Great video and people with VHS tapes should really do this as soon as they can if they want to preserve their video. The fact is that every time the tape is played it becomes a little more damaged and the video slightly more degraded. A digital copy can be saved in multiple places and copied continuously without any degradation in quality. Just one minor point about setting up the cables which might cause some less techie people some confusion. The VCR has both inputs and outputs and from memory (I don't have a VCR handy) the outputs are marked something like "video out, audio out". The video mentions inputs for the VCR, front and back and we can see three sets, but one of those sets will be for video out, audio out.
There is but point I feel compelled to mention however, that of image Thank you for this great tutorial. It has inspired me to finally get around to digitising my horde of VHS recordings, at least ones with worthy content. There is however one point I feel compelled to mention . It is that of image aspect ratio. Some may think I'm over-sensitive (and they may well be right) but I find it difficult to enjoy any video displayed in an incorrect aspect ratio. The most common example of this practice is having vision that was originally shot in pre-1953 'Academy' (4:3) proportions, horizontally stretched to fit the the current 16:9 'widescreen' ratio. Most material recorded during the VHS era would be in the more squarish 4:3 shape. Might I suggest that this point be kept in mind when digitising old videos to avoid having people appearing overly plump or, in the case of close-ups, suffering from the mumps?
I was finally able to acquire the needed items and follow this tutorial. Let me just say, it worked to perfection! Excellent video with step-by-step instructions - thank you so much for sharing this!
@Living in the Past I will definitely check out this other video!! If I need any help along the way, I will message you there while I'm watching!! Thanks again so much!! 👍👍
I take the videos out of OBS studio, then load them in Microsoft Photos (free on Windows 10) and trim out what I want. Check out this video, it should walk you thru it but let me know if you have questions: kzclip.org/video/IqfmjvsLe6Q/бейне.html
@Living in the Past Thank you! Quick question for you, some of my VHS tapes contain segments of the news and tv shows that I recorded off the television in the late 80's and early 90's. They do also have commercials throughout and in between, is there a way to edit those commercials out of the file using OBS Studio?
Thank you for your descriptive tutorial. I have bought myself a new laptop a few months ago and I've been wanting to capture stuff on vhs without going through a lot of hassle. My previous laptop I had didn't consist of enough memory. It had like, nearly 30 gb of memory, and I knew I was gonna need more. So I bought myself a laptop with 1TB of memory. Is there a way to adjust the aspect ratio, while still maintaining the same frame rate?
If you're going to purchase external hardware, there are devices in the $50-100 range that digitize the video and save it to a SD card. This eliminates the need for the HDMI hardware and OBS. When finished you just insert the SD card into the computer or card reader and copy the file. The fancy ones ($100-200) even have a little screen so you can see what's being recorded. However this can also be done using Y cables to split the VHS output between the converter and a TV.
Very useful info. One thing, though -- the conversion to hdmi changes the aspect ratio from the native VHS 4:3 to the hdmi 16:9. You can get around this by buying a device that just converts from the three colored RCA cables direct to usb. I'm going to test this shortly to be sure. Thanks!
Yes, I capture lossless using free VirtualDub 1.9.11. Or free AmaracTV, or free Stoik. Capture interlaced AVI as is on the tape. 720x480. Then I use free Hybrid to filter and create a deinterlaced 60p file. That is all done in lossless HuffYUV to preserve quality. Then I bring that lossless file into PoweDirector and mask the crappy edges, do titles, and export as MP4 at 4:3. The quality of image and playback is far superior than any quick and dirty methods. Of course it all starts with a decent S-VHS machine in good condition (I have 6) and some type of Time Base Correction.
Great video... thank you! The only small detail that I noticed is that while you connected to the outputs of the VCR you called them "inputs" a couple of times. Anyone watching this who doesn't know what they're doing could conceivably get confused by that. Anyway, you didn't talk to much at all, it was perfect.
Very clear presentation, thank you. Just one thing though - I'm copying a VHS videotape using a scart to hdmi converter, then through a capture card, into OBS in computer. (Plenty of room on the destination) It seems to work okay but can only record a few minutes before 'No signal' appears. Am I missing a setting or would you think one of the devices faulty?
@Living in the Past Thanks for your your very speedy reply, sorry to take so long to respond while I tried out several options. Just to update you. I replaced both devices but still no go. Turned out to be my settings in OBS Studio, and their automatic settings saving Thanks to OBS kindly saving my settings on closure meant they kept saving all my wrong settings. Still coming to terms with all the whistles and bells of OBS, but I'm getting there. Thanks again for your friendly advice. Tony
That definitely sounds like a faulty device. Once you have everything connect and can see your VCR playing, you should be able to tape for as long as you want (assuming you have space on the computer as you mentioned you do). I have put in some tapes and taped for 6 hours straight). Some times the tape even ends and my view goes to a blue screen and it is still recording. I hope that helps and answers your question.
Very Cool, liked and subscribed! Yes, would've really loved this in the past but yet there are uses for today. Can you also transfer just sound from cassette decks? Thank you.
A few other reasons to convert VHS to digital is that VCRs are increasingly hard to come by and have a limited life span when they do work, VHS tapes are easily damaged, and as a memory device VHS tapes are poor and prone to information (video) loss.
However, my good old VHS tapes still play almost as well as 25 years ago, but I cannot say this about 15-years-old DVD-Rs, which I tried to copy VHS to. Those are just crap, no matter how expensive it was when bought. What I want to say here: store your digital recordings at least on 3 different types of media - HDD, cloud storage etc. if you really want it to remain readable. Even better way to keep your archives is to store it on a separate devices as distant from eachother as possible.
