For some reason several people have asked me how to convert their analog home movies to DVD. There are several ways to do this and several routes to take.
Utilizing DV Camcorders
If you already own a digital camera and know how to successfully take footage off of it to your computer, the next step is easy. Copy your analog tapes to DV and then copy to your computer. Many people would argue that their will be a degregation of video quality. I'm willing to bet your movies of little Billy were not recorded with the finest equipment and stored in temperature controled rooms on archive quality tapes.
Another technique that we used in the early years of video editing (way back in the mid 90s) was to use our DV camcorders as a pass thru. Hooking up our DV camcorders to our PC via Firewire we then would hook our analog signal upto the DV camcorders inputs. Thus the cameras circuitry would convert the analog signal to a digital signal into our computers.
Video Card and Software
Another route is to go is to purchase a decent video card with analog inputs to capture video. With all the examples I'm giving, a video capturing software will be neccessary. You may also need video editing software as well. Capturing software captures video, editing software edits video (some editing software also does capturing).
The range of software has become quite vast in recent years. Before (back in the 90s again) there was Adobe Premiere, Final Cut and AVID. Sure there were a handful of small time editing programs but these were the three that could do a vast array of things. Now a days everyone and their grandmother has a editing software program that comes with any video component or software package. Most of them can cut a decent image and almost any of them would be ideal for a home movie conversion. Things to keep in mind though that if you plan to use Adobe Premiere for editing and purchase a video card to capture analog, they began licensing video cards to work with AP after version 6 so most cards won't work with 6 and above (Adobe Premeire Pro is v. 7).
Plain and Simple approach all in one box
If you don't have a DVcamcorder or are uncomfortable buying a new video card then this is the best option that I've been suggesting to people. Buy a video conversion box. There are several to choose from but to get a decent picture, expect to pay about 50 to 100. Basically these boxes have a similar technology to what is already in your DV camcorder.
Dazzle ($40-$120) was one of the first companies to start to make these for the consumer. Their first model even pluged into a parralel cable. They have gone on to make several other units but have not been able to hold there own. They have made several grades of capture devices and programs, but all in all there have been many more better devices out there.
Sony DVM-DC1 media converter ($200-$400) is the more pro/consumer model. This was also a product we used a lot in film school. Many people believed that by using the camcorder as a pass thru you would burn out the circuitry. This device litterally took the insides of the Sony VX model of DV camcorders and put it on a box. We used these with a DV deck and it worked perfectly. It also has Firewire outputs on it, and I have always been a strong propent of Firewire (it isn't as fast as USB2.0 but anyone who has done editing knows that Firewire is where its at. And film looks better too :). )
Best in Show: Plextor ConvertX PX-AV100U Digital Video Converter ($40 - $80) is a simple and affordable way to get the job done. With tons of positive feedback and its simple interface, this box is ideal for conversion. It can handle WMV, AVI, Mpg 1,2 and 4 and DivX. Comes with all the software you need to do simple conversion of Analog video to DVD. It connects to your computer via USB2 (sure, its not Firewire but I'm willing to get with the times)
General ThoughtsSo all you have to do is convert it over and slap it to a DVD. Easy evening project. Things to keep in mind.
- Your end product is only as good as your source. Don't expect DVD quality on a VHSC dupe.
- Digital is not Latin for "forever". Just because you have it on DVD or CD, it doesn't mean its going to prestine forever. PC Magazine did a study were they tested burnt CDs. Put some on a dash board, put some in a desk, put some in a caddy, left some laying aound. After 5 years, no data was recoverable. Now yes, there have been advancements since they started this study almost 10 years ago. However my film instructor always told me, "make backups of backups and if you still can't sleep easy at night, take that time making backups". Store them in something relatively air tight and check on them every so often.
- Try not to bore people. Just because you have complete coverage of the '89 Thanksgiving Dinner, doesn't mean people want to watch it. Edit where you can and you will have less to do in your archiving.
If all in all none of this seems appealing or too hard, then I highly recommending buying a console DVD burner. One of my friends have been using it for copying his favorite shows off of DVR and it is working splendidly. Just like when you copied that High8 to VHS you just plug your VCR into the DVD burner, hit play and hit burn. At the end of the '89 thanksgiving, hit stop.
Any other questions or concearns, shoot me an
e-mail.
(robots whose job is to hang the rings), Lifter Robots (robots whose job is to act as defense until the end of the tournament and then to lift their teammates for bonus) and Pure Defense (robots whose job is to ram into Arm Robots and Lifter Robots to stop them from doing their job) or "lil shits" as I like to call them.
The basketball size arena is split in half. One half being set for the arena and the other was the "pits". The pits are setup for each team to work on their robots between matches. Turn around time had to be quick and it seemed like the robots were brought battle damaged, just to be patched back together to go back out there. The damage of the robots was measured by how many members around it. One or two tightening chains or adjusting link rods and it was in good shape. You have one with 8 guys around it turning tools
and hooking up meters, you can almost see the artificial life slipping away. Over the loudspeakers you can hear announcers calling for assistance "Attention Teams. Team 2012 is in need of a extension coupler rod. If any team has an extension coupler rod, your assistance would be appreciated."
