Vhs To My Computer

I want to play my VHS tapes into my computer so I can burn them to cvd what do I need & wear is best(cheepest) place to get it

I do that all of the time. I convert home videos into VCDs or DIVX.

All you need is a TV capture card. I use ATI-TV Wonder, but there are many brands out there. Make sure you get one that is Windows XP compatable. Do a little research before buying. I found out that the WDM feature on my card is not user friendly. Everyone still uses the old VFW (Video For Windows) instead. Yahoo video messenger (or AOL) does not accept WDM drivers.

I connect my camcorder to my TV card, and use it as a high quality webcam.

I watch TV and use the computer at the same time.

I use my PC as a VCR. I can record up to 27 hours of television. Depends on how big your hard drive is.


Download a copy of ULEAD MEDIA STUDIO, too. You'll love it. Great video editing software.


The key thing is, don't get burn't and buy a cheap card, it is most likely obselete, and the drivers are hard to find. Before you buy a video capture card (don't get anything USB!!!! It is too slow), visit the manufacturer's website and see how friendly it is to download a driver. See if they update their old drivers.

Video capture devices that use FIREWIRE are new to me, but I have a feeling that they are good. But I am not sure of that.

Some video cards, like mine, have a great MPEG compression feature, that uses its own RAM while recording video. Instant MPEG, ready for VCD burning. Saves a lot of time and hard drive space. The old video capture cards only saved video as AVI files. Then you had to convert them into the proper MPEG format for VCDs. That process took hours.

Look for features on a capture card software. Does it let you adjust color, brightness, volume, etc....

Everyone has a webcam that yields choppy video output, but a video capture card will give you that "real time smooth video", when using a camcorder as a webcam.

Good Luck. I hope I have helped you some.

Thanx for future reference

Me too... thanks for that.

I'd like to add my thanks also!

That was a good reply. But Don't forget too tell them about VCDhelp.com They have a newbie section that will help you on these things. One of my faviorts. Every movie I ever get I sometimes need help with codecs and etc.. So check the site out.

Using a camcorder as a webcam? "That's gold Jerry! GOLD!!" Best idea I have heard all day.

Any webcam with a CCD(charged couple device)sensor will have video quality as good as any video camera(except for Pro models with multiple CCDs). But sadly alot of webcams use a CMOS(complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)sensor which results in crappy video.
If your shopping for one though, that info usually won't be on the label but is probably available at the mfg website. (I love the internet!)
Firewire is great for connecting a outside video source to your computer because it will be in digital form(no analog to digital conversion), the transfer speed is outstanding, and your computer will automatically recognize the hardware(as if it is another drive) without need for any special software.

Don't forget USB!