Ways to rip VHS?

[kuraido92]

I have got some old, out-of-print Zuka VHS tapes I'd like to copy, but I really don't know how. I know there are 10000s of guides out there, but I find them difficult, and there are so many softwares and stuff I could get, but what could anyone of you recommend? Have any of you tried to backup a VHS Zuka tape? Since they won't really exist forever

Comments

[jonjonxd]

The cheapest alternative would be getting a usb video capture card. It's how I capture video from my laser disc player and my VCR.

This one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CBXEDG/ref=asc_df_B001CBXEDG967691?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=googlecom09c9-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B001CBXEDG

That's the one I use. It works fairly well. Comes with a program that makes it easy as hell for you to record from your VCR straight to a blank DVD (or your hard drive, whatever you want to do).

You could get a VHS to DVD recorder set top box but those are pretty expensive. I recommend what I do lol.

As long as you have a USB 2.0 port (as all computers made in the past 5+ years do..if you want to make sure you aren't having problems via connection, use a USB port on the back of your machine) and a DVD burner, you're pretty much set ;D

[kuraido92]

Oh, thank you! But have you any idea if this ignores copy-right protected vhs tapes? Almost all Zuka tapes are like that. And is quality lost a little in the converting process, and how much editing freedom do you get? And is it possible to transfer a VHS tape to DVD without any need to compress the size first? I heard some converters creates like 14 gig for one hour of vhs tape footage.

[jonjonxd]

the software it comes with is pretty straight forward. If you want the best quality, you should be using dual layer dvds.

It tells you how many minutes you can store based on the media used as well (single layer versus dual layer dvds) compared to what setting you want to use.

So if you want the best possible quality, just use Dual layer DVDs + set the program it comes with to "best".

Also, it would ignore all copy right protection.

It's just a video capture card, its taking whatever output the VCR is putting out and recording it. That is ALL it is doing. So yes, it would work with all VHS tapes...even anything with RCA / s-video output (like my laser disc player ;D)

I didn't really go into editing much...it's just very basic software. I feel there is no need to edit anything. If you really wanted to, you could always just use programs like virtual dub and such to have more options, but I just like the program it comes with since it's designed to just rip from VHS straight to DVD.

[kuraido92]

Suank yuuu very much <3! This pretty much fixes everything and answer all my questions. I'll probably go with this or something similar.

[jonjonxd]

Also, make sure you have RCA cables (the red, white, and yellow cables) for your VCR lol. I don't know if you're connecting it through the coax or not.

[cosmos14]

hi, just browsing through sailortelevator's flist. eniwei, i have a video capture hardware. Pinnacle is the brand. it disable a little of copy-right tapes. you will see only a line either on top or at the bottom.

i have Tani's Fitzgerald The Last Party VHS. i don't have any problem with the copy-right features. :)

[kuraido92]

Oh, thank you, all the information I can get is appreciated! ;p