VHS transfer to DVD

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VHS transfer to DVD

Postby dtpitts » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:02 am

Hey,

I have had several people ask me about doing the VHS to DVD transfer service for them. I would like to be able to add this as a service, not to mention that I have tons myself that I need to transfer.

Can anyone tell me the best way to do this and what their experiences have been with it. My thinking was that it would be great to do when the slideshow part of the business is slow! :)

I have seen the all in one machines, wonder how good they are? I just want to make sure that I am providing the customer a great product without breaking the bank on my end! :)

Thanks in advance for any help!

Teresa

jtfrazer

Postby jtfrazer » Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:06 am

Hi Teresa,

Companies like Canopus and ADS make hardware that will allow you to capture VHS shows. I'm not doing this as a business but have done conversions of my own tapes and several for friends. I capture the VHS video, load it into Sony's Vegas Music Studio Platinum and then I clean up the video. Finally, I burn to DVD. This is a fairly time consuming process but the results are better (I think) than a straight copy of the VHS tape to DVD.

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Postby nannybear » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:52 am

Jim is right, it is time consuming. I have an HP Media Center. I hook up my VHS recorder and record the tape in Arcsoft Show Biz. then I can work with the file in any editor I choose. It takes the length of the VHS to record it to the computer.
Cheers Jan
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Re: VHS transfer to DVD

Postby Mike S. » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:47 am

dtpitts wrote:Hey,

I have had several people ask me about doing the VHS to DVD transfer service for them. I would like to be able to add this as a service, not to mention that I have tons myself that I need to transfer.

Can anyone tell me the best way to do this and what their experiences have been with it. My thinking was that it would be great to do when the slideshow part of the business is slow! :)

I have seen the all in one machines, wonder how good they are? I just want to make sure that I am providing the customer a great product without breaking the bank on my end! :)

Thanks in advance for any help!

Teresa

Hi Teresa,

The most efficient way to do VHS to DVD transfers is to buy a DVD recorder (DVDR) settop unit with or without a built-in VHS tape player. If you already have a good VHS deck, it is very easy to connect it to a DVDR. Just play the VHS tape and press record on the DVDR. Verify the playback duration of the tape with your client first so you know what mode to record the DVD for best quality. If they don't know how long the tape duration is, and many if not most won't, then record in the DVDR's 4 hour mode. Six hour VHS tapes would be a problem unless your DVDR records in 6 hour mode but there will be an obvious quality loss. Charge by the hour.

Having said that, I tried doing 8mm and Hi-8 to VHS transfers as an add on way back, before the common computer DVD burners were available. (Pro DVD burners cost 4 figures at the time.) I found that the cons are WAY more than the pros for a transfer service if you are doing it from a home studio.

- There are a lot of "just checking" phone calls that interrupt your editing. Those phone calls can take up a lot of wasted time.

- There are a lot of scheduled drop offs of tapes that never happen. I would dress properly and clean my studio and the callers would not show up. VERY fustrating!

- For scheduled drop offs that do happen, it takes time to dress, clean the studio and meet with the client to receive his/her tapes. Then it takes time again to do the same thing when he/she picks up the tapes. They will often be late which is fustrating when one is waiting. Some times they call AFTER the appointment time or 5 minutes to an hour prior to say they can't make it and you put off jogging or going shopping or whatever to meet with them. So now you have to do the ritual an extra time or two which is really time consuming and fustrating!

- Do you want total strangers to enter your home to drop off their tapes? They could case the inside of your home, see all your equipment and what if one is a dishonest person and plans a burgulary? Of course this could happen when you meet with clients for slideshow demos and followups but why add to the risk for minimal dollar return with a tape transfer service?

If you have a commercial store front, then you can disregard the above since you would always be dressed and available. In this case be sure that your receiving/pickup area is blocked off from your studio so the general public cannot see your equipment and be tempted to plan a burglary. Visit some professional tape transfer services in your area. All the ones I visted when I was doing it had a receiving area with a counter and the client could not see any equipment at all. Just a small plain room with a counter, some chairs and a table with some magazines is all one sees.

$.02,
Mike S.

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Postby hardsoftware » Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:39 pm

I've done VHS transfers of all my old VHS tapes. Most are PBS documentarys. I do not do this as a business so I cannot comment on how one would manage that type of situation.

