Capturing VHS video to DVD

zelopes · Post by **zelopes** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 9:20 am

Hi,
I'm a newbie here, so please forgive me if I unwittingly infringe any established protocol...
I have been struggling for over one week to capture video from an old VHS tape recorded with my Panasonic camcorder with not even one hint of success.
I bought a set of so-called "analog to digital video converter cables" from StarTech and I've been using Corel's VideoStudio Pro x2.
The cables came with a disc containing drivers and some capture software (called GrabBee) which I installed. But neither this software nor VS will yield any positive results. Plainly put, nothing happens.
I contacted StarTech about this problem but no progress was made.
Being aware of the fact that VHS tapes degrade with time, my project is to protect a number of videos I taped in the eighties and nineties, when my kids were growing up, and also including several family reunions and trips we made.
I am also aware that I could bring my tapes to a professional and pay for this conversion. But I would very much prefer to do it myself and have the ability of editing any bad quality or too boring segments, according to my own judgment and taste, and it would be a somewhat subjective and even difficult proposition to submit to the professional's judgment. And even if he accepted it, the costs would probably be almost prohibitive.
I have read all that I can encounter about this subject and it always seems so straightforward and simple... But apparently not for me!
Any guidance on what I may have been missing all along?
Thanks to anyone for any help.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 9:25 am

Try this link:
VHS/Hi-8 to DVD

Post by **Ron P.** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:07 am

Analog-Digital capture/transfer has been a problem starting with VS11, it simply refuses to do so. This was brought to Corel's attention on several occasions, up to the current. So far I'm not sure it has been corrected. Without going into detail as to why, you simply have to get your video onto your PC using some third-party program. Once that is done, then just insert your video clips into VS for editing.

Also having a look at StarTech's Website it is difficult to determine what you are capturing with. Several of these seem to use a USB cable to the PC. USB is not a good buss for video capturing, in fact it should not be used at all for this purpose.

I would suggest scraping the Startech device and using something like Grassvalley's ADVC 55. It uses a firewire (IEEE 1394) cable to connect to your PC, and the analog-digital conversion is handled by the ADVC unit. The video is transferred from the box to the PC as DV (avi).

Ken and I both have used a free, very lightweight program for this transfer, called WinDV. Once you have it on your PC, just insert your DV clips into VS and start editing..

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:57 pm

Hi

What version of Camcorder do you own, is it Mini DV? and does it support Pass-through aka Through-put.
If your camcorder has A/V In and DV ¡V Out terminals,
then you may be able to connect the VHS and the A/V in and pc to DV-Out
Capturing the tapes to DV-Avi

Post by **Ron P.** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 1:26 pm

What Trevor suggested is correct, however keep in mind that VS will not allow capture/transfer of video from an analog source, even using a Mini-DV or Digital-8 camcorder's pass-through conversion. You could however use the freebie program I suggested above.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:27 pm

Hi

I can use pass-through to DV with VS 10, no problems.
Don¡¦t have VS 11
X2 I have managed to capture via pass through although the program does a 'not responding' whilst I set it up.
But once capture starts its ok

Ron¡K¡K.Is WIN DV supported by Vista

zelopes · Post by **zelopes** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:11 pm

Ron P. wrote:What Trevor suggested is correct, however keep in mind that VS will not allow capture/transfer of video from an analog source, even using a Mini-DV or Digital-8 camcorder's pass-through conversion. You could however use the freebie program I suggested above.

I owe you guys, Steve, Ron, Trevor... So, first thing, thank you very much for your prompt and detailed help.
I read what Steve suggested and yes, it was, essentially, what I had read before about the process.
What Ron says, though, is quite interesting, because I tried one more time, after reading the links provided by Steve and, for whatever reason, I came now to a point where the video does appear int the Preview window of VS 12 (which had never happened before). However, as soon as I click on "Start Capture" a box pops up saying: "Cannot start capture graph".
But there's no hint provided on what the issue or the solution may be. Is it something you could comment on? (Even though what Ron said about the inability of most recent versions of VS besides for this job may well render this point moot...)
I also tried what Trevor said.
I have an old Canon ZR50 camcorder and the manual is not great but states this in regards to the video capture:
"Turning the analog-digital converter on: To turn the analog-digital converter on, open the menu and select VCR SET UP. Then select AV => DV OUT, set it to ON and close the menu."
Not much enlightenment but it does add one note:
"When connecting to a PC equipped with a DV terminal, you may not be able to transfer converted signals to your PC, depending on the software you are using, and the specifications of your PC and its settings."
Again, it comes a little cryptic to me and it even seems a little contradictory. I admit I may not be fully understanding what it means.
All this said, I will try the WinDV software that RON suggests and I will definitely come back to inform about the results.
Thanks again very, very much, to all of you.

