Cheapest way to convert video camera tapes into ...

[kegler]

DVD/VCD/mpeg or any computer format.... had quite alot of tapes in my dry cabinet ....thinking of converting into CD for better storage..... any suggestion... TIA

got about 20+ tapes.... hope to find a more economical way to do it....

 

[pit]

Have you considered buying a DVD recorder?

Probably costs you about the same or lesser than converting them by someone and you get to keep your recorder too.

 

[Firefox]

A Pinnacle PCTV only costs about $80 and can encode into MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. If you have a large HDD, you can also turn your PC into a HDD recorder for TV programs. =)

 

[moos blues]

i think DVD and VCD external recorders are fuss free...

i used a Terapin VCD recorder quite abit, the quality was really good, esp from beta.

DVD recorders are good too! can shove alot of data in a disc, as for PC, u need to capture, process, encode and burn.... process is Zzzzz.

 

[kegler]

A Pinnacle PCTV only costs about $80 and can encode into MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. If you have a large HDD, you can also turn your PC into a HDD recorder for TV programs. =)

connect the VCR to pinnacle then to pc type?

 

[pit]

Yes, something like that for those pc based. I've tried those and yes you can get the job done but quite leh cheh lor. Of course this would be cheaper albeit the additional labour.

For DVD recorders, just plug in and record. Fuss free.

 

[Firefox]

connect the VCR to pinnacle then to pc type?

Sort of. Just get the PCI card version and plug into the PC. After that, plug the VCR/ camcorder into the card and use the software to record into whichever file format you want.
This has the advantage of allowing you to edit the clips before burning into VCD/ DVD.
There's also a seperate connector that you can hookup to an antaenna or cable point or cable tv box to watch TV programs. The provided software can also be set to record shows at your predefined time slots.

 

[pit]

One important thing to note is the system. PAL or NTSC. That gave me lots of headaches.

Make sure the system of what you wanna convert is the same as the capture card/recorder.

Good luck.