Converting Analog Devices

sjajf16 · Post by **sjajf16** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:55 am

Short and sweet, I am looking for a software package to convert analog (VHS, 8MM, etc) to digital for authoring and burning to DVD. I used Pinnacle Studio (V9) in the past with their Moviebox converter. Analog in - USB out. Is there any device or combination of devices to do this with VideoStudio 11? Got a lot of old family tapes.....

Post by **Ron P.** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:20 am

Welcome to the forums,

This depends partly on your budget. There are some that are not expensive, and yet others that can set you back a fair amount. However you get what you pay for.

That being said, I can offer you a the suggestion on what I currently and have been using for some time. I use my Sony DCR-TRV120, a digital 8mm camcorder. It can play both digital and Hi-8 analog tapes. It does the analog to digital conversion, not only when you place an analog tape in the machine, but via it's pass-through capability.

With the pass-through capability I can connect my VCRs to it, using a special AV cable, that has RCA composite plugs on one end. The camcorder then is connected to my PC with a Firewire cable (IEEE-1394, Sony's i-Link). I can then transfer the video to my PC in DV format.

The downside of VS11+ is that the capture plug-in will not allow capturing the analog 8mm tape, when it is played inside the camcorder. Earlier versions had no problems with this. So as a workaround I use VS10+, or a great very lightweight, and free capture utility called WinDV. It doesn't have that problem.

Now for cost, the camcorder cost about $200 (US) about a year ago. It is of course outdated, and was very much so when I purchased it off ebay.

There are much more expensive devices, such as ones made by Canopus, and some capture cards that are less expensive than the Canopus line, such as a Hauppauge video capture cards. What you want to look for in capture cards, or devices, is that they can do the analog to digital conversion. Firewire is recommended for use in video capture/transfer, and not USB.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:04 am

This might be of help: http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=29031

brocot · Post by **brocot** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:33 am

I use this one from PLEXTOR. Not expensive and works fine.

Plextor Converter

Link Edited by Admin, used BBCode "url=" to encase the hyperlink, since it is real long

sjajf16 · Post by **sjajf16** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:45 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions and help. I will be looking at all of them and try to balance price with need. I have liked using the demo of VideoStudio so I will likely be buying that and keeping up with this group...

-Steve