What do i need to create video files from a TV?

hussey

I want to record, some old VHS tape's I have of various stuff, how easy/hard is it to record to fairly decent quality video files??

what do I need exactly?

I good Graphics card? with TV-in socket??
anything else?

cheers

Dr Bolouswki

I don't know man - I'm imagining a TV card with some form of capture function... I don't know if TV in will 'record' things, just allow you to view...

I wish someone who knew would respond...

:rolleyes:

tommycahir

try going to komplett and searching for a wintv card that should do the trick

Saruman

You will also need a LOT of hard drive space as with a tv card it takes a lot of space to make the initial movie and then you compress later. You might be better off with an mpeg encoder card that compresses the video as its passing through the card!

hussey

well I have 60Gb or so to spare, most of teh videos are TV show so I would one at a time.

how much mpeg encoder?
also what is a good TVcard?

tommycahir

as a wise man once said
try komplett.ie

hussey

yes because komplett are full of reviews.

dj_deevey

well i just got one of the TV cards in maplin 3 days ago and it rocks (p4 1.6 256 ddr ati radeon dual 60 gig drives)

recorded a few vids over the past few days with no probs and no noticable frame drops, theres plenty of in's and outs too (s-video, composite and antenna tv tuner, sound in / out) and additional remote included !!!!

Its going for 69 euro at the mo, was walking past there earlier and they had a good few left

hope this helps

laters

steve c

P.S. it removes macrovision too so no probs backing up your star wars vids or metallica concerts

popinfresh

I got a TV card there last week only to find that you need a sound card :rolleyes:. B0llox anyway!!!! I was planning to sell VCDs to people in my school of Cinema paradeso and MAcbeth . BTW how big would a 2 and a half hour video be on ur hard drive?? I havent tried yet..

parasite

would onboard sound/video ( ) cause problems ?

dj_deevey

Well stands to reason you need a soundcard, and no onboard video and sound doesnt cause a prob using the tuner / capture card , thats what iv got ... and theres a loopback cable with the tuner card (not a TV out card) which sends the TV sound to your soundcard via "line -in", remeber he wants to record IN... you do however need a TV out if you want to display this stuff on a tv,

regarding the creation of VCD's of 2 1/2 hrs, personally i just play my vids from MPEG or AVI files on my HD, and use a decent compressor to save space (eats more CPU though) and send the video output and sound of my radeon through a video sender unit to my TV downstairs..

i'll put it this way monsters inc compressed at 640 x 480 took up 200 megs with mono sound... so work from that... id say bout 350 - 400 megs should cover a 2 1/2 hrs movie.

i honestly havent tried making vcd's or dvds, dont have any need ..

laters

steve

Rambo

I use showshifter to record my video to hard disk it also uses divx to compress the file .The program also turns your computer into a video recorder..
you can then you use Nero to make your vcd very easy
drag and drop and Nero will do the rest .
check out link http://www.showshifter.com/

Tom Dunne

In my own experience, recording via a TV card isn't worth the hassle. I had the Happague (spelling?) WinTV card and I tried to record loads of things. Apart from the hard disk space, the quality was abysmal. It was around 15 frames a second (at best).

I recommend getting an mpeg encoder card. Mpeg1 is for video CD, Mpeg2 is DVD quality.

pickarooney

Are TiVO recorders available in Europe? If so how much are they and where can they be got?

dj_deevey

somthing else that just came to mind,

although you may be able to record at up to 30 FPS with a video in, its more than likely that your soundcard wont be able to keep up with the video itself, which will give a "dubbed" type effect when you are plaing back the video, e.g. the voice will be out of sync with the vid you are recording..

seeing as most "normal" soundcards have quite a bad latency problem, (46+ milliseconds) which may not sound that bad but is quite noticeable on playback.

unless you are using a SB live / audigy or somthing with decent drivers your going to have this prob.

laters

steve