Convert VHS To A Mp4 Using OBS Studio | How To Digitize Your VHS Part 2

New update as of 2023
➡️ Check out the updated tutorial: • Convert VHS to a Mp4 U...
In part 2 of "How To Digitize Your VHS" series, Simon will give you a tutorial on how you can use a free software to convert your VHS collection to a mp4 file format. He'll give you a step by step tutorial on how to us OBS Studio to capture and record VHS collection.
Disclaimer
All reviews and tutorials are based on our own opinions and experience and are not influenced by any sponsorship. All items are purchased with our own money unless stated otherwise. Your results will vary. We are not responsible for any damages to your electronics devices or other personal belongings. All affiliate links are listed to support the channel. We’ll receive a small commission if you purchase the items using our affiliate links.
➡️. DigitNow USB 2.0 Video Grabber:
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Gears we use to make this video:
➡️Camera - iPhone XR :
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➡️UBeesize Ring Light/Tripod:
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➡️Coavas Red-Brick-Wallpaper:
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➡️ The Blue Yeti Microphone:
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➡️Amazon Prime 30-day free trial below:
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➡️Follow Simon on Twitter:
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#vhs #analogtodigital #obs

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Hello everyone! Thanks for watching this tutorial. I have created an updated tutorial for 2023. ➡ Check out the updated tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/porYdYaLYpx_r6s

[@retro9263]

OBS isn't exactly a user-friendly software but this video is by far the best tutorial for beginners. It's concise, well explained and with all the essentials I need to digitize VHS tapes using OBS. I've been using this very video as a reference for the last two years whenever I need to reinstall OBS.

[@oldrider]

Just tried your OBS settings and they worked like a charm. Many THANKS!

[@mrmepis]

Simple yet straight to the point, great tutorial! Thanks so much my friend.

[@mlateef28]

After watching tons of other videos, finally found a straight to the point tutorial, Great video!!

[@papawpickles]

This works like a charm. This is the best video I've seen about converting old VHS tapes to digital. Thank you!

[@EltoV]

Thanks man for this tutorial! I received my video grabber today and thanks to you I already transferred it to my computer without any lagging or other issues regarding I'm a noob to it. Instructions were clear and comprehensive!

[@PoppaTones]

Great video TTDB. I found a cache of VHS-C tapes of the kids when they were younger (20 - 30 years ago) but no longer have a VCR or tape adapter to help convert them. So I picked up a mint JVC camcorder to play them. I picked up the Cleantt vido/audio capture card to use with my Lenovo Flex 5 with AMD Ryzen 7 4700U and OBS Studio. Of the KZbin tutorials searched, yours was the clearest with step by step instructions. I'll watch it a few more times and take notes before I get started. Thank you for putting this out there.

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Thanks Tony! I appreciate the kind words.

[@taniabund4675]

The best video out there. Very clear and easy to follow and literally saved me from tears. My dad passed away 4 months ago and I went on holiday in 1999 with both him and my mum to USA, UK, France, Bali and after many years trying to get vhs onto DVD and that not working I got the usb grabber from jaycar had some problems with audio for a week then after watching your video it all works like a dream. We have about 20 videos and I'll be able to show my brother, son and boyfriend where we went. I'll also be able to see my dad on video. I just wished I'd worked it all out when he was alive as we sadly never used our vhs and so some of the videos I can hardly remember as they were 25 years ago. Anyway thank you soooooo much!!!!

[@StephenLyonsMusic]

One of the better tutorials I've seen. Smart, direct, helpful!

[@velodus]

Thank you, this was a big help! I definitely needed clearity when it came to using the input audio capture.

[@attyschack]

Thank you. This was very helpful. It got me up and running with just one viewing of the tutorial.

[@harrisond8132]

I diddled around with this for a while until I found your video. Works great. Thanks so much!

[@SL33P_D3PR1V3D]

Amazing tutorial! Super straightforward and direct. Subscribed!

[@glendacampozano3082]

Thank you so much! You are a lifesaver. The OBS didn't really come with instructions & was about to give up. THANK YOU again. :)

[@johnridings3291]

Thank you for the easy to follow directions for novices like myself. 👍

[@christinemillar7851]

super easy + straightforward. thank you!

[@rawar777joshanderson]

Thank you! I’ve been trying to get one of these easy cap devices to work for the past seven years or so and finally with the right combination of OBS studio and your video I finally got it to work!

[@charischristou1586]

Is obs completely free?

[@rawar777joshanderson]

It was when I downloaded it....unless something's changed in the last couple of years. @@charischristou1586

[@vr4class885]

Thank you so much for posting this video! It helped me out tremendously 👍

[@LevitAmanhandey]

The best video with the perfect explanation, thank you mate.

