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How to Convert a VHS Tape to DVD
By
Aug 25, 2004, 12:42

I was asked to help convert a VHS tape to DVD for my son’s kindergarten class. I had never actually performed this task, so I had to do a little research on the topic. After much reading on the different types of DVD formats, I finally came to a concise stepwise approach to converting tapes to DVD on the CNET website found at www.cnet.com .
Here are the basic steps to get from VHS to DVD:

1. Capture the video on your computer.

2. Edit the video.

3. Create the DVD layout.

4. Burn the DVD.

From a hardware point of view, you need a way to connect your VHS VCR to your computer. Video capture devices are available as PCI cards (for desktops), PCMCIA cards (for laptops), and USB cables (for either). All of these come with software for controlling the video capture process and basic video editing. Your DVD burner may have come with beginners' software for creating movie DVDs. Finally, you will need a large hard drive for holding the raw video files during the capture and editing process. A typical DVD can hold almost two hours of compressed video, and can take up to 4.5GB of space. The same raw video in AVI format may take 30GB.

Here are a few helpful hints on the process. First, give yourself lots of time. You can't accelerate the capture process. An hour of home video takes an hour to capture. The editing process is going to take a while as well, especially the first few times. The conversion of the video format to DVD video can take much longer than the capture, depending on the speed of your hardware, though you don't have to sit there and watch it. Also, DVD burners are no where near as fast as CD burners.

Second, do a couple of short tests to confirm that the captured video looks and sounds correct. Once a common problem with some hardware is that the sound track goes out of sync with the picture. This is due to uncompensated delays in the sound capture part of the process. If you have one of the more advanced video editing programs you will be able to "time shift" the sound track to line it up with the picture even after the capture. The bundled software usually doesn't let you do that.

Third, consider what kind of blank DVD's to get. You will see DVD+R and DVD-R. (Don't even consider the rewritable stuff for movie DVDs. Your DVD player probably won't recognize the disk properly.) Either one will work on new DVD players, but the DVD-R will more likely be compatible with an older player. The media is getting pretty inexpensive, so your best bet is to do a test disk.

As you get used to using this format, you will find that it is a great way to share family memories and other events in a convenient way. If you have any questions or comments about this, or any other computer topic, email me at Webservercolumn@yahoo.com. I can also be reached at the same email address for home computer lessons and repair.

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