I want to start featuring a weekly video on my site, I have tons of videos on tape, my question is how do I get them from tape to my computer???

Hey Blazie! Welcome back! I think that I should move this under "Hints and tips" There's a new subforum about computer issues.. all of the xchange brainiacs hang out there and I know they will be able to help you!

First you need either a graphic card which is also capable of capturing video signals or an additional video card, like the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon, Pinnacle Miro Video DC30 plus or the Terratec Video System Cameo 400 DV. Ask your dealer about which card is the best for your purposes...prices are ranging between approx. $90 and $800.
Don't forget the necessary cable to link your VCR with the card.

Then you need a program which allows you to work the videos...most cards are featuring a respective program like Adobe Premiere (most of them comes in 'Lite' versions, either with restricted functionality or you need to register it after a certain time). Be sure to check out that the card that you want to purchase comes with such a program, because they are pretty expensive if buy them alone (at least you have a full version then if you need it).

Your computer should be quite powerful if you want to avoid staring on the sandclock for longer periods...it´s recommended that you have at least a newer processor like an Athlon/Duron or a Pentium III/4 and a minimum of 256 MB RAM. Your harddrive should offer enough space, and it´s not bad if it´s a faster one (7,200 rpm).

Hope that you got a first overview now. ;)

My brother-in-law does something like this using the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon. I simply don't know that much about it to offer any advice. Sounds like Wave is familiar with it though, so I let him carry the ball on this one.

Originally posted by wavemaster

Your computer should be quite powerful if you want to avoid staring on the sandclock for longer periods...it´s recommended that you have at least a newer processor like an Athlon/Duron or a Pentium III/4 and a minimum of 256 MB RAM. Your harddrive should offer enough space, and it´s not bad if it´s a faster one (7,200 rpm).

Hope that you got a first overview now. ;)

Well wave, I must disagree with that statement. While you should have a powerful system, you don't need it. I have been video capturing for almost a year with my Pentium III 800, and my brother used to do it with a Pentium II, although I'm not sure what the speed was.

I went and looked at the specs for my capture card, which I bought early last summer. Still fully supported. It only asks for a Pentium MMX 200 and 32 megs of ram.

I would recommend someone having a Pentium II (just to get decent frame rates), a good video card that is no older than a few years, and a large hard disk.

Most capture cards will capture to uncompressed AVI format. I'm using FAT32 and the movies I capture are usually between 1.5 and 3 gigabytes. I usually capture to my 60 gig drive.

Anyway, you don't need the latest and greatest to do it. If you have a Pentium II, a decent graphics card, and a large drive (4 GB or larger), you are fine. In fact lately I have been capturing to my 20 gig drive. Also, you do not need a high speed drive to do this. For almost a year I was capturing to my 60 gig which was 5400 rpm. My 20 gig is 7200 rpm, but there is no video quality loss at the lower speed.

You can get a good capture card for $75 on up. I found a Hauppage card for $50, but it didn't support sound. On top of that, their salesmen are idiots. They told me you cannot capture more than 2 GB under FAT32. That is B.S. FAT32 supports single file sizes up to 4 GB. Anyway, I don't recommend them because their salesmen are idiots and when I asked them for a good inexpensive card, they would ONLY recommend their overpriced $250 capture card to me.

I have a Pinnacle PCTV Studio card that cost $80. It supports radio, video capture, and TV with a remote. I don't use anything but video capture, but I am very happy with it.

There are many others out there. The thing you need to look for is capturing 320x240 or possibly 640x480, a card that supports AVI and/or MPEG format, and supports sound.

I have a geforce 2 titanium now but I was capturing for months using my old 3dfx voodoo3 card with no problems. Unless you really want to fork out the cash for a whole new card that offers capturing, I wouldn't bother. Just get a capture card. There are so many brands out there.

I don't recommend any particular brand because the best brand for you depends on your needs. My Pinnacle is just fine, but there are $200+ cards that do much more. The best thing to do is plug in to a search engine (like google) and check reviews for a variety of capture cards. My little $80 card does excellent for me. Good color, good quality, and easy to use software.

Anyway, I will say it one last time just to dispell the myths. You do not need a high speed super powerful machine. A Celeron or Pentium II with 128 meg should do just fine. I just have a more powerful machine because I wanted it.

For example, if you had a Pentium II 300, 128 meg of ram, a good video card, and even a 10 gig drive, that should be plenty.

Every video capture card that I've seen comes with the necessary software to make it work. All that you might need will be a coaxial cable to run from your VCR to the capture card.

I run a coaxial to my card, launch PCTV, play the VCR, and hit the record button. That's it. I have to compress it once I'm done.

Anyway, the card should include ALL necessary software. And like I say, make sure it supports AVI or MPEG. Those are the two most popular formats. Avoid Real Media. It sucks, it's proprietary, and it NOT common. Other formats like ASF are ok, but not in wide use like AVI or MPEG.

So you really only need the card, coaxial cable, and the software that comes with the card. That's all I use.

