VHS to PC transfer, equipment question.

[ewarwoowar]

Apologies if this has been asked before, although couldn't find exactly what I was looking for here...

As the title suggests I'm looking to connect a VHS video recorder to my PC in order to transfer tapes to DVD.

I ahve the following sockets...

PC - S-Video input and Digital Sound card.
Video Recorder - Scart and RF output.

My question is, do I need a Video Capture device (internal or external) or can i connect the two directly with cables and converter plugs?

Thanks in advance.

[AndyH]

You've got a bit of a mismatch there unfortunately.

The S-Video input on the PC will only be useful if you've got a S-VHS video with an S-Video output.

And you'll need to take an analogue audio out from the video into your sound card.


Does your video player only have Scart and RF? The audio side would be easily taken care of if it has phono output for L and R audio.


You are most likely going to have to capture composite video, which is most likely what you'll get from your Scart output. This will require a Scart to phono type lead (typically 3 cables - yellow for composite video, white + red for stereo audio).

What actually does the capturing is the next question. I'm assuming your S-Video input on the PC is on the graphics card? You may find it also supports composite, you just need the right cable / adapter. However, you're likely tied to whatever capture software goes with your graphics card, although I could be wrong on this point. I've always used a dedicated capture card for what you're attempting. You don't have to go expensive for VHS, although the cheaper you go the harder it is to setup and do a decent job (cue a world of drivers and codecs that you may or may not be aware of).


Perhaps your best option is to look for a dedicated external capture device and a Scart - Composite cable as described above.


Oh yes.. because after you've captured the video you've got the world of encoding and authoring to look forward to :)

You're right though, there are plenty of guides on the Internet to help. Try http://www.videohelp.com/ as a starter.

[ewarwoowar]

Thanks, most helpful!

[Chris Locke]

Might be worth investigating standalone DVD recorders. £180 would get you a LiteOn model. A big chunk of money, but could be easier than faffing around with encoding software, lip sync issues, oooooodles of disk space, etc, etc.

[Zub]

I have done this with the Asda dvd recorder, only £69!