basic video capture questions

[rwest]

I just recently aquired these componenst and put them in a box.

2.4 celleron 400fsb
1 gig ddr400
ATI AIW 9600XT AGP card
80gb WD 133ATA HDD
320gb WD 133ATA HDD
Samsung DVD Rom
HP DVD 740i writer
ECS P4Vmm2 MB
Some no name PS 450watts
loaded XP home

Yea! it worked. I was real suprised too, cuz the MB and processor came to me not working.
Anyway since I've put it together and it's stayed stable for a month now, I thiought I'd like to try some more intense video editing than simple dvd to dvd.

I've been using dvd decrypter and dvd shrink for some time now and it's real simple, of course I've never reauthered or tried to reconstruct the dvd.

But now I have a a video card that's capable of capturing my vhs tapes and am at a loss of knowledge. I downloaded drivers from the manufactures sites but I don't have any software to use. Ati actually let me download WME cuz I have an original ATI disk but not the one for my vid card.

Here's my problem I tried using windows media encoder, but it wants to encode the file while capturing. I clearly don't have the power for that. the output file is so choppy it's pathetic.

First real question: 2.4 celly and 1gb ram should be able to capture vhs quality no problem, right?

2nd: ATI's 9600XT isn't a shabby card, right? There's no real reason it couldn't handle the job, ya think?

I've done a little research, and so I think my first hurdle is choosing a software program that will just capture the audio & video. Yes/No maybe...?

I googled for free vid/cap software and got so many hits I don't know what to try. I feel so new, It seems overwhelming as to really where to start.

All hints tips and suggestions are welcome. I'm really wanting to condense the vhs tapes to dvd.

[not important]

Are you wanting to put more than one VHS tape on a DVD? Are the VHS tapes home made or pre-recorded?

[rwest]

Quite a few of my home made tapes may fit on one dvd. I already know I won't be able to put more than one movie to a dvd. I'm sure I'll have to compress the file/s somehow, and yes I'm planning on backing up my prerecorded tapes to dvd. I do realize that a good portion of these tapes may have some sort of deterent, but I remember copying quite a few that did not and were easily copied to another tape. of course now I always used the coax connectionn for copying vhs to vhs and not the supplied composite. I don't know if that makes a a difference or not. I do remember anything Disney was not even worth trying. Disney tapes were scrambled, garbled, and didn't even pick up sound when copied. So I do understand there are limits.

[not important]

What I did with my VHS tapes. I transferred them from my VHS player to a DVD Recorder using DVD+RW media. I transferred the DVD+RW data to my PC and then used DVDShrink to combine data and then burned that to DVD.

[rwest]

I don't have a dvd recorder. That's why I'm trying to use the available AV input adapter. So I was hoping to get some suggestions on software or if I'm thinking incorrectly.

[cmichael258]

Read this article. Some software recommendations are listed at the bottom:
http://www.audio-ware.com/dvd-video/copying-vhs-to-dvd.htm

[cmichael258]

http://www.amazon.com/Global-Marketing-Partners-VDS3M-VHS/dp/B000NDO7O4/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1229211309&sr=8-20

[rwest]

Hey thanx for the link. That really helped break things down and cleared up some of the cobwebs forming. So now I know I'm on the right track and not headed down a one way road to delirious. The reviews of the software you linked to weren't very good, but I really appreciate the input.

Anybody have any experience with some of the free trial software? Or maybe some firsthand knowledge of retail software for video capture?