Transferring VHS to DVD

[Scott C. Mellott]

If you want to create the DVD on your computer, you only need a simple 
capture board (Hauppagge sp? - WinTV is good under Linux is less than 
$50) and some disk space.  Once you have the video digitized on your 
computer you have a couple choices for creating a digital media.

The obvious one is a DVD burner drive.  The only issue here is whether 
to save a few bucks and buy a single mode burner (i.e. only burns either 
DVD-R or DVD+R) or go for the more expensive DVD-+R burner.  I've used 
Pioneer DVD-R burners to burn data only DVD disks for the last year with 
very good results.  Others where I work use the same drive to author DVD 
video disks with good success.

The other choice would be to use a simple CD-R/W drive and make the 
videos in VCDs instead of DVDs.  If you're not familiar with VCDs, 
that's not surpising.  They have a had a very popular usage in other 
parts of the world but never caught on here in the US.  They are 
basically an MPEG-1 encoded video disk (DVD uses MPEG-2).  The quality 
of the video is less than a DVD but about the same as VHS.  You can 
typically get an hour or so over video on a single CD-R.  I've made 
numerous VCDs for my kids of their favorite cartoons to use on our 
portable DVD player.

I've seen the combo VHS DVD writers you're talking about.  They 
certainly make the process of copying a tape quick and easy.  I've 
actually thought about getting one to do the same tape to DVD transfer. 
  I could do it while the kids watch the tape (kill 2 birds with 1 stone).

Scott

Larry Cook wrote:

> I'd love to transfer my family home videos from VHS to DVD.  The 
> services I've seen charge $20-$50 for transferring a 2 hour tape to 
> DVD.  Since I've got 15-20 tapes, I figure I might as well invest the 
> money in my own equipment.
> 
> Can anyone give me their experiences with doing this on Linux and what 
> h/w and s/w is needed?  Or point me to any good material on the topic?
> 
> Or am I better off just buying a standalone (as in stereo home 
> entertainment component) DVD-player/recorder?  They seem to start at 
> around $400.
> 
> Thanks,
> Larry
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-- 
_________________________
Scott Mellott
scott at mellott.com
http://scott.mellott.com
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