The VHS to PC struggle

[Splinterdog]

A few years ago I had a fair bit of success transferring VHS tapes to the PC and thence to YouTube or DVD/pendrive. I was using a Samsung VCR (which eventually died) connected through an RCA video cable and one audio cable to a Kworld TV tuner PCI card.
Since most of these older cards can't be recognised as capture cards on Win 7 x64 or indeed Win 10, I had to revert to Windows XP and good old Windows Movie Maker 2.26 which is bundled with XP. I also have a WMM install which works fine on Win 10 and there are some cowboys out there trying to get people to actually buy it
Anyway the other day I acquired a VCR that actually works, having ditched the pile of others that would have been too expensive to repair and have started again, this time with an Encore ENLTV pci card which I picked up used for $5, with the same x64 problem, so I've installed XP again on one of my many machines and using WMM 2.26 again because it just works and that's good enough for me.
I've also been asked to transfer VHS and VHS-C tapes for both family and customers and I'm sure there are millions of tapes out there that people just haven't got around to digitising so to speak. Could be a money earner too, provided the VCR holds up and I certainly don't want to throw a lot of money at a project that's entirely dependant on a VCR and all its moving parts and a high risk of failure.
The good thing about XP and Windows Movie Maker is that it just works, purely for the process of grabbing the video off the tapes as .wmv files which I can then edit later on a better machine with Vegas. I just leave the PC and VCR to chunter away, let WMM create the movie from the clips and then hack it up later.
If the project takes off and I make some money I'll probably invest in a decent video capture card or USB device that's x64 compatible, but choosing the right one is tricky. I've read some bad reviews of Easy Cap the USB device with RCA inputs, but I understand Elgato do a similar one with very good reviews. I'm more inclined to go with a decent PCI-E card like the AVerMedia C027 AVerTV HD DVR PCI-E card provided I can find one, because the machine will be static anyway.
I had a bit of fun with audio ins and outs and it turns out that in order for the audio from the tape to be recorded, the audio cable need to go to the line-in for the PC as opposed to the capture card line-in.
The PC I'm using is an Athlon x 2 250 3.0Ghz, 6Gb RAM (3.5 usable) and a Radeon 5750.
Doing this stuff makes me realise how grateful I am that almost everything tech today doesn't involve moving parts, rubber bands and magnetic tapes that get angry and twisted when hot. Still, I like a challenge.






I'll post back with any results and calamities.

 

[LFaWolf]

Subscribing as I have a bunch of vcr tapes from my parents that I need to digitize. What is a good video capture card that is vcr and Win 10 compatible?

 

[Durvelle27]

Man that is some old hardware you got there

Props to you man

 

[dorsetknob]

Huppagage do a range of Cards that are win 7 / 8 10 compatable

 

[TheLostSwede]

These days you can get very cheap USB dongles that does everything you need and they tend to come with software as well. The last time I used something like this, the software even made chapters etc. automatically and burned to a disc once the tape had been copied.
This is the "fancy" kind https://www.amazon.com/Roxio-Easy-Plus-Video-Converter/dp/B006GOFW3E/
A more basic one out of China is like $10 https://www.amazon.com/Converter-REDGO-Digities-Preserve-Fantastic/dp/B07B9T6HP4/

 

[R00kie]

Huppagage do a range of Cards that are win 7 / 8 10 compatable

Haupauge maybe?

 

[sepheronx]

I saw some USB ones on ebay. Was going to purchase some since I got a ton of VHS' laying about that I should get to converting.

 

[RCoon]

I do this at work on a regular basis. We just use a Sony VCR player with Red White and Yellow cables plugged into a Hauppage WIN TV-HVR-1900 USB doodad. That plugs into the PC and then you run the VHS and record it. It's not really complicated or difficult at all.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Huppagage do a range of Cards that are win 7 / 8 10 compatable

And they're very good.

I do this at work on a regular basis. We just use a Sony VCR player with Red White and Yellow cables plugged into a Hauppage WIN TV-HVR-1900 USB doodad. That plugs into the PC and then you run the VHS and record it. It's not really complicated or difficult at all.

Exactly. Should be dead simple and high quality.

 

[Splinterdog]

No, it's not difficult or complicated, but it can be, which is my whole point.
It's the moving parts in the VCR that are prone to failure, tapes getting tangled in the mechanism and other unforeseen circumstances with any outdated technology.
Anyway, it's fun and I enjoy getting over the challenges of getting it all to work. Once the raw material is off the tape, the trickiest part is over and the work of editing can start, safe in the knowledge that it's a digital file that doesn't have any entanglements or moving parts.
Perhaps when it becomes more viable and I'm completely confident in the VCR, I'll upgrade the capture card so I can run it all on a faster system.

