Vhs To Digital For Mac
I have over 30 VHS tapes, eight Hi-8 tapes, and a player for both formats. Would like to make DVDs of these movies. I have done lots of that. To get your VHS video into iMovie, use the Grassvalley ADVC300. With the ADVC300 Audio and Video go in, FireWire comes out. It also comes with a nice Macintosh application that works flawlessly with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 11).
The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material. The ADVC300 will take Audio and Video from any source (VCR, Tivo, Satellite Receiver) and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera).
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why? IMovie 09/11 uses 'single field processing' meaning every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage. IMovie 06 uses ALL of the image to form the video. If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie 09/11, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480.
The end result is obviously not as good. IMovie 06 and iDVD 11 is a 'lossless' combination. I used Elgato capture to copy from VHS deck using the RCA jacks. Takes time because you run the tapes at real-speed. Then iMovie converted into files compatible with iDVD in my SnowLeopard (you may or may not have iDVD as it is not currently easily installed in ML or Mavericks). But Roxio Toast is often recommended as DVD-producer (not just burn to a DVD but also add special features and backgrounds).
I found that the VHS tape quality is critical to the input signal, and the multiple settings of FPS (frames per second) converted form and to. And other settings in the applications can be dizzting.
You may need to experiment. I cannot comment on Easy VHS to DVD3 but if price is only $60 compared to $100 for just Elgato without the DVD special-formatting/encoding software, Elgato + RoxioToast may give you more options.
I will also ask that this be moved to the iMovie sub-forum to catch more eyes that have done this longer than I have. Frank Caggiano wrote: Are you sure neither player has a digital output?
FireWire would be the most likely connector on that type of equipment. Both VHS & Hi-8 are analog tape formats so it is extremely unlikely that VHS players or Hi-8 camcorders would have built-in analog to digital converters. That's why you need a product that includes a hardware A-D converter like the three mentioned by the OP. Roxio's Easy VHS to DVD 3 product is for Windows - there is no software compatible with OS X included.
The Easy VHS to DVD for Mac product does include OS X compatible software but it gets at Amazon, has apparently not been updated in some time, & the for the product has some 'page not found' links suggesting Roxio isn't currently supporting the product very well. The KWorld DVD Maker comes with a software driver for its A-D converter, which apparently uses a Empia 28xx family chipset. According to that driver will not work with recent OS X versions, but for $30 one can purchase the driver to solve that problem.
The KWorld product does not include OS X compatible editing software; for that you use iMovie (& presumably Toast or iDVD or something else) to burn the movies to DVDs. That makes the price about the same as the Roxio solution but complicates support because hardware & software are coming from different companies. The Elgato Video Capture product should be compatible with most OS X versions (but I could not find anything specifically about at beyond the typical '10.5 & above' kind of comment which may or may not mean it supports 10.8 or 10.9) but it captures to H.264/MPEG formats only, so like the KWorld you still need something to convert that to MPEG 2 to burn the captures to a standard DVD.
So basically, there is no easy 'one step' method to transfer VHS (or any of the other analog video formats) to DVD's. Depending on the version of OS X in use, it should be fairly easy to convert the analog source material to a digital format that can be used with iTunes, iMovie, etc., but editing it & particularly burning that to a DVD that will play in a regular DVD player will take more work. I have over 30 VHS tapes, eight Hi-8 tapes, and a player for both formats. Would like to make DVDs of these movies. I have done lots of that. To get your VHS video into iMovie, use the Grassvalley ADVC300. With the ADVC300 Audio and Video go in, FireWire comes out.
It also comes with a nice Macintosh application that works flawlessly with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 11). The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material. The ADVC300 will take Audio and Video from any source (VCR, Tivo, Satellite Receiver) and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera). I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why? IMovie 09/11 uses 'single field processing' meaning every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage.
IMovie 06 uses ALL of the image to form the video. If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie 09/11, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480.