I'm going to add that if a mono VCR is being used (with only 2 RCA connectors for output - 1 video and 1 audio) the audio connector should be split into 2 connectors with a splitter. The amount of mono VCR-sourced KZclip videos I've watched with the mono sound only coming out of the left "stereo" channel (not duplicated to both) is unbelieveable.
Thanks for the detailed video. One thing that I didn't catch - did you need to install any special drivers to get the computer to successfully recognize the USB input from the capture device's outputi?
You should not need to download any drivers to get the computer to recognize the USB input. I do recommend having the VCR on first, just because it makes it easier to find the correct source if you have something playing. Hope that makes sense and helps.
When dubbing VHS, I record in Filmora. I have the following problem. Sometimes empty fields appear in the recorded material (they are blue in Filmora). More precisely, these are interruptions in the recording in Filmora that last less than one second. Some of them later they are not visible in the video, but the longer ones are visible. What is the cause of this and how to eliminate it, does anyone know from experience.I have some experience with OBS, I don't think it will be a problem for me to try this way.
Hi I’m a newbie trying to transfer old vhs tapes to my external hard drive. This was very helpful! I’m almost there. I was able to set it up and record. When I playback the recording there’s no audio :( I noticed the audio needle wasn’t bouncing like yours while recording but figured it would be there when I played it. I did mp4 and afraid I clicked something along the way. I noticed my vcr was on channel 2 not sure if that even matters. Sorry any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks so much for your reply! Under Global Audio Devices: the first was Desktop Audio set to default, the second was Desktop Audio 2 was disabled. The only other choices were speakers and NVIDIA high def audio. The third was Mix/Auxilliary Audio was disabled which I changed to Digital Audio Interface (USB Digital Audio). Under Advanced Audio Properties for all three were set to monitor off. I changed to monitor and output. The audio mixer is now bouncing for desktop audio and mic/aux ! I did a short recording which had video with sound. I’m thrilled!! Thanks for your great KZclip and details along the way. :)
Sounds like you are really close. In OBS Studio click File --> Settings --> Audio and look at your audio settings under Global Audio Devices. These can get messed up depending on if you have earphones or speakers connected. Try to set the first three to the USB that you have connected (from the steps you did earlier. . . it should be something like USB audio). Then click okay and go back and play your tape. On the main screen keep an eye on the Audio Mixer. You should see something bouncing while the tape is playing. That will tell you what is picking up audio. Mute any that are not needed or if you are hearing your mic, etc. I hope that all makes sense. . . . keep me posted we will get you there. You are close :)!
Thank you for the video very easy to follow. I will be doing some shopping to get what I don't have, I will have more questions for you I'm sure Thanks again . 👍👍👍
Jumble, this updated video is excellent and I can follow it even better than the first. Let me backtrack and redo; hopefully, I can share better results. Many thanks!
Great video! Do you have any idea why on Video Capture Device it only shows my FaceTime camera? Even when I've given OBS access to everything... I can't figure out what the trouble is. Thanks!
Well, I would meet some issues trying to do the same, therefore what I did was a bit different. First of all, most video recordings on tape should be cropped properly so that the most of picture would fit into the frame but at the same time all border glitches would be cut out properly. In your case this is done by RCA-TO-HDMI probably, but you cannot adjust frame cropping in this case. Second and most important: VCR (or composite or RCA or no matter how you call this) video is 25 or 30 FPS interlaced (depending on your country PAL or NTSC system). Your resulting video file should be 50 of 60 FPS accordingly, otherwise you loose all the smoothness of the source video. I'm not sure your VCR-to-HDMI device really converts interlaced video into DOUBLE FRAMERATE progressive video, which is a must to preserve the source quality. Third. My PC's CPU is not fast enough to make MP4 (h.264) video compression while recording, so I had to capture video and save it with no or small compression and then to compress it with other software (ffmpeg in my case). Fourth. I used a used TV-tuner for this and it cost me nothing, which is cheaper than buying any other hardware ;-) If your screen was captured at 60 fps (and YTube video uploaded with 60p) I could see if your captured video is really 50 or 60 FPS, but what I see is "usual" 25 FPS captured screen and I cannot see if the video you recorded is as smooth as 50 or 60 FPS nor you'd shown recorded video file properties. If that's something like 352*288 25fps, that's too much far from the source video quality. With all above in mind, what we see is not exactly as Easy, Cheap and Great quality, sorry.
I think you did a bit More than the tiniest way but using double adaptor We did something similar o In a office on early 10s by using a bigger size VCR and a direct connection to PC plug the mate used I don't remember the system setup it's too far timed for me He converted more than 80 casetes nearly all his collection Instead I preferred to RIP my collection direct to DVD which is much simpler and faster!
This sort of thing mostly makes sense for personal tapes or ones that aren't available on DVD. It's just too easy to take a DVD and rip it to disk for use. And most of the work is something the computer does while you're not sitting there. I recently ripped over 30 discs for a couple box sets and it took a fraction of the time and effort that a similar amount of VHS tapes would have taken.
and if you want to record to VHS then you would need a HDMI to RCA box, as in your taking that HDMI digital signal and stepping it down to an analogue signal to record to. (just make sure to plug an extra set of RCA cables into a CRT TV so you can see what your recording.)
So a 6 hour VCR tape could take about 20GB of file disk space? So, what's the best file format settings to reduce file space, but still keep decent picture quality?
Excellent video…just one FYI The white small box you buy - be very careful as these boxes come in 2 options… RCA or AV to HDMI. There is also an HDMI to AV / RCA Pls don’t buy the opposite one for this purpose… we need AV to HDMI
Please mention the size of the picture whether its full screen picture or small picture in middle of the screen. Reply me thanks for your informative video.