 

[Splinterdog]

In the end I got tired of Windows XP losing its way, removing devices/drivers and corrupted system32/configs at boot, so I nuked it, installed Windows 10 and bought an Easy Cap USB dongle for around $10.
So far, I've only had luck with Virtual Dub capturing video, as the Honestech VHS to DVD 3.0 software included on the CD won't show any video at all. Same with Windows Movie Maker, which doesn't recognise the dongle as a capture device.
I also changed the USB extension cable to a quality one as the supplied cable was thin, cheap and nasty. I'm also going to experiment with NCH Golden Videos VHS to DVD Converter, starting with the free version, since Virtual Dub is very good, but I prefer a project based interface.
Fingers crossed, the VCR still works anyway.

 

[bonehead123]

I used to do this for family & friends years ago, started out with a couple of the Happauge cards, which at the time were "da bomb" for consumer-level projects.

However, after a while, I tried this out at a friends house who had forked out for an Avermedia card, which at the time was considered an almost-pro level device, and I was hooked right away, due their increased flexibility, performance and ease of use....

I then proceeded to sell my Happauge cards & got my own Avermedia card, and never looked back....

But as you said, the REAL challenge now is finding a decent quality VCR that will last long enough to complete your work.... good luck with that Perhaps you could contact some small audio/video dubbing shops to see if they have any used Sony or Devon tape decks that they wanna offload for cheap.....

 

[Splinterdog]

But as you said, the REAL challenge now is finding a decent quality VCR that will last long enough to complete your work.... good luck with that Perhaps you could contact some small audio/video dubbing shops to see if they have any used Sony or Devon tape decks that they wanna offload for cheap.....

Yes, it's all a question of getting the video off the tapes before my VCR bites the dust. It's a quality one, though - Sony 4 head Tri Logic SLV-L56 and so far I've done about 50 tapes for customers, so it at least earns me a little.
I was very, very skeptical about the EasyCap USB dongle at first, because I'd read so many stories about fakes. But it works just fine with VirtualDub and Golden Video (NCH), with the right USB cable, that is.

 

[silentbogo]

There are tons of cheap chinese USB capture cards. Few months ago my friend needed a similar setup, and after some tweaking we've even managed to make its native driver work on Win10.
I'm talking about these puppies:

MagiDeal Mini USB 2.0 Video TV DVD Capture Card Audio AV Adapter for Computer PC: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy MagiDeal Mini USB 2.0 Video TV DVD Capture Card Audio AV Adapter for Computer PC at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

Video quality is very limited, but more than enough to digitize VHS tapes. Also if you have lots of spare time and nerves of steel, you may try an old PCI capture card or TV tuner w/ video input, and set up a PCI pass-through into Win7 or XP virtual machine. Also some old capture cards may work on Linux OOB.

Basically if you don't like tons of extra-equipment, you can solve everything with $5 and some know-how...

 

[Splinterdog]

VLC will also capture video and it recognises the EasyCap device, now that I've replaced the USB cable, so I'm experimenting with that at the moment.
Should save a few quid on software anyway.

 

[silentbogo]

VLC will also capture video and it recognises the EasyCap device, now that I've replaced the USB cable, so I'm experimenting with that at the moment.

If i remember correctly, it's presenting itself as a webcam. In win10 after proper driver installation we were able to record NTSC camera footage in any software, including windows "Camera" app, VirtualDub etc. There are lots of defective units, though. My friend had to replace his quad-input dongle twice before we got a working one (one came w/ dead CPU, and the other one was giving us a "USB device is not recognized" error). Hence the low price tag

 

[Splinterdog]

It's fun and games with VHS, that's for sure
Anyway, I didn't have much luck with VLC as the picture was terrible. I couldn't get VirtualDub to output in anything other than AVI which results in massive files and WMM won't capture from EasyCap at all.
In the end I went for NCH Golden Videos VHS to DVD Converter which appears to work flawlessly. The trial only allows 5 mins, so I bought it in the end and am very pleased with the results.

