[naninca]

So maybe this is a little off topic here, but I figure many of you have stacks of VHS tapes like I do.
There are services that will do this for you, but I don't want to pay the fee.
Can I just load straight to my computer, or do I need a piece of hardware? I figure once I get everything digitized, I can edit and clean up a bit (though I've never done that with video before....)
I have a desktop with XP and a nice new laptop with Vista. I run PSE6 if that makes a difference. I know Costco has Premier Elements (video editing) on special - would that be an option?

Any advice anyone could offer?
Many thanks,
Nancy

[justpattyanne]

We have a separate machine for our TV to record DVD's... We hooked our VCR up to our DVD burner & flew one after the other... We had a TON of them to do (literally hundreds of family movies & academy awards & live performances &&&). Going through the computer made no sense in our situation.

Good luck!

[catinkeri]

Pattyanne's way sounds a lot better than the way that we do it here! So if you have the stuff to do it her way go for it.
When we go from VHS we use three different (sometimes four if we're editing) programmes to do it. We copy the VHS onto a hard drive; convert the copy to a different format and then copy that format onto a DVD via another programme. So all of our homevideos/wedding videos take a bit of transferring - I think we'll just buy the DVD video recorder (?!?!?!) next time and save the extra work.
Good luck ...

[carych]

I am just about to start a project to copy our tapes to digital. We have a program and equipment called Pinnacle. A cable runs from the VCR to the device and another runs from the device to the computer. I'll let you know how it works!

[naninca]

Thanks for your input!
A friend last night said she just took a huge box of tapes and dumped them off at Wolf Camera. And that the price wasn't horrible.
That may make sense, since I don't really want to buy any hardware to do this. But, then, DS the computer wiz said there's a $25 solution (some cable or such).
So, I guess I'm still in the thinking about it phase. The good news is, my 12 year old says he'd love to take this project on. Which means, he's good for an hour or two before he gets bored with it....

I guess my next step is to nail down exactly what DS was talking about. And call Wolf for pricing!

I'll keep y'all posted!
Nancy

[carych]

Nancy - I'll be interested to hear what you learn. And I'll let you know how Pinnacle works when I get a chance to try it!

[DaveUK]

Hi Nancy!

I've done some of this recently with some of my sons old motor racing vhs tapes. We tried the "plug in cable thingy" option from several suppliers. The results were dissapointing to say the least.

Third party prices here in the UK are'nt that good and they are very funny about determining what is and isn't copyright!

So, we went to the expense of a DVD recorder with a Hard Drive in it. We were able to then connect up the VCR and record to the Hard Drive recorder, do a simple edit and add titles, and then copy it out to DVD.

You could create DVD's this way, and then import those DVD's into your PC's editing package should you wish to. It should give you a better quality end product than the plug in option. It also becomes a great permanent archive.

Hope this helps!

[naninca]

Well, the Wolf Camera option turned out to be pretty pricey. And not too practical.
Will chat with DS this weekend, and see if the cable makes sense. I have some "techy" friends, who just may have the hardware (DVD recorder, anyone?)
Maybe if I ask nicely, they'd let me borrow it. (I bake a mean batch of cookies...)
Thanks for all the input. I hadn't thought that the cable would lead to poor quality!

Nancy