Transfer VHS to iMac.....then to DVD later

Program, Canopus makes a ADVC.

The Canopus seems to work OK with older VHS formats.

I've seen some in stores that say they're OS X compatible, with Firewire. Has input for all kinds of audio and video. Sorry, don't remember the name, but they're out there.

I take the long way around. I have a VHS/DVD recorder. It copies the VHS right to a DVD. If I want it on my computer I copy the new DVD (DVDripper) to my MAC. It does take a long time but it's faster if the end result is in just having your VHS moved over to DVD. It would cost $25 each to have some photo center move my VHS over to DVD while my machine cost under $200 and I have 20 VHS that will never see a DVD release.

iMAC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.1)

"If you have a MiniDV camcorder (or have access to one) that has the ability to convert analog images to digital images, you can use the camcorder as a pass-through, by attaching your VHS player to the camcorder, and the camcorder to your iMac via FireWire cable."


This is the BEST answer! Been there, done that!

I have an older super 8mm cannon A-1 video camera. Is there a way to put those 8 mm tapes onto my iMac?



iMac G4 1 GHZ Mac OS X (10.4.3) 768 mb ram

I have transferred many of my old VHS tapes to digital format using my digital camcorder. I usually transfer the result into iMovie but you also can go directly to iDVD if you desire . . . it works great.

Good luck.

I believe Elgato's EyeTV 200 can do that. Besides the connectors to hook that box to the cable feed and the iMac's firewire port, there are also connectors to hook up a VCR. I have read that their software (now Universal Binary version 2.1) can then take the info from the VCR and onto the computer, so you can later transfer to DVD. (Warning - haven't done this myself so check it our yourself if interested.)

Program,
I've transferred 9 years of family vhs and Hi8 tapes to DVD via the ADVC 100 from Canopus. If I had to do it over again, I'd buy the ADVC 50. The difference is the 100 allows me to reverse the process, i.e., transfer from digital back to analog vhs (a feature I've never used). I import the old tapes thus: vhs player connected by RCA jacks to inputs on ADVC, then ADVC firewire into the iMac with iMovie. Once iMovie has finished rendering, I edit and pass off to iDVD where I add themes, effects, and chapters before burning. Once I burn my dvd, I burn a copy for each of my kids before deleting the iMovie and iDVD files. With my new iMac, additional dvds burn in 20 minutes or so. Slick.

I use my Elgato EyeTV200 composite inputs to transfer the movies from my VHS player to my iMac and then export it as iMovie format. After some editing and chapters creation, burnt it via iDVD. Perfect!

yes, the same method as described. Play the tape in something that will play it, use a converter box or camcorder to do the conversion to digital and then import into iMovie.

I would recommend either iMovie4 or iMovie 6. If you use 6, then set a preference to limit the clip sizes to 10 min. iMovie 5 makes very long clips that can be hard to manage.

see details at

http://www.girr.org/macstuff/videorip.html

- gws

Dazzle is not PC only - I've been using it for years on my G4, and it works on my new Intel Imac. The box is called "Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge" - it has RCA inputs for video and stereo audio, and outputs the signal via firewire to the back of the iMac. This is imported directly into iMovie, and you can set chapters there and burn it using iDVD.

The only problem I had is with dropped frames on some older videos (dupes of dupes, usually) - for 1st gen home movies, however, that shouldn't be a problem. Good luck 🙂

re: your dropped frames - any advice as to how to get around this? i'm converting a 20+ year old VHS (that, admittedly, has probably only been viewed twice) and, about half an hour in, have run into quite a few dropped frame issues. i'd love any suggestions you all might have!

thanks.

I, too, have used Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge for years on my mac. It is not pc only. It imports DV via Firewire. Find it on ebay, about 89-$120.