[@ilisagvikcollegemediachann4757]

This tutorial was so helpful! Thank you so much!

[@JayDinhh]

Dude this helped so much. This deserves more views

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Thanks for watching Jay!

[@mariomencos8125]

Very instructive video. Thanks

[@andrezp79]

Thanks a bunch! I was having a hard time trying to find OBS Studio's encoding settings. It's a really slick piece of software, and it's the only one I know that has a pause button during capture, which is a must if you want to get only snippets of a vhs tape and not having lots of separate files. Thanks!

[@HienPham-bp4pd]

Easy to understand and follow. Thank you

[@zigdan]

Thank you so much for making this video, it was so helpful.

[@kortwoodward139]

Thank you so much man, this video helped me so much!

[@turb303]

Very helpful video, thank you so much !

[@planetarlia]

Thank you for the video ❤

[@andrew2nasty867]

love the good info and straight to the point

[@sanwuch]

Thank you so much for this video! It saved me so much money!

[@TheCleftStoneWorksKutztown]

This is a really helpful video, thank you .

[@listenchump4041]

Thanks a lot!

[@SupersonicFlyTV]

Thank You bro, to the point and under 8 minutes.

[@steveanddawnwoodburn8489]

Helped me get restarted with OBS. Thanks. Easy to follow.

[@moringabriel2022]

Awesome! I have the same capture device and the old program is indeed not really great. I didn't know I could do it with OBS, wich I already had! That was wonderful and very simple! Thanks a lot man! From Québec Canada

[@rosalindperies4046]

GOD BLESS YOU I have spent hours having issues with this for the past week!! Also if anyone is having issues with an echo sound in their videos, I found that muting every input (desktop, mic AND video capture- not audio capture) got rid of that problem for me.

[@madelinemelton96]

Thank you so much this was so helpful!

[@INIGHTMARES]

Thank you kindly! Great tutorial.

[@albertolugo7738]

I was struggling to hear the audio while recording. Thank you so much for this tutorial.

[@W-Ostr]

I had problems with audio too. But I have HiFi output in VCR, so I connected it by Line-In socket in sound card.

[@Lakechalakin]

Thank you for you help !!!! I was so confused !!!

[@themikkelsens8608]

Thanks!

[@pernstable]

Excellent, thank you so much. You have save me some money.

[@acnequeloideo5311]

Muchas gracias amigo, estuve dias tratando de configurar la easycap y alfin pude transmitir desde vhs con la ayuda de tu video, muchas gracias!!! eres un crack

[@farazahmed7828]

VERY HELPFULL. THANKS

[@danfriends]

Great video! I did use the capture type card you suggested but upgraded to an upscale plugged into a HDMI to USB 3.0 card and it’s stunning. I like it so much I am redoing all my tapes again. Much better colors and lighting and less dots etc. I bought a cheap one and it worked but upgraded to the Gefen and it’s much better. Thanks

[@ericprater830]

when you used the capture card, did you find the video quality was degraded when you captured it? I'm running into this problem and it's really frustrating. I can't figure out how to get the video to look better. was that why you changed to the HDMI to USB 3.0?

[@raysmith2940]

Excellent - will try this very soon. Subbed!

[@palmermonty]

So helpful! Thank you

[@thisincarnation3735]

Thank you so very much!

[@curranissimo]

Thanks to you I spent $11 instead of $90. Thank you very much!

[@zincfive]

I went with the digitnow device for 20 instead of the elegato at 90 bucks. One thing I'll be looking at is a potential reported problem with usb3 devices like my computer creating jumpy video with usb2 devices like these on usb3 inputs. I'll report back. For those that are confused about the OBS settings (it is confusing), set your base canvas (preview) to 1920x1080 (1080p) under file, settings, video. Set up your capture video like this video, and the tip from realchickentender about using crop on the input window is awesome. The original resolution of a vhs/ svhs is 640x480 (OG tv) or 960x540 in 4x3 format (DVD/ svhs), so you will want the bands left and right, get the top bottom scaled to the preview window, make sure it doesn't look squished. Set your Output (Scaled) resolution to 1920x1080 (1080p) you will get as good a recording as your source/input can do (clean the heads, get a good input/capture device to maybe squeek a bit more quality.) You can also make the output 1280x720 (720p) and, it will be a bit smaller file, and you won't really lose any of the original quality. There is basically no point in trying to save old video at higher resolutions like 4k, it is just a much bigger file. The other settings on file, settings, video: Set Downscale Filter to Lanczos and FPS values to either 30 (which is close to OG) or 60 (won't add anything) if you are outputting differently from the base canvas, