talked to a friend of mine about this and he recommended an all in one DVD recorder/VHS player. Is that my best bet? If so, what manufacturers and models do you recommend? He didn't know of any off hand.

I asked the second question, whether or not I could share the DVD's that I create here because of the lineage, which I gave all that I know in my first post.

[sjmike]

I'd recommend either the Panasonic DMR-EZ47VK DVD Recorder or the Toshiba DVR650 DVD Recorder/VCR Combination.

[Silver Stallion DVDs]

Here's some very straight forward advice for you:

Before you bother doing any transfers, do some homework to make sure that higher quality transfers of the shows you have haven't already been done. There is a huge legion of Kiss traders out there and unless you just happened to get really lucky and acquire a 1st gen VHS transfer of a show that didn't make it into circulation (not likely), you're basically wasting your time for one, and secondly, you're introducing a lower quality version of a show into the trading pool.

[stantheman1976]

If you still want to transfer them for just yourself or to share a set top DVD recorder would be best. If you're not someone who's into video editing and conversions that's your simplest solution.

[AAR.oner]

like Silver stallion said, i would search to make sure these aren't already out there...even if they're not in circulation--if its only a few shows, i would recommend finding an experienced video editor/authorer who already has the gear and experience...i say this for a few reasons:

1. even if you buy an inexpensive VHS/DVD deck, it'll still set you back a few hundred bucks, the A>D conversion in those is usually lacking [which means mediocre quality at best], and you typically have no ability to create menus/set specific chapter points/set compression rates/etc

2. to get a good quality transfer, you really need a pro SVHS deck & quality A/D converter [a decent TBC helps as well, if the A/D device doesn't have it built in]...yer now looking at a well over a thousand dollars, for used equipment

3. VHS can be tricky, especially old VHS tapes...if you've never done any editing, syncing, authoring etc - it can be a time consuming process to learn...for just a few tapes, not sure it'd be worth it when there are numerous people with the knowledge/equipment to do it up right

if you wanna considering having someone else do it, try posting in the Tapers' Forum...but a word of warning, you'll want to check out a person well before agreeing to send them yer tapes...ask what gear they use, how many shows they've authored, what they've seeded here, etc...and ask for examples of their work ;)

feel free to PM me with any ?s, and i'll try to help out

[pawel]

What do you want to do? Capture from Ati to Vegas? I don't know this card but I guess it should save captured file to disc, which then can be converted/authored in other program.

[u2rulesmyworld]

yeah what Randy said, post the show dates and info on some KISS trading boards and see if some of the traders there can tell you if there are already better sources

and standalone burners are crap, find someone with a great VHS player and that ability to capture direct into a computer

[xjsb125]

I had a similar problem using an ATI 9200 All In Wonder card. I would capture and it would be rendered to 320x240 every time, even if I switched the settings in Vegas. When I switched to using an Canopus ADVC110 (using firewire) the problem was no longer an issue.

[u2rulesmyworld]

my guess is that the coaxial cable is transmitting at a resolution lower than 720x480

my only advice is try it in Vegas 7.0 or try using analog cables(yellow, red, white)

maybe try capturing 704x480 or 640x480

i use Vegas alot but have never used it to capture from a VCR

here is a BIG iIF, if you have a sony camera with analog pass through you can trick the computer into thinking it is DV, my old dig8 trv340 would do this, let me know if you happen to have a sony camera with pass through capability(analog in, DV out)

[u2rulesmyworld]

i read up on the AtiTVWonder200, it is advertised primarily as a an analog TV capture card, suppose to work kind of like a Tivo or DVR i guess, i would assume this means it came with software to program it to record the incoming signal. Use THAT software to record it as an avi file and then import into Vegas

http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder200/index.html