@Chris L well seen as I said family videos I think we can safely say that copyright of prerecorded tapes containing movies is not going to be a problem. I’m fully aware of copyrighted material thank you. I’m sure that information will be valuable to someone whois wanting to copy anything other than family videos.
Family tapes shouldn't require much equipment. The commercial ones can have DRM embedded and are a lot more expensive to properly copy. Really, with the cost of DVDs, commercial tapes are best not converted unless it's a copy that didn't get a DVD release or it's one of the earlier VHS copies of anything by George Lucas where he went back and changed things.
I think it would work just fine for the Panasonic Hard Drive recorder. You can use this same process on multiple things (i.e. camcorders, Classic Nintendo, PS2, etc.)
Wouldn't an S-Video connection look a little better ? I would like to try this for copying video from my Hi 8 video camera and VCR which have S-video connections
Should use EBAY they are well cheaper than what you paid ;) I just did mine. 01. USB VHS To DVD Audio Video Converter Scart to RCA/S-Video Adapter Capture UK £6 02. HDMI had one for years. RCA AV/Audio cable had one for ages. No where near $50 Streamlabs is smaller and does same job. Stream Labs cut down of OBS, ;)
Don't go cheapest. Look for frame drops when you play the result You'll regret it later when it's too late if you're dropping a lot of frames in your capture.
This is a weird way to achieve this outcome. VCR recording hardware that takes your RCA connection, converts it to a digital signal and runs it directly into your PC via USB are readily available for $20-$40. It's a single cable.
Will this work with mini vhs tapes, we used to have them in our handycam. Provided your handycam is still in working condition. If not, maybe we will need a mini Toby’s tape adaptor - a hollow vhs tape in which you insert your mini vhs
Yes you could do the same method but just connect directly to your camcorder (as opposed to VCR). I have done it with my VHS-C camcorder and it worked perfect. Hope this helps!
A little help here please: I bought the Vivitar HDMI to USB capture card for $20. How can I use this to transfer VHS to digital without a computer? The only hardware I have is an Android 11. Xbox 360. Smart TV. Xbox one. VCR. Xbox One S. I am on a budget. I have plenty of time and the quality really doesn't matter too much. As long as it has audio. Thank you for your patience
The only way I know is using the items I listed in the description and show in this video. The VCR is the hardest part to get. The computer unfortunately is going to be a must have because you have to be able to run OBS studio (which is free) to be able to see/record your VCR. The other items (i.e. Smart TV, XBOX, etc.) won't do you any good in viewing your VCR :(. If you can get a computer, you could view those devices and record them to your computer. . . but unfortunately without the computer I don't know what to recommend for you.
I still have some VHS tapes with Copyguard protection. Some of them have never been released to DVD, and time is running out on some of them. Will this setup be affected by the Copyguard?
I have never tried that, but I am thinking no. I think you can only be using one source at a time vs. running multiples at the same time. The exception would be sound and webcam, you should able to record those at the same time as the given source you are recording. Hope that makes sense and helps.
You did NOT clarify the plug-ins at this point 5:01 - 5:13 but made it confusing by saying "inputs" front and back. Of course you meant those VCR color coded ports to be used on the back were OUTPUTS....right?
I need the full screen picture on your computer. Like I recorded movies from u tube. You did mention clearly the size of the picture if the size is little bit small its useless for us I need the full HD on the screen just like television set.😛
OBS is very good sree software to push up audio gain levels you need wave lab4 or cool edit 2 i have been there i have alot of the low cost software sony vegas 14 you can't pust up audio it's next one up from this i have it ar ar copys around still
It's always amazing to me how people find ways to actually make VHS look worse than it really is. Using degraded thrift store VCRs, cheap HDMI adapters (that were made for progressive scan DVD players, not VCRs), OBS (streaming software, not analog capturing software), and compressing to H.264 ("MP4"), literally results in the worst possible quality. Interlace is damaged, aspect is damaged, image quality is damaged, audio is damaged. It's like watching a video through a window screen, while wearing prescription glasses that aren't yours. I guess if that's what you're going for, then this video is for you!
@myname There are several alternatives. The first fork in that road is this: Do you want cheap, or do you want quality? If cheap, then start with - A decent VCR --- preferably an s-video deck, such as the lower end JVC S-VHS (HR-S2902, etc, many models in HR-S2/3/4/5 lines), about $100 or so on eBay. - The Panasonic DMR-ES15 (or few other models) for signal passthrough, which removes many image/stability problems, somewhat preps signal for capture, about $100 as well. - Any capture card will be better than the horrid method in this video. Even the infamous $10 Easycaps. But an actual upgrade is something like the ATI 600 USB, another $100 or so. $300 is dirt cheap for video capture setup. Buy it, use it, resell it. Unlike the junk suggested in the video, which is yours forever, even this slightly better gear holds some value for resale. Consider it a gear rental. While eBay poses risks these days, more bad gear than not, it's the only venue for cheapskates. Up the budget, and you can acquire refurbish'd gear off-eBay from known reliable gear sellers. But there are vastly better methods. Another few hundred here, some more bucks there. The above is a bare minimum passable setup, not perfect by any means. And yet, vastly better than the destructive HDMI/OBS method suggested. If you search for my name online, lordsmurf, you'll find sites where I go into great depth on topics like recommended VCRs, TBCs, capture cards, and more. With proper gear, proper captures, you can easily make a VHS tape look as clean as a DVD. Yes, both are lower resolution than modern HD and 4K, that's not what I refer to. Badly process VHS can be excessively noisy, even unviewable. What's the point of converting video that you don't enjoy watching, because the quality is awful?
I've got an easier way to do it. Just get yourself a dvd recorder and connect it to the vcr and copy the tape to dvd. If you want it on your computer you can rip the DVD to your hard drive. No need for all those cables and boxes.