WOW! Thanks for all the info guys, you ALL did a great job answering my question :) Now I have another one :lol: Is it possible to transfer/burn my videos to CD using this process and then be able to play them in a DVD player? We have 100's of videos on tape and are trying to get rid of the clutter :lol:

Originally posted by Blaziegirl
WOW! Thanks for all the info guys, you ALL did a great job answering my question :) Now I have another one :lol: Is it possible to transfer/burn my videos to CD using this process and then be able to play them in a DVD player? We have 100's of videos on tape and are trying to get rid of the clutter :lol:

That will depend on the capture software. MOST won't do this. You will need to capture it, compress it (unless your card does compression on the fly), then use CD burner software.

I have Neroburn (which blows), Adaptec Easy CD (works great under 98, SUCKS under XP), and Sony CD Extreme. The last one is really nice and basic.

You *probably* won't be able to use the video capture software to make the CD, as most (if not all) don't offer this. Some of the higher end might, but I would just plan on using something else.

Hard to say if you can make a Video CD or otherwise, as I've never tried it. I capture videos using the default AVI format, uncompressed, then use tmpgenc to compress them (took me 3 or 4 tries the very first time to get the file small enough), then use my burner software to put it on CD. I just play mine through media player. Works just fine. I don't use divx codecs or anything else fancy, just plain compressed AVI.

I THINK Easy CD Creator allows Video CD, but to be honest, I never paid attention or tried it. I HIGHLY doubt you will be able to make a DVD since the CD is different, you need a DVD burner, and the format is different. A Video CD should work, but again, this will depend on the software. Never done it, so you are on your own for that.

As I say, I just capture, compress, and put on CD. I capture them at 320x240 which looks REALLY small, but I go full screen in media player and they look fine. Not DVD quality, but good enough for me. The bigger frame size you capture at, the larger the file on disk will be.

I captured executive decision last night. The first chunk was 1 1/2 hours around 1.7 gig, but during the second half my machine locked up so I didn't get it. Dammit...

To compress a typical movie takes me about 2+ hours. Just depends on how busy the processor is. If I have several things going on at once, the time easily doubles, triples, or can go into multiple days.

So as for creating Video CDs and such, you will need to rely on your recorder software. Contact the manufacturer and ask them how to do it. Do you capture straight AVI and compress it, or what is the process? You might even look for a FAQ section on their web site as someone else has likely asked the question already.

Originally posted by aaronw


Well wave, I must disagree with that statement. While you should have a powerful system, you don't need it. I have been video capturing for almost a year with my Pentium III 800, and my brother used to do it with a Pentium II, although I'm not sure what the speed was.


I´ve made my experiences with video capturing and working during a school project, with a Mac (G3) 64 MB RAM and a Pentium II 400 with 128 MB, standard (means no-name) graphic card. On both computers, Adobe Premiere was used for video processing.
Not only that the Mac had outrunned the PC by lenghts, the PC often crashed while processing the video (could have been a problem with NT). For a 3 minute video in a resolution of 320x240 with audio (22,050 kHz), the Mac took about 8-10 minutes for the final processing, the PC (if it didn´t crashed) needed about 20-30 minutes.
It was even more evident when you were working on the video - the Mac reversed the last step in a few seconds, the PC needed up to 5 (!) minutes. I´m admitting that Adobe Premiere is quite demanding on the hardware (like almost all Adobe products :D).
I have introduced the Mac here because it´s known that it have it´s strong side on the processing of graphic and video, of course you can´t really compare it to a PII/400. But it shows what a powerful system is capable of.

If you have enough patience or it´s not the main importance, you can actually use whatever you have at home. If you want to convert this large number of tapes to VCD/DVD, at least I recommend to take out some money for upgrading your PC. In the end, it can´t be wrong. ;)

On the other items, whether to burn it as a VCD or DVD, which program to use, it´s still a bit like trial and error. I recommend to check out the net for respective sites or get some computer mags regarding this topic.

Originally posted by wavemaster


I´ve made my experiences with video capturing and working during a school project, with a Mac (G3) 64 MB RAM and a Pentium II 400 with 128 MB, standard (means no-name) graphic card. On both computers, Adobe Premiere was used for video processing.
Not only that the Mac had outrunned the PC by lenghts, the PC often crashed while processing the video (could have been a problem with NT). For a 3 minute video in a resolution of 320x240 with audio (22,050 kHz), the Mac took about 8-10 minutes for the final processing, the PC (if it didn´t crashed) needed about 20-30 minutes.


Ahhh ok I see. Well I don't use a Mac. The last time I used one was back in 1994. I'm baised against PCs. :)

I don't know anybody who does video capture on a Mac, nor do I know anybody who owns a Mac. Most video capture cards I've seen are for the PC anyway.

I just always write messages assuming the PC, since you find it much more commonly than a Mac.

Mine doesn't crash all that often. Last night it happened twice, but before that, I recorded probably half a dozen full length (2+ hours movies) without a single lockup or crash. That surprised me since Windows flat out sucks.

Anyway, I assume PC when I give advice.

As for the software, I have always used PCTV which came with my capture card. It's simple and does a good job. The only thing I use from Adobe is Photoshop. That thing rocks!

Putting them on DVD sounds expensive! Ok, so for now I'll just work on getting some copied for computer use until I can afford the rest :lol: Thanks for all your help guys :)