VCR to DVD converting
 

I got a VCR/DVD burner for christmas and was setting up to copy some old video cassettes. Some of them are commercially sold collections of ads from the 1950s.They apparently didn't sell well and haven't available in any format for years. Unfortunately they were copy protected with Macrovision when they were recorded. I searched Google and apparently there used to be a hardware device that could be installed in line that would strip out the macrovision, but I can't find them anymore. How can I get rid of the macrovision copy protection?

That sucks. You'll need to go old school. Find a VCR from preacrovision days, dupe then to DVD.

I understand that you'd want to use your new equipment to do the converting, and this answer won't help with that, but...

I've got a Canopus ADVC 110 connected between a VCR and a computer.

Using Adobe Premiere Elements, I'm able to run the tape in the VCR and capture both audio and video into Elements and then, using Elements, am able to convert the captured .AVI file into a playable DVD.

Randy

Have 2 of those. Great little device at a good price for basic conversion between inputs/outputs.

His problem is going to be stripping the MV signal or finding a device that does not recognize it, ignores it. Pretty sure the Canopus will pass MV and most recording software will honor it.

Just occurred to me that the new VCR/DVD combo will have inputs for external sources, mine does, so if an older VCR can be found it may be possible to eliminate the duping stage.

The VCR/DVD combos are nice since hitting record controls the tape and disc so unattended duping is possible.

Willing to lend out one of my Canopus devices if wdfifteen wants to go that route.

And THIS is the spirit that makes this forum as awesome as it is! AWESOME!!! SmileWavy

Randy

Wow! This sounds great. I've done some research and these are the instructions I've found:

Canopus ADVC-110 Macrovision Bypass for DVD Backup

1. advc switch settings: 1 thru 4 Off, 5 On, 6 Off
2. Connect advc-110 to computer firewire port.
3. Color bar appears on capture software's viewing window (any editing software).
4. Press Input Select until color bar blinks, it will blink.
5. Press Input Select again so that Analog input light is ON.
5. Attach input cable from output of vcr (DVD player, or analog camcorder).
6. Click on software record button and press vcr play button
That's all you need to do to make backups. Do not make illegal copies of DVD's.. this is for backup only.

Since you have one of these, does this sound right to you? If so, then yes I'll take you up on your offer. I'll be happy to pay shipping both ways and of course replace it if something happens to it. Sending PM.

Try Roxio VHS to DVD. Hardware and software about $50. I have been told it does not care about you know what.

Huh, learn something new everyday. Was not aware the Canopus could bypass MV.

Just pulled the unit in my home office. It's an ADVC-100, my 110 is in my editing studio at the office office. There are minor differences in the two, like the dip switch order is reversed. Quick google shows the 100 works the same way.

1. Put all dips OFF (unless you have a PAL system).
2. Hook up the firewire cable from the unit to the PC while ensuring that both units are off (this is what the instructions say to do).

3. Turn on the power to the DVD player, PC and ADVC-100.

4. Set capture on the PC to Manual.

5. Start the DVD.

6. The ANALOG IN LCD of the unit will light, and if the DVD is Macrovision protected, the red STATUS light will stay on for about 18 seconds, turn off for about three seconds, and then repeat the process.

7. Depress and HOLD the INPUT SELECT silver button. The DIGITAL IN LCD will light up temporarily then turn off. Keep this button depressed until the red STATUS light stays off completely (about 15 seconds).

8. Release the INPUT SELECT BUTTON and press it briefly one more time until the ANALOG IN button lights up.

9. Macrovision is now bypassed!

Should be able to get it in the mail today.

Best
Scott

My limited use of the Roxio product reveals it DOES care about you know what.

Update on the project.
I got the Canopus from Scott (THANK YOU!!) and went to work. The Canopus functions as advertised, but Imovie and IDVD would only copy about 2 secs worth of tape before stopping. I bought and downloaded Premiere Elements 9 (frustrating backstory there) and it will copy, but not without drama. Every time it detects a hiccup in the tape it stops capturing. These tapes were made 20 years ago and are copies of 16mm film, some of which was shot in the mid-1930s, so there are a lot of hiccups especially near the beginning and the end. The capture stops and I have to try to start it again after the hiccup. I'm getting a crash course in basic editing stitching the various clips together. The first 110 minute tape took 6 hours. The second took 4 hours. It looks like three hours per tape is the best I'm going to be able to do and I have 10 tapes. The good news is my transitions are smoother than those on the originals, so you can't really tell. Three down, 7 to go.