Forgive my ignorance but will this work for Hi8 and regular 8mm camcorders? I have many Hi8 and regular 8mm camcorder tapes and devices that I have wanted to convert but do not trust an outside source to not loose or damage my tapes and I have next to zero computer skills.
That's a great question. Yes you can use the same process with your camcorder. The only difference is instead of hooking everything up to a VCR. . . you will connect it to your camcorder and it would essentially act as the VCR would and play your tapes. Once you get going if you have questions just post them and I will try to help you out.
Sorry now, it will simple copy what is showing from you tape. So if the tape if blurry when you play it., your recording will likely be blurry. The only thing I can recommend is sometimes fast forwarding till the end. . . then rewinding it, will help if you have lines (or tracking issues) in the tape. But blurriness I don't have a fix for :(.
They don't really, they just degrade in a way that doesn't typically lead to the tape being completely unusable. (That is unless it gets eaten by the VCR and damaged irreparably in the process) The tapes usually degrade slowly over time, but unlike vinyl that does as well, they'll degrade if you just store them too close to your TV's speakers.
Years ago I bought a DVD recorder and copied all but 7 videos from VHS. Then I hit a snag, the seven videos are all Disney classics, the DVD recorder says something like ‘Can’t copy the video is protected’, at the time I did some investigation and sure enough a lot of the Disney classics are copy protected. So I ended up keeping a VHS player and the seven VHS tapes. I would love to get rid of them. Does anyone know of a workable solution? Many thanks.
What Windows OS are you using ? I bought an Easier Cap device but can't find any Windows 10 drivers for it. Without its drivers it doesn't get recognised.
I spent the $50 bucks and so far it does not work for me, I got a Mac book pro, I own a production company since 97 so I'm familiar with doing stuff like this, I got nada on the OBS following all directions, I'm saddened I have over 70 VHS tapes full of old memories I cannot save :( :(
Hey man I got the other where u can record from PC to computer easy I got same capture card device what you have which I can use fire stick or Roku on OBS to record files to my pc I decided follow this step VHs to PC and get this box aslo As I set up my VcR to white av2 HDMI set the cables and load obs Set up everything I get blue screen I hit play doesn't show just show blue screen I followed a tutorial of trouble shooting I get the same no video I can hear audio I wanna know what need be done to defeat the blue screen I tried resetting everything so I tried virtualdub same thing
HI TO ALL beware them hdmi to usb are MONO i have one ok for old recordings if you need to keep stereo they are not for you i come up as 2 units in windows 10 usb audio and usb video in the system files great to use as a old cam as web cam please don't use as a pro unit
Great video and people with VHS tapes should really do this as soon as they can if they want to preserve their video. The fact is that every time the tape is played it becomes a little more damaged and the video slightly more degraded. A digital copy can be saved in multiple places and copied continuously without any degradation in quality.
Just one minor point about setting up the cables which might cause some less techie people some confusion. The VCR has both inputs and outputs and from memory (I don't have a VCR handy) the outputs are marked something like "video out, audio out". The video mentions inputs for the VCR, front and back and we can see three sets, but one of those sets will be for video out, audio out.
LAst VHS machine made in 2016
There is but point I feel compelled to mention however, that of image Thank you for this great tutorial. It has inspired me to finally get around to digitising my horde of VHS recordings, at least ones with worthy content.
There is however one point I feel compelled to mention . It is that of image aspect ratio.
Some may think I'm over-sensitive (and they may well be right) but I find it difficult to enjoy any video displayed in an incorrect aspect ratio.
The most common example of this practice is having vision that was originally shot in pre-1953 'Academy' (4:3) proportions, horizontally stretched to fit the the current 16:9 'widescreen' ratio.
Most material recorded during the VHS era would be in the more squarish 4:3 shape. Might I suggest that this point be kept in mind when digitising old videos to avoid having people appearing overly plump or, in the case of close-ups, suffering from the mumps?
I was finally able to acquire the needed items and follow this tutorial. Let me just say, it worked to perfection! Excellent video with step-by-step instructions - thank you so much for sharing this!
Rasbia
@Living in the Past I will definitely check out this other video!! If I need any help along the way, I will message you there while I'm watching!! Thanks again so much!! 👍👍
I take the videos out of OBS studio, then load them in Microsoft Photos (free on Windows 10) and trim out what I want. Check out this video, it should walk you thru it but let me know if you have questions: kzclip.org/video/IqfmjvsLe6Q/бейне.html
@Living in the Past Thank you! Quick question for you, some of my VHS tapes contain segments of the news and tv shows that I recorded off the television in the late 80's and early 90's. They do also have commercials throughout and in between, is there a way to edit those commercials out of the file using OBS Studio?
I love the idea of copying the tape and YOU DON'T talk too much. You're detailed oriented; it's a blessing and a gift.
Excellent tutorial! I've been wanting to do this for a long time now. Simple enough!
Thank you for your descriptive tutorial. I have bought myself a new laptop a few months ago and I've been wanting to capture stuff on vhs without going through a lot of hassle. My previous laptop I had didn't consist of enough memory. It had like, nearly 30 gb of memory, and I knew I was gonna need more. So I bought myself a laptop with 1TB of memory. Is there a way to adjust the aspect ratio, while still maintaining the same frame rate?
If you're going to purchase external hardware, there are devices in the $50-100 range that digitize the video and save it to a SD card. This eliminates the need for the HDMI hardware and OBS. When finished you just insert the SD card into the computer or card reader and copy the file.
The fancy ones ($100-200) even have a little screen so you can see what's being recorded. However this can also be done using Y cables to split the VHS output between the converter and a TV.
