VHS tape to a Digital Format - DVD/MP4 or even AVI etc...

[Koldov]

Recently had a clear out of some old gear in my loft and came across some old home videos on VHS tape (luckily I have also found a VHS tape player), however I want to convert them to a digital format.

 

I've also discovered an old Pinnacle TV tuner/capture card and I can get the card drivers installed, but can't verify if there is actually any output as I've realised I don't have the original capture software.

 

Obviouosly looking for something free and able to capture the output from the card into a decent format/filesize/quality (although I'm aware the VHS output won't be very good quality - just don't want to lose what little there is).

[LeMarchand]

Pretty sure VLC does this.

[bald_pig]

You can probably use VLC to do this

 

*EDIT* Dammit LeMarchand!

Edited November 1, 2018 by bald_pig

[Koldov]

Thanks, but after MUCH messing about it appears the card is not going to give me any output. No idea why, just no combination of software choices or cable connections is giving me anything, so back to the drawing board (I had another one years ago but threw it out never thinking I would need it again - don't you just hate that).

 

So, on the hunt for a cheap and cheerful solution!

 

Anybody done this sort of thing before?

 

Should I get a USB thing from Amazon?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/External-USB-Video-Capture-Card/dp/B008F0SARC/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_421_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YVBV0SRNASQ8G1ANN601

 

Or a dedicated PC card?

 

https://www.lambda-tek.com/Compro-VIDEOMATE-C500~sh/B7339351

 

Or maybe search Fleabay for something like this?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compro-VideoMate-S350-Digital-Satellite-TV-Tuner-Video-Audio-Capture-Card/283233991275?hash=item41f20fba6b:g:qOwAAOSwOuFb1s3z:rk:6:pf:0

[unixman_again]

We have a similar USB device that you mentioned. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00XHOHRPW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01

 

My experience has been that it works fine on W7 but not on W10. I found that on W10, it would sometimes not capture the file and if the window was minimised it wouldn't capture it at all. However, CSL did send me some new software that fixes this problem and it now says the product is W10 compatible. I never bothered to install the new version and I'm not sure if I have it any longer. I do run it perfectly on a W7 box. You'll also need Format Factory to join the output files together; once a certain size is reached, it splits the program. I also find Avidexmux, Handbreak and DVDStyler useful to have.

[LeMarchand]

Thanks, but after MUCH messing about it appears the card is not going to give me any output. No idea why, just no combination of software choices or cable connections is giving me anything, so back to the drawing board (I had another one years ago but threw it out never thinking I would need it again - don't you just hate that).

 

I'll see if I can find out the model I recently set up for someone. Was just a cheapo one, but seemed to work on W10 once I'd found up-to-date drivers.

[bald_pig]

Recently had a clear out of some old gear in my loft and came across some old home videos on VHS tape (luckily I have also found a VHS tape player), however I want to convert them to a digital format.

 

I've also discovered an old Pinnacle TV tuner/capture card and I can get the card drivers installed, but can't verify if there is actually any output as I've realised I don't have the original capture software.

 

Obviouosly looking for something free and able to capture the output from the card into a decent format/filesize/quality (although I'm aware the VHS output won't be very good quality - just don't want to lose what little there is).

 

Out of interest, what's the make/model of the current capture device?

[Koldov]

It's a very, very old Pinnacle PCTV Pro (PCI) card (ROB2D-51009464-4.0). Just getting nothing from it.

 

 

The card itself was recognised by Win7 and drivers installed themselves, VLC could see the card (although I think it called it a Pinnacle Rave) but no matter if I used Composite/S-Video or the co-ax there was nothing.

 

I found using VLC for the capture a little confusing as it appears you have to set the Video Input pin, but neither VLC or Descaler came up with a picture regardless of what input I chose or what settings I tried (I was hoping there would be some software available that would take the guesswork out - hence my original question).

 

Of course it could be the VCR I was using as it only has the co-ax and a scart, so I had to use an adapter...

[bald_pig]

It looks like this is the original software:

 

TVC 6.4.8 Download

[chewee]

maybe try OBS as that supports a huge range of input sources

[LeMarchand]

This is what I got set up and working both with the installed software and VLC on W10: https://www.amazon.co.uk/InVaFoCo-Capture-Grabber-Converter-Transfer/dp/B01MTK7D4F

[Koldov]

Well, a little update!

 

I actually found a very old Compro video mate card in the loft as well and in the end got both 'working', but alas the capture side without actual drivers for the specific cards was reduced in resolution and complicated. I was very close to downloading some drivers from 'ALL DRIVER' type sites and knew this was the wrong way to go and that I was getting too desperate to make it work and about to throw caution to the wind....

 

So, after messing about with various solutions from XP mode to a VM running XP (both of which made finding the drivers for my modern machine impossible) I realised there was only really one solution...

 

 

I put back together a box with an INTEL 946GZIS board, Pentium D 2.8 GHz, 3 GB RAM. It has SATA ports and PCIe (thanks to NVIDIA's legacy drivers), so I didn't have to go completely old school - and run a full XP SP3 on it (unofficial SP4 and POS reg hack)! Avast still do an anti-virus for XP, but it won't go near a network - it doesn't really need to, so that's ok.

 

I also had an Epson Perfection 2480 Photo scanner which doesn't have modern drivers or scanning software and have hooked that up to my XP box too. Couldn't remember why I had kept it (other than the usual hoarding tendencies), but then found all the strips of photographic negatives (which this scanner can turn into digital photos).

 

The other bonus is I can play Battle Chess again!

 

 

Especially as STEAM want £6.99 for it!!!

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/622830/Battle_Chess/

 

A bit like seeing Amazon Prime Video wanting something similar to 'rent' 20 year old films even when you have a Prime account, let alone buy them (how does that even work? Is it an Amazon digital streaming copy, not even a digital copy to store and play elsewhere or a physical DVD? What happens if you leave Amazon?)...

 

A little gutted that I had already taken the boxes of other old CDs and games to the tip but actually I know that would only end up like my Commodore 64 episode (fun for an evening until you realise most of the evening is actually loading the games and the other half wincing at the graphics and shocking gameplay) and realising you don't have the time for this anymore...

 

Wanders off muttering about how lucky kids are these days and no wonder they can't wait for anything....

[SpuffMonkey]

If you're near Northampton - just drop it round - I've just a setup to do this!