Converting VHS to digital (CD/DVD)

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I'm about to do the exact same thing, so I'll let you know how it goes.

I have an old VCR, and I have a USB capture device.

I will be attempting this with Linux, but I'll try to use cross-platform tools or suggest alternatives for Windows where possible.

I'm thinking it'll go something like this:

1. Hook VCR outputs to capture device inputs
2. Start capturing
3. Insert tape, press play
4. Wait
5. Stop capture
6. Trim start/end
7. Maybe run an automated "clean up" pass
8. Rinse, repeat about 40 times

I'm not looking for pro quality, I just need to preserve these videos in some form before they degrade or are otherwise lost completely.

And I have not even tested this old VCR that I picked up at a garage sale yet, so I might false start a couple times on this. Just thought I would share that I'm in the same boat, and I hope my future experience will help in some way.

I have used something similar and had good results. You just have to find a working vcr

Sorry it took a few days, but I just did a test run with this capture device, and it looks like it will work just fine.

You can probably find some software more specialized for this for Windows, but as a fallback you can use VLC which is cross-platform. As I mentioned, I am running VLC on Linux, and all I did was hook up the VCR and capture device, which is really simple, and then I used the "Convert / Save" option in VLC. You just choose the video source, maybe change a few options, choose a save location and press "start". Press play on the VCR and VLC watches the video and records it. I went with h264 and it looks to use about 15megs per minute of video. There was a slight interlace issue, which like I said isn't a huge deal for me, but I'm confident I can clean that up either by playing with the record settings, or by post-processing the video with another tool. Once you have the video file, you can trim/edit how you like and transfer/burn it to whatever media you want.

Hope this helps!

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This is one of those things I'd definitely prefer to pay someone to do for me as opposed to investing the time and resources into learning to what amounts to be a one-time skill.

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The thing I've learned about DIY is that there are always several peripheral skills obtained in the process of learning one specific task.

Already I've learned a few things about VLC and what it's capable of. As I continue I will likely learn a few new command line tools, as well as some things about video editing.

I feel like I was able to zero-in on an easy (for me) method to capture video because of things I've learned from "one-time" skills I've developed in the past. Also, I already had the capture device because of a previous project that I did (DIY Ambilight).


Personally, I have a box full of at least 40 VHS tapes that I need to convert, so worst case I will save myself $500 to possibly a couple thousand dollars, during a crazy time where there ain't much else to do anyway. Also, I am more than sure that between all my family we have hundreds more home videos that will need to be converted eventually.


And I'm always good for a crazy business idea, and this experience has given me another one: VHS conversion kiosk. This whole process can be mostly automated. It wouldn't be too hard to build a vending machine with racks of VCRs to do this. Pop in a tape and a thumb drive, and then close/lock the door on your section with a phone app. Pay a couple bucks with the app. The machine can notify you when it's finished, you return and unlock your stuff with the app and go.

Can you give my that guy’s contact info?

<—- @gmail.com