 

[Jetster]

I bought this and goin to try it. Has some good reviews
I just scored a VCR player

Amazon.com: REDGO Video Audio VHS VCR USB Video Capture Card to DVD Converter Capture Card Adapter : Electronics

Buy REDGO Video Audio VHS VCR USB Video Capture Card to DVD Converter Capture Card Adapter: Internal TV Tuner & Capture Cards - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[Splinterdog]

Same as mine I would imagine and I'm very pleased with the outcome. More than anything, to get away from using XP and use Win 10 x64.
I wouldn't recommend the included software however, but you never know. You may have more luck than me.

 

[sam_86314]

Thought I should post about this since I've been trying this myself.

Today I successfully digitized a VHS tape. I used an old PCI-based AverMedia AverTVHD MCE A180 capture card to record the video from a Panasonic PV-V402 VCR.

The most annoying part was getting the card to work. No matter what I did, I just couldn't get the card to work in Windows 10. No drivers seemed to exist and OBS just wouldn't recognize the card.

I've had great luck with Linux supporting old and weird hardware, so I installed Kubuntu 19.04 on my i3-4130 system and stuck the card in it. OBS recognized it as a capture device right away (no drivers needed).

I used the AverMedia card to capture the video, and used the motherboard's onboard audio input to capture audio. I recorded with OBS with the resolution set to 720x480 (overkill for VHS). After recording, I used Kdenlive to split the mono audio to stereo and trim the excess recording.

TL;DR: When you need to use an old capture card, Linux is the answer.

 

[Splinterdog]

That's excellent and definitely worth bearing in mind for the future. I might even try that myself.
In the end, I don't suppose it matters what flavour OS we use, as long as we get the video off the pesky VHS tape.

 

[sam_86314]

That's excellent and definitely worth bearing in mind for the future. I might even try that myself.
In the end, I don't suppose it matters what flavour OS we use, as long as we get the video off the pesky VHS tape.

Just use the flavor you like. I prefer ones with KDE or LXDE because their layout is similar to Windows.

 

[sam_86314]

One of my favorite YouTube channels released a video on this subject.

If you don't care about the technical stuff, skip to 7:25.

He's converting the composite signal to HDMI and then using an HDMI capture device. This fixes the washed out colors (something I get with my method).

I'll stick to my method since I already have all the hardware, but this is another one to consider.

 

[Thefumigator]

I've been working on digitizing Betamax/VHS/VHS-C/8mm/Hi8 to DVD for the last 12 years.
Specs:
I use an ENLTV Encore capture card
the "capture PC" is a good old Phenom 9550 quad core processor
4GB of RAM which is enough for these tasks,
ECS 8200 motherboard with nforce chipset.

Software:
Windows Vista 32bit. Or whatever 32 bit. Drivers for 64bit won't work for me.
I use WinDVR 3 as capture software, this is the key because I can choose the TV system, which means: imagine the cassette is PAL... WinDVR allows you to record an NTSC file. I actually do all my DVDs NTSC no matter what system the cassette is. This is possible only with WinDVR
Also WinDVR allows you to record on HALF D1 standar as well, and by using this your compressed files have less visual "blocks".

If you are going to digitize a macrovision protected tape, you must use windows XP 32bit and the original Encore software, which records macrovision protected tapes anyway, it seems it just doesn't care at all.

I have another PC (my main ryzen PC) where I do editing and effects if needed. To use both PCs with the same keyboard mouse and monitor, I use an USB KVM.

 

[Splinterdog]

I've been working on digitizing Betamax/VHS/VHS-C/8mm/Hi8 to DVD for the last 12 years.
Specs:
I use an ENLTV Encore capture card
the "capture PC" is a good old Phenom 9550 quad core processor
4GB of RAM which is enough for these tasks,
ECS 8200 motherboard with nforce chipset.

Software:
Windows Vista 32bit. Or whatever 32 bit. Drivers for 64bit won't work for me.
I use WinDVR 3 as capture software, this is the key because I can choose the TV system, which means: imagine the cassette is PAL... WinDVR allows you to record an NTSC file. I actually do all my DVDs NTSC no matter what system the cassette is. This is possible only with WinDVR
Also WinDVR allows you to record on HALF D1 standar as well, and by using this your compressed files have less visual "blocks".

If you are going to digitize a macrovision protected tape, you must use windows XP 32bit and the original Encore software, which records macrovision protected tapes anyway, it seems it just doesn't care at all.

I have another PC (my main ryzen PC) where I do editing and effects if needed. To use both PCs with the same keyboard mouse and monitor, I use an USB KVM.

I could never get ENLTV Encore to play ball with anything other than XP.
And yes, for editing I use FX8350 or the Ryzen PC.