Convert Vhs To Digital Video
The end result is obviously not as good. IMovie 06 and iDVD 11 is a 'lossless' combination. I am suspicious of those due to experience. I used ont that my sister-in-law had puchased to make DVDs directly out of the VHS tapes, but you just have one long stream wil no automatic markers where one begins or ends.
Also I tried one of these burned DVDs on my (less expensive, given) DVDs players at home and it was not recognized. Also is no recognized by any computer for the purposes of simple 'bulk copy'.
Not sure why, but I suspect it uses a proprietary format that works sometimes ONLY in the device that copied it. That is why I tried a method that turns VHS into true computer-format video files. R C-R wrote: Frank Caggiano wrote: Are you sure neither player has a digital output? FireWire would be the most likely connector on that type of equipment. Both VHS & Hi-8 are analog tape formats so it is extremely unlikely that VHS players or Hi-8 camcorders would have built-in analog to digital converters.
Analog, gee would have never realized that 😀 As for the possibility of a digital out, the OP only mentioned that he had a player for the tapes not the specific type. While digital out on the original equipment is unlikely, as you said, newer equipment could have it. I have a Sony deck plays both digital and analog tapes and has a FireWire out. It also has analog inputs and will convert an analog source to digital. So checking to make sure there are no digital outputs on any of the OP's equipment seems like a simple easy to do step that, if it pans out, would save the OP a bunch of money and time.
I've just started converting a whole box of old tapes. I have a little Elgato 'EyeTV Hybrid' USB dongle that comes with SVideo, Composite, L/R audio, and antenna RF inputs. The EyeTV3 software allows live recording into MPEG-2 format with a couple (limited, but selectable) encoding rates.
The 'high (DVD 90 min)' setting gives 720x480, 29.97 fps, 6.0 MBS VBR (8 mbps max), IP frames with 48kHz audio at 384 kbps. It uses an AMD ATI Theater T507 demodulator / USB / Video controller and a NXP TDA18271C2 tuner chip for OTA HD TV reception if you have an antenna. It also allows a 'Live TV Buffer' feature that ues up to 1.5GB of RAM to off-set any recording lags due to disk I/O issues. I haven't tried to see if FCPX or IMovie / IDVD will see the device and record directly.
First tape will is being recorded using the EyeTV software just to kick the tires. My deck is a consumer Philips VR960. Nothing special.
Vhs To Digital Macrovision
Hooked up via SVideo and component audio. Recording on a 2011 MacBook Pro via USB2. 13 minutes 725.4 MB recorded file. Now being automatically exported into H.264 by the EyeTV software because I have the 'Prepare all new recordings for iPhone/iPad' option checked in the preferences. When it's done, I'll import the original recording into FCPX and see how it looks. Apple Footer.
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Somewhere in your house is a drawer full of videotapes - aging home movies shot with a big, bulky camcorder that may not even work anymore. You haven't watched these movies in years, but all this talk about the digital hub and iLife has got you thinking, 'Why not transfer those old videos to the Mac and burn them to DVDs?' Good thinking. Videotapes deteriorate over time. Heat, humidity, and improper storage take their toll on tapes, decaying the magnetic particles that represent your child's first steps. By digitizing that old footage now, you can effectively stop the deterioration in its tracks.
Better still, if you own Apple's iLife suite and a SuperDrive-equipped Mac, you can use iMovie and iDVD to enhance and share your footage for all to enjoy. You can cut the scenes that seemed important then but are snooze-inducing now, add music and narration, create chapter markers to allow fast access to important scenes, and then burn it all to multiple DVDs, so that everyone in the family can have a copy.
Transferring old film and video to DVD can be a time-consuming process - but it's well worth the effort. This step-by-step guide will show you how to get set up and what to do with the movies once they're on your Mac. STEP 1 Set Up Your Transfer Station Before you can transfer footage from an old videotape to your Mac, you'll have to convert the tape's analog signal into digital data that iMovie can use.
Here's your equipment list: A Video Deck The first thing you need is a VCR or a camcorder that can play back your original tapes. If your VCR is showing its age - for example, if it suffers from poor playback or frequent tracking problems - consider springing for a new one.