Video editing software recognizes when the camera stops/starts and will break the captured footage into clips. It assumes the start/stop is an edit point.

But the capture should not stop.

Sounds to me like it's dropping frames.

Meaning the hard drive that you are dumping the footage to can't write as fast as the data is coming in.

Make sure Abort Capture On Dropped Frames preference is not enabled.

Thanks. I was hopeful when I read that, but I checked and Abort Capture is off. I'm going to try it on my office computer tomorrow. I have a separate 500 gig drive in it that I can dedicate to video capture. I'm not hopeful that that's the problem, because it will capture 100 minutes of video in the middle of the film without a glitch, but it shuts off two or three times within two minutes of the beginning and the end, where all the film stuttering is. Thank you for the help. This is an interesting project.

Guys,

Hope you do not mind if I bring back an old thread. I tried emailing Randy but guessing he is swamped at work.

I want to copy some old VHS tapes to my computer so I can toss the tapes. Lots of old stuff, most of it before copy-write was invented.

I have a NVida 9400GT video card in the computer that has the small round port on it, so plugged the adapter into the card and the RGB connectors into the cables going to the VCR. Turned it on and hit play and am totally lost from there. Video may have been coming into the computer but you could not tell it by me.

I have Adobe Premier Elements V7, as well as Roxio Creator DE, whatever that is. Have no idea how to get from here to capturing video.

Anyone help a novice?

Also found a funny little box in the pile of cords and electronic stuff that I have a few days ago. Says "Rainbow video products, multi-system (PAL, SECAM, NTSC) (something from the old military days no doubt) copyguard corrector. Am guessing that this might be nice to have if someone is trying to remove the copy-guard on a video? :)

Joe A

That card only outputs, it's not a capture card. Do you have FireWire on the box?

If yes and Patrick is finished with my Canopus he can send it to you next.

Do not believe so. Its a 2-3 year old Dell Inspiron 530.

Wonder if there is a FireWire port on the MB? Hmmm.

I have another device, Maxtor capture box.
Has a separate PCI card that goes in the box.

Forgot what inputs it has, will check it later and get back to you.

Down the street drinking in a neighbors drive right now

Need help :)

Just checked and a FireWire card is not that pricey so could buy one if needed.

Thx,

Joe

Anyone tried one of the Diamond VC500 or 600 video capture units? About $30 or $40 bux and reports on them on Amazon sound good...

I may as well be finished. I did all the tapes that were really important to me and have had some 2nd tier tapes lying around waiting and I haven't found time to copy them. It will be summer before I get them done. The problem is that this has to be done in real time, so recording 50 hours worth of tapes means you are attending the system for 50 hours. Using Premier Elements as the capture software, if there is an input glitch of any kind, it stops recording, so you need to be paying attention to it all the time. There is a program that worked for me once (Vivo or something like that) that just started recording and kept choking down data through tape jumps and bad recording until you tell it to stop. Unfortunately, it only worked once and then started returning errors on startup.

That's just to software side.

The tapes I was copying were 20-30 years old and I found that they wouldn't stand up to being stopped and started by the tape player. In some cases the tape got would around the capstan and I had to take the tape player apart and unwind it and often patch the tape back together. I ended up cycling all the tapes from beginning to end and back to the beginning using a cordless drill and a driver made from a 5/8 wing bit. This way all the player had to to was start from the beginning and play a tape that had already been "limbered up." I still ended up taking some of the cassettes apart to repair tapes.

For it's part, the Canopus worked splendidly. It allowed me to copy Macrovision protected tapes to my computer, where I cleaned them up with Premier, and then burned them to DVD. I would only do this if the tape wasn't available on DVD or I couldn't find better software, because the hassle of copying using Premeir as the capture software is not worth the $$ savings of buying a DVD copy.

What worked best for me for non-protected tapes was a Toshiba VCR/DVD player recorder that recorded non-protected tapes straight to DVD without me watching over it. It was easy then to load the DVD onto the computer and edit/clean up/combine the DVDs in Premier, then burn a final DVD.

To whom should I send the Canopus?

Just checked the Maxtor box, component or HDMI in only. VCR will be composite or S video so that won't work.

Joe, do you have a mini DV camcorder? It will have FireWire and USB out. Most of them had composite in options.

You can use it as a pass thru to the PC. Used to do that all the time, worked great.

If you want to give the Canopus a shot PM me your address.