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VHS to DVD on my Mac G4

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I have read about the Dazzle Hollywood Dv Bridge and the Pinnacle Sutdio Dv...both with mixed reviews.

Does anyone know where I can get one of these or something like it for Mac??? I will only be using it for about 15 vhs tapes, but cant find one anywhere except on ebay.

Thanks and if you have any other suggestions, I would appreciate it.
 
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Thanks...anything else???
 

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If you have a miniDV camera with pass thru. You can use it as a bridge.
 
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Yeah, I read about that as well, but I dont. I guess I am going to have to get one of those Dazzle things, but it seems like they either work great or they are crap.
 

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The URL that trpnmonkey41 left is what you want. They make great products. I have the Plextor ConvertX which is very much like the elgato and has their EyeTV software and it works great for what you want to do. Best in fact I have ever used. The End results look better than my ATI All In Wonder Radeon I used to use on my PC.
 
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Awesome thanks....I looked and there are some of those on ebay so I might have to grab one of those.

Thanks!
 
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VHS to DVD on a imac

If you have a miniDV camera with pass thru. You can use it as a bridge.

I have a miniDV camera with pass through so can you please outline the wiring setup.
Thank you.
 
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For me, the easiest solution was to buy a cheap DVD recorder at Walmart and connect it directly to my VCR. $99, some blank DVD+Rs, and some time is all I needed.

If you don't need to get into creating titles and chapters, this is by far the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to go.
 
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Thanks everyone, I am getting an Elgato USB thingy that I can hook my VCR and run into my mac...and I can run cable into it also. I have heard good things about these, and decided to try it out...I got one on ebay...less than $50.
 
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Thanks everyone, I am getting an Elgato USB thingy that I can hook my VCR and run into my mac...and I can run cable into it also. I have heard good things about these, and decided to try it out...I got one on ebay...less than $50.

Let me preface this by saying I too wanted to simply digitize old camcorder VHS tapes into files so I could burn to DVD.

I ended up picking up a Pinnacle(made by elgato - Pinnacle just puts their name on it) HD stick for Mac w/ EyeTV lite. It sucked. First of all, the information on the packaging makes it seem like it will easily do this task. What I found is that without paying an additional $50 for the full version of EyeTv, you can't even pull the digitized files off your Mac, and I couldn't get any program to convert them. The HD stick with EyeTv Lite is literally ONLY to watch recorded programs or live TV on your Mac - that's it.

I took it back and got Elgato EyeTv Hybrid. It sucked too. It will only convert to mpeg-1 or mpeg-2 in real time - which if you'd like to edit your files, renders it useless straight off the bat in iMovie, because mp1 and mp2 mux audio and video together, which is a no no for iMovie. I also found that the initial video quality of the digital conversion was quite poor. Much worse than the original analog VHS source tape. Then, after using EyeTv to export the mp1/mp2 files into .mov or .mp4 files that I could use for iPod/iMovie/iDVD, etc, the video quality became abhorrent. iPod was the only medium that the quality video could be tolerated on. It was extremely grainy, and I had about 1/2 inch of the top of the video on the bottom of the video, much like you'd see if a TV's vertical hold is set incorrectly.

Fact is, if you are really looking to just digitize old VHS tapes or other older media, stay away from EyeTv Hybrid or Pinnacle HD Stick for Mac. You just have to jump thru too many hoops to get a useful end result, and that end result is certainly far too poor quality to justify jumping thru said hoops.

Get something that converts directly into .mp4, .avi, etc, etc - otherwise you'll get something that looks akin to a copy of a copy of a copy of a VHS tape.

EyeTv 250 seems to be the solution, but it's extremely pricey. I'm quite wary of any Elgato product now. Oddly, I had much more luck with Windows and Adaptec's Vide-OH! USB box and software in capturing quality video. Unfortunately, .avi was the only option to capture as, and it used some oddball codec that almost nothing recognizes. To this day, I can't convert these .avi's successfully with iSquint or any other program, and the only thing that has ever played them is a PC with Vide-OH! installed on it. I ended up using my pc laptop/Windows Movie Maker to capture video as .wmv's, and then toss them into iSquint for .mp4 conversion...
 
