How to convert Old VHS Movies to DVD

I want to convert all of my old commercial VHS movies to DVD. All of the available equipment says it will not do copyrighted recordings and, indeed, I do have problems. Is there software available that will allow me to do this. I am talking about only material that I OWN!!

Prophet650@hotmail.com

AFAIK there is no protection that can prevent converting VHS to digital format. Macrovision protection prevents copying to another VHS cassette.

I don't see any problem converting VHS to DVD. You should have some kind of video capture device. It could be video card with TV-in, TV-tuner, capture card. You may even use digital video camera to convert VHS to digital format.

Connect video out of VHS recorder to video in of your computer device, audio out of VHS recorder to line-in of your sound card and capture.

Lots of programs can capture videos. Some of them can record sound as well.

I am looking for some ideas or tip on the topic of “VHS Videos to DVD/VCD Conversion”. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Here is some info on what I have:



I have the software and hardware to capture video to my PC and a DVD/CD burner to make the discs.
I have been using my VHS-C video recorder for past several years using, I believe, the “LP” mode on my video camera to be able to record 90 min video on a 30 min VHS-C tapes. I realize that the video quality is a bit worse than the “SP” mode; don’t know how much worse though.
I have used software like Sonic myDVD that came with my DVD burner and/or the video capture card. This software captures the video creating an mpg file and then processes it to burn the DVD. This DVD has the audio coded as “LPCM 2-ch unspecified” and the DVD runs fine in my old (1999) Sony DVD player.
I have another software, Honestech VHS to DVD Deluxe 3.0, that captures the video and burns a DVD with “MPEG-1 2-ch unspecified” audio. This DVD has difficulty playing in my Sony DVD player getting stuck at places or simply doesn’t play to begin with (showing “C:13:…” on the TV screen). This DVD plays fine in my Philips DVD player, though.




My questions are:



I vaguely remember reading somewhere that for a “DVD standard” the audio must be at least either Dolby Digital or LPCM. Is it really true? Although, when my Sony DVD player plays a DVD that has audio coded as “MPEG-1 2-ch unspecified”, it shows as “PCM” on the player display.
I am wondering about the video quality of my original videos on VHS-C tapes recorded using “LP” mode on my video camera. Any guidance here?
If my original videos are not as good as “DVD quality”, what’s the point in making DVDs out of the tapes? Instead, I am thinking I could make DivX videos after capturing and burn the DivX files on CDs and or DVDs. I am thinking DivX videos would not come out any worse than DVDs made from the original VHS-C tapes. Would this be true?
My Philips DVD Player has a DivX logo on it. So, the DivX video files on a CD or DVD should play fine, right?
I have heard that DivX format video would take about 650MB for a 60-90 min video. Is it true?


Any comments would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks,

Originally Posted by technical

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that for a “DVD standard” the audio must be at least either Dolby Digital or LPCM. Is it really true?

At least Dolby DTS can be used as well. You should re-read the specification if you are really interested in this kind of stuff. Actually this information is mainly for hardware/sofware vendors.

Originally Posted by technical

I am wondering about the video quality of my original videos on VHS-C tapes recorded using “LP” mode on my video camera. Any guidance here?

I've never used the LP mode. Preferred the SP to it. And actually I can't suggest to use such a camera if you need editing. One can buy a nice MiniDV camera for about $300-500 and it will allow you to edit your videos easily. Of course many people have old cassettes that need to be converted to digital format.

Originally Posted by technical

If my original videos are not as good as “DVD quality”, what’s the point in making DVDs out of the tapes?

Actually I saw 4 pirate movies on a single DVD-5 disc. I suppose they were still of DVD quality.

I suppose that DVD Videos are great when you use sophisticated menus, chapters, several audio tracks, subtitles. All of them can be handled with a remote control.

Originally Posted by technical

Instead, I am thinking I could make DivX videos after capturing and burn the DivX files on CDs and or DVDs. I am thinking DivX videos would not come out any worse than DVDs made from the original VHS-C tapes. Would this be true?
I have heard that DivX format video would take about 650MB for a 60-90 min video. Is it true?

It really depends on the settings you use when encoding your videos. I have lots of MPEG-4 movies that don't really look great. If you use 2-pass encoding, use about 700 Mb for 50-60 min video, do not use fast encoding method, the result should be great. And if you don't need any menus and chapters then you can convert your old tapes to DivX (unless you are going to give these videos to people that don't have DivX support in their standalone players).

Originally Posted by technical

My Philips DVD Player has a DivX logo on it. So, the DivX video files on a CD or DVD should play fine, right?

Actually DivX certification has some restrictions, so only if use the proper DivX profile you will be able to play such videos.

doom9.org is a very good web-site if you wanna learn more.