I edited to add a brief update:

I downloaded and tried to use WinDV with no success. Please allow me to describe what I read on the screen after I open the program, in hopes that the issue, whatever it is, may surface:
-- Capturing from DV device
-- Source: Microsoft DV Camera and VCR (USB 2821 Device)
-- Config... : Capturong from DV device - Type 2 AVI - Discontinuity threshold 1 sec. - Max AVI size 22500 - Every N-th frame 1)
-- Capt. file ( blank)
-- Error: Device not found.

Actually, there's not much to go wrong with, the fact is, I must be missing something.

Could you provide any help?

P.S. -- The program seems to be quite old. I assume it is Windows 7 compatible.

Post by **Ron P.** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:17 pm

I would guess that WinDV is not compatible with Win7, unless you have Win7 Pro, and can use the WinXP compatibility mode.

zelopes · Post by **zelopes** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:24 pm

Ron P. wrote:Analog-Digital capture/transfer has been a problem starting with VS11, it simply refuses to do so. This was brought to Corel's attention on several occasions, up to the current.
[...]

Ron,

One more question, if I may:

I still keep the original disk with Ulead VideoStudio 10. Actually, this was my first version. After that, I also have version 11, 11Plus and 12.
From what you say, do you think it would be worth it to reinstall and try ULVS10? I could do it even if you say there's only a 50/50 percent chance of success.

Thanks.

zelopes · Post by **zelopes** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:32 pm

Ron P. wrote:I would guess that WinDV is not compatible with Win7, unless you have Win7 Pro, and can use the WinXP compatibility mode.

Sorry, I missed your comment before posting my last entry.

No, my version is Windows 7 Home Premium. However, I do have another laptop that still runs on XP. Would it be a possible way out?

Thank you very much for all your help.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:54 pm

Hi

Your comments regarding your camera seem to suggest that it will do Pass-Through, (Turning the analog-digital converter on)

Normally when you set up for pass through you have to remove the tape.

If you intend to use the laptop, does it have a firewire terminal.

Installing VS 10 may work providing it is compatible with W7

zelopes · Post by **zelopes** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:30 pm

trevor andrew wrote:Hi

Your comments regarding your camera seem to suggest that it will do Pass-Through, (Turning the analog-digital converter on)

Normally when you set up for pass through you have to remove the tape.

If you intend to use the laptop, does it have a firewire terminal.

Installing VS 10 may work providing it is compatible with W7

Trevor,

As I mentioned in my question to Ron, I have one laptop running on Windows XP Pro. If it turns out that VS 10 is not compatible with W7, I could always use Windows XP.
On the other hand, I already tried to use the pass through functionality of my camcorder but it didn't work either. Meanwhile, I went back to the machine's manual and I suspect I may have overlooked something, and that is to select AV => DV OUT and turn it to ON. I might have missed this step on my previous attempt, so I'll try again after doing that required step and will come back to report the result.

Thank you for your help.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:17 pm

Hi
Your details from WinDV show

zelopes wrote:[-- Source: Microsoft DV Camera and VCR (USB 2821 Device)

Are you connecting the video camera via USB or Firewire I-Link

zelopes · Post by **zelopes** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:10 pm

trevor andrew wrote:Hi
Your details from WinDV show
zelopes wrote:[-- Source: Microsoft DV Camera and VCR (USB 2821 Device)
Are you connecting the video camera via USB or Firewire I-Link

Between the VCR and the camcorder the connection was an S-Video cable and from the camcorder to the computer, a 4-pin firewire cable.

The USB 2821 Device was picked up by VS automatically after clicking the Capture tab and then selecting "Capture".

Incidentally, after making sure I turned AV => DV OUT to ON, I could see the video showing up in the preview window, but no sound. Also, no color, all was coming B&W. Even worse, the image was shaky, more noticeable at intervals of a few seconds apart. And after 20 to 30 seconds the image would freeze and an image pop up with this message:
"Capturing failed. The file created is corrupted and unusable. It will be automatically deleted."
It seems I'm running out of options...
I may still have one left -- the VS10 option in the Windows XP laptop. However, this laptop does not have any Firewire port.
Getting a little tough, huh?...

Thanks for your help and your patience.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:37 pm

This won't help, I'm afraid. However, WinDV works fine on my Windows 7 Home Premium install. No special tweaks or anything else. I just dumped the program on my desktop as usual since that is all that is required.

Next, your connection to the VCR will only work with S-Video if the original video you are trying to copy was recorded in S-Video mode. So you should try plain old RCA cables instead (the yellow, red and black [or white] ones)...

Third, have you downloaded and installed the latest version of Windows Movie Maker for Windows 7, and tried capturing via Firewire with that?