Advice Needed on Digitizing Camcorder and VHS Tapes

[UA User]

Hello, I need to digitize camcorder and VHS tapes of a deceased family member’s performances at musical concerts. Do any of you friendly forum members have advice on the best way to do this?

I’d prefer recommendations on ways to do it myself. I’m on MacOS. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[LouisC]

Don't do it yourself.
Send them to a company that specialize in transferring old formats.
Your VHS tapes may only be good for one play and if you start rewinding on an old secondhand domestic player you stand every chance of never seeing of hearing those performances again.

 

[Dambo101]

Hi
I’ve had good results with this

https://www.elgato.com/ww/en/p/video-capture

You will need a decent VHS player though.

 

[UA User]

Don't do it yourself.
Send them to a company that specialize in transferring old formats.
Your VHS tapes may only be good for one play and if you start rewinding on an old secondhand domestic player you stand every chance of never seeing of hearing those performances again.

I’m a little hesitant to send the tapes off to someone. I wouldn’t want them to be damaged or lost, God forbid.

 

[UA User]

Hi
I’ve had good results with this

https://www.elgato.com/ww/en/p/video-capture

You will need a decent VHS player though.

Thank you for the recommendation! Do you use the video capture software it comes with or do you use another screen capture software? I’m on MacOS if that matters.

 

[Dambo101]

Thank you for the recommendation! Do you use the video capture software it comes with or do you use another screen capture software? I’m on MacOS if that matters.

I found the bundled Mac software to work great.

 

[Matt Hepworth]

I had a nice S-VHS player and capture setup for this years ago. That was back when 480p was considered really good.

Nowadays it's a really hard situation to get something very clean and watchable on modern resolutions.

I too would recommend finding a media transfer place (local, if possible), so at least you'll have a shot at getting something decent and minimal worries about damage or loss.

If you have a decent player, any capture card that has analog will work. You'll then probably have to do a decent amount of post work de-interlacing, etc., to get anything watchable.

 

[UA User]

I found the bundled Mac software to work great.

Thanks!

 

[UA User]

I had a nice S-VHS player and capture setup for this years ago. That was back when 480p was considered really good.

Nowadays it's a really hard situation to get something very clean and watchable on modern resolutions.

I too would recommend finding a media transfer place (local, if possible), so at least you'll have a shot at getting something decent and minimal worries about damage or loss.

If you have a decent player, any capture card that has analog will work. You'll then probably have to do a decent amount of post work de-interlacing, etc., to get anything watchable.

Thank you for the insight, Matt! I have a few questions if you don’t mind. I have a mix of Hi8, Super VHS, and VHS tapes.

1. What are the advantages (video/audio quality, etc.) to using a service over DIY options?
2. Do you have any experience/advice using products like Dambo101 recommended?
3. If I did it myself, would QuickTime Player be as good a video capture option as anything else on Mac?
4. Would recording the audio straight into a DAW be my best bet for audio quality as far as DIY options are concerned?

 

[Thetechnologyguru]

We can help you with your conversions…

Thetechnologyguru

We can collect tapes in the South East region of the UK if that helps?

 

[Matt Hepworth]

Thank you for the insight, Matt! I have a few questions if you don’t mind. I have a mix of Hi8, Super VHS, and VHS tapes.

1. What are the advantages (video/audio quality, etc.) to using a service over DIY options?
2. Do you have any experience/advice using products like Dambo101 recommended?
3. If I did it myself, would QuickTime Player be as good a video capture option as anything else on Mac?
4. Would recording the audio straight into a DAW be my best bet for audio quality as far as DIY options are concerned?

1. Reliable, highest quality transfer.
2. I don't.
3. No, you'll need a designated capturing software that, hopefully, integrates with the hardware acceleration, or be able to capture in an uncompressed format.
4. I don't see any advantage in going audio to DAW vs the capture hardware and software.

 

[UA User]

We can help you with your conversions…

Thetechnologyguru

We can collect tapes in the South East region of the UK if that helps?

Sorry I’m not in the UK.

 

[UA User]

1. Reliable, highest quality transfer.
2. I don't.
3. No, you'll need a designated capturing software that, hopefully, integrates with the hardware acceleration, or be able to capture in an uncompressed format.
4. I don't see any advantage in going audio to DAW vs the capture hardware and software.

Thank you, Matt! I’ll probably go with a service. I know a little about audio, but I have too many blind spots when it comes to video.