...could you give some info on the device you refer to...thanks 😎
Very useful info. One thing, though -- the conversion to hdmi changes the aspect ratio from the native VHS 4:3 to the hdmi 16:9. You can get around this by buying a device that just converts from the three colored RCA cables direct to usb. I'm going to test this shortly to be sure. Thanks!
4:3 is a problem mostly for US&Canada. In Europe 16:9 existed on CRT in the 90's
@Barry Gill I'll check them out but I have 6 hr VHS to transfer and no S-VHS.
Yes, I capture lossless using free VirtualDub 1.9.11.
Or free AmaracTV, or free Stoik.
Capture interlaced AVI as is on the tape. 720x480. Then I use free Hybrid to filter and create a deinterlaced 60p file.
That is all done in lossless HuffYUV to preserve quality.
Then I bring that lossless file into PoweDirector and mask the crappy edges, do titles, and export as MP4 at 4:3.
The quality of image and playback is far superior than any quick and dirty methods.
Of course it all starts with a decent S-VHS machine in good condition (I have 6) and some type of Time Base Correction.
@Barry Gill Suggestions?
VLC and OBS are 2 of the absolute worst choices available for video capture.
Great video... thank you!
The only small detail that I noticed is that while you connected to the outputs of the VCR you called them "inputs" a couple of times. Anyone watching this who doesn't know what they're doing could conceivably get confused by that.
Anyway, you didn't talk to much at all, it was perfect.
It might have been better to call them something like 'output jacks'
Awesome video! I’ve seen other videos but yours is straight to the point😀
Very clear presentation, thank you.
Just one thing though - I'm copying a VHS videotape using a scart to hdmi converter, then through a capture card, into OBS in computer. (Plenty of room on the destination)
It seems to work okay but can only record a few minutes before 'No signal' appears. Am I missing a setting or would you think one of the devices faulty?
@Living in the Past Thanks for your your very speedy reply, sorry to take so long to respond while I tried out several options.
Just to update you. I replaced both devices but still no go.
Turned out to be my settings in OBS Studio, and their automatic settings saving
Thanks to OBS kindly saving my settings on closure meant they kept saving all my wrong settings.
Still coming to terms with all the whistles and bells of OBS, but I'm getting there.
Thanks again for your friendly advice.
Tony
That definitely sounds like a faulty device. Once you have everything connect and can see your VCR playing, you should be able to tape for as long as you want (assuming you have space on the computer as you mentioned you do). I have put in some tapes and taped for 6 hours straight). Some times the tape even ends and my view goes to a blue screen and it is still recording. I hope that helps and answers your question.
An outstanding Job !!!! Easy for me to follow and understand in a way that makes sense and I am getting these things now.Thank you and God Bless you.
both are on the way :>) $34.00 total price but not a problem.
Very Cool, liked and subscribed! Yes, would've really loved this in the past but yet there are uses for today. Can you also transfer just sound from cassette decks? Thank you.
I would also like to know if you could transfer just sound from cassett decks as well as off U- tube Good question Howard
Wouldn't it make more sense to plug the RCA connectors to the output jacks on the VCR instead of the inputs as you've indicated?
A few other reasons to convert VHS to digital is that VCRs are increasingly hard to come by and have a limited life span when they do work, VHS tapes are easily damaged, and as a memory device VHS tapes are poor and prone to information (video) loss.
However, my good old VHS tapes still play almost as well as 25 years ago, but I cannot say this about 15-years-old DVD-Rs, which I tried to copy VHS to. Those are just crap, no matter how expensive it was when bought.
What I want to say here: store your digital recordings at least on 3 different types of media - HDD, cloud storage etc. if you really want it to remain readable. Even better way to keep your archives is to store it on a separate devices as distant from eachother as possible.
Thanks so much for the tip on the HDMI to USB. It saved me having to send back as defective. I had a HDMI to USB on hand.
I'm going to add that if a mono VCR is being used (with only 2 RCA connectors for output - 1 video and 1 audio) the audio connector should be split into 2 connectors with a splitter. The amount of mono VCR-sourced KZclip videos I've watched with the mono sound only coming out of the left "stereo" channel (not duplicated to both) is unbelieveable.
Brilliant and helpful video - thank you 👍
Thanks for the detailed video. One thing that I didn't catch - did you need to install any special drivers to get the computer to successfully recognize the USB input from the capture device's outputi?
You should not need to download any drivers to get the computer to recognize the USB input. I do recommend having the VCR on first, just because it makes it easier to find the correct source if you have something playing. Hope that makes sense and helps.
PS: they also make a VHS-C to VHS adapter it's on Amazon as well
Very clear presentation, thank you.
Awesome tutorial! Thank you!
Very nice job providing sufficient detail. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, glad the video helped - Best wishes in 2023!
When dubbing VHS, I record in Filmora. I have the following problem. Sometimes empty fields appear in the recorded material (they are blue in Filmora). More precisely, these are interruptions in the recording in Filmora that last less than one second. Some of them later they are not visible in the video, but the longer ones are visible. What is the cause of this and how to eliminate it, does anyone know from experience.I have some experience with OBS, I don't think it will be a problem for me to try this way.
Hi I’m a newbie trying to transfer old vhs tapes to my external hard drive. This was very helpful! I’m almost there. I was able to set it up and record. When I playback the recording there’s no audio :( I noticed the audio needle wasn’t bouncing like yours while recording but figured it would be there when I played it. I did mp4 and afraid I clicked something along the way. I noticed my vcr was on channel 2 not sure if that even matters. Sorry any suggestions would be appreciated.
@mgardenbliss Glad you got it, enjoy your VHS tapes!