However if you have video editor software (NLE) like Pinnacle, or Premier Elements, or even Roxio it is fairly easy to do. I don't bother cleaning up the video as most VHS resolution is not worth trying to enhance. I just capture to the hard drive, drag it or import it into the video editor, make chapters, do very little editing, (unless it is a family type video where editing is a must), then I make a menu and burn to DVD.

I might add that you do need some kind of breakout box or device to connect to your PC from your VCR. Way back when I got Pinnicle studio 7, it came with a PCI expansion card for the computer and that card attached to a external box where the audio and video from the VCR connect. It still works and I am not limited to the Pinnicle Video Editor software. I can use any I choose to use. Going on 5 years now using it.

Ben
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Re: VHS transfer to DVD

Postby Mike S. » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:42 pm

dtpitts wrote: I have seen the all in one machines, wonder how good they are?

Teresa,

I missed this question. We have two Panasonic DVDRs, and the DVD quality on both is outstanding. They are not all-in-one units but the same thing applies to the all-in-one units. It can be hard to believe but in the 2 hour SP mode, the DVD picture quality can actually be better than the cable input or VHS input source. For both, there is noise reduction which can improve the picture quality without loss of sharpness. Even the 4 hour LP mode on the Panasonic DVDRs has excellent, better than VHS quality.

The DVDR's capture of VHS tapes uses a time base corrector (TBC) which accepts ragged scan line timing from consumer VHS decks and makes sure that every scan line starts at the proper time. The difference can be seen on vertical edges like a post. Playback from the VHS deck makes vertical edges look ragged due to the mechanical playback of the tape plus the possibility of stretched tape. The TBC corrects the ragged scanlines and then the vertical edges of the post look smooth and sharp. --- Note that the TBC fuction will only correct the ORIGINAL VHS tape that was recorded from the camera or from TBC'd cable TV broadcasts. It cannot correct a second generation copy of a tape that was copied from a consumer deck without TBC.

I'm sure that any brand name DVDR that you buy will record DVDs equal to or better than the original VHS tapes.

If you buy a DVDR for personal use as well as for a transfer business, I strongly recommend buying one with a hard drive. You will find that recording cable TV broadcasts on the hard drive and watching them later is sooooo great using commercial skip. You can edit out commercials for movies that you want to burn on a DVD. You can set the timer to record your favorite weekly or daily broadcasts so you never miss one again. A hard drive is a really great thing to have and well worth the difference in price.

Mike S.
Last edited by Mike S. on Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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THANKS!!

Postby dtpitts » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:51 am

Wow, I knew this was the place to ask questions!!
Thanks to everyone for the great responses!

Mike, great points that I have not thought of... and doing business from the house like I do, it does make a difference everytime somebody has an appointment to come over. :)

Thanks again to everyone for their help, you all have given me direction to look into this further!

One day, I hope to be able to contribute in some way instead of always being the one to ask questions... one day!!
:oops:

Teresa
:)

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Re: THANKS!!

Postby DickK » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:37 pm

dtpitts wrote:One day, I hope to be able to contribute in some way instead of always being the one to ask questions... one day!!
:oops:
Teresa
:)

Not to worry, you just did! Asking good questions is just about as important as good answers--someone, someday is going to see it and have a question they had or would have had answered. Keep asking good questions, it builds the knowledge base here.
Dick
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle ((PSG, PSE & Fuji HS20 user)) Presentation Impact Blog

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:)

Postby dtpitts » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:07 pm

Thanks Dick... you put a smile on my face today!!

Thanks for always being so kind!!

Teresa
:)

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Postby HunnyB » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:39 pm

I do this EXACTLY like Nannybear....I mean to the tee. I even own the same puter.......
It works for me.

Taa Taa
:P
HunnyB
HunnyB
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Postby nannybear » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:47 pm

I knew there was a reason we go along so well!!!!! tee hee hugs Jan
http://www.janstephens.com or http://www.oilswithjananddonna.com/
Graphic Design, Essential Oils, Click and Grow gardening, Cooking and Merge Dragons - PSP latest - Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
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Jan

Postby HunnyB » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:55 pm

I was going to email you and tell you we were sisters.......but
didn't want you to think I was stalking ya!!!!11
LOLOLOLOLOL
:D :D :D :D

HunnyB
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