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Convert VHS to DVD

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS
Convert VHS to DVD
Copyright

1
Fehler! Textmarke nicht definiert.

VHS Films on DVD

Connection your video recorder to your PC
Transferring VHS to your PC

3
3
5

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VHS Films on DVD

VHS Films on DVD

Introduction

One or more of you are probably still in possession of your old VHS tape
collection, which has been begging to be dragged into the digital age.
In this workshop we will show you how to transfer your analog video
tapes onto your PC and then finally burn them onto CD or DVD. You will
learn a bit about video interfaces and connection possibilities and we will
take you through the whole process step by step, using your version
of MAGIX Movie Edit Pro of course.

Connection your video recorder to your

PC
First off, you have to make sure that your PC is even capable of
recording analog video. I be able to do this, it must have a multimedia
card with video input. This can be a TV-card, a special video interface
card but also a normal graphics card with a Video-IN socket.
To connect your analog video recorder to your PC simply connect the
video output (Video-OUT) on your VCR to the video input (Video-IN) on
your PC using a cable. The audio output (Line-OUT) should be connected
to the audio input (Line-IN) of your soundcard.
The fact that there are many different types of socket makes it difficult
to say exactly which cable or which adapter is required four your
particular case. In order to help you, there is a short overview of video
connectors and connection possibilities. If in doubt, please refer to the
manufacturers documentation which came with your VCR or PC.
If you have a digital camcorder, you can use this as an
analog/digital converter. To do this, simply connect your VCR to the
analog input of your camera. The connect the camera to your PC using
FireWire in the usual way.

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VHS Films on DVD

Video connectors
Here is a brief overview of the most common video connectors and
connection possibilities, with basic information of how they work.
Hosiden S-Video Connector

S-Video
Plug

S-Video Socket

Audio L/R, S-Video and Video

(FBAS) connections are often
grouped together.

S-Video, also known as Y/C, is a basic

analog video format. It offers a
qualitatively better signal than Composite
Video. The S-Video format splits the signal
into two channels: brightness (luminance
Y) and Color (chrominance C).
S-Video is often mistakenly equated
to S-VHS. S-VHS stands for Super Video
Home System and is an improved VHS
standard, which has very little to do with
the S-Video connector.

SCART Connector
The SCART connector (Syndicat des
Constructeurs d'Appareils
Radiorecepteurs et Televiseurs) is also
known as Euro AV. SCART transfers
audio and video simultaneously.
The SCART connection is the most common type in Europe for TVs,
VCRs, DVD players and so on, and is therefore one of the most
important audio/video interfaces.
Composite Video Connector
The Cinch video composite connector is also often found on
video devices. The picture quality, however, is relatively low
as the brightness, color information and synchronization is
modulated on a single frequency and transferred together
through one cable. The receiver, your PC for example, must
then use a filter to separate this information again.
This process does not always work as it should and often leads to visible
loss in picture quality. Problems such as color/brightness flickers around
the edges are common. This effect is called Cross Color or Cross
Luminance. This problem does not occur when using S-Video or SCART
connections.
Thus, video transfer through a Cinch connection is obviously the worst
from of transfer. However, if your devices only support this method,
make sure you use a high quality video cable in order to minimize a loss
in quality.

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VHS Films on DVD

Connection Possibilities
In order to create a SCART socket for your VCR, your can
use a SCART to Cinch adapter. This has a SCART input on
one side (Euro-AV) and three Cinch plugs on the other
(red, white and yellow). The cable with the yellow plug is
usually thicker. This transports the video signal, and should
be plugged into the yellow composite socket in you TV
card.
Generally, a TV card is not responsible for capturing
audio, although there are some with both audio and
video in/outputs. If your soundcard does not have a
Cinch input for the red and white sockets, you need to
acquire a "Cinch to 3.5mm stereo jack".
The red and white Cinch plugs of a "SCART to Cinch"
adapter must be plugged into the Cinch sockets of the
audio adapter.. The other end of the audio adapter has to
go in the audio input of your soundcard.

Transferring VHS to your PC

Once you have connected your PC and VCR, it's time to start up MAGIX
Movie Edit Pro on your PC.
Step 1. "Luke, use the source"
Click on the "Record" button underneath the
video monitor.
This will open the dialog window which allows
you to select your recording source.

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VHS Films on DVD

Step 2: Open recording window

In the resulting dialog window you will be asked to "choose your capture
source", choose Video Analog. With this, you will open the video analog
recording dialog.
Step 3: Choose audio and video drivers
Choose the drivers for your video and audio
cards from the drop-down menus in section
1. If you have connected your hardware
properly, you should see a video preview in
the right-hand window.

If you don't see an image in the preview window, you video

recorder may not be ready or you may have connected it incorrectly. In
section 3 of the dialog window ("Quality"), you can click on the
"Advanced" button to change your video inputs. Choose yout PC input
from between Composite (video connection), Tuner (straight from the
tuner of your TV-card) and S-VHS (S-Video Hodisen socket).
Step 4: Specify name and target
In section 2 you can give your
recording a name a specify a location
for it to be saved. It's worth choosing a
logical name which will allow you to
find it easily again later when you want
to burn it on CD or DVD.

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VHS Films on DVD

Step 5: Recording quality
In section 3 you can see the "Quality" option. Here you use the dropdown menu to choose a suitable level of quality for your movie material.
The recording quality should be set at least as high as the source
material.
S-VHS quality when transferring via S-Video (Hosiden socket)
VHS quality when connected via composite video (Cinch socket)

Step 6: Start and end video capture

Pressing OK will bring you back to the video recording window. Wind
your video cassette to the desired start position and start the recording
to your PC with the big red record button in section 4. Now you can start
playback on your VCR. The scenes that you don't want can be cut out
later using the editing functions. To end capture, click "Stop". Pay
attention to the number of "Dropped framed": If you get a reading of
more that 10 dropped frames per minute, reduce your video quality a
little bit to prevent your PC from being overloaded. Close the video
recording dialog with "OK".
Step 7: Editing and Burning
You now have your VHS film material in digital format. You can see the
recording in the film-strip in the lower half of the screen. You can check
that everything worked as it should by pressing the space bar and
previewing your recording.
But now comes the best part: you can optimize and restore the video
material back to it's former glory, something which was not possible
with VHS cassettes.
You can find more information on working with MAGIX Movie Edit Pro in
our helpful tutorial section. In the MAGIX Movie Edit Pro tutorial you will
find more detailed information on how to import, optimize, arrange and
burn your movie material.

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