Thanks so much for your reply! Under Global Audio Devices: the first was Desktop Audio set to default, the second was Desktop Audio 2 was disabled. The only other choices were speakers and NVIDIA high def audio. The third was Mix/Auxilliary Audio was disabled which I changed to Digital Audio Interface (USB Digital Audio). Under Advanced Audio Properties for all three were set to monitor off. I changed to monitor and output. The audio mixer is now bouncing for desktop audio and mic/aux ! I did a short recording which had video with sound. I’m thrilled!! Thanks for your great KZclip and details along the way. :)
Sounds like you are really close. In OBS Studio click File --> Settings --> Audio and look at your audio settings under Global Audio Devices. These can get messed up depending on if you have earphones or speakers connected. Try to set the first three to the USB that you have connected (from the steps you did earlier. . . it should be something like USB audio). Then click okay and go back and play your tape. On the main screen keep an eye on the Audio Mixer. You should see something bouncing while the tape is playing. That will tell you what is picking up audio. Mute any that are not needed or if you are hearing your mic, etc. I hope that all makes sense. . . . keep me posted we will get you there. You are close :)!
Only thing I would add is compressing end result with something like handbrake (also free software like obs) to save space if needed.
Thank you. I've tried to do this 12 years today.never really figured it out.
Thank you for the video very easy to follow. I will be doing some shopping to get what I don't have, I will have more questions for you I'm sure
Thanks again . 👍👍👍
Jumble, this updated video is excellent and I can follow it even better than the first. Let me backtrack and redo; hopefully, I can share better results. Many thanks!
Do you know if this allows both fields of the frame to pass thru unharmed for a frame rate of 60 on the recording with OBS?
Thank you so much. Such a great video and walkthrough of how to get everything working. I have subscribed. Thanks again.
Great video! Do you have any idea why on Video Capture Device it only shows my FaceTime camera? Even when I've given OBS access to everything... I can't figure out what the trouble is. Thanks!
Well, I would meet some issues trying to do the same, therefore what I did was a bit different.
First of all, most video recordings on tape should be cropped properly so that the most of picture would fit into the frame but at the same time all border glitches would be cut out properly. In your case this is done by RCA-TO-HDMI probably, but you cannot adjust frame cropping in this case.
Second and most important: VCR (or composite or RCA or no matter how you call this) video is 25 or 30 FPS interlaced (depending on your country PAL or NTSC system). Your resulting video file should be 50 of 60 FPS accordingly, otherwise you loose all the smoothness of the source video. I'm not sure your VCR-to-HDMI device really converts interlaced video into DOUBLE FRAMERATE progressive video, which is a must to preserve the source quality.
Third. My PC's CPU is not fast enough to make MP4 (h.264) video compression while recording, so I had to capture video and save it with no or small compression and then to compress it with other software (ffmpeg in my case).
Fourth. I used a used TV-tuner for this and it cost me nothing, which is cheaper than buying any other hardware ;-)
If your screen was captured at 60 fps (and YTube video uploaded with 60p) I could see if your captured video is really 50 or 60 FPS, but what I see is "usual" 25 FPS captured screen and I cannot see if the video you recorded is as smooth as 50 or 60 FPS nor you'd shown recorded video file properties. If that's something like 352*288 25fps, that's too much far from the source video quality.
With all above in mind, what we see is not exactly as Easy, Cheap and Great quality, sorry.
Great video!! I have so many old vcr tapes that are just going to molder away unless I do this! Thanks!
I think you did a bit More than the tiniest way but using double adaptor
We did something similar o
In a office on early 10s by using a bigger size VCR and a direct connection to PC plug the mate used
I don't remember the system setup it's too far timed for me
He converted more than 80 casetes nearly all his collection
Instead I preferred to RIP my collection direct to DVD which is much simpler and faster!
This sort of thing mostly makes sense for personal tapes or ones that aren't available on DVD. It's just too easy to take a DVD and rip it to disk for use. And most of the work is something the computer does while you're not sitting there. I recently ripped over 30 discs for a couple box sets and it took a fraction of the time and effort that a similar amount of VHS tapes would have taken.
and if you want to record to VHS then you would need a HDMI to RCA box, as in your taking that HDMI digital signal and stepping it down to an analogue signal to record to. (just make sure to plug an extra set of RCA cables into a CRT TV so you can see what your recording.)
So a 6 hour VCR tape could take about 20GB of file disk space? So, what's the best file format settings to reduce file space, but still keep decent picture quality?
nice tutorial now i can play my old vcr tapes
If you record as an mp4, this is very close to DVD formats and you can get free software to change your mp4 into a DVD instead.
Note
Don't forget to use the sharpen button to max
It enhances the video quality
where is the sharpen button located?
Can this method be modified to use with the S-video output of a laser disc player?
Excellent video…just one FYI
The white small box you buy - be very careful as these boxes come in 2 options… RCA or AV to HDMI. There is also an HDMI to AV / RCA
Pls don’t buy the opposite one for this purpose… we need AV to HDMI
Great video man. I liked and subscribed.
Thank you so much. I am very grateful to you for this.
Thanks for the comment, glad the video helped - Best wishes in 2023!
Please mention the size of the picture whether its full screen picture or small picture in middle of the screen. Reply me thanks for your informative video.
🎉🎉🎉Excellent Video 🎉🎉🎉 Good Job done… Chase !!! 🎉🎉🎉
Have been looking for a while for this type of thing to transfer some family videos. Thanks
@Chris L well seen as I said family videos I think we can safely say that copyright of prerecorded tapes containing movies is not going to be a problem. I’m fully aware of copyrighted material thank you. I’m sure that information will be valuable to someone whois wanting to copy anything other than family videos.