The improvement in video quality will be worth the investment. If possible, get a VCR that supports S-Video output; this option is more expensive, but it produces a sharper picture than the alternative, composite video. If your tapes are in an obsolete format, such as Betamax, and if your old camcorder no longer works, you can try looking for a replacement on eBay. However, you'll get better results by sending your tapes to a professional transfer service (see below for 'Transferring Film and Other Relics'). Have the tapes transferred to MiniDV format, and then use a MiniDV camcorder to import the footage into your Mac. Digitizing Hardware You also need a device that can convert the analog signal coming from your VCR or old camcorder into digital data.
You have two options here: a MiniDV camcorder or an analog-to-DV converter box. Most current MiniDV camcorders offer a pass-through mode, which converts incoming analog video into digital data, and then transfers that data to your Mac via a FireWire cable. You'll probably have to adjust some menu settings to access your camcorder's pass-through mode. On many Canon camcorders, for example, you must open the VCR menu and turn on the AV To DV Out setting. In some cases, you may also have to remove the camcorder's MiniDV cassette.
Check your camera's manual for specific instructions. If your MiniDV camcorder doesn't provide a pass-through mode, you can still use it. Simply dub your old tapes onto the camcorder's MiniDV tape, and then import the MiniDV footage into your Mac. This process takes longer than just converting the data - you have to copy the entire tape before you can even begin importing footage - but it offers a significant advantage.
When you're done, you'll have a complete MiniDV backup of your original tape. And because you have a digital backup of your footage, you can be more selective when importing scenes from your movie. If you decide you want to add more footage later, you can simply import it from the MiniDV tape rather than reconnect your entire transfer station. If you don't own a MiniDV camcorder, your second option is to purchase an analog-to-DV converter such as the $199 Datavideo DAC-100 ( ). This stand-alone device mimics a camcorder's pass-through mode but costs significantly less than a MiniDV camcorder.
An Extra Hard Drive The last thing you'll need is a place to store your digital data. Digital video inhales disk space at a rate of about 200MB per minute.
This means you'll need around 12GB of space for every hour of footage you import. If you don't have that much space to spare, consider purchasing an additional hard drive. My advice: think big. A 200GB external FireWire hard drive costs less than $300 and will give you enough room for hours of video. It also serves as an excellent archival medium for completed projects.
Making the Connection To import the footage from old videotapes into your Mac, you'll need a MiniDV camcorder with pass-through features or an analog-to-digital converter. To set up your transfer station, connect your VCR's video output A to the video input of your camcorder or converter box. If your hardware supports an S-Video connection, use that instead of composite video. Next, run audio cables from your VCR's audio outputs to the audio inputs of your camcorder or converter box b.
Finally, connect the camcorder's or converter box's FireWire jack to the FireWire jack on your Mac C. If you're using a MiniDV camcorder to convert your video, you may need to adjust a menu setting to activate its pass-through features. Once everything is connected, turn on each device, open a new iMovie project, and begin importing your footage. Transferring Film and Other Relics If your family memories are preserved on film rather than on videotape, you'll need a little extra help getting them into iMovie and onto a DVD. One low-budget option is to project the movies onto a wall or screen and use a tripod-mounted video camera to record the image as the movie plays. However, I don't recommend this.
In most cases, the resulting footage suffers from severe flickering and poor color balance. The best way to transfer film is to send it to a professional transfer service that uses telecine or film chain equipment, which more accurately preserves the color and picture quality of your footage.
Most services will clean and condition your old film before transferring it, to restore as much of its original beauty as possible. Some companies even offer transfer services for obsolete video formats, such as Betamax. I sent some old 8mm movies to Novato Video Transfer (www.novatovideotransfer.com) in Novato, California, and I got great results. The company charges 20 cents per foot, with a $40 minimum setup charge - a fairly typical fee for this type of job. Some companies offer to transfer movies directly to DVD discs. Avoid this option if you want to edit your old footage.
Instead, have your movies transferred to MiniDV tape and then use a camcorder to bring that footage into the Mac.