I was shocked when the video ended, you didn’t fill it with fluff to make it 10 minutes long, or have a 2 minute intro with flashy graphics and music where you talk about what you are about to talk about. Thanks.
I've been deep diving on converters for about 6 months. Elgato has been touted. But you sold me with your brief but important intro on how you wasted time on garbage. Sometimes in life, technology costs a bit more, but it is worth it. Got my friend's grandmother VHS player yesterday and am ordering Elgato as I write. Good post.
I wanted to convert my tapes for years. I watched this last Friday and ordered the converter from Amazon. Had it 5 hours later and have spent a week now easily converting the tapes. For about $90 I get a cubic yard of my home back. Works great.
I watched this video and laughed as I made the very same mistakes (buying cheap converters). I ordered this one last week, it arrived today, and so far it's excellent. Zero latency issues. Easy to navigate. Love it. Thanks so much for posting this.
How much hard drive space does an average recording of an hour or so take up? Also can you pick where what drive you want your video to be recorded to?
@@dheller777 it depends. If you do a raw capture, 1 hour can take 30+ GIGABYTES of storage. Assuming the included software compresses the signal as it’s decoding, it would probably be about 1-2 gigs per hour of footage if you used that route. Personally recommend raw capture as you can record 60 frames and get a better picture quality. It just requires a lot of free disk space since the files are absolutely gargantuan before compressing them to whatever file container best suits your needs
I took your suggestion and tried the elgato and it's a world of difference from the cheap crap I tried converting with. This is the first time I actually bought something that someone was plugging and I don't regret it. Thanks.
My machine does it directly- A, JVC HM-DH5U VHS VCR ideo Cassette Recorder-no converter needed,directly to my old Laptop computer-over a 1394 Firewire cable
Thanks for making this and putting me at ease. I’ve just ordered the Elgato on your recommendation, although it’s to digitise some old Thunderbirds recordings my Dad made back in 1991, not your standard family footage. Still, VHS preservation is essential for nostalgia and your video helped light the fire under my backside to get this done, so thanks for helping me place the order, I look forward to the peace of mind once it is done
I recently found some old family VHS holiday tapes and wasn't sure how to convert them and to what media. The YT playlist URL share is genius! Awesome guide - thanks so much for making it.
I have TONS of tapes that I would love to convert. Things I recorded when my boys were little. I am going to try this. I hope it works. Thank you for sharing this!!!
I know this video is a year old, but a couple of years back, I, too, purchased a cheap one that SEEMED good yet hardly worked. I gave up, and that was that. This video alone just made me order the Elgato, and thanks to an Amazon center being close by, it’ll be here tonight. Thank you for the video as it is going to save priceless memories!
The Elgato device is amazingly easy to use. I purchased a “like new” used one and saved a few bucks. The You Tube option for sharing is welcome advice. Thank you!!
After watching this video, i decided to take a risk and spend the money on this product. It's been one of my best investments recently. The download process went quite smoothly and everything he described in the video turned out to be true! They even send the right cable so you don't have to buy it separately which would add to the price. All in all a great buy and super easy like explained above. Thank you for the tip! You explained it quite well.
Thank you for the video! My grandma just passed away and I got all of her old family videos and I’ve been trying to figure out the easiest way to convert them all and make them viewable for the whole family and I really like the RUclips idea since that’ll be cheaper than making copies for everyone and will be easier for older not tech savvy family members that might have a hard time figuring out how to view them on a cloud service.
Thank You So Much for this Knowledge since many out there do like to keep their VHS recordings & convert them into Digital format for their family to enjoy in the future! 🌷🌿🌍💖
Hi Brandon. Thank you for putting this video together. Great job man! Saved me a lot of time and aggravation....the type of stuff that you went through. I just subscribed to your channel. I'm now a big fan! Thanks again.
@@TechAuditTV Yes, thank you! For years I've been wanting to do this! I have through 1990's I've recorded on VHS. I have a VHS player that the heads needs to be clean so it won't eat up the tapes.👍
I had to download an older version of the video capture software but heck yeah this thing works! I also bought one of those cheap $15 ones and that was giving me static with the audio. This thing worked beautifully first time.
Thanks for this video! It works great. My only gripe is with the Elgato trimming feature. When the recording is long, it's very difficult to use the sliders to trim with accuracy. I wish I could key in a specific starting and ending times. Because of this, I'm forced to edit the recordings in dedicated video software. Other than that, I'm very happy and I have converted about 30 tapes (VHS & 8mm) so far. :)
The method I use actually gives better results. I found the Elgato does an OK job but the colours are muted and interlacing is still an issue. I use a Super VHS VCR which even slightly improves the quality of standard VHS a little, that is connected to an SVideo to HDMI convertor which is in turn connected to a cheap, fairly generic HDMI to USB capture device. The results are excellent, contrast is much better than using the Elgato, interlacing isn't an issue and colours are bright and not all muted like the Elgato device. The only slight negative is that it captures at 720p/60 but so far that hasn't actually mattered. The resultant files look excellent burned to DVD, BluRay or played back from USB sticks on smart TVs.
My Panasonic VCR has HDMI output. Do you think I can take the HDMI cord and plug it directly into my 2014 Mac Book pro computer which has an HDMI port and make it work.? Or do you think I should find a HDMI to USB capture device and plug into the computers USB port? Also what software do you use when recording?
Thanks for doing this video! Your advice saved me a ton of time and money. I purchased the Elgato converter and it worked like a charm! I am not tech savvy at all and it still worked flawlessly. I love the RUclips idea. I am doing that now. Keep the great videos coming!
I see tons of these videos saying "buy this" but none go into what is actually captured. What framerates are supported, what does it do with interlacing? Does it capture a temp file at first and then reencode the in/out bit you set up for the final output? Is there a way to up the bitrate if needed? Can I adjust the video signal while actually watching the image? I get that this thing is aimed at the fire and forget crowd who wants to just get a capture to their family as easily as possible. But for a more pixelpeeper like me... I am left with so many questions.
Thanks for bumping this up Tom! Excuse Tom's ignorance, but I get hundreds of comments a day so I only see a handful of alerts to respond. It's tough to stay on top of them. Luckily this happens to be one of them! You are 100% right, this totally a "I just wanna digital way of viewing VHS tapes" crowd. Someone who is trying to preserve every frame and pixel would be better off with more expensive and professional equipment. The exported frame rate is locked at 29.97fps interlaced. I'm not sure if that is a hardware cap or software. I believe it's hardware. I have seen others bypass the Elgato software and port into Adobe capture products and others, but I don't believe that will bypass the fps. So you will lose frames there! For the sake of the target audience of this video, I didn't go super deep because for the intended audience, they are looking for an easy solution to digitize tapes whether for family or for their own RUclips channels. To my eye, I don't see a difference from my tapes to the digital version, but to a pixel enthusiast, I'm sure you could notice!
"Does it capture a temp file at first and then reencode the in/out bit". YES it does. And it seems that it is here that for many, myself included, that audio drift is a problem. With other software this does not occur (OBS, DaVinci)
Commando Brando! Awesome video, if you haven't already, do a video on what codec and how to convert 29.97i to 59.94p. De-interlace the proper method keeping full 60fps.
Exactly what I've been looking for. For some time now, I've been using a recorder that basically records from my VCR directly to DVD. Problem is that I have to choose the quality of the video to be recorded, which limits how much I can record onto a DVD. As a result, some of the transfers I've done so far have either been lower picture quality than the VHS tape they came from, or the recordings span a couple of DVDs. Also, if I want to use clips of the videos for on RUclips, I then have to rip the video from the DVDs, sometimes splicing them together with my video editing software. This method would not only make it easier to do the transfers but improve the quality and provide the raw source material for either making my own DVDs from the VHS tapes or making my RUclips videos.
Much respect to you for this video from a cranky old guy. It's funny how terms change. BITD we just called it a "VCR "(Video Cassette Recorder) but today "VCR Player" often becomes the default. I imagine that DVD players led to folks calling referring to VCRs as "players." "VHS Player" makes sense, however. For a short time Sony tried to refer to its products as VTRs (replacing 'cassette' with 'tape') -- but that didn't take.
The elgatos are nice and such but since i was not using Windows or OS X i had some trouble getting it to work. I found another equally good solution. I am using a composite to HDMI converter and found it produces a very good de-interlaced and crisp image. I used a generic HDMI recorder that records MP4 files to a USB SSD. Works a treat and both converter and recorder combined cost less than the Elgato. I found the video quality equal and sometimes even better than some recordings claimed to be done with the Elgato. And you do not need a powerful PC while recording. Just wanted to share this if someone is having trouble with this device like i did. I guess they are pretty good nonetheless and i know a few share of people getting very good results with them.
I had an old elgato composite capture and now can't find it. I do have a generic Amazon HDMI capture card that works great when I use my Sony mirrorless as a webcam. Gonna give this a shot and look for a composite to HDMI converter.
Really helpful for me. I have been trying to suss out if any of the cheaper VHS to digital converters were worth buying but my research was not coming up with anything conclusive. So, I am going to take your advice and go for Elegato. Thank you.
Best video I've seen on this subject. One thing concerns me- how much space would a typical 180min cassette video take up on a pc/laptop? I've about a dozen to convert and I'm thinking that's going to take up quite a bit of hard drive.
This was the best video on the process I have ever watched. Thank you for breaking it all down so easily to understand!! I am ordering the Elgato thingy today!!
Excellent explanation. Waiting for the Elgato to arrive, meanwhile tried uploading existing video footage to RUclips and immediately received a copyright warning! So not always a straightforward process. The school gymnastics display I had shot was accompanied by pop tunes which were detected. Subject for a whole new tutorial there of which there are many on here.
@@steved8714 Where did you get that information from? Super-VHS Video (S-Video or Hi8) will provide you up to 480i lines in comparison to composite VHS signal only around 280i lines.
VHS bandwidth does not exceed composite (CVBS). any improvement wont be noticeable. More improvement is to be expected from a instead a SVHS-player, or a decent TBC
Thank you so much for this information. I was just going to by a converter and spend a few hundred dollars. Now I’m going to go this route and save money! I truly appreciate your video.
@@elviradistress Open Broadcaster Software, or OBS, is a free and open source solution for offline video recording and live streaming that is Mac and Windows compliant.
Charter oak digital digitized my entire collection of VHS to digital and it cost about as much as trying to do it myself. and the quality looked just as good as the original tapes.
Very well explained, been looking at several different devices to purchase to convert mini DV to digital, and so will be ordering this Elgato video capture device, and with the free download software, and the ability to upload to RUclips and give family and friends the pass code to view the videos, is brilliant, so don’t need to give them the footage. Thanks Brendon. Vince Prewett Nottingham England
The vcr you are using is dvd recorder that makes cds from vhs tapes. You can make the dvds and then put them into a computer to transfer and edit (gimp) them for saving them to any storage you like.
About the 3 minute mark I'm sure that was Springville Skatepark! Not to mention some classic Provo skatespots. Also thanks for the tips on conversion, now I'm going to convert all my old "sponser me" tapes haha.
I watched this and looked at the Elgato on Amazon. It said I purchased it in 2014. I forgot all about it & never used it. I easily found it in my closet. The good thing is the 2014 Elgato is compatible with my older Mac and Airbook. If I got the Elgato now it probably wouldn’t work with my old Mac OS. Apple is terrible about not supporting older macs so I probably couldn’t update my computers to the latest OS. I’m glad I found the Elgato. Now I’ll be able to transfer all the VHS tapes I have (300 or more).
I use a Panasonic Bluray recorder with built in hard drive connected to an LG VCR to convert all of my tapes because once they are on DVD which is the most reliable form of back up I put them on the computer and convert to which ever format I need .
I use DVR recorders.. The best because they are designed to do just that.. i have 3 DVD recorders and 2 with Internal hard drives... To each their own. All the best Dude 😁👍
With the Elgato you're not getting anywhere near the quality VHS is capable of. The included software has terrible de-interlacing and extreme compression artifacts, and even if you use better software like OBS, it still has problems with the video wobbling and jittering due to the lack of a time base corrector.
@@krzysztof1156 The best solution for that is to get a Digital8 camcorder which supports analog Video8/Hi8 playback (see list on Wikipedia) and then connect it to a computer via FireWire.
Did mine back in the 90's using DVD/VHS recorder like you say you will need a DVD Player later but you still have a hard copy and easy storage and if you want to go your route even better.
Thanks for posting this video! I'm currently trying to convert my own VHSs to another format. Originally I was going to convert them to DVD, but I'm also going to consider this method too!
I use a combo of an analog converter to HDMI and a HDMI to USB capture device. It works brilliantly and is compatible with lots of software. As a bonus the SD analog video is upconverted to HD digital video.
I could not get my captured device to work so I finally just played the movies on my TV by attaching my camcorder and filmed them with my iPhone. Perhaps I will try again thank you for making this.
Hi Brandon, i'm film producer and the best results that i found was using DV cam how to bridge from S-video in, Fireware iLink to PC, real time capture to native AVI DV 25mbps 60i. Of course a very good VCR S-VHS too. Results a master file from VHS. See the playlist "VHS, S-VHS, D-VHS Memory Rescue". See
You mean to tell me this man went through all this trouble just to have to upload each video to RUclips?!?! Your poor internet, just wait till this man finds out what you can do with a 2TB external hard drive, Monaco video convert, an old laptop top, and a Plex server 😉
What type of external device -like a flash drive type thing- would be good to put home movies on instead of the computer -once transferred? Can the movies be copied directly to the external device? Thanks so much for the lesson! We have been wanting to transfer ours for a long time! We do have the Elgato. You were a huge help! Thank you!
I have literally over 500 VHS vids I shot throughout the 80s and 90s that I've been slowly digitizing during the pandemic and adding them to my youtube chan unlisted as you describe, however the video compression further deteriorates the video quality and makes them nearly unwatchable. My understanding of youtube algorithms is if a video gets sufficient views it gets a lower compression and better quality. But for old family vids obviously that ain't gonna happen. Anyways, great vid.
Thanks for the informative vid bro. I bought the Elgato device and it's working so efficiently. I used your affiliate link so I hope you got a lil something for your recommendation. Much love!
Thats so funny, the first 20 seconds I see skateboard footage! Thats exactly what Im trying to do; I have old skateboard footage I want to save on digital. What a coincidence.
I am inspired by your video. I think I can do this. Thanks for sharing you experience with cheap devices. I probably would have tried the same thing. I’ll start with the best one first.
What Format/codec does the elgato card convert the video into? And how much is it compressed? Can I also record uncompressed video with it to be able to edit it later reasonably?
Hi Brandon.. This is perfect for a novice like me. One question: you said you can edit off any excess recording at the end, but can you edit out lots of unwanted sections throughout the video to make the finished product more concise and just include "the best of" snippets and segments without additional editing gear??
I would bring the finished video (unwanted sections and all) into QuickTime Player (on a Mac) and using the Split video feature (Edit > Split Clip or Command+Y), edit out anything now wanted. For instance you like the beginning, but 50 minutes into it, you want to delete a minute: Stop the video Edit > Split Clip Continue on a minute Stop the video Edit > Split Clip Click on the minute that you want gone Click on it (select it) Edit > Delete You can continuously do this until all the unwanted video is gone Save the edited video and you are done! You can also use Premiere Pro to do virtually the same thing.
Hey there! 2 years late, but I was just curious if you have experienced any audio delay with the delays? I’m looking into converting tons of hours of home videos and this video gave me a bit of peace of mind. Thank you!
Get a pinnacle DV movie box and put in between play back and recording devices and the skies the limit. Set the DVD recording speed to at least 2 hour mode and use svideo cables. Cleaner the picture. Its analog so it takes a while (real time recording) but you'll have a very identical copy of anything you throw at it.
Is it wired that I want to convert my vhs movies to preserve that vhs feeling and I’ve bought same movies on vhs that I already have on blu-ray? I’ve watched The Thing on vhs and crt tv yesterday and it was a great experience
I don't think so! I'm an '05 liner and I've watched movies on VHS ever since I was little and it's amazing. I love it! I also want to get a film camera since I love the way the pictures turn out... I want to experience it. You know?
My machine does it directly- A, JVC HM-DH5U VHS VCR V ideo Cassette Recorder- no converter needed,directly to my old Laptop computer-over a 1394 Firewire cable Bob H
I don't think this does proper deinterlacing, at 5:23 you can see lots of jagged lines in the resulting video, it also looks heavily compressed, 2GB for 3 hours of video is too little, is it 640x480 at 30fps? The youtube playlist it's a pretty good idea
@@jamespfitz that's not the question he was asking. He's asking how to clean the tapes his footage is on, before playing them through the system to record what's on them to a digital format. Buying new tapes will do nothing for him.
can you also make a video about how to remaster the digital copy of your VHS tapes? sometimes the quality of these old tapes were horrible or the image is jumping
I was shocked when the video ended, you didn’t fill it with fluff to make it 10 minutes long, or have a 2 minute intro with flashy graphics and music where you talk about what you are about to talk about. Thanks.
A model of a How To...clear, short and to the point....well done Brandon.
where do you get the software from, does it come with the device?
Let's go Brandon!
I've been deep diving on converters for about 6 months. Elgato has been touted. But you sold me with your brief but important intro on how you wasted time on garbage. Sometimes in life, technology costs a bit more, but it is worth it. Got my friend's grandmother VHS player yesterday and am ordering Elgato as I write. Good post.
I wanted to convert my tapes for years. I watched this last Friday and ordered the converter from Amazon. Had it 5 hours later and have spent a week now easily converting the tapes. For about $90 I get a cubic yard of my home back. Works great.
Take your cell phone and record it. 😮
@@MostBeautifullest how can I recorder with cell phone?
Amazon delivered it in 5 hours?? Wtf how is that possible
How many tapes did u have
I watched this video and laughed as I made the very same mistakes (buying cheap converters). I ordered this one last week, it arrived today, and so far it's excellent. Zero latency issues. Easy to navigate. Love it. Thanks so much for posting this.
How much hard drive space does an average recording of an hour or so take up? Also can you pick where what drive you want your video to be recorded to?
@@dheller777 An hour of digital tape is around 1 Gig. yes, I believe you can pick where it goes. Mine go to "video" folder but i move them after.
@@dheller777 it depends. If you do a raw capture, 1 hour can take 30+ GIGABYTES of storage. Assuming the included software compresses the signal as it’s decoding, it would probably be about 1-2 gigs per hour of footage if you used that route. Personally recommend raw capture as you can record 60 frames and get a better picture quality. It just requires a lot of free disk space since the files are absolutely gargantuan before compressing them to whatever file container best suits your needs
@@markus3355wdym by compressing them to a file container? How do you do that?
I took your suggestion and tried the elgato and it's a world of difference from the cheap crap I tried converting with. This is the first time I actually bought something that someone was plugging and I don't regret it. Thanks.
This is the BEST video I have found for VHS conversion! Thank you very much for sharing your hard work with the rest of us!
My machine does it directly- A, JVC HM-DH5U VHS VCR ideo Cassette Recorder-no converter needed,directly to my old Laptop computer-over a 1394 Firewire cable
Thanks for making this and putting me at ease. I’ve just ordered the Elgato on your recommendation, although it’s to digitise some old Thunderbirds recordings my Dad made back in 1991, not your standard family footage. Still, VHS preservation is essential for nostalgia and your video helped light the fire under my backside to get this done, so thanks for helping me place the order, I look forward to the peace of mind once it is done
I recently found some old family VHS holiday tapes and wasn't sure how to convert them and to what media.
The YT playlist URL share is genius!
Awesome guide - thanks so much for making it.
This simple step by step explanation is just what I was looking for! Thanks so much!
Me too! Thanks!
I have TONS of tapes that I would love to convert. Things I recorded when my boys were little. I am going to try this. I hope it works. Thank you for sharing this!!!
FINALLY!!!!! A video that goes right to the point and that I understand!!! THANK YOU!
I know this video is a year old, but a couple of years back, I, too, purchased a cheap one that SEEMED good yet hardly worked. I gave up, and that was that. This video alone just made me order the Elgato, and thanks to an Amazon center being close by, it’ll be here tonight. Thank you for the video as it is going to save priceless memories!
Perfect... been putting this off for far too long. Inspired to finally do it now, thanks!
The Elgato device is amazingly easy to use. I purchased a “like new” used one and saved a few bucks. The You Tube option for sharing is welcome advice. Thank you!!
After watching this video, i decided to take a risk and spend the money on this product. It's been one of my best investments recently. The download process went quite smoothly and everything he described in the video turned out to be true! They even send the right cable so you don't have to buy it separately which would add to the price. All in all a great buy and super easy like explained above. Thank you for the tip! You explained it quite well.
Does the device sync the video and the audio correctly? Because with a lot of cheaper VHS converters, the video and audio always came out unmatched.
I'm really excited to try this next week at my dad's! Very simple to follow, thank you!
Thank you for the video! My grandma just passed away and I got all of her old family videos and I’ve been trying to figure out the easiest way to convert them all and make them viewable for the whole family and I really like the RUclips idea since that’ll be cheaper than making copies for everyone and will be easier for older not tech savvy family members that might have a hard time figuring out how to view them on a cloud service.
Super helpful, Brandon - just what I needed in simple terms. Thanks very much.
Thank You So Much for this Knowledge since many out there do like to keep their VHS recordings & convert them into Digital format for their family to enjoy in the future! 🌷🌿🌍💖
Hi Brandon. Thank you for putting this video together. Great job man! Saved me a lot of time and aggravation....the type of stuff that you went through. I just subscribed to your channel. I'm now a big fan! Thanks again.
Larry! This comment literally made my day. Appreciate the ♥️!
@@TechAuditTV Yes, thank you!
For years I've been wanting to do this!
I have through 1990's I've recorded on VHS.
I have a VHS player that the heads needs to be clean so it won't eat up the tapes.👍
I had to download an older version of the video capture software but heck yeah this thing works! I also bought one of those cheap $15 ones and that was giving me static with the audio. This thing worked beautifully first time.
Simple and straight forward even with a headache. Thanx Mate!!
youtube playlist is a great idea! thanks for the helpful video
BIG thanks man! I was previously recording from VHS to DVD-R, then converting thru MPEG Streamclip! What a PIA!! Thanks for a quicker way to convert!!
But if you can convert it to dvd do it and convert mpg to mp4, it gives more quality than a capture card
Thanks for this video! It works great. My only gripe is with the Elgato trimming feature. When the recording is long, it's very difficult to use the sliders to trim with accuracy. I wish I could key in a specific starting and ending times. Because of this, I'm forced to edit the recordings in dedicated video software. Other than that, I'm very happy and I have converted about 30 tapes (VHS & 8mm) so far. :)
The method I use actually gives better results. I found the Elgato does an OK job but the colours are muted and interlacing is still an issue. I use a Super VHS VCR which even slightly improves the quality of standard VHS a little, that is connected to an SVideo to HDMI convertor which is in turn connected to a cheap, fairly generic HDMI to USB capture device. The results are excellent, contrast is much better than using the Elgato, interlacing isn't an issue and colours are bright and not all muted like the Elgato device. The only slight negative is that it captures at 720p/60 but so far that hasn't actually mattered. The resultant files look excellent burned to DVD, BluRay or played back from USB sticks on smart TVs.
My Panasonic VCR has HDMI output. Do you think I can take the HDMI cord and plug it directly into my 2014 Mac Book pro computer which has an HDMI port and make it work.? Or do you think I should find a HDMI to USB capture device and plug into the computers USB port? Also what software do you use when recording?
What model svhs vcr are you using, out of curiosity?
The best video converter. Plug and play type of deal. Love it! Thanks for making my life a lot easier. Highly recommend....
Thanks for doing this video! Your advice saved me a ton of time and money. I purchased the Elgato converter and it worked like a charm! I am not tech savvy at all and it still worked flawlessly. I love the RUclips idea. I am doing that now. Keep the great videos coming!
Thank you so much for this content!!!! Took worry out of convertor shopping, options for sharing including youtube excellent!
Been looking for something like this for some time. I have lots of old moves which I would like to watch again in my man shed
I see tons of these videos saying "buy this" but none go into what is actually captured. What framerates are supported, what does it do with interlacing? Does it capture a temp file at first and then reencode the in/out bit you set up for the final output? Is there a way to up the bitrate if needed? Can I adjust the video signal while actually watching the image?
I get that this thing is aimed at the fire and forget crowd who wants to just get a capture to their family as easily as possible. But for a more pixelpeeper like me... I am left with so many questions.
And notice the creator did not answer you because he has no clue..
Thanks for bumping this up Tom! Excuse Tom's ignorance, but I get hundreds of comments a day so I only see a handful of alerts to respond. It's tough to stay on top of them. Luckily this happens to be one of them!
You are 100% right, this totally a "I just wanna digital way of viewing VHS tapes" crowd. Someone who is trying to preserve every frame and pixel would be better off with more expensive and professional equipment. The exported frame rate is locked at 29.97fps interlaced. I'm not sure if that is a hardware cap or software. I believe it's hardware. I have seen others bypass the Elgato software and port into Adobe capture products and others, but I don't believe that will bypass the fps. So you will lose frames there!
For the sake of the target audience of this video, I didn't go super deep because for the intended audience, they are looking for an easy solution to digitize tapes whether for family or for their own RUclips channels.
To my eye, I don't see a difference from my tapes to the digital version, but to a pixel enthusiast, I'm sure you could notice!
"Does it capture a temp file at first and then reencode the in/out bit". YES it does. And it seems that it is here that for many, myself included, that audio drift is a problem. With other software this does not occur (OBS, DaVinci)
@@TechAuditTV any recommendations on higher quality transfer products?
@@TechAuditTV Tell Tom to go "take a hike!"
Commando Brando! Awesome video, if you haven't already, do a video on what codec and how to convert 29.97i to 59.94p. De-interlace the proper method keeping full 60fps.
Exactly what I've been looking for. For some time now, I've been using a recorder that basically records from my VCR directly to DVD. Problem is that I have to choose the quality of the video to be recorded, which limits how much I can record onto a DVD. As a result, some of the transfers I've done so far have either been lower picture quality than the VHS tape they came from, or the recordings span a couple of DVDs. Also, if I want to use clips of the videos for on RUclips, I then have to rip the video from the DVDs, sometimes splicing them together with my video editing software. This method would not only make it easier to do the transfers but improve the quality and provide the raw source material for either making my own DVDs from the VHS tapes or making my RUclips videos.
Much respect to you for this video from a cranky old guy. It's funny how terms change. BITD we just called it a "VCR "(Video Cassette Recorder) but today "VCR Player" often becomes the default. I imagine that DVD players led to folks calling referring to VCRs as "players." "VHS Player" makes sense, however. For a short time Sony tried to refer to its products as VTRs (replacing 'cassette' with 'tape') -- but that didn't take.
The elgatos are nice and such but since i was not using Windows or OS X i had some trouble getting it to work. I found another equally good solution. I am using a composite to HDMI converter and found it produces a very good de-interlaced and crisp image. I used a generic HDMI recorder that records MP4 files to a USB SSD. Works a treat and both converter and recorder combined cost less than the Elgato. I found the video quality equal and sometimes even better than some recordings claimed to be done with the Elgato. And you do not need a powerful PC while recording. Just wanted to share this if someone is having trouble with this device like i did.
I guess they are pretty good nonetheless and i know a few share of people getting very good results with them.
links please?
I had an old elgato composite capture and now can't find it. I do have a generic Amazon HDMI capture card that works great when I use my Sony mirrorless as a webcam. Gonna give this a shot and look for a composite to HDMI converter.
@@jmtrsmilz6024 sorry, but those were bought years ago and are now out of stock. If i can find similar ones, i'll repost.
Really helpful for me. I have been trying to suss out if any of the cheaper VHS to digital converters were worth buying but my research was not coming up with anything conclusive. So, I am going to take your advice and go for Elegato. Thank you.
Stumbled across this video and glad i did since I’ve been wanting to do this for some time. Great info. Thanks
Best video I've seen on this subject. One thing concerns me- how much space would a typical 180min cassette video take up on a pc/laptop? I've about a dozen to convert and I'm thinking that's going to take up quite a bit of hard drive.
This was the best video on the process I have ever watched. Thank you for breaking it all down so easily to understand!! I am ordering the Elgato thingy today!!
Excellent explanation. Waiting for the Elgato to arrive, meanwhile tried uploading existing video footage to RUclips and immediately received a copyright warning! So not always a straightforward process. The school gymnastics display I had shot was accompanied by pop tunes which were detected. Subject for a whole new tutorial there of which there are many on here.
Why not use the S-Video output from the VCR instead of the composite? S-Video would yield superior image quality.
This is not true. The S stands for standard, which is lower quality by design.
@@steved8714 Where did you get that information from? Super-VHS Video (S-Video or Hi8) will provide you up to 480i lines in comparison to composite VHS signal only around 280i lines.
@@steved8714 You are completely wrong lol. S-Video sends the luminance and chroma signals on different wires and is far superior to a composite .
@@oakumsvideotech not to mention it has component outputs as well which allows for use of hdmi upscaler - far superior to this level 1 solution
VHS bandwidth does not exceed composite (CVBS). any improvement wont be noticeable. More improvement is to be expected from a instead a SVHS-player, or a decent TBC
Thank you so much for this information. I was just going to by a converter and spend a few hundred dollars.
Now I’m going to go this route and save money! I truly appreciate your video.
I bought those generic capture device and use OBS with no problem. Ain't gonna spend 88 bucks for that Elgato
What is OBS?
Are you sure because I have some tapes I want to convert but I'm not paying that aswell
@@julekkruk4057 I bought mine for 5 dollars, work perfectly until now
whats obs
@@elviradistress Open Broadcaster Software, or OBS, is a free and open source solution for offline video recording and live streaming that is Mac and Windows compliant.
Thank you! I will be ordering legato cable this week!
Charter oak digital digitized my entire collection of VHS to digital and it cost about as much as trying to do it myself. and the quality looked just as good as the original tapes.
Thanks for letting me plug Skateboarding with this Video!!!!
You KILLED this!! You gave us EXACTLY what we needed. Much appreciation. Subscribed
Thank you for the information. I appreciate your recommendation for the product you bought on Amazon. I like the RUclips idea, too. Thank you.
Thank you for this video!
I have a couple of vhs tapes that I don't want to loose.
This video helped me a lot.
Quick, helpful, and to the point! Thank you!!
This is the best video I’ve ever seen on how to convert these tapes. Now to find a good VHS player. Can I send you questions once I start the process?
Very well explained, been looking at several different devices to purchase to convert mini DV to digital, and so will be ordering this Elgato video capture device, and with the free download software, and the ability to upload to RUclips and give family and friends the pass code to view the videos, is brilliant, so don’t need to give them the footage. Thanks Brendon.
Vince Prewett
Nottingham
England
You do not want to use this to convert miniDV - you will lose quality. Get yourself a firewire card for your PC if it doesn't already have that port.
Good job. I winced when I saw that lovely but unused S-video port on the back of your VCR!
The vcr you are using is dvd recorder that makes cds from vhs tapes. You can make the dvds and then put them into a computer to transfer and edit (gimp) them for saving them to any storage you like.
You are a good teacher. Awesome tutorial 👌
About the 3 minute mark I'm sure that was Springville Skatepark! Not to mention some classic Provo skatespots. Also thanks for the tips on conversion, now I'm going to convert all my old "sponser me" tapes haha.
Okay now THAT is impressive 😂
I watched this and looked at the Elgato on Amazon. It said I purchased it in 2014. I forgot all about it & never used it. I easily found it in my closet. The good thing is the 2014 Elgato is compatible with my older Mac and Airbook. If I got the Elgato now it probably wouldn’t work with my old Mac OS. Apple is terrible about not supporting older macs so I probably couldn’t update my computers to the latest OS. I’m glad I found the Elgato. Now I’ll be able to transfer all the VHS tapes I have (300 or more).
I did mine with a cheap 15 Euros dongle from Amazon and it worked perfectly fine. The tip with RUclips is great and I will definitely do it :)
I use a Panasonic Bluray recorder with built in hard drive connected to an LG VCR to convert all of my tapes because once they are on DVD which is the most reliable form of back up I put them on the computer and convert to which ever format I need .
I use DVR recorders.. The best because they are designed to do just that.. i have 3 DVD recorders and 2 with Internal hard drives... To each their own.
All the best Dude 😁👍
Thank you this has helped me so much. Been putting this off for to long. Appreciated
5:10 GO PACK GO!
With the Elgato you're not getting anywhere near the quality VHS is capable of. The included software has terrible de-interlacing and extreme compression artifacts, and even if you use better software like OBS, it still has problems with the video wobbling and jittering due to the lack of a time base corrector.
Great to see you here for the comments!
Do you have any better solution to digitalize tapes then? I have plenty of HI8's laying around but still haven't figured a way to record them.
@@krzysztof1156 The best solution for that is to get a Digital8 camcorder which supports analog Video8/Hi8 playback (see list on Wikipedia) and then connect it to a computer via FireWire.
@@krzysztof1156 use a FireWire cable or connect them to a DVD recorder.
@@krzysztof1156get an i-o data gv-usb2 and use obs or amarec
Did mine back in the 90's using DVD/VHS recorder like you say you will need a DVD Player later but you still have a hard copy and easy storage and if you want to go your route even better.
Thanks for posting this video! I'm currently trying to convert my own VHSs to another format. Originally I was going to convert them to DVD, but I'm also going to consider this method too!
VHS = Video History System lol The fact that I watched my 1st Star Wars movies on VHS makes me feel old 😅
Yep, I remember the trilogy set!
VHS = Vertical Helical Scan, for the techno-nerds out there.
Actually stands for Video Home System.
I use a combo of an analog converter to HDMI and a HDMI to USB capture device. It works brilliantly and is compatible with lots of software. As a bonus the SD analog video is upconverted to HD digital video.
I could not get my captured device to work so I finally just played the movies on my TV by attaching my camcorder and filmed them with my iPhone. Perhaps I will try again thank you for making this.
Hi Brandon, i'm film producer and the best results that i found was using DV cam how to bridge from S-video in, Fireware iLink to PC, real time capture to native AVI DV 25mbps 60i. Of course a very good VCR S-VHS too. Results a master file from VHS.
See the playlist "VHS, S-VHS, D-VHS Memory Rescue".
See
No mention was made of the necessary free disk space needed to accomplish the transfer task.
You mean to tell me this man went through all this trouble just to have to upload each video to RUclips?!?! Your poor internet, just wait till this man finds out what you can do with a 2TB external hard drive, Monaco video convert, an old laptop top, and a Plex server 😉
Movavi* not Monaco d***n auto correct
I used the same device for my old videos. It does work great. Nice job!
Awesome! Glad it went well for you. Appreciate the comment!
I’ve got a Mac, does it work for a Mac?
Great presentation. I now get out my old vhs tapes
Excellent!!! Thanks for being clear and practical.
I used a cheap capture device that was shown in the video and it worked perfect for me
What type of external device -like a flash drive type thing- would be good to put home movies on instead of the computer -once transferred? Can the movies be copied directly to the external device? Thanks so much for the lesson! We have been wanting to transfer ours for a long time! We do have the Elgato. You were a huge help! Thank you!
It's going to be a digital file, the same as anything else on your computer. You can put it on any storage device.
I have literally over 500 VHS vids I shot throughout the 80s and 90s that I've been slowly digitizing during the pandemic and adding them to my youtube chan unlisted as you describe, however the video compression further deteriorates the video quality and makes them nearly unwatchable. My understanding of youtube algorithms is if a video gets sufficient views it gets a lower compression and better quality. But for old family vids obviously that ain't gonna happen. Anyways, great vid.
Thanks for the informative vid bro. I bought the Elgato device and it's working so efficiently. I used your affiliate link so I hope you got a lil something for your recommendation. Much love!
Thats so funny, the first 20 seconds I see skateboard footage! Thats exactly what Im trying to do; I have old skateboard footage I want to save on digital. What a coincidence.
I am inspired by your video. I think I can do this. Thanks for sharing you experience with cheap devices. I probably would have tried the same thing.
I’ll start with the best one first.
What Format/codec does the elgato card convert the video into? And how much is it compressed? Can I also record uncompressed video with it to be able to edit it later reasonably?
Giving this option a try. Hope it works!
Hi Brandon.. This is perfect for a novice like me. One question: you said you can edit off any excess recording at the end, but can you edit out lots of unwanted sections throughout the video to make the finished product more concise and just include "the best of" snippets and segments without additional editing gear??
I need to know the same thing!!!
I would bring the finished video (unwanted sections and all) into QuickTime Player (on a Mac) and using the Split video feature (Edit > Split Clip or Command+Y), edit out anything now wanted.
For instance you like the beginning, but 50 minutes into it, you want to delete a minute:
Stop the video
Edit > Split Clip
Continue on a minute
Stop the video
Edit > Split Clip
Click on the minute that you want gone
Click on it (select it)
Edit > Delete
You can continuously do this until all the unwanted video is gone
Save the edited video and you are done!
You can also use Premiere Pro to do virtually the same thing.
Hey there! 2 years late, but I was just curious if you have experienced any audio delay with the delays?
I’m looking into converting tons of hours of home videos and this video gave me a bit of peace of mind.
Thank you!
Get a pinnacle DV movie box and put in between play back and recording devices and the skies the limit. Set the DVD recording speed to at least 2 hour mode and use svideo cables. Cleaner the picture. Its analog so it takes a while (real time recording) but you'll have a very identical copy of anything you throw at it.
What do you mean by "put it between play back and recording devices"? Do you use this instead of a video capture device like the Elgato?
great video, to the point and very detailed. Thanks Brandon!
Is it wired that I want to convert my vhs movies to preserve that vhs feeling and I’ve bought same movies on vhs that I already have on blu-ray? I’ve watched The Thing on vhs and crt tv yesterday and it was a great experience
I don't think so! I'm an '05 liner and I've watched movies on VHS ever since I was little and it's amazing. I love it! I also want to get a film camera since I love the way the pictures turn out... I want to experience it. You know?
@@winniethepooh-qm2mm I know what you mean :D
That's enough for me. Just ordered one. Thanks so much for your content.
Superb presentation very direct and to the point 😊
Thanks so much Brandon super easy just bought the device
bro you killed it on the skateboard!
thank you for easy to understand instructions
My machine does it directly- A, JVC HM-DH5U VHS VCR V ideo Cassette Recorder- no converter needed,directly to my old Laptop computer-over a 1394 Firewire cable Bob H
I don't think this does proper deinterlacing, at 5:23 you can see lots of jagged lines in the resulting video, it also looks heavily compressed, 2GB for 3 hours of video is too little, is it 640x480 at 30fps? The youtube playlist it's a pretty good idea
Any recommendations on how to safely clean the tapes prior to recording them to try to get the best footage?
Buy new ones. Tape is cheap and cheaply made.
@@jamespfitz that's not the question he was asking. He's asking how to clean the tapes his footage is on, before playing them through the system to record what's on them to a digital format. Buying new tapes will do nothing for him.
Great idea to use RUclips for sharing with family!
SUPER HELPFUL VIDEO! THX BRO!
Extremely helpful, Brandon. Thanks.
can you also make a video about how to remaster the digital copy of your VHS tapes?
sometimes the quality of these old tapes were horrible or the image is jumping