Family tapes shouldn't require much equipment. The commercial ones can have DRM embedded and are a lot more expensive to properly copy. Really, with the cost of DVDs, commercial tapes are best not converted unless it's a copy that didn't get a DVD release or it's one of the earlier VHS copies of anything by George Lucas where he went back and changed things.
Best video on how to do this. Thanks!.
A good video. I assume the usb/HDMI adaptors only allow for home recorded videos.
For a panasonic hard drive recorder would the same process work ?
I think it would work just fine for the Panasonic Hard Drive recorder. You can use this same process on multiple things (i.e. camcorders, Classic Nintendo, PS2, etc.)
Very useful thanks LITP
Aspect ratio looks 16:9 not 4:3. Aren't their converters that switch to 4:3?
Wouldn't an S-Video connection look a little better ? I would like to try this for copying video from my Hi 8 video camera and VCR which have S-video connections
What capture card did you use?
Now I can get all of my VHC tapes put into digital.
Should use EBAY they are well cheaper than what you paid ;) I just did mine. 01. USB VHS To DVD Audio Video Converter Scart to RCA/S-Video Adapter Capture UK £6 02. HDMI had one for years. RCA AV/Audio cable had one for ages. No where near $50 Streamlabs is smaller and does same job. Stream Labs cut down of OBS, ;)
Don't go cheapest. Look for frame drops when you play the result You'll regret it later when it's too late if you're dropping a lot of frames in your capture.
This is a weird way to achieve this outcome.
VCR recording hardware that takes your RCA connection, converts it to a digital signal and runs it directly into your PC via USB are readily available for $20-$40. It's a single cable.
I am having problems with reverb in the recorded video. What is causing this?
Will this work with mini vhs tapes, we used to have them in our handycam. Provided your handycam is still in working condition.
If not, maybe we will need a mini Toby’s tape adaptor - a hollow vhs tape in which you insert your mini vhs
I use my Dvd recorder, but this is a good video
Hi there. Does this method work for converting directly from your Camcorder? Since I'm working with mini DV tapes.
@Living in the Past Thank you so much for your speedy response. Perhaps something isn't working properly because I'm struggling 😂😂. Will keep trying.
Yes you could do the same method but just connect directly to your camcorder (as opposed to VCR). I have done it with my VHS-C camcorder and it worked perfect. Hope this helps!
A little help here please:
I bought the Vivitar HDMI to USB capture card for $20. How can I use this to transfer VHS to digital without a computer? The only hardware I have is an Android 11. Xbox 360. Smart TV. Xbox one. VCR. Xbox One S.
I am on a budget. I have plenty of time and the quality really doesn't matter too much. As long as it has audio.
Thank you for your patience
The only way I know is using the items I listed in the description and show in this video. The VCR is the hardest part to get. The computer unfortunately is going to be a must have because you have to be able to run OBS studio (which is free) to be able to see/record your VCR. The other items (i.e. Smart TV, XBOX, etc.) won't do you any good in viewing your VCR :(. If you can get a computer, you could view those devices and record them to your computer. . . but unfortunately without the computer I don't know what to recommend for you.
I still have some VHS tapes with Copyguard protection. Some of them have never been released to DVD, and time is running out on some of them. Will this setup be affected by the Copyguard?
Note: if you use PAL the AV2HDMI still outputs 60hz which will make it look trash
VERY PERFECT SOLUTION
Can you record multiple camera inputs and record with this software?
I have never tried that, but I am thinking no. I think you can only be using one source at a time vs. running multiples at the same time. The exception would be sound and webcam, you should able to record those at the same time as the given source you are recording. Hope that makes sense and helps.
Should you connect the rca cables to the output of the VCR?
Yes, as I show in the video. Those will normally be on the back of your VCR.
Is there a way i can capture it on 4:3?
its a lot of hookups can you just go from composite to USB. That would make it a lot easier
Thanks for the video.
You don't need a HDMI Capture unit, just a video grabber. Analogue directly to usb.. and they come with there own software.
You did NOT clarify the plug-ins at this point 5:01 - 5:13 but made it confusing by saying "inputs" front and back. Of course you meant those VCR color coded ports to be used on the back were OUTPUTS....right?
Correct, I should have said "Outputs". Basically the colored ports on the back.
I need the full screen picture on your computer. Like I recorded movies from u tube. You did mention clearly the size of the picture if the size is little bit small its useless for us I need the full HD on the screen just like television set.😛
Why would the file be so large? A single layer DVD would be 4.7 gigs for 2 hours and a larger file wouldn’t make the quality any higher.
OBS is very good sree software to push up audio gain levels you need wave lab4 or cool edit 2 i have been there i have alot of the low cost software
sony vegas 14 you can't pust up audio it's next one up from this i have it ar ar copys around still
Screen capture and NLE software are the wrong tools for capturing analog tapes.
It's always amazing to me how people find ways to actually make VHS look worse than it really is. Using degraded thrift store VCRs, cheap HDMI adapters (that were made for progressive scan DVD players, not VCRs), OBS (streaming software, not analog capturing software), and compressing to H.264 ("MP4"), literally results in the worst possible quality. Interlace is damaged, aspect is damaged, image quality is damaged, audio is damaged. It's like watching a video through a window screen, while wearing prescription glasses that aren't yours. I guess if that's what you're going for, then this video is for you!
@myname There are several alternatives. The first fork in that road is this: Do you want cheap, or do you want quality?
If cheap, then start with
- A decent VCR --- preferably an s-video deck, such as the lower end JVC S-VHS (HR-S2902, etc, many models in HR-S2/3/4/5 lines), about $100 or so on eBay.
- The Panasonic DMR-ES15 (or few other models) for signal passthrough, which removes many image/stability problems, somewhat preps signal for capture, about $100 as well.