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I tried several UBS converters and all of them sucked. Didnt try anything from Elgato as I didnt want to spend $150+ for just a handful of tapes (hi 8 tapes) Well I shouldnt say they sucked, I should say I personally wasnt pleased with the final product. It was apparent to me that UBS cant keep up with the stream as it looked glitchy in spots. Not good enough for me with kids birthdays and christmas' and so forth.

The pass-through feature on mini-dv cams many ppl recommend isnt really a great suggestion. I went looking for mini-dv cams with this and they are VERY FEW and far between.

I got the Dazzle Hollywood DV from ebay for about $80 a few months ago and its fantastic. I realize you cant get them new anymore (at least I dont think so) but they seem to be plenty available on Ebay.

edit - whoops, didnt see this thread was 7-8months old
 
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Let me preface this by saying I too wanted to simply digitize old camcorder VHS tapes into files so I could burn to DVD.

I ended up picking up a Pinnacle(made by elgato - Pinnacle just puts their name on it) HD stick for Mac w/ EyeTV lite. It sucked. First of all, the information on the packaging makes it seem like it will easily do this task. What I found is that without paying an additional $50 for the full version of EyeTv, you can't even pull the digitized files off your Mac, and I couldn't get any program to convert them. The HD stick with EyeTv Lite is literally ONLY to watch recorded programs or live TV on your Mac - that's it.

I took it back and got Elgato EyeTv Hybrid. It sucked too. It will only convert to mpeg-1 or mpeg-2 in real time - which if you'd like to edit your files, renders it useless straight off the bat in iMovie, because mp1 and mp2 mux audio and video together, which is a no no for iMovie. I also found that the initial video quality of the digital conversion was quite poor. Much worse than the original analog VHS source tape. Then, after using EyeTv to export the mp1/mp2 files into .mov or .mp4 files that I could use for iPod/iMovie/iDVD, etc, the video quality became abhorrent. iPod was the only medium that the quality video could be tolerated on. It was extremely grainy, and I had about 1/2 inch of the top of the video on the bottom of the video, much like you'd see if a TV's vertical hold is set incorrectly.

Fact is, if you are really looking to just digitize old VHS tapes or other older media, stay away from EyeTv Hybrid or Pinnacle HD Stick for Mac. You just have to jump thru too many hoops to get a useful end result, and that end result is certainly far too poor quality to justify jumping thru said hoops.

Get something that converts directly into .mp4, .avi, etc, etc - otherwise you'll get something that looks akin to a copy of a copy of a copy of a VHS tape.

EyeTv 250 seems to be the solution, but it's extremely pricey. I'm quite wary of any Elgato product now. Oddly, I had much more luck with Windows and Adaptec's Vide-OH! USB box and software in capturing quality video. Unfortunately, .avi was the only option to capture as, and it used some oddball codec that almost nothing recognizes. To this day, I can't convert these .avi's successfully with iSquint or any other program, and the only thing that has ever played them is a PC with Vide-OH! installed on it. I ended up using my pc laptop/Windows Movie Maker to capture video as .wmv's, and then toss them into iSquint for .mp4 conversion...


seems like you have lots of experience in this arena...

with all of that said what should i be using instead of the elgato?

do u have any experience with recording the vhs right off the dvd recorder?

how about this dazzle hollywoood thing the poster below me mentions?
 
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ok im really confused about this elgato stuff ....can anyone clarify for me?
:(

what is the difference between the hybrid elgato and the eyetv elgato? all i want to do is convert my vhs to dvd in the highest quality possible while also integrating chapters to separate my footage.

does the eyetv do this?
 
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Sorry I didn't get back to you quicker on this. I ended up picking up a Daystar Xtraview. It will import a video source directly into jpeg video, mpeg4, etc, etc...all quicktime/imovie friendly. I have found that direct to mpeg4 ends up being a bit glitchy. I now digitize all video in jpeg video mode. It comes out almost exactly as what is on the videotape - no glitchy, jerkiness or anything. The only drawback is that the video files can be quite large. I'm talking like 4gb for about 20 minutes of video at highest quality. I've since reduced the quality down to decrease file sizes. You really don't need a high quality capture setting, considering the original tape you are capturing is only VHS quality at best.

I got the Daystar Xtraview for less than $100.

