copying VHS to CD

hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

Hi everybody,

I am very interesting in copying VHS to CD. There are many TV prog. 's I like : Animal planet, Max X, Fear Factor,... I want to save them into CD for easier storage but I don't know how to do that. Could anyone please help me ?

Thank you very much,

Tung Nguyen

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robin338 · TweakNOOB Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 34

Do you mean VCD (video cd)? There are several paths that you can take here. If you have a TV card, or say any Radeon with a built-in one (ALL-In-Wonder), you can start recording directly to your harddrive and burn the video later. The All-In-Wonder products also allow you to connect your VCR to your computer, making recording your old VHS tapes a breeze (lots of cables, though).

Do you intend to watch this on your monitor or your TV via a DVD player? For your monitir, if you want to keep the programs forever, then CDrs would be logical; however, having a secondary harddrive of immense size will allow you to record quite a bit and to delete any shows when you feel like it.

As for watching on your TV, that should not be an issue either. You only need to make sure you burn the CD in the right format. Good software is the key here.

hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

First of all, I would like to thank you fro your reply. It has been a while since this question was asked

Is there big difference between CD and VCD

I am just trying copy the TV program to a CD and can watch it again later on on computer. I am also looking for a 80-120GB secondary harddrive.

Could you please explain more about the right software you mentioned and about the TV card. The only thing I have read on the web is what they call the ATI card. Is this the card you refered? If not, how many different cards can do this job?

Another question is about the time conversion. How long VHS time a CDr can store? And how is the quality?

Thank you once again

robin338 · TweakNOOB Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 34

There is no difference between a CD and A VCD in a blank state. Philips created CDs a while ago. They have to be the same. VCDs are simply formatted for video to play in computers and devices that you hook up to your TV (DVD players). The end user is the one who creates the VCD. I could be wrong, but MPEG1 is used for encoding VCDs.

I am not sure that all CDR/RWs will burn VCDs. I have a Yamaha and it works fine. I should have not mentioned the software part as that is vastly more complicated. I use DivX, Adobe Premiere, and ULead Video studeo, but not for TV shows. A Google search on any of those should provide ample imformation.

If all you want is to watch a show later on your PC, then ATi's TV card will work. You simply program the time you want to record (make sure your computer will be on) and store it to your hard drive. I created a folder in a second hard drive for this purpose. You don't have to create a VCD to watch it later.

The possibilities here are not endless, but you have a more than a few. For VHS recording to the VCD format, figure about one-half hour for per VCD. More if you choose a lesser quality format like WMP or QT streaming AV.

If you don't want a TV card, you still need a card or device to capture the VHS to your harddrive, and from my experience this is way more expensive, unless you opt for some really low quality hardware (not recommended) with buggy software.

The easiest solution would be to record to your hdd from a TV solution like the one mentioned above. ATi makes some very good products for this. So do others, but for the money I use ATi. Is it the best? Not sure, but I like it. Going the extra step is not necessary. If you have home video of important events like a wedding or a baby's first steps, then VCDs really are a good tool.

One last thing, cpu power is somewhat important. I had problems with recording TV on computers that had 550MHz or less. More recent CPUs can more readily handle the workload...and not miss many or any frames.

Update: Figure closer to one hour per cd if using 700mb blanks with VCD format. I was being a little conservative.

hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

How do we know if a CDRW can burn VCDs?

"... If all you want is to watch a show later on your PC, then ATi's TV card will work. You simply program the time you want to record (make sure your computer will be on) and store it to your hard drive. I created a folder in a second hard drive for this purpose. You don't have to create a VCD to watch it later... "

The above paragraph seems the TV card you mentioned is also called ATI card?

The rest of your answer is very clear. Thank you very much.

Roger · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2003 7:47 am Post subject:

ATI is the name of the company who makes video and tv cards that you can use to capture either video from an external source (tv, vcr, dvd, camera, etc...) and/or a tv card which allows you to view and capture a television signal that you can then record.

do not complicate this with AIW (All In Wonder). that is one of ATI's models.
so you'd have an AIT AIW 9700 Pro as an example.
(such as a Ford Tempo.)

the AIW series capture video from external sources, and has the tv feed as well which allows you to capture television shows.
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hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

Hi Roger,

Thank you very much for your extra explanation about the ATI,TV cards. For the best considering both good quality and good money, what would you suggest?
Is pricegrabber good enough to find the best deal?

Roger · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:09 am Post subject:

i'd suggest a mid-range AIW card. if you're worried about $$, don't get the 9700. but a 9xxx lower end version would do you just fine.. and still be a very good card.

as for pricegrabber, haven't tried them, couldn't say.
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hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

Roger,

Thank you once again. Now after all helps from Robin and you, I have a better idea what I should start with

.

robin338 · TweakNOOB Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 34

hochoi,

I have an ATi Radeon 8500DV. This is an All in Wonder solution that provides some more advanced capabilities than the newer ATi Radeon 9000 All in Wonder models. In terms of gaming power, they are similar. In terms of home recording, the 8500DV has something no other Radeon All in Wonder ever produced has: Firewire (1394 connection). In fact it has two firewire ports. The tuner on the 8500DV is digital, while the tuners on all other All in Wonder cards are analog. To be honest I don't know if a digital tuner means that much, except that it is smaller than the analog one. The digital tuner also runs much hotter.

The price difference between the two is around 20 US dollars more for the newer ATi Radeon 9000 All in Wonder. It is really a toss up between the two. Both have their strong points. Overall, the 8500DV has a better graphics chip. The software bundle with the 9000 All in Wonder is more up to date. Both cost less than 200 dollars US. If you have a Video Camera that has a firewire plug in, the 8500DV is a better solution, unless you don't mind buying a firewire capture card for the 9000 model.

Update: With the 8500DV: If you plan to watch DVDs on your computer with the MMC series 8 or later, then you will have to purchase a CD from ATi that gives you this function. The disk is 10US dollars. Third party apps from WinDVD or Cyberlink work fine without the disk.

One plus is that both have stereo TV tuners.

hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

Hi Robin,

Thank you for your new lesson

. It's like a review

SWJ · TweakNOOB Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Posts: 6 Location: Yahoo

Howdy !

I am not new to these types of forums, however I am new here. With the massive amount of 'puter boards out there for video capture, Tweak News was the best place that I found to help me make up my mind on which model to buy and also tips and tricks.

In this last thread, hochoi ask just about the same questions that I was about to post, so thanks Robin and Roger for the advice.

My choice was the AIW 9000 pro, it's in the bag ... not in the computer yet. Should have time to put it in later this evening.

Hopefully down the line I'll be able to help someone one, returning the favor. Electronics is my life background however in the communications field.

Thanks and nice board.

Sam

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

glad to have you on board!

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Roger · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 7:45 am Post subject:

well, i've got my aiw 9700 in, and i just configured the system, but i need to pick up a couple cables for input/output before i can tell you just how good it is to work with. i need a fairly long svideo to reach the vcr.
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hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

I think if SWJ and Roger can give some feedback from your current experience, that would be very nice