Converting VHS tape to DVD

[lemonskin]

hi

nervous first post :shock:

i have about a dozen 3-hour vhs tapes of babies gurgling, toddlers falling over on cornwall holidays and other boring-to-anyone-else type cr*p, but i am aware of the fact that every year that goes by, the more they are degrading. (talking magnetic particles, not just degrading/embarrassing to my now teenage sons)

now we have a brand spanking new computer that should be up to the job of transferring these tapes to dvds and i want to have a go, but i've done so much googling that i am suffering information overload. :-(

internal pci cards? analogue-digital converters connected to the firewire port? plug-in usb thingies that can burn direct to disc? rca jacks? composite? separate phono leads? s-video port? arrrgh arrgh aRGGHHHH!!!!!

i really don't know which method of transfer is the best to use, so i'm hoping that you more techie-brained people can advise me.

this is our pc (with windows vista home premium installed):
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?PC-1109
the vcr is an old panasonic which as far as i can tell just has antenna/aerial sockets (one in, one out), and two scart sockets.

i would like you to recommend the best way of transferring my old tapes.


after all the googling, i'm worried about lots of things. one of them is how audio/video lip synch often goes awry when doing these transfers. and/or quality of footage deteriorates.

thanks in advance to anyone willing to explain things to me. you'll need patience!

[lemonskin]

i also need to know what type of blank dvd to buy.


single layer or dual layer? i know i can get more on a dual layer, but are they more risky to use - is a single layer more reliable?

and then there's the plethora of choice of blank dvd:
dvd-r
dvd+r
dvd-rw
dvd+rw

and probably others but which i don't know about.

as i want to make "archive" dvds, i'm guessing that i'm better off NOT buying rw ones.

but dvd-r or dvd+r? i think i read somewhere on my googling travels that dvd-r is the most compatible, most likely to play on most players.
is this correct?

[Jonny2Bad]

Have been asked to this also, was gonna tackle it next week, a capture card would be required, a good 1 should come with the required software, I have a tv capture card and that will probably be ok, I will keep you posted on my progress and what had worked for me. Dvd- is the better of the 2. A scart to s-video lead may also be required if there isnt 1 on your vcr.

[lemonskin]

thanks for reply! yes, i'd really appreciate your feedback on how you do.

i've been reading reviews on amazon.co.uk re various products, and it seems that for every good review, there are two bad ones. i feel i'm gong round in circles. :?

thanks also for confirming that dvd- is a better choice than dvd+,
and for the cable info. I was hoping that it is possible to buy a scart to s-video but i was confused (what's new!) & didn't even know if such a thing existed/would do the job.


back in the day, camcorders were either in vhs, or s-vhs. (i think the s stood for 'super')
our camcorder recorded in plain old vhs.
and i think - THINK - that s-vhs and s-video are nothing to do with each other, meaning that i could transfer my non-s-vhs footage using an s-video cable. is this correct ? i realise i must sound super-dumb but i have to ask. i'm a worrier.

[matz]

I have a gamebridge recorder, records all consoles and anything that fits in RCA or S video plugs if im right. Post here if you would like to buy it ;)