DR.ZOIDBERG Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Was just cleaning up the garage and came across some old home movies which are on VHS Tapes. Problem is that they now have mold etc on them. I would really and I mean really would like to get these home movies onto DVD so we can view them and keep them for a long time. Does anyone know if this can be done??? I am located in QLD Gold Coast so if anyone knows anyone here that does it, be great!! Thanks
DrP Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Once upon a time, when tapes ruled the roost, major video rental shops had in house tape cleaners. If the tapes are just dirty and not delaminating it might pay to check your local rental shop to see if they still have a cleaner. One of the easier ways to get them onto DVD is to use a DVD recorder.
DR.ZOIDBERG Posted June 19, 2008 Author Posted June 19, 2008 I have a VHS - DVD Recorder so its easy for the good quality tapes but these ones when I put them in a VHS Player are just static as I think they are too dirty. I know there is something for sure on them, just making it play again would be fantastic
kwarrior Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Was just cleaning up the garage and came across some old home movies which are on VHS Tapes. Problem is that they now have mold etc on them. I would really and I mean really would like to get these home movies onto DVD so we can view them and keep them for a long time.Does anyone know if this can be done??? I am located in QLD Gold Coast so if anyone knows anyone here that does it, be great!! Thanks Do you have a "firewire" connection on your PC ? If yes, then what you can do, and this is what I did with all my old VHS stuff...and indeed, my old VHS Video Camera tapes, is.... a) Connect your VCR to the input of a Digital Video Camera (if you dont have one, ask a friend if you can borrow it for a while)... Connect the Digital Video Camera with the firewire to your pc... c) Play the tape on the VCR...and start a "capture" using any video capture software (many available free on the web)... d) You will find that the VHS Analogue video converted to Digital files and stored on your PC hard disc (you would have specified where when you install the video capture software)... From that point you can use Nero to burn a DVD or use a DVD Ripping software to create a DVD.. The pictures are not the best, after all they were analogue to start with and perhaps multiple usage has scratched the Video tapes...but at least you are on your way... Mind you, this a long and time consuming affair...but worth it if you really want to preserve the old stuff you have... And if you thought all of that would be impossible...there is a guy up in Townsville who does it...click here
DrP Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 I have a VHS - DVD Recorder so its easy for the good quality tapes but these ones when I put them in a VHS Player are just static as I think they are too dirty. In all likelyhood the VCR tape heads are being fouled by the mold and then clogging with oxide from the tape which means all you see is noise. Cleaning the tapes would be my first step.
Shonky* Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 (edited) Yeah I think the issue here is not getting from VHS to DVD. Rather it's removing the mould from the video tapes themselves so they don't gunk up what ever machine is being used. Possibly also the tapes have been erased by external fields. I would still expect some picture from them though. Edited June 19, 2008 by Shonky*
charlesc Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Probably an in-house place if they were doing a pro job may wind the tapes off onto some other reels and then work on them. Get the mould off and see what was left. If you have an old one that isn't that important, put it in an old VCR and see if it will fast wind forwards and backwards a few times. Don't play it as such. Try and see if the tape has delaminated during that process. If you know what you are doing, and ONLY if you do, with a VCR opened up (external case removed) you can see the tape as it goes around the tape path. You might find that easier to check the tape quality in the middle areas. You may even find you can 'clean' the tape with a cloth. But don't do this if you are NOT AN ELECTRICIAN. Open equipment cases can expose dangerous voltage. Get someone who knows what they are doing. If the tapes are really of value to you, doing things yourself may well damage them. Perhaps call around some pro places first, and sound them out as to what they would do in this situation.
Shonky* Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 digitalj: these are home movies Dr Zoidberg is trying to copy.
digitalj Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 digitalj: these are home movies Dr Zoidberg is trying to copy. edited, I thought he was talking about VHS Video's that he's had for quite a while, it never came across to me that they may be home made ones.
Jliang70 Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Do you have a "firewire" connection on your PC ? If yes, then what you can do, and this is what I did with all my old VHS stuff...and indeed, my old VHS Video Camera tapes, is....a) Connect your VCR to the input of a Digital Video Camera (if you dont have one, ask a friend if you can borrow it for a while)... Connect the Digital Video Camera with the firewire to your pc... c) Play the tape on the VCR...and start a "capture" using any video capture software (many available free on the web)... d) You will find that the VHS Analogue video converted to Digital files and stored on your PC hard disc (you would have specified where when you install the video capture software)... From that point you can use Nero to burn a DVD or use a DVD Ripping software to create a DVD.. The pictures are not the best, after all they were analogue to start with and perhaps multiple usage has scratched the Video tapes...but at least you are on your way... Mind you, this a long and time consuming affair...but worth it if you really want to preserve the old stuff you have... And if you thought all of that would be impossible...there is a guy up in Townsville who does it...click here The quickest way of converting VHS to DVD is to use DVD recorder. The VHS connecting through to Digital video camera with Firewire into AVI also works fine but the main problem with this method is the time it will take to render uncompress AVI to Mpeg2. I have done this before not with a digital camera but with Canopus ADVC-55/110 which accept RCA video/audio feed and SVideo and output via fireware, ADVC-55 looks like a little cigarett pack but the way it does the analogue to digital conversion is much superior than both DVD recorder and Digital video recorder and produce much sharper pictures. I used this little device to convert home videos, normal videos and also Laser discs a few years ago. At time I also talked to a victorian canopus retailer regarding their more upmarket video conversion kit which does real time video capture and Mpeg2 conversion and his comments was the conversion quality in the more expensive kit will not be as good as ADVC, the only good thing is time you saved with the expensive gear. I think ADVC55 can now be bought for about $200 and it is a good piece of hardware but seriously I don't think anyone would like to go through and convert their video this way.
ausidjohn Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 I went through the exercise of converting VHS over to DVDs and I used power producer, it works well. With relation to cleaning up the muck, I have no clue ..I just wonder if exit mould would damage the tape ...let us know if you have any joy...I have been converting tapes over to DVDs for friends for a fee of $4.00per tape , all I do is put in the tape and just and just record everything otherwise you have to spend time editing- not an option as it is far too time consuming- It not so bad if you want to have a look back 15 years but it wears thin pretty quickly...LOL.....regards John
DrP Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Exit mold is essentially concentrated bleach. DO NOT USE IT ON THE TAPE!
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