Digitization of video cassettes at home. List of software and hardware for digitizing VHS cassettes

Time is moving forward, and progress is supplanting conservative technologies. In this regard, every person who, by the will of fate, held a VHS-format video camera in his hands, asks about how the video cassettes are digitized at home.

The way of video cassettes

The XXI century is in the yard. Now I can not believe that the famous standard VHS, which is known to many for such a pleasant ear for the word "videocassette", is already almost 40 years old. On the territory of our country, this was the most common standard for recording video, which has grown at least 2 generations. Older people will probably remember the first of the Soviet VCR "Electronics VM-12", as well as video shows.

Most people probably still keep their own films or records of various solemn events. This format has long functioned and ceased to exist relatively recently: in 2008, they reported the shipment of the world's last lot of video cassettes.

In what cases is it necessary to digitize a video cassette

Over the past period, owners of video systems have accumulated a huge number of archives. Of course, if we are talking about films or TV shows, they can be found on current media, but you can not find everything. For this reason, many people continue to store an old video player, which is used to view "tape rarities".

Magnetic film, unfortunately, is short-lived: it grows old, the magnetic layer is destroyed over time, recording first loses its quality, and then is not suitable for viewing. If you do not give it due importance, one day it turns out that a unique wedding ceremony, filmed on a tape and carefully stored in a designated place so that it can be viewed with trembling on the next anniversary of your wedding, is hopelessly corrupted. Therefore, the owners of the video archive should think about the need to transfer information to optical disks.

Many people do not even assume that digitizing video cassettes at home is not very difficult, and it is not necessary to search for specialized studios that are equipped with unique equipment to perform such copying. Note also that additional prerequisites for digitization lie in the devices for the reproduction of tapes - they are not eternal and suffer from wear and tear.

At present there are not so many specialists ready to undertake the prevention, adjustment or repair of complex mechanics in tape video players. There are also possible problems with various spare parts. The video recorder will break, and all the archives will be turned to dust.

What is needed to digitize video cassettes

To list the equipment for digitizing video cassettes we will begin, in fact, from a personal computer equipped with a hard disk of a large volume. The fact is that data transfer is necessary in the original, uncompressed form, and this will require much more storage space than for the usual ready-made record.

In order to digitize VHS-videocassettes was carried out with comfort, you should use a hard drive with a capacity of at least 320 gigabytes, and the spindle speed - at least 7200 rpm. We recommend that you install the disc as a separate device.

Preference should be given to those external disks that can be connected via a high-speed interface, since USB devices can cause problems due to the relatively low bandwidth. You can not, however, keep silent about the cases of their successful application.

Performance

The computer that is designed for digitization needs to be provided with sufficient performance: a processor frequency of at least 2.5 GHz, as well as RAM from 2 Gigabytes, while the hard disk should have enough space to host the selected programs.

The requirement in general for the system is that the UPS must be equipped (uninterruptible power supply). Its capacity should be enough to properly shut down the system. Note that digitizing video cassettes at home will be more high-quality if the UPS can provide power to the PC before the completion of the procedure (about half an hour).

However, this decision can be called unreasonably expensive in many cases. All other parameters of the personal computer directly depend on the chosen methods of digitization. There are several of them, they are based on hardware and software components.

The next mandatory item is the use of a high-quality video player or VCR with working mechanics, as well as clean heads. If your device for digitizing video cassettes does not meet the requirements, choose another option. Half of the success here depends on the reliability of the signal source. There are no other requirements for digitizing video cassettes at home, there is enough low-frequency output, a cleaning videocassette and a good cable.

What are the methods of digitizing video

We approach the most interesting: we will consider methods of converting video from traditional tape to a modern personal computer. There is a variant of digitizing through the input of the video card, but it does not make sense to examine it in detail, as getting an image of high enough quality in this case is incredibly difficult. And if so, have to resort to other ways.

Use the TV tuner

Apply a TV tuner to digitize video cassettes - this is probably the most affordable solution. Such a device must have a PCIe or PCI interface. We also emphasize that a tuner for digitizing video cassettes can be purchased by anyone, paying no special attention to the cost. The main thing is the presence of a low-frequency input for connecting your VCR. However, you need to take care of the software.

A special program for digitizing iuVCR videotapes can give a resolution of 768 to 576 points. Such an approach will allow us to convert the video material into DVD-format with the resolution of 720 by 576 points without any losses. If you do not have an adapter for digitizing video cassettes and a TV tuner, and you are currently planning to purchase them, please note that the iuVCR program works best with special cards based on the Conexant BT848 or BT878 chip.

On the advantages and disadvantages of video editing cards

Next, consider a less budget solution, which, however, allows you to get a higher quality video. It's about using a specialized video editing board (video capture). Similar modules are available in USB- and PCI-versions. Well-proven solutions from Pinnacle Systems, among which the Dazzle and Studio MovieBoard series deserve special attention. The peculiarity of these devices is that they come with special software that provides video capture and does not need additional user actions.

However, the price of such a set is considerable, so in the future you will have to think about what you are going to do with the equipment after the process of digitizing your own video archive.

Portable approach

If you plan to digitize video cassettes on your laptop or you can not install the PCI card in your desktop computer, AVerMedia DVD EZMaker 7 can be a good solution.

Well, what can we say here? Very entertaining device, given its miniature, USB-interface, as well as a huge set of connectors for connecting a video player. Incredibly convenient if you have to digitize out of home, for example, visiting, friends or relatives.

Digital video recorder - the most unpretentious option

This solution is suitable for those who do not have the desire or opportunity to understand complex computer technologies. In this case, you can use a digital video recorder. With this device, you can rewrite the data from the video tape without much difficulty: we connect the output of the traditional VCR to the digital input, insert it into the last DVD and start copying.

Subsequently, the result can easily be transferred to a computer, for the purpose of further processing. The main drawback of the described method is that it is suitable only for those who do not care about the quality of the image.

What to do next with the rewritten videos?

The question is not as primitive as it seems at first glance. After capturing the video material, the received stream will be stored on the hard disk in an unprocessed form, however its quality will be maximum. Next, you should process the source material, bringing it into a view that is convenient for burning on DVD.

It will be necessary at least to clear a bit of the image from various noises, and also to correct the brightness and color balance. In some cases, you have to do serious editing: perform color adjustments, apply transitions and other effects. Some processes include video editing (if necessary), work on sound (cleaning, volume leveling) and subtitles.

At the end of such a painstaking session, you need to transcode the video into the format you need and save it on a DVD.

This will require a large number of diverse software, and in a wide range. The set of necessary programs depends on your preferences, financial resources and hardware.

For each type of processing of the original video material, special programs are needed. If you want video processing to become part of your profession, actively study this topic using only specialized literature.

Instead of an afterword

Before deciding on digitizing your own video library, Properly weigh your own possibilities. This is a necessary and important matter, however, in its essence, it is one-time. In the event that you do not intend to turn it into additional earnings, during the purchase of equipment, consider its future fate.

When your archives are not too large, they are of good quality, and there is no need to carry out their serious restoration, it is more advantageous to seek help from specialists who can be found in any company ready to perform all the necessary work. It is cheaper and easier than to master a new profession, and also to find unique equipment. Although ... working with video is always incredibly exciting.