VHS to DVD? how is it done?

[Lightness]

OK, so i have a bunch of vhs tapes that i want to burn to dvd's but im not sure where to go, im kinda stuck...

this is my setup so far:

i have a vcr connected via composite cable (could be s-video if i wanted) to my TV Wonder Pro remote ed.

so i can watch and record my vhs to different forms on my computer, like mpeg-2 or some others.

i also have an external dvd burner that i can burn it all to...

however, im not sure how to go about getting the digital copy so that as a dvd i can put it in like any dvd player and it will play the video, maybe a play button, but just an auto play would be good too. thanks a lot

 

[0roo0roo]

easiest solution is probably a stand alone dvd recorder. actually are rather cheap now i think, there are dvd vcr things from liteon.

 

[Lightness]

well, yea i suppose that it WOULD fix my problem, however, i have the hardware mentioned above already for other reasons and dont want to go out buy another thing just for that

 

[LED]

Capture, convert to your liking then Burn...More info and time consuming then what 0roo0roo stated with the standalone but there you have it...

 

[slackosaurus]

There may be better(faster) ways but this is how I did it. VHS hooked up to TV tuner card(Compro Videomate Gold in this case) I played the tape recording it in MPEG format onto my hard drive then converted/burned it onto DVD-R using Ulead DVD Movie Factory. I'm not sure but there might be a way of burning it directly onto DVD-R without first recording to your hard drive. Played these DVDs on Sony, Toshiba, LG, Samsung players - no problems.

 

[Lightness]

thx a lot, i think i have enough info to light a fire under this project, thanks everyone for your input!

 

[Yanagi]

If you dont want to waste DVD- Media buy a DVD-RW if your burner can handle it. That way you can re-burn if it fails.

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: Lightness
however, i have the hardware mentioned above already for other reasons and dont want to go out buy another thing just for that

Yeah, but do you have the time to devote to capture/encoding all of the tapes?!?! You need to first capture the tapes to some video format.

Easiest/worst quality = straight to MPEG2.
Hardest/best quality = capture uncompressed or MJPEG then convert to MPEG2. I like to send the .avi thru AviSynth as well and filter out any garbage, adjust color/contrast, etc.

Then you have to author it. DVDLab is a straightforward, easy to use program if your Wonder VE didn't come with authoring software.

If you dont want to waste DVD- Media buy a DVD-RW if your burner can handle it. That way you can re-burn if it fails.

There's no reason to do that. When I author a DVD I create an image file before burning. That way I can load the image into Daemon tools and test it with PowerDVD before hand. Doom9.org is your friend.