I'm a newbie....

[The Ethereal Being]

I have a dvd on layby and in the future when I get it home, I would like to burn to disc all of our vhs videos, no doubt they will not last like a disc will. I have vhs's of weddings, births, birthdays, engagements etc etc. With 4 kids and 8 grandkids I do have a lot of them that I would like to keep and in years to come, give them back to the respective kids as a memento of their youth or of their special moments.
But I have absolutely no idea what you all on about. What is encoding for example? I am hoping that I can put my vhs straight through to DVD with dvdxcopy which I am hoping will simplify matters.
I guess I will learn a lot here, even though at present, it is way over my head in understanding. Much reading needed, and hopefully knowledge will come with it.
Regards to all
TEB

[dani82]

encoding is where you take one format and turn it into another ie. vhs -> dvd

like life, nothing is ever that simple, it takes time, knowledge and patients; here's some useful reading material: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32575

you could always have them professionally done for you, or get one of those dvd recorders (they make those right?)

[Ignoramus]

I wouldn't put much faith in DVD-X-Copy. I bought it, didn't work. Support didn't respoind to e-mails, I hung on to a telephone for an hour before I got to speak to a real live person. He couldn't make it work, not even after 3 tries and downloading assorted patches and running Belarc Advisor which showed no problems with my machine. The store wouldn't take it back, the makers wouldn't give my a refund because I didn't buy directly from them. Nice program?

David

[ammck55]

Ethereal:

Welcome to the forum! As dani has pointed out, "encoding" is basically the conversion from one format to another using a compression scheme. You have VHS and want to convert, or "encode, to the DVD format.

Regardless of whether you end up processing your files manually, or opt for one of the more "user-friendly" utilities that are available, you'll start with capturing your files to the hard drive of your computer. The Capture FAQ that dani has linked you to is a good start, and here are a couple of links on "VHS to DVD" that I found using the forum's search engine.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67029&highlight=vhs+to+dvd
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66469&highlight=vhs+to+dvd

You might also throw us a bone and tell us a little about your system specs, mainly, processor speed, memory, and what operating system you're currently using. The most overwhelming thing in the beginning will be sorting out and understanding the terminology, but believe me, the terms will get easier to understand each time you work with them. Hang in there with us, and we'll hang in there with you! :)

ammck55

[The Ethereal Being]

What a wonderful ending to your letter about hanging in there. I feel I can conquer anything now, Hey I didn't say I was competent enough to do it, just that I feel more confident, big difference.
Now about my old girl:
I run win2k pro; Have 900MHz Athlon Processor; RAM SDR 256Mb; HD 20Gb but using less than 5Gb in proggy's;
Now for the hard one...System Specs.....that's a nightmare in itself.
The unit was bought as made up from a company who makes and repairs them as opposed to buying units such as Dell, Packard etc.
I have a mobo that is a one man band. It comes with its own CD that completes the sound, video, and whatever else one would have in their units by way of cards. The only card I have in mine is the modem, everything else functions from the downed disc which is SiS.
Now other than that if you want more, I shall have to put back into the machine SisSoftSandra to find out other more important info.
Hope that helps. If not and you want more particulars, just holla!
Regards to all
TEB

[The Ethereal Being]

You have asked how far have I got with VHS to DVD, nowhere!!!
A girlfriend (casual type) has volunteered to assist from the VHS end of it and she would be willing to do all the work for me, but how in the hell I am going to learn if I let her do the lot? Also, as I know she is not on the Net often nor on any Forums of any kind, I can say with safety that this is not a friendship I wish to extend further than it already is, by doing it myself I can keep this relationship on a more platonic level.
I get my DVD burner in about 8 weeks from now, I am taking $AUS50.00 per fortnight out of the pension to pay off the layby, so I have some time to upgrade where necessary; get compatible or suitable programs to do what I am after; and most of all try and learn some of what I want to do.
Thankyou for your help so far as I truly appreciate it.
One member has offered to put up the attachment for me so that others may assist me further, this I believe is a far better principle as it can AV checked once again from your end even though it was done here by AVG before it left. I applaud that idea very much! Can not be too careful in today's society with all the dangerous stuff out there.
Kindest Regards
TEB