www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Whats the best software for editing video cassettes to CD's.

John,
Are they pre-recorded video cassttes that you just want to put on CDs or DVDs?

Or are they from a camera that you actually want to edit to make a film?

VHS to Video Files for burning to CD/DVD:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm? ... 813&page=1

From camera to computer for editing, use Windows Movie Maker. It should already be installed on XP or Vista.


dave

My mate has a few videos he has shot over the years, and he wanted to edit them and transfer them to DVD.

Instructions on 'How To' from Microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin ... fault.mspx

I still use Windows Movie Maker as it is good enough for home movies and still has plenty of transitions to make them look good. I even downloaded the version for Win 7 because it does not come with Movie Maker installed, so that I can edit and play around with the vids that we shot in Orlando this year.

dave

Once your mate has edited the films, if you do not have Nero installed then use DVD Flick to burn the DVDs. It is free.
Full instructions and download on the link.

dave

Does that work with old cassettes then.

Does he still have the camera that filmed them? If so he should be able to connect the camera to the computer either directly with its own leads or via a video capture device like this one:
http://tinyurl.com/yfmq8z8

dave

Tis is similar to my video cature device (mine is a bit older):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... s#features

Just plug the camera leads into it and plug it into a usb port and let Windows Movie Maker do the rest. You do have to press the Play button on the camera when told to, but WMM will capture all the video and display an icon for each scene change (when the filming was stopped).

dave

Think he was thinking more of a video recorder, but it looks like the KWorld will connect to one anyway.

The Kworld or the Pinnacle Dazzle will connect to a VCR. Just check the outlet sockets on the VCR and get the appropriate leads, either
S-video
or the red-yellow-white Phono Lead.

dave

Could you use the scart socket.

Which would you say is the best, easiest to use.

This Scart to S-Video & Phono will plug into the capture device:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35910

Scroll down to the FAQs and that should answer any questions.

dave

The guy is running Xp pro with Linux (ubunto) if it makes any difference.

He should boot into XP and use the Windows Movie Maker to capture the videos. Then he can play around editing them and using DVDFlick or which ever he has, burn to DVD.
he should disconnect from the internet when capturing and editing, and turn off all his security software and stop as much other stuff running as he can. This will leave almost all his RAM for editing purposes.

dave

I've ordered the Kworld DVD maker you linked too, so will see what happens when it turns up.

May need some Linux instructions later