[tgrundke]

Hi all,

I've got a slew of VHS tapes that I want to edit and then burn to DVD on my Mac.

Question is, I don't really know where to begin with hardware to do the importing from my VHS deck. I've seen a product called the Sony Media Converter, but am not certain as to the quality of the product.

What suggestions and recommendations are out there to complete such a task without costing me a complete arm and leg. I want good quality video conversion so I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel.

Thanks!

[sensorfreaky]

Originally posted by tgrundke:
Hi all,

I've got a slew of VHS tapes that I want to edit and then burn to DVD on my Mac.

Question is, I don't really know where to begin with hardware to do the importing from my VHS deck. I've seen a product called the Sony Media Converter, but am not certain as to the quality of the product.

What suggestions and recommendations are out there to complete such a task without costing me a complete arm and leg. I want good quality video conversion so I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel.

Thanks!

Those media D/A converters can cost several hundred balls and even then, it may not suit your tastes if you have to use bundled product-specific software in order to make it happen. You might as well invest in a decent (not necessarily expensive) mini-DV camera that has built-in analog pass-through or a analog-in/out. There are many to choose from and most of them are supported by iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and Final Cut Express which will make things much easier for you. Check this link for camera compatibility with iMovie. Some notable ones are the mini-DV consumer offerings from Sony (TRV series) and Canon (ZR, Elura, Optura), etc. I have an Elura 40MC. It's tiny, it shoots great footage, uses the "standard" mini-DV format, and it can input analog sources (like a VHS, or broadcast TV) directly into the camera while at the same time output the video and audio digitally via firewire to iMovie, FCE, or FCP on my Mac without having to record to mini-DV media at all. It works wonderfully and I got it for $750 online. There a cheaper ones that do the same job and there are pricier "prosumer" ones that do the job and then some.

If you already have a superdrive mac, iDVD and iMovie, such a camera is all you will need. And when all is said and done and you have edited your VHS footage and burned your nice iDVD movie, you can shoot any future footage with your nice new mini-DV camcorder and all you'd ever have to do is plug it via firewire to import.

[tr]

if you're not soley interested in using iMovie/iDVD software to edit and burn your content, then i suggest the ADS USB Instant DVD for Mac. i personally use this to get my analog content from VHS into my mac. but, now i seem to be using it more by just plugging in the output from my cable box and recording directly.

the box captures in mpeg1/2 via hardware in real-time, and transfers the data via usb to your hd. it has very good quality. you then use the included software to edit your files, and then you can create a DVD project (including menus and such) and burn. now, the DVD authoring themes aren't as slick as iDVD's, but remember that if you captured your video files in mpeg2, there is no need for encoding to mpeg2 (like when using iMovie/iDVD).

the box is about $350, somewhat pricey compared to the PC version, but it's half that of the minidv cam listed above; and it might be more beneficial, especially if you have no need for a video camera.

tr

[cmay123]

if you are dead set convinced that you want to do this, then I suggest to get a dazzle, you can get them at best buy and other retailers for about $200, but let me warn you, your dvd's will look like crap no matter what you use to import it, vhs is only roughly 230 to 250 lines of resoulution, where dvd is in the range of 400 to 700, depending on quality settings you choose (not available in idvd as far as I know). MiniDV is in the area of 550 lines, so you can see your at a big gap, not to mention when you import into the computer, you lose resolution, when you convert to mpeg, you lose quality, so by the time your all done, it looks like a bootleg dvd you bought from some russian guy selling 20 titles for $20. Its your call, but I wouldnt suggest it, just keep you vhs tapes and instead of buing blank dvd's and equipment, just buy new dvd's from the store.

[tr]

Originally posted by cmay123:
if you are dead set convinced that you want to do this, then I suggest to get a dazzle, you can get them at best buy and other retailers for about $200, but let me warn you, your dvd's will look like crap no matter what you use to import it, vhs is only roughly 230 to 250 lines of resoulution, where dvd is in the range of 400 to 700, depending on quality settings you choose (not available in idvd as far as I know). MiniDV is in the area of 550 lines, so you can see your at a big gap, not to mention when you import into the computer, you lose resolution, when you convert to mpeg, you lose quality, so by the time your all done, it looks like a bootleg dvd you bought from some russian guy selling 20 titles for $20. Its your call, but I wouldnt suggest it, just keep you vhs tapes and instead of buing blank dvd's and equipment, just buy new dvd's from the store.

while a fw dv converter is a nice product, you have to remember that your footage will take up a lot of room, about 12GB per hour for DV (as opposed to 2GB/hr for mpeg-2). i was considering getting a canopus fw-dv converter, but i realized the real bottleneck with those devices and my computer is the re-encoding to mpeg-2, so i chose the ADS box; it was the fastest, most direct route to creating DVD's from my footage.

and as for the quality, i've done both iMovie/iDVD projects and projects using CaptyDVD and the ADS box, and the quality looks fine. yeah, it's not a commercial DVD, but think of it this way: if you're satisfied with the quality on the VHS tapes you've been archiving, then you'll be satisfied with the transfer of the VHS to DVD.

and i think you may be jumping to conclusions about his use of products like these. you seem to imply that he is going to take commercial VHS movies, and transfer them to DVD; instead, you tell him to keep his tapes, and buy new DVD's from the store? what if he has home movies on VHS that he wants on DVD, can he buy a DVD of his home movies from the store? or what if he has a bunch of tv shows that he taped on VHS, maybe those shows will never be put on DVD. (that's what i mainly do, put tv footage onto DVD).

tr

[Hydra]

Originally posted by tgrundke:
Hi all,

I've got a slew of VHS tapes that I want to edit and then burn to DVD on my Mac.

Question is, I don't really know where to begin with hardware to do the importing from my VHS deck. I've seen a product called the Sony Media Converter, but am not certain as to the quality of the product.

What suggestions and recommendations are out there to complete such a task without costing me a complete arm and leg. I want good quality video conversion so I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel.

Thanks!

One of the easiest and mosy versatile ways ways to convert Analog VHS to digital yourself it to use an analog to digital converter like the SONY or just about any DV camcorder with an analog pass-through. All these converters or cameras for this matter will have a digital time base converter (TBC) which will help make any analog source look it's best after conversion to digital.

If the original material was S-VHS or some other high quality original (and you're a stickler for quality) then a more expensive means of conversion may be in order but with standard VHS tapes having less than half the lines or resolution and not near the quality of color of DV it won't really make any difference.

The nice thing about a DV camcorder is that you have a camcorder as well as a converter (for only a little more money than the converter by itself) and you can tape to it like a DV VCR as well (at least my Sony will let you do this) and capture it later to the computer. The thing to keep in mind with Digital-Analog conversion with VHS is that the VHS is the weakest link as far as quality goes. You can't really make the original better than it already is but you could probably spruce it up a bit applying some filters in FCP but that would require some experience and some time to do so.

-Jerry C