Since I am getting back into creating DVDs from our old tapes (see recent columns), I thought a primer on the subject might be in order. Now, I have to confess that very few people do this and even the ones that do just transfer directly from tape to DVD via a service or a copying deck (more on this later). So the audience for this column might be very limited - but I am going to describe the basics and perhaps that will goad more people into saving their precious family memories (hint, hint).
The point is this: any old analog tape (VHS, Sony 8mm) that you have will not have a long shelf life. The magnetic encoding on the tapes begins to deteriorate the minute you write it, and adjacent windings of tape on the reel cause an effect called print-through or bleed-through, which mixes the video from one area on the tape to another causing further deteriorating results. But if you save to a digital format, it should last forever - especially so if you copy them to new media types when they come out. It also won't be long before you are not able to even find a player to play that old stuff.
The easiest way to create a DVD is to just copy the old tapes as-is. There are services that do this (I think you can even get it done at the local Wal-Mart), or you can buy a tape deck and DVD writer combination to do the copying without a PC. The two problems with doing it this way is that you can't cut, paste, or add content such as menus, titles, special effects, etc. Also, since you were able to get 2 hours of video on a tape, and only 1 hour of normal video on a DVD, your new DVD will have highly compressed (i.e. lesser quality) video signals. And, by the way, 2 hours of anything is pretty boring.
If you want to take the plunge into real video editing, this is a starting point.
As far as your PC goes, you need three things: the first is a Firewire connection. Firewire is a type of connection, like USB but different. Firewire is a lot faster than the older USB 1.1, but about equal to USB 2.0. Firewire was popular for video interface devices and this has stuck even with the common availability of USB 2.0. Most new PCs have Firewire connectors or you can buy an add-on card if yours doesn't.
The second thing you need is lots of RAM. A gigabyte (1024MB) is good, 2 gigabytes is better. The third thing is lots of hard drive space - a typical project might take 10-15 gigabytes to store. This is a good application for an external hard drive.
You will probably also need an interface box to "digitize" the incoming audio and video. This is a box that has standard video cables on one end (i.e. yellow video, red and white audio) and outputs Firewire, which connects to your PC.
A good software package is the final piece of the puzzle. I have been using the Adobe Premiere Elements 2 package. I purchased it from www.videoguys.com with the ADS interface box for about $150. Both seem to be functioning well.
Running the software is fairly straightforward - they organize it into very simple steps. The first step is to Capture the video. This means connecting it all up, putting a tape in, and starting the program to let it capture the incoming signal to a file on your hard drive. You can just create one big file, although these are a bit difficult to manage, or can break them up into smaller pieces, each one going into a different file. One you have your files captured, the Editing step lets you drag and drop the various captured files onto a timeline - a linear representation of the content on your tape. You can cut out stuff you don't want, re-order it, etc.
Finally you add transitions (page wipes, fadeouts, etc.), music, and titles. When you are done previewing your opus, the final step is to cut a DVD. I tend to first cut re-writeable DVDs and play them through on a regular TV before creating the final copies for the family.
A quick overview to be sure, but I hope this gets you on your way.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)