Help please on how to convert DVD to computer
 

Hi guys, new to the site. I'm an amateur with capturing.

Need to convert my about 40 personal (baby stuff/etc) DVDs to digital.

Might be a common question, read a lot and it's advanced for me. We want to

1) Be able to watch the videos on our smart tv
2) Be able to preserve them on our computer/hard drive....
3) Be able to share them/edit them digitally (not that important right now)....

I have a Sony RDR-GX7 , can you give me advice on the process and what to buy to do this?

Thanks all! Nick

Put the Sony GX7 recorder in the closet. For this project, it is useless.

You want lossless recordings to do all of what you want.
1. loss capture, process (deinterlace, NR, overscan masking/cropping), H.264 encode
2. preserve (archive/masters) as lossless, or at worst high bitrate (15mpbs+) 4:2:2 MPEG-2
3a. edit requires lossless for your sanity (compressed editing is a nightmare)
3b. sharing is the same as watching on smart TV, unless you mean to share archive/master files for them to edit/restore

Hardware required = VCR > TBC > capture card.

Read this: http://www.digitalFAQ.com/editorials...g-workflow.htm
I need to write the inverse of that article, but it states what a basic DIY home/office setup entails.

Buy it, use it, resell it.

It won't be that advanced. When you have good hardware, it just works. Every corner that is cut results in more workarounds and headaches, and lower quality. And then you have all of us in the forum to guide you through it all.

I can build minimalist (some corners cut) workflows for about $600 right now.
Ideal/better are about $1000-1500.
The best is about $2300, but I can only make one of those. (And that's what my own hardware looks like.)
Just so you get an idea for costs involved, as of May 2020.

Wait, are your videos already on DVDs and you want to extract the MPEG-2 video file from that DVD so that you can watch the digital video file on your PC?

I will check out all the info you gave........thanks. I'll read your article.!

They are all on DVD, SVHS made from Camcorder. I want to preserve them on my computer and not only on DVD, is that logical?

They are all on DVD, SVHS made from Camcorder. I want to preserve them on my computer and not only on DVD, is that logical?


Read more: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...#ixzz6MLH4CEbi

If they are already on DVD the damage has been already done just use any DVD ripping software such as makeMKV and output as one file to your hard drive or as files for every chapter if any. Don't do any restoration other than just lossless GOP cuts otherwise you will be doing further damage to the videos.

If you want to start all over and recapture the tapes the right way than just read sticky threads in the capturing section, there is a lot of catch up to do.

Thank you, so you're saying putting them on DVD already loses quality?

Capturing VHS or SVHS directly to lossy DVD with a typical DVD recorder is an inferior way of digitizing analog tape. The recording has noise and compression artifacts that don't exist on the tape. On top of that, lossy MPEG encoding discards some of the original data and 50% of the color information as a result of the compression process. In addition, DVD is a final delivery format not designed for further modification without more quality loss.

This forum has capture guides and hundreds of threads that discuss quality issues. Try starting here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video.htm

Thanks for all the help everyone. I uploaded an app called HandBrake on my computer and uploaded all DVD's without any noticeable quality or audio loss. Took about 25 min an hour long home movie DVD....Very happy with the outcome. Appreciate the forum and reads! Thanks