Another solution is to simply pick up a DVD recorder on the cheap. Copy the tapes over to DVD via the recorder, then copy the data off the DVD onto your Mac, and then edit as you see fit in iMovie, then export and re-burn in iDVD. I just read in another thread where someone mentioned that digitizing your vhs tapes via Mac is a fun project, but getting to the end result is a very time consuming undertaking. I tend to agree, yet I persevere.
 
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Another solution is to simply pick up a DVD recorder on the cheap. Copy the tapes over to DVD via the recorder, then copy the data off the DVD onto your Mac, and then edit as you see fit in iMovie, then export and re-burn in iDVD. I just read in another thread where someone mentioned that digitizing your vhs tapes via Mac is a fun project, but getting to the end result is a very time consuming undertaking. I tend to agree, yet I persevere.

do u think that this method will yield a quality less than that of using the daystar? or the same?

how do i create chapters and set up a "main menu" (like u would see in a normal dvd movie) in iMovie??


and also...digitizing ur vhs tapes via mac..by this u mean using daystar right? since its time consuming what are the pros??
 
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It should yield the same quality. The only thing about this method, is that once you record vhs footage onto a dvd, you have to pull the files off of the dvd, and convert them to a format that iMovie can work with. The .vob files directly off the dvd will not be recognized by iMovie. Handbrake or Mac the Ripper can do this task for you. I believe iSquint will also.

I'm not an expert with iMovie or anything, so I can't really easily explain how to create chapters, but it definitely is possible to do. There are some really useful tutorials on Apple's site that can explain some things in detail for you. To set up a main menu, like in a store bought dvd, iDVD is the application that lets you do this.

Yes, by digitizine my vhs tapes, I do mean by using the Daystar Xtraview. So far, it has yielded excellent results, with the exception of the software sometimes freezing. This only seems to happen after I capture more than an hour or 2 of video nonstop. I've produced probably 20 DVD's with my setup as of right now. In fact, as I type this, iDVD is churning away right now producing a disk image of what was once some of my VHS tape footage.

I don't know what pros use to cut down on the time involved. CVS Pharmacies offer VHS to DVD conversion, and there are specialty stores popping up all over in Phoenix that offer the same conversions - surely you could stop in and ask what equipment they use.

If you frequent bookstores, there is a current issue of iCreate out right now that has a large feature on how to convert all of your analog media into digital - photos, videos, records, etc. Excellent information... I was just reading it tonite.
 
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It should yield the same quality. The only thing about this method, is that once you record vhs footage onto a dvd, you have to pull the files off of the dvd, and convert them to a format that iMovie can work with. The .vob files directly off the dvd will not be recognized by iMovie. Handbrake or Mac the Ripper can do this task for you. I believe iSquint will also.

I'm not an expert with iMovie or anything, so I can't really easily explain how to create chapters, but it definitely is possible to do. There are some really useful tutorials on Apple's site that can explain some things in detail for you. To set up a main menu, like in a store bought dvd, iDVD is the application that lets you do this.

Yes, by digitizine my vhs tapes, I do mean by using the Daystar Xtraview. So far, it has yielded excellent results, with the exception of the software sometimes freezing. This only seems to happen after I capture more than an hour or 2 of video nonstop. I've produced probably 20 DVD's with my setup as of right now. In fact, as I type this, iDVD is churning away right now producing a disk image of what was once some of my VHS tape footage.

I don't know what pros use to cut down on the time involved. CVS Pharmacies offer VHS to DVD conversion, and there are specialty stores popping up all over in Phoenix that offer the same conversions - surely you could stop in and ask what equipment they use.

If you frequent bookstores, there is a current issue of iCreate out right now that has a large feature on how to convert all of your analog media into digital - photos, videos, records, etc. Excellent information... I was just reading it tonite.


Sorry pardon my ignorance

icreate is a magazine right?
could you tell me what is on the cover i will hav to check that out
 
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Sorry pardon my ignorance

icreate is a magazine right?
could you tell me what is on the cover i will hav to check that out

Sorry for not clarifying. Yes, it's a magazine. I can't recall exactly what was on the cover, but the main 'attraction' on the cover was the whole theme of digitizing your previous 'analog' life... ie, music, pictures, video, etc. Borders seems to always carry it - at least the one closest to me does.

It's pretty recognizable, because it's one of the larger format UK magazines. It always comes with a demo cd/dvd with some free stuff and trial apps.
 

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