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I would like to convert old VHS tapes that I made on a non-digital camcorder to DVD. Can you recommend any hardware/software for this purpose? I was going to purchase Dazzle, but I read many bad reviews of this product. I would love to hear from anybody who has made these conversions successfully.
PS I have a new Dell 8400 running Windows XP.
Thanks very much for any advice.
Lisa Bracco
If your Dell will accept a new video card,I would suggest this one:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-345&depa=0
With the software provided,you can capture video from VHS or direct from TV. With the default presets in the MMC(multimedia center),they are not so good. You can create your own presets for capture however. A very good tutorial on how to do this is 'Lord Smurf's' : http://www.digitalfaq.com/capture/avivsmpeg.htm
Another option,if you don't want to purchase a new vid card is a PCI capture card such as the ones offered here:
http://www.newegg.com/app/SearchProd...ult.asp?DEPA=0
I should also say,you will need a decent burning program to recode the captured mpeg2 and burn it to dvd. Nero 6/vision express2 comes highly recommended:
http://www.nero.com/en/index.html
It has a trial period that's fully functional.
My links to Newegg are for referral only,but they are a very reliable online retailer as many here will vouch for...:)
I use the ADSTECH DVD EXPRESS to convert VHS tapes to DVD. Results are excellent. You need a big hard drive for the conversion process and a good DVD burner as well.
Thank you for the information.
I have the following video card already installed in my computer:
128MB PCI Express x 16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon x300SE
and these programs already installed:
Sonic RecordNow Plus and MYDVDDeluxe Software
Is this,by chance :) all that I need to convert VHS tapes to DVD? If so, how do I actually connect a camcorder or VCR to the computer to do the transfer?
If I still need a PCI card, are there any that are external? I really hate to open the CPU up.
I also have a 16x DVD+RW drive and a 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive. These are big enough, right?
Lisa
You can't capture video with that card... it doesn't have that capability. You would therefore have two basic options..
One would be to get a video card capable of capturing video... There are quite a few available now in different price ranges but the ATI allinwonder is very popular and they vary in price as well. Expect to spend a minimum of around 100 dollars for something worthwhile, and more if you can afford it.
Here's one of the latest ATI capture cards but they have other less expensive ones as well..
http://www.bytesector.com/data/bs-article.asp?ID=321
(notice the video input jacks... a way to quickly see if it can input video sources)
The second option is to get a dedicated USB video capture device.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&sourceid=1802
They'd be around 200 dollars and once you've finished transfering your videos unless you have more to do or some editing then you'd never use it again. Needless to say I'd go with the capture card
Here's an all encompassing guide to video capturing you may want to look at..
http://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?...elect=9;50#630