Most analog capture cards can do either S-Video or RCA, and sometimes Coax if they have a Tuner. I myself use an old K-world TV 2000, which uses the BT848 chipset. Pretty much anything using the BT848/878 chipset will have what you need. I'll get some lists of cards in a bit and edit them in after I post this.
For capturing there are almost innumerable programs out there that will let you do it. Personally I recommend VirtualDubMod, because a) it's free, and b) it comes with Gordian Knot, so you may have it already. Now VirtualDubMod will only capture to AVI, but if your card is recognized by Windows, e.g. a VIVO card, then VirtualDubMod should recognize it. As far as codecs you'll probably want to use a codec called
HuffyUV. What the codec does is compresses as much of each frame as it can in realtime, then saves the rest uncompressed. The faster your computer, the smaller the files are that it makes. Keep in mind that the files will still be fairly large -- several gigs for an hour of video -- but it's better than uncompressed. Anyway, once you install it you'll have to configure VDubMod to capture with it....
Before I start, let me give you some info on VHS and DVD. DVDs are not, contrary to semi-popular belief, restricted to MPEG-2 Video @ 720x480. You can also use resolutions of 704x480, 352x480 and 352x240, the latter also being available in MPEG-1 format. The framerate is not 30fps but 29.97fps, which is an important difference. (
Also, to further complicate matters, there is 23.976 fps video, which is what most TV shows and movies are filmed in. Fortunately we don't have to deal with this for what you're doing.) VHS is a completely different animal; DVD is digital, whereas VHS is analog. However, we can still put some bounds on it. First off, the maximum discernable horizontal resolution you can ever possibly get from a VHS tape is 320x480, though it sometimes can go as low as 160x480. (
There are always 480 visible vertical lines) It too is at 29.97 fps. Anyway, the point is that most VHS->DVD converters will encode to 720x480, when in reality this is completely unnecessary and a waste of space. Doing it this way will allow you to save space.
When you start up VDubMod you'll probably have to click through some info screens. Once you do go to File->Capture AVI. From here you need to set a few things. First off, go to Video->Set Custom Format. You'll want to set the framesize to 352x480, with either YUY2 or 24-bit RGB color if YUY2 doesn't work. (
you'll get an error saying unsupported) If you have capture problems you may also need to set the video to 320x480; certain BT848 cards can't capture any horizontal resolutions higher than that. Go to Video->Compression and select the HuffyUV codec, then hit OK. Next go to Video->Settings and in the Frame Rate box enter 29.97, then click OK. Now go to Audio->Compression; select PCM type audio @ 48000Hz, 16 bit, Stereo. There are other formats you can try but PCM is the only reliable one, which is unfortunate because it is also the largest. Hit F2 and pick a location to save the capture file to, then hit F6 to start capturing. Don't worry if you see weird jagged lines in the video as it captures; this is called interlacing, and it's the way all analog TV is broadcast. You can hit escape to stop when you're done capturing video.
From here you'll need to get all of your video into DVD-compatible format. There are two programs I suggest:
DIKO and
TMPGEnc. TMPGEnc is easier to use, but it won't author a DVD for you and it can't encode MPEG-2 video past a 30-day trial unless you buy it. DIKO is completely free, will make a DVD for you, but it can't handle interlaced AVIs properly without some extra trickery. We'll assume you're going to use TMPGEnc during the 30-Day trial.
When you get TMPGEnc you'll also want to download some templates for a format called
KDVD into your TMPGEnc\Templates directory. When you load up TMPGEnc it will bring up the wizard. Select the KDVD option at the very bottom and hit Next. From there select your video file by hitting browse and selecting the captured video. After you hit OK check the Video Type box and make sure it says "Interlaced", unless you can watch the AVI file without seeing any "jaggies". Usually TMPGEnc picks up on this correctly the first time. Change the Aspect Ratio to 4:3 Display. Hit Next, then hit Other Settings. Go to the Video tab and change the Aspect Ratio to 4:3 Display here as well. Change Encode Mode to Interlaced, unless your video is "jaggie"-free. Click "Setting" next to Rate Control Mode, enter "8000" into the Maximum Bitrate and change the Quality to something around 90. Hit OK and go to the Advanced tab. Make sure Video Arrange Method is set to Full Screen. Hit OK, then hit Next twice. Uncheck "Start Encoding Immediately" and hit OK. Finally, change the Stream Type to System (Video+Audio). If you don't see 48000Hz show up somewhere in the status bar, click settings, go to the Audio tab and change the Frequency dropdown to 48000Hz, then hit OK, go to Option-Environmental Setting, Audio Engine tab, and select High Quality under Sampling Frequency Converter. After you've done all that (
whew) hit Save to save the modified template (
give it a name like TV Conversion) and then hit Start on the main window to encode.
Once it's done (
it'll take a while) you can go to File->Project Wizard and load up the newly created template instead of the KDVD one for the next and all subsequent files. All you need to make sure on this one is that the video is set to interlaced if it is interlaced, the video arrange method is set to Full Screen and the Audio frequency is 48000Hz. After that just hit start and away you go.
After you have all your files converted you can simply drag n' drop them into a new DVD-Video project in Nero.
Anyway, that's a lot of stuff, I know, but it'll get you what you want and it'll do it well. Feel free to PM me if you have any problems or questions.