Best software for converting VHS to digital

September 26, 2018 10:52 AM

I have the hardware I need, I've got a VCR and a dongle that goes into a USB port on my PC. But what software should I use?

Most of of the advice on the net falls into one of two camps:

1. Get this converter dongle and just use the software that comes with it.
or
2. Here's some incredibly complicated adjustments you need to do to correct color, sync audio, blah blah blah

I want something better than the Elgato software I got when I bought their Video Capture product.

I don't care that I can't burn DVDs with it, the conversion quality is fine, the interface is pretty streamlined except that it requires user intervention between the end of the capturing and the beginning of the processing.

I have about 100 tapes to digitize. I would like to be able to get one started before bed, wake up and get another one started before work, get home and get another one started in the evening.. etc.

But when I come back to a job I started, I have to click a button to start the conversion, which can take 5-15 minutes.

I'm on Windows 10. Software doesn't have to be free. Any ideas? Any experience with another software?

posted by stupidsexyFlanders to Technology (5 answers total)

Popping in with a note of caution: depending on the file format and bitrate of the digitized files, they could be gigabytes in size per tape. And while you're sleeping or away, if the conversion software doesn't know to stop when the tape does, you could be filling your hard drive with digitized hours of no video at all. HTH.
posted by conscious matter at 11:54 AM on September 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

The software you need to use depends on the dongle you bought. Depending on how it is designed, it may emit a different format on the digital/USB side. Some converters like that dump basically uncompressed video onto the USB connection, while others compress it to MPEG-{1,2,4}.

What I'd do:

I would use the software it comes with to do the raw capture from tape, using the highest quality settings possible. Do a straight capture of the entire tape, warts and all. (Bars and tone at the beginning, commercials, video shot with the lens cap on, whatever.)

Archive those raw files in a safe place, probably on DVD. Store 'em with the tapes. That's just best practice in case anything goes wrong further down the chain, because capturing from the tapes is time-consuming and obnoxious.

Then load into your video editing suite of choice to cut the videos up into something watchable. This could be iMovie, Adobe Premiere, or any number of free programs. It's really a usability and features question, based on how much and what kind of editing you want to do. I'd do the projects as 480p or maybe upsample to 720p if you want, but not higher than that, it'd just be a waste. (VHS is typically little better than 320x240 in digital, so 480p is usually fine.) I'd start with something free and only move upmarket if you really need a feature offered in something that costs.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:51 PM on September 26, 2018 [2 favorites]

I was hoping to see some decent conversion software recommendations here. (Right now I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy a new VHS>DVD combo when they were cheap a few years ago (still available online, but not cheap)(yeah they're on Craigslist used, but iffy quality?). Storing footage on DVD kinda postpones the obsolescence question, but it buys some time).

In Related advice: you'll need to clean the heads on the VHS deck often.
posted by ovvl at 4:22 PM on September 27, 2018

Response by poster: I don't really care about editing or cutting them up, future generations can do that. I don't want to copy them to DVD.

I just want to get the video from old tapes into an MPEG4 file I can store on Dropbox.

I bought the Elgato package, which does compress to MP4 and which you can set to stop recording after a configurable time. But when it stops, the software makes you click one button to continue with the conversion and the saving.

I was hoping somebody might know of another software that does the compression and the timed recording, but that also offers truly unattended conversion.

Maybe there's a windows utility that will look for the button and click it when it appears? That's literally all I need here.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:02 AM on September 28, 2018

Response by poster: I never got a good alternative. As a result my video conversion problem bogged down.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 11:19 AM on December 17, 2018