If you are like me and have lots of family video on old VHS tapes you are probably getting worried about how long they will last and wondering how to convert VHS tapes to digital format so you can have safe, long term, backed up storage.
Well I think I have the answer in the Canopus ADVC-55 which will take input from a VHS VCR, and without having to load any drivers on my Windows PC (always a blessing) convert the ananlog video to digital format that will, via firewire cable, transfer to my video editing program.
I personally prefer Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum for video editing.
VHS tapes have a limited shelf life and are subject to:
- tape decay
- tape sticking to itself on the reel
- coming off the reel
And besides that, any copies you make are substandard to the original – as with any analog copy.
By converting VHS tapes to digital format while the tape is still in good condition I can maintain the VHS tapes after I’m done, just as yet-another-backup, but I will have the new digital copies of the family video on a home NAS with redundant hard drives (RAID5).
Then, the digital movies on the home NAS will be backed up to a “cloud” online backup service for off-site backup.
Sure the convertion process will take time, but I also have the opportunity to edit out those “snow blotches” that always used to show up between video clips as well as edit out a few things the camera caught that we would rather not have had on tape.
You can even add text overlays to explain things on the tape that fading memories have a tendency to forget – leaving the watchers of the video somewhat confused at times. Or, put in a subtitle if you remember what was said (on or off camera) that did not end up audible on the tape.
- Connects analog video equipment to FireWire (IEEE 1394)-equipped computers for video editing
- Compatible with Windows and Macintosh operating system-based DV editing systems
- Compatible with leading editing and DVD authoring applications including Grass Valley™ EDIUS®, Sony Vegas, Apple Final Cut Pro and iMovie, Avid Xpress DV and Liquid, Adobe Premiere Pro, Ulead MediaStudio Pro, and Windows Movie Maker
- No drivers or software applications to install
- Powered by FireWire (IEEE 1394) connector (ADVC55 and ADVC110 only)
- NTSC and PAL compatible
The ADVC55 unit connects VHS, Hi8, and other analog video equipment to a DV camera, deck, or editing system. It’s ideal for capturing analog video into FireWire (IEEE 1394a)-equipped notebook and desktop editing computers. There are no drivers to install, and the unit does not require a power supply when used with a 6-pin FireWire (IEEE 1394a) cable. There is an optional power unit you can get for 4 pin firewire.
So if you have a collection of VHS tapes to convert to digital format so you can enjoy them without dusting off the aging VCR and to protect those videos for posterity, then considering picking up a Canopus ADVC-55, connect it between your VCR and your firewire capable computer and start converting VHS to digital while you still can.
Roger,
Does that work on all type of video tapes..have a relative with fairly old smaller tapes that came after the big full size VHS..would this work on those tapes as well. Thanks for the help.
Actually it works on most anything by just getting in between the “media player” and the TV monitor. I’m using the original VHS camcorder for some of the tapes, original VHS-C (which is what I think you are referring to) camcorder for other tapes, but I did use 2 different VCRs too. Our VHS-C came with with an adapter that allowed play in a normal VCR too.
One of the VCR’s made an annoying static in the recording, probably some internal interference.
But it should also work to capture Blu-Ray’s played on our PlayStation so we could convert to iPad, Android play. Anything that outputs via RCA cables would work, this one has S-video too. They make more expensive units too but this one seemed to be right for us.
Roger.