Posted by Ablang on 08/09/07 02:46

From VCR to DVD: Update Your Oldies
08.01.07

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2164513,00.asp

By Neil Randall

With the VCR approaching extinction, this is a very good time-maybe
even an essential one-to convert your old VHS tapes to DVD. Your kid's
first steps, for instance, or that shown-only-once holiday movie you
taped off a local channel.

The easiest way to make the conversion is to purchase a standalone DVD/
VCR combo recorder that lets you dub from one medium to the other.
Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic (among others) offer such models, with
easy interfaces for performing the conversion. But do you really want
to buy a piece of dying technology?

Another way is to connect your VCR to a standalone DVD recorder and
follow the manufacturer's instructions for both units. But you may
already have a DVD recorder-your PC. And, in fact, your PC offers
something the standalone hardware does not: the ability to edit the
video. You might want to do this not only for videos you made yourself-
to cut out the extraneous material-but also to combine two copies of a
favorite movie (if a different portion of each one has deteriorated,
for example).

The entire process takes 5 to 6 hours, but in the end you'll have a
DVD version of your movie and, even better, a copy of the video stored
on your drive. And unlike tapes, these copies won't degrade with
multiple plays. - Equipment and Connections

1 Equipment
The goal is to transfer the video from the videotape to the hard
drive, edit it, and then burn it onto a DVD. So first you need a tape
player. Either a VCR or a camcorder that plays your tapes will do, but
here we'll assume the former. You also need a video card with video
capture capabilities, which several manufacturers offer (the ATI All-
in-Wonder X1900 ships with the device shown at left, which lets you
connect your VCR to the card itself), or a separate video capture card
or device, available from companies such as ADS Tech (its Video Xpress
is pictured above), Hauppauge, or Pinnacle. You'll also need
appropriate patch cables for the capture, software to import the video
and edit it, and software to burn it to DVD. And, of course, you need
a DVD-recordable drive and blank DVD discs.
ADS Video Express.

On the software side, your capture card or device will almost
certainly include a feature for capturing video, and third-party apps
are also widely available. Regardless, Microsoft Windows XP and Vista
both come with Windows Movie Maker (WMM), a decent-enough utility for
this purpose, especially when you're dealing with amateur video from
camcorders. WMM also lets you edit your video-experiment with it using
video clips you already have on your PC, even before getting a capture
device.

Connect The Source

2 Connect the Source
First, install the video capture card or connect the capture device to
your PC (via USB, FireWire, or standard RCA cables). Next, connect the
VCR (with the tape inside it) to the capture hardware by running the
appropriate cables between them, and then start the capture software.
The next step depends on the actual software, but the basic procedure
involves playing the tape in the VCR and pressing the Record or
Capture button in the capture program's window. I'd recommend halting
the process after a minute or so and checking to make sure you're
satisfied with the volume. Happy? Then start over, and simply wait
until all the video footage you want has been fully captured. - From
Raw to Burn

3 Now You Have Got Raw Video
Load the video into the editing software and edit it as you wish,
using the software's interface. (For a library of PC Magazine video-
editing tips and tricks, see go.pcmag.com/videosolutions.) WMM
provides a storyboard along the bottom of the screen from which you
edit and preview your video. Add titles, effects, and transitions if
you want to do so, and save often.
Burn, Baby, Burn

4 Burn, Baby, Burn
When finished, launch your DVD creation software. (With many packages,
the editing and creation software work together.) DVD creation
software is readily available from third parties, but if you have
Vista, Windows DVD Maker (which I use here) will do the trick. In
fact, if you edit your video in WMM, DVD Maker launches automatically
when you instruct WMM to publish a movie project to DVD. If you merely
want a copy of a movie from your VCR, you won't need to add anything,
although you can divide the movie into scenes for easier navigation (a
process that takes considerable time). Of course, you can also add
menu titles, graphics, and any other elements you want.

Once you've finished, put a disc into your DVD drive and record. The
DVD encoding process can be a lengthy one-several hours is not uncommon
-so this is a very good time to get some work done or, better still,
leave the computer and go watch a movie.

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