VHS to HD to DVD

[Dr. M. Burek]

I started a project very similar to yours recently. However, I don't 
have nearly the Mac hardware that you do, or the disk space.

I don't know what kind of quality you're hoping for with this. If you 
want the best quality you can get, follow the previous advice posted 
here. Buy the equipment, software, and such - it's a hell of a lot 
cheaper than having the tapes digitized and burned for you!!

If you're like me, and just want to put your VHS tapes onto DVD or 
VideoCD, here's what I did:

Get a video digitizer of some kind. If you have a newer Mac (early G4 or 
better) w/ FireWire, any one of the excellent FireWire devices by 
Formac, Canopus, or the like will serve you well. They'll run you 
$200-$350 or so, depending on the model and where you wind up buying it. 
Make sure it either comes with the right cables and adapters, or buy 
them separately. I'd also make sure that I did a little research on the 
available models, to see how well they work and what the future support 
is like (software and driver updates, telephone support if you get 
stuck, etc). Trust me on this - it's worth it to pay a little more for a 
unit that comes with quality support!

Make SURE that the unit will work with your Mac. As strange as it 
sounds, a few of them don't like certain Macs - this happened to me. I 
bought a PCI card that stated that it worked in my Mac, and it didn't. I 
got stuck with a card I couldn't use, and had to buy another one that 
did. A PCI card isn't a viable idea these days, though - for newer Macs 
- as the available ones are a LOT more expensive than a quality FireWire 
unit. If you've got the cash, they're great, but not many of us can blow 
$6000 or more on a PCI card! That's probably more than your Mac cost new!

If you can, try out several of the available software packages out there 
BEFORE you buy one. Borrow, beg, whatever - but try them out first. It 
seemed for me, that each one I tried either: didn't work (yes, many of 
them do not work as advertised), had a klunky interface that was 
difficult to figure out, didn't work with the unit/card, crashed all of 
the time, or more problems. You may have to pay more than you figured 
for the software - iMovie may not cut it, if you'll pardon the pun. DVD 
Studio Pro is my software of choice, but it's expensive. Still, it's 
worth the cost, to keep from tearing my hair out from frustration! Get 
the latest version available that'll work on your Mac - it'll have more 
features, and work better. Don't try to save a few bucks here by buying 
an older version off of Ebay or something.

If you already have a Superdrive or other DVD burner, you're all set 
here. If not, get one of the ones that can burn multiple types of discs 
(DVD+R. DVD-R, +RW/-RW). They're getting even cheaper all of the time, 
and are working better than they used to. Media is still somewhat pricey 
(compared to burnable CD media), but don't skimp on your media! Research 
the best brands, find one or two that you prefer, buy a couple of discs, 
and TEST THEM ON YOUR DRIVE!! I cannot stress this enough! Many drives 
just don't like certain discs - and there's nothing you can do about it. 
Mine's really picky - it HATES CD-RW discs (hasn't met one yet it'll 
work with), and certain kinds of CD-R discs - it even hated the ones it 
came with!  When you find two or three brands that yours likes, buy in 
bulk if you can (on-line sources are best, even with the shipping and 
uncertainty). The savings are very much worth it, if you need 100+ discs 
or more.

No matter how much memory your Mac has, if you're doing video - it ain't 
enough. Get as much memory as you can afford, and that'll fit in your 
Mac. 1 GB is a good starting point, of course more is better. More 
memory will keep you from getting dropped frames in your video, it'll 
make rendering a LOT faster, and will generally help your Mac feel 
better. Remember, digital video is a VERY intense computing process.

After you get all of this taken care of, the fun part begins. To start, 
just transfer ONE hour/episode/movie/whatever onto your hard drive. Make 
a backup (if possible) and work from only one of them - either the 
backup or the original, but not both. Use this first "episode" to try 
out your skills and technique. This is where you will take your time, 
learning the software and hardware, how everything works. Here you'll 
decide if you want titles, menus, chapters, etc., how to cut the 
footage, everything. Make several attempts, render, and burn them. Make 
sure you test the burned discs in each and every DVD player you own, not 
just on the Mac! Many commercial DVD players just don't like the output, 
or the media, or both. It may be something as simple as how you encoded 
it, or ?   Once you're sure everything works as you want, you now know 
exactly how to do it. After testing everything, then you can copy from 
VHS up to your Mac's capacity, and cut & burn in batches.

It WILL take time until you get it right - and you'll have several 
setbacks. Don't get discouraged - you'll get there. You may need to 
change media brands, or even get a new DVD player. But, your VHS tapes 
will take up a LOT less space when you're done, and last darn near 
forever (well, not really, but a lot, LOT longer!). It's worth the 
expense, time, and aggravation - it really is.

If I can be of assistance, please let me know.

For research and more info:

www.xlr8yourmac.com  -  hardware reviews, tips, links to updated drivers
www.dvdrhelp.com  -  LOTS of tutorials on making VideoCD's, DVD's, etc. 
Mostly PC related, but some Mac stuff, too. Many tutorials also apply to 
both platforms.

If you like, email me privately and I'll give you my entire collection 
of digital video links on the web, both for Mac and PC. There's a lot 
out there, and most of it's crap - I have found the most helpful sites.

Good luck, and be patient! You'll get there! Ask, and I'll do what I can 
to help.

Michael