I have 6 VHS tapes that need to be put on a timeline in FC.

Running FC 6.0.6.
Have Intensity Pro card (first try this did not work)
Use MPEG Streamclip but not sure how to get it there.

I am sure this is not that hard it is just my first run. If anyone knows of a quick way to import VHS into FC I am all ears..

Paul, one way to do it is to use a stand alone dvd recorder, usually around 100.00. transfer to dvd, then use dvdxdv to rip to quicktime movie, pretty fast rip and then you have a exact copy on dvd and one for time line. If you use intensity pro you have to be sure your preferences in final cut pro are set correctly to capture using the card. Also preferences in mac os.

Charlie

I've got an old S-VHS deck with firewire that I keep for just this use - Sometimes those combined DV/SVHS ones come up on ebay with worn out mechanisms on the DV side, and these are often really cheap.

Thanks for the response guys. I don't have a DVD recorder except on my computers.

Paul sounds like a nice option.

For now I will put this one hold and see what I can find.

It should work with your Intensity Pro card. Otherwise, do you have an old DV camera with video inputs?

William I can't seem to get it to work with my Intensity Pro Card. Tried for an hours with no luck. Have you had luck doing this with the Intensity Pro Card?

If you're going to do a lot of this, you might invest in an analog/digital converter. I have used the big brother of this unit to convert vhs to editable digital :


Grass Valley ADVC-110 Bidirectional Media Converter 602029 B&H

Thanks for the link Battle but this is a one time thing. So far no luck but still have some options.

William I can't seem to get it to work with my Intensity Pro Card. Tried for an hours with no luck. Have you had luck doing this with the Intensity Pro Card?

Sorry, no. It is touted as possible with the card as advertised. Send Blackmagic Designs an e-mail, they have a good reputation for being helpful.

William I will send them and email.

A lot of old DV and Hi8 camcorders would have a place to plug your vcr video and audio (rca jacks) into the camcorder and you could feed the signal into the camcorder and then out through the camcorders firewire port and into FCP. On some camcorders you would have to open the tape compartment to get this to work, others could be done through the camcorder menu. FCP will not be able to control things so you set it up to work in manual mode I think it's call no firewire control or something like that. The signal should get recorded as DV in FCP (720x480).

It works OK maybe not as well as a dedicated card but if you have a camcorder laying around give it a try.

The only real problem I had was when the VHS tape had a lot of stops and starts. First the VHS machine would have to resync, then the camcorder has to resync, and you can loose a good bit of footage after every break in the VHS tape. The audio can get out of sync with the video when this happens. There was one tape of a friends wedding I tried to transfer and the person running the camera had constantly started and stopped the tape - it was a lost cause...

good luck!

Paul,

What you want is the Black Magic Video Recorder.

One end plugs into any USB port on your computer. You load the accompanying software and it turns that USB port into a direct video IN port. On the other end of the dongle are analog inputs via RCA connectors for stereo audio and RGB video - which means you also can input simple composite video using just one of the connectors.

You can single step translate any analog video from any old VHS player you have around into a nicely digitized H-264 stream in full DV resolution in a single capture step.

Works very well and is very easy to use.

Paul, I have a jvc dual mini/dv-Super VHS recorder. I had all intentions of selling it, just been lazy. Model number HR-DVS3U. Let me know if this would work for you. Does mini dv & VHS. Analog & firewire.

Charlie

Kevin, Bill, Charlie, thanks for the input.

I tried my Dazzle Digital Video Creator 90 on my old PC with Pinnacle and it did not work. Since I have a whole box of 8mm and Hi 8mm tapes that I would like to grab some clips from for the same production, I think I will pick up an old Hi 8mm camera. This will serve well for VHS through, and grabbing some clips off the old tapes.

Been a long time since I had a tape camera. I never hold on to any gear that is not making money, I move it out quickly.

Note that if you use a Digital 8 as your playback device, it will do an in-camera conversion to digital of your analog tapes, if I recall correctly. So playback of either 8 or Hi8 will give you a Firewire output of DV ... check that, as it's been a long time since I've seen a D-8 but I think that's what they offered.

As we speak I've got a BetaSP tape playing off an ancient PVW-2600 through my old but not ancient PD-150 to feed the Firewire input of my Macbook Pro ... quick & decent way to get some old SP tapes into a new project.

Cheers,
GB

Good points Geoff,

The VHS tapes few and the 8 and Hi 8 tapes are many so I think it could be a good way to go.

Be careful about which Digital8 you buy. I got one at a discount to replace a Digital8 I was using for Hi8 and 8mm tapes. Since the first Digital8 camera I got would playback 8mm and Hi8, I assumed that the new one would as well. You know where this is going; there are models of Sony Digital8 cameras that will not play 8mm or Hi8, so be sure to check.

Thanks William it is a good point. I have in my files the Hi 8 I had years ago that worked fine with the 8 tapes. I would buy the same Sony model.

Paul,

I just installed the intensity pro card for the mac and it works well. It can capture anything that is HD, Analog or Composite. You must have a vhs player hooked up to breakout cable in the back of the card. Then set all the intensity settings.

Hum, I tried that and it did not work. The computer did not see the VHS.