- Any capture card will be better than the horrid method in this video. Even the infamous $10 Easycaps. But an actual upgrade is something like the ATI 600 USB, another $100 or so.
$300 is dirt cheap for video capture setup. Buy it, use it, resell it. Unlike the junk suggested in the video, which is yours forever, even this slightly better gear holds some value for resale. Consider it a gear rental. While eBay poses risks these days, more bad gear than not, it's the only venue for cheapskates. Up the budget, and you can acquire refurbish'd gear off-eBay from known reliable gear sellers.
But there are vastly better methods. Another few hundred here, some more bucks there. The above is a bare minimum passable setup, not perfect by any means. And yet, vastly better than the destructive HDMI/OBS method suggested. If you search for my name online, lordsmurf, you'll find sites where I go into great depth on topics like recommended VCRs, TBCs, capture cards, and more.
With proper gear, proper captures, you can easily make a VHS tape look as clean as a DVD. Yes, both are lower resolution than modern HD and 4K, that's not what I refer to. Badly process VHS can be excessively noisy, even unviewable. What's the point of converting video that you don't enjoy watching, because the quality is awful?
Then what do you suggest as an alternative?
I've got an easier way to do it. Just get yourself a dvd recorder and connect it to the vcr and copy the tape to dvd. If you want it on your computer you can rip the DVD to your hard drive. No need for all those cables and boxes.
Lol, And the quality of mpeg-2 is much better than this crap.
Thank you.
Forgive my ignorance but will this work for Hi8 and regular 8mm camcorders? I have many Hi8 and regular 8mm camcorder tapes and devices that I have wanted to convert but do not trust an outside source to not loose or damage my tapes and I have next to zero computer skills.
That's a great question. Yes you can use the same process with your camcorder. The only difference is instead of hooking everything up to a VCR. . . you will connect it to your camcorder and it would essentially act as the VCR would and play your tapes. Once you get going if you have questions just post them and I will try to help you out.
My video is a bit blurry since the tape dates back to 1999. Any chance to correct this within the software? Thank you.
@Living in the Past Actually the camera crew from CNN taped the event. It was blurry for a few seconds then cleared. Thank you.
Sorry now, it will simple copy what is showing from you tape. So if the tape if blurry when you play it., your recording will likely be blurry. The only thing I can recommend is sometimes fast forwarding till the end. . . then rewinding it, will help if you have lines (or tracking issues) in the tape. But blurriness I don't have a fix for :(.
Vielen Dank
Great video everything proven vhs tapes last longer then that thing does everything proven
They don't really, they just degrade in a way that doesn't typically lead to the tape being completely unusable. (That is unless it gets eaten by the VCR and damaged irreparably in the process) The tapes usually degrade slowly over time, but unlike vinyl that does as well, they'll degrade if you just store them too close to your TV's speakers.
Years ago I bought a DVD recorder and copied all but 7 videos from VHS. Then I hit a snag, the seven videos
are all Disney classics, the DVD recorder says something like ‘Can’t copy the video is protected’, at the time I
did some investigation and sure enough a lot of the Disney classics are copy protected. So I ended up keeping
a VHS player and the seven VHS tapes. I would love to get rid of them. Does anyone know of a workable
solution? Many thanks.
dimax grex. it will bypass the copy protection and let you record them to a dvd recorder easily.
What Windows OS are you using ? I bought an Easier Cap device but can't find any Windows 10 drivers for it. Without its drivers it doesn't get recognised.
When I recorded this video I was on Windows 10. I have since upgraded to Windows 11 (basically works the same on Windows 11).
Could not see anything on computer screen, just the obs screens
Why not just go RCA to USB?
I own a RetroTink 5x, that converts the signal.
I spent the $50 bucks and so far it does not work for me, I got a Mac book pro, I own a production company since 97 so I'm familiar with doing stuff like this, I got nada on the OBS following all directions, I'm saddened I have over 70 VHS tapes full of old memories I cannot save :( :(
What if i have an old laptop with VGA instead? Do some of the $20 solutions in Amazon works with OBS?
I belive most of those vga ports are for monitors or tv. I would double check your manual.
Hey man
I got the other where u can record from PC to computer easy
I got same capture card device what you have which I can use fire stick or Roku on OBS to record files to my pc
I decided follow this step VHs to PC and get this box aslo
As I set up my VcR to white av2 HDMI set the cables and load obs
Set up everything I get blue screen
I hit play doesn't show just show blue screen
I followed a tutorial of trouble shooting
I get the same no video I can hear audio
I wanna know what need be done to defeat the blue screen
I tried resetting everything so I tried virtualdub same thing
i need help with this also!!!! i just get a blue screen even when vcr is playing tape
@Bjorn AFCA
No I just put it away 😂
Have you found a solution to this? I'm also getting a black screen, but I'm hearing the audio.
I already have the items but will need the RCA or GE cables.
SD cards... did I not catch it or can you just record directly to an SD card instead of an external hard drive??
Yes you could record directly to hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, etc. (whatever is your preference)
بسیار عالی بود تشکر
Everything is proven phone's don't last longer then vhs tapes does
Thank you
Could also work with dvd?
Why would you want to? Just put the DVD into an internal or external DVD, or bluray, drive and rip away.
I am not capturing any sound. The mixer line bounces like it is hearing sound but there is nothing on playback
If you click on the settings next to the audio mixer that you see sound and choose 'Advanced Sound Properties", change it to Monitor & Output.
HI TO ALL beware them hdmi to usb are MONO i have one ok for old recordings if you need to keep stereo they are not for you
i come up as 2 units in windows 10 usb audio and usb video in the system files
great to use as a old cam as web cam please don't use as a pro unit
welldone
At 5:09 I expected you to say "signal out", you never did, once you said "in". This is the signal OUT connection.