I have a few, old VHS tape. Is it possible to capture it to 720x576 50i mpeg2 format with Vegas? Or can anybody recommend a good, free utility? I don't want to edit anything, or capture via firewire to avi and render to mpeg2 later, or buy canopus hw, etc.. Just a simple capture with todays fast cpu encoding.
thx
I have a few, old VHS tape. Is it possible to capture it to 720x576 50i mpeg2 format with Vegas?
Not without some hardware that can convert the VHS analog video/audio to digital. Back when, I used to have an analog TV card that allowed me to watch analog TV as well as VHS on my computer and could save it all in an MPEG2 file.
I don’t know if such cards are still for sale,but if they are, that should do it. A slightly more expensive (but probably higher quality) way would be to get the Blackmagic Design miniconverter that converts just about any analog signal to digital. See this page and scroll down to analog and see the third minicoverter in that section. It converts analog to SDI, so, depending on what equipment you have, you may or may not need an additional piece of hardware to bring SDI to your computer.
easycap is for converting analog to digital..
easycap is for converting analog to digital..
OK, then you still need to connect the VHS to your computer somehow.
hmm, via usb with easycap?...
Oh, Easycap, you did not say what Easycap was (I never heard of it before). I thought you were talking about some software. I have looked it up, and it seems to come with its own capture software. See 
, for example. How good that is I have no idea, but since it is extremely cheap, you can probably just give it a shot.
Hmm, I see there are numerous devices called “easycap” and many of them only come with pre-Vista Windows drivers. I wouldn’t trust most of them.
If I wanted such a device I’d probably go with the one from AVerMedia, as they made the TV cards I used in the past, so I have had good experience with them. It costs a little more that the generic things, but I would go with it for the piece of mind.
thx, but i dont want to buy any new device, just capture with easycap. i ask if vegas can handle it or anybody can recommend a good, free utility, cos i cannot installl which comed with it
Well, have you tried (in Vegas) File / Capture Video?
Easycap appears to be a USB device. I don't think Vegas will handle that -- but Easycap has software, right? Comes with at least the right driver? I'd say, you'll need some software that handles USB capture.
Easycap .. is not so easy.
yes, it install as a generic WDM capture device, i dont know that Vegas cannot use it
thx
Vegas can only capture from a Firewire device, but it can use files created by other capture devices.
Vegas has never worked reliably with dv captured in Windows movie maker.
i cannot installl which comed with it
Why not? Are you missing the right drivers (maybe this site can help with that)? Did you ask the manufacturer? Or whoever you bought it from? I mean this is a Vegas forum run on Magix servers, while a simple web search seems to show hundreds of sites talking about this easycap thing, including numerous YouTube tutorials, while it seems pretty clear none of us here can help you.
Seriously, you get what you pay for, and since easycap sells for as little as $7.77, which includes free shipping from China, I really don’t see how it can do anything for you or anyone else.
If you could afford to pay for Vegas, surely you can afford some of the other devices I mentioned earlier. AVerMedia is a descent manufacturer with years of experience of making devices to convert analog video to digital. And their own easycap is not that expensive and comes with their tech support, etc.
Other than that, I think you’re pretty much wasting your time.
If your PC has Windows 7, 8, or 10, look for a usb video capture device marked UVC. These units do not use drivers and the later operating systems take care of the interface. You then should be able to use the software provided (or free software) to capture SD video and audio via the RCA plugs which you connect to your VCR.
If your PC has Windows 7, 8, or 10, look for a usb video capture device marked UVC.
That’s good to know, thanks. I searched the wikipedia for UVC, and here is what it has to say. Unfortunately, it looks like the cheap versions of Easycap do not seem to support it.
That said, searching amazon for uvc analog video capture returns quite a list of available devices. See here.