Transfer VHS to DVD

I want to transfer some home VHS movies onto DVD.
Can I connect a laptop with "TV Out" to a TV (with a VCR hooked up to the TV) and capture the video onto the harddrive of the computer, and then proceed to make a DVD?

If not, what is the best (and cheapest) way to transfer VHS to DVD. I have searched around the web, but am still unsure. Also, is it possible to create "chapters" for the DVDs?

Also, is there anyway to convert an internal DVD burner (meant for a desktop) into an external dvd burner for use with a notebook?

Thanks in advance.

 

Well, there are a few ways you can do it:

1. A few manufacturers have standalone units that are a combo of DVD-R/RW / DVD-ROM / CD / VCR. I believe Panasonic just introduced a new model that specifically supports recording from a VHS source to DVD. This would be the easiest option, not neccesarily the least expensive.

2. From a desktop (internal or external DVD recorder) you need a way to get your VHS source to the computer. There are a number of cards and USB devices that will let you do this. If you have ever purchased a video camera for your computer and it needed an external card, you may be good to go.

Years ago I purchased a 3Com desktop camera and there was a PCI card that needed to be installed to capture video, sound, and provide power to the camera. Because it had the inputs for video and sound, I can use that same card to feed video from ANY external video source.

Once you have that piece worked out, it's a matter of finding your software for the video editing.

3. Basically the same story if you're going to use a laptop. You need someone way to capture the VHS source while accomodating the DVD writer. Again, there are a number of USB devices that will do that for you.

I would imagine you should be able to find a kit to convert an internal drive to an external. They're easy to find for hard drives, might need to do some digging for a DVD/CD drive, but they should be out there. If you have an overwhelming number of videos to convert to DVD, I would look at the standalone options. Only because that processing is going to eat up alot of resources and you probably won't be able to do much else on your machine while editing videos.

I myself am waiting for the Dual Layer drives so I can put my wedding video on DVD. Because I only have one or two videos I'm looking to convert, I'm just waiting to pick up a DVD drive and will use my existing video capture device.

 

Run1track,

1. A notebook with "TV Out" can't be used as a Video In source to record your video onto the HDD.

2. ATI has a USB TV Tuner that will allow for both cable & video input so you can connect your VCR/Cable directly to this device which is connect to your USB port and capture video directly to you HDD. This is probably one of the least expensive routes, as long as you already have a DVD burner.

http://www.ati.com/products/tvwonderusb20/index.html

3. Yes, you can create chapters for the video that you capture. I made a video with Chapters & small animated Thumbnails for each chapter. I think I used a program called TMPGEnc DVD Author to make the chapters & then format the video to work on the DVD. Just capture your video in MPEG format (VCD quality, more minutes of video) or MPEG2 (DVD quality, less minutes of video) then use the program to make the chapters & menus & then click create. All the folder & proper files will be created & then burn with your favorite program.

4. Yes, you can take your Internal DVD burner and put it into an External 5.25" USB2/Firewire drive enclosure and that should be it. Connect it upto your system via USB or Firewire and viola!

-Vb-

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Big Calhoun

 

I spent quite a bit of time researching what kind of HW/SW to purchase to convert my video library to DVD. In addition to the cost, I would have to spend time to feed the tapes/DVDs through the process. I was going to do 1-2 tapes each night for over a month.
In the end, I'd have hardware I didn't need after the DVD conversion was complete, so I decided to outsource it.
I did research on the conversion companies. Price and turnaround time were factors, but mainly I wanted a reputable company since I was giving/trusting them to get my tapes back safely. I chose The Photo Archival Company.
I got my 93 DVDs back in 2 weeks, labeled perfectly as I requested. I have already watched many of them and they are EXCELLENT!!! My final cost was just as originally quoted.
I'm very happy and feel like this was a good choice. This is one of the sites I looked at when doing my research, so I thought I'd take a minute to write and save someone else the time...or help advise to go with a conversion company.
http://thephotoarchivalco.com/video_quote.asp

Cheers,
Sal

 

Perhaps, you could try VHS to DVD 3.0, here is the link:
www.honestech.com/vhs-dvd

 

I just connected the cable from the output of a Panasonic VHS recorder to the input of a Liteon DVD recorder.

John