Transferring vhs video to dvd?

BrianPK

I have a handful of vhs video cassettes whose contents I'd very much like to transfer to dvd. Are there any recommended commercial sites (Irish perhaps?) that would perform this transfer for me, preferrably via mail? Alternatively, is there any board member who'd volunteer their services to do the same, for a suitable fee? Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

John R

Commercial operations would charge more than the cost of a good DVD recorder.

If you look in the yellow pages you should find some.

I could do them for you.

BrianPK

John R wrote:

Commercial operations would charge more than the cost of a good DVD recorder.

If you look in the yellow pages you should find some.

I could do them for you.

I would be very grateful if you could perform the transfer for me. What fee would you consider? A total of Postage + DVDs + X? Please let me know. Thanks.

John R

PM me or post here exactly what you have and what you need done. How many tapes, how many hours of video, do you need them compiled or just a straight transfer, do you want the video tapes back (more postage)?

Do you know if your dvd player is compatible with dvd-r and which format -r or +r or both?

What condition are the videotapes in? If they are badly degraded (as in an unstable picture) it requires extra equipment to copy them properly, you would be better going to a professional outfit.

You should be aware that transfering VHS to DVD will not improve the picture quality of the pieces, in fact there will be a slight to considerable drop in quality depending on what speed setting is used to record the discs. 2 hours per disc will give a near perfect copy.

10000maniacs

Cheapest method
Buy Philips DVD Recorder €269
Buy Scart socket €15
Buy 25 DVD+RW disks €14.97 in PC World
Total = €300
Connect Scart from VCR to DVDR
Press Play on VCR and Record on DVDR

ZENER

Sounds like a plan providing the tapes are recent and good quality, older tapes or copies of copies may require sync restoration before the DVDR records them properly.

AGFA have a few stores around that provide this service - there's one here in Swords.

ZEN

BrianPK

John R wrote:

PM me or post here exactly what you have and what you need done. How many tapes, how many hours of video, do you need them compiled or just a straight transfer, do you want the video tapes back (more postage)?

Do you know if your dvd player is compatible with dvd-r and which format -r or +r or both?

What condition are the videotapes in? If they are badly degraded (as in an unstable picture) it requires extra equipment to copy them properly, you would be better going to a professional outfit.

You should be aware that transfering VHS to DVD will not improve the picture quality of the pieces, in fact there will be a slight to considerable drop in quality depending on what speed setting is used to record the discs. 2 hours per disc will give a near perfect copy.

Here's a list of the tapes I'd like copied:

Star Trek Voyager 3.13 "Scorpion, Part 1" (44 minutes)
Star Trek Voyager 4.1 "Scorpion, Part 2" (44 minutes)
Star Trek Voyager Dark Frontier (86 minutes)
Star Trek Voyager 7.13 (83 minutes)
Salute of the Jugger (99 minutes)
Waterworld Extended Version (170 minutes)

If possible, I'd like the two "Scorpion" episodes on one DVD, and each of the other tapes transferred to one DVD each, except for Waterworld which would occupy 2 I'd imagine. I'd like the highest quality transfers possible.

The tapes themselves are in excellent condition, all original sell-through, except for Waterworld, which was copied from a satellite broadcast of the UK Sci-Fi channel.

My DVD player is DVD-R compatible, both -R and +R.

I'd like the tapes returned to me when you're done.

Let me know what you think, if you'd still like to copy the tapes, etc. Thanks.

BrianPK

10000maniacs wrote:

Cheapest method
Buy Philips DVD Recorder €269
Buy Scart socket €15
Buy 25 DVD+RW disks €14.97 in PC World
Total = €300
Connect Scart from VCR to DVDR
Press Play on VCR and Record on DVDR

This would indeed be an ideal soultion, but I don't currently have €300 to spare. I have to rely on the kindness of strangers such as John R. In addition, I'd be unlikely to get much use from a DVD recorder, as my recording needs are quite few. Still, thank you for the suggestion.