Heya

Right heres my problem, and im a student so dont have much cash. (Wanna spend £45 max .. if i can, lol

I want to transfer my VHS films to my computer so i can make a little film thing for one of my friends 18ths. But im not sure what i need for it.

Ive got a JVC Compact VHS Camcorder, and pretty sure that its got a Firewire connection. And a Patriot 3050 Laptop, which im sure hasnt got a firewire connection. Can i buy a connection for this which i dont have to have inside the actualy computer ..like something i can plug in and take out when i want to?.

I know i also need some video - editing software, but do i need anything else apart from all this lot?

Sorry to be a pain

[stevegreen]

Moving to Camcorders

also just been told that i can just buy a tv card (if it fits into my laptop) and transfer them that way

[redsox_mark]

One of these would add 2 firewire ports to your PC. If your camcorder has firewire this would work... though I did not think VHS camcorders had firewire?
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...162P&InMerch=1

Mark

[senu]

No Mark they didnt last time I checked.
Cass ,are you sure your camcorder has firewire??

Firewire is meant to transfer digital material which vhs is not. An exception is the digital 8 camcorders which interally convert hi8 analogue to Digital prior to transfer via firewire though no timecode is generated

Besides the total HDD space of the Patriot 3050 is 30G. Video is very greedy for HDD space

Seems to me the easiest way here would be for you to transfer the vhs material to a settop DVD recorder ( Know anybody who has one and will let you?).
Once on a DVD, You can then take the DVD to the PC .There you can copy the material off it and use any of the programs ( even nero vison) to edit the material and then do what you wish with it .
Any other capture method would be too costly and involve a steep learning curve;
Also by the time your material is on DVD it's already been compressed down to 4.7G

Analogue capture: card, box?? More than £45
Even the Software for editing video costs more than that Unless a program such as old £5 Adobe Premiere Elements 1 can be found eg (off ebay).
Given the constraint of money, and very modest specs of the Laptop I would keeep things as simple as possible. Even if your camcorder is a digital and has firewire, unless you only want 5-10 mins of footage and buy a pcmcia firewire adaptor I would stick to using a settop recorder and doing the "little film thing" from a DVD
If you get to the stage of needing to edit footage off a DVD there are a few excellent threads that cover that in these forums.

my camcorder has a little jhole think which set DV on it

[mhuk05]

All the info you need is on videohelp.com

e.g. an external mpeg converter (takes the strain off the PC), a firewire or USB2 card (depends on ext. box) and software (which you can get freeware or shareware).

[senu]

Originally Posted by Cass88

my camcorder has a little jhole think which set DV on it

Hmmm... could you perhaps say what the model no is? Maybe we are talking Mini DV and not vhs here?

Videohelp.com as sugested above is a great resource and a vast store of knowledge.
However I suspect that a specific query in a thread like this can generate "tailor made answers" for your specific problem and guide you as to which solutions even within that website apply to you.
There is a tendency for its sheer volume of facts to put off a newcomer

yeah ... my camcorder is a JVC GRFX15EK

Thanks for all your help :D

[Peter Brereton]

I have before my very eyes a JVC GR-FX15EK and it definitely does not have DV out. It has DC input, A/V output (Mono) and a service cover (not normally removable) behind which is a test point array which is used during set-up & adjustment.

Peter Brereton

oooppps, sorry gave the wrong model above .. its the JVC GR-FX16EK

Sorry

[senu]

Cass88,

Sorry, your camcorder is an analogue vhs-c camcorder which does not have DV. It is OK but its design was pre digital video and therefore does not shoot Digital video natively.
Only Digital 8 and Mini DV Camcorders ( Consumer/prosumer) feature DV ( firewire) .
The JVC may be said to have "digital effects". They are effects which are applied to its analogue footage which do not "make" footage itself digital

There are a variety of ways your vhs-c footage can be "digitised " but I wont go into that as It is unlikely to be cost effective and as suggested above, will require learning a few new "skills"

I would strongly look at my post re: using a settop DVD recorder to burn a DVD and then getting your video footage off that on a PC for further use .
If you get to that stage and need software and guidance. Just post again!

[RichardBoult]

Originally Posted by senu

Seems to me the easiest way here would be for you to transfer the vhs material to a settop DVD recorder ( Know anybody who has one and will let you?).


Analogue capture: card, box?? More than £45
Even the Software for editing video costs more than that Unless a program such as old £5 Adobe Premiere Elements 1 can be found eg (off ebay).

Just to experiment I bought a cheap analogue TV card off ebay for about £10 and captured VHS footage from an old tape via a/v leads from a scart adapter that was plugged into my old (redundant) VCR using VirtualDub (Free). That was a cheap solution, but I won't make a habit of it, I think the heads on the VCR need cleaning! I agree though this took a little bit of a learning curve regarding VirtualDub and setting up the TV card as that came with no drivers etc., but not too much.....

As for Video editing and DVD authoring alongside VirtualDub I use DVD Santa and/or SVCD2DVD which I don't recall being expensive!

[senu]

Hmmm.. Horses for courses Richard .

Maybe Cass88 can just about get by with this solution for under £45 .

I dont imagine a pcmcia or usb tv adaptor for the laptop may be that cheap though and .. there is the learning curve.
A program like Womble ( for mpeg editing) does have a free 45 day trial and may do the job well before the trial period is over.
I suppose too that it depends how happy one is to learn the programs ( Virtual dub, DVD Santa SVCD2DVD etc)

I have a TV card ( less used now) Hauppage 250 which despite its being capable doesnt come to mind when I have the rare need for analogue capture. Pinnacles' movie box DV and Liquids Pro breakout box do an excellent job but did set me back a little ( at the time)

[RichardBoult]

Originally Posted by senu

H
I dont imagine a pcmcia or usb tv adaptor for the laptop may be that cheap though and .. there is the learning curve.

I have a TV card ( less used now) Hauppage 250 which despite its being capable doesnt came to mind when I have the rare need for analogue capture.

I take your point I had missed the bit about this being a laptop situation!!

That's the TV card I have I think or similar!

OK thanks guys for all your help

Now .. could somebody explain to me in simple terms what i need to buy please lol

[senu]

Cass88,
May I suggest you have a good long look at This or perhaps Dazzle products either of which may suit your purposes
in addition to my previous suggestion
and any other suggestions in videohelp.com
What you do not have is a firewire So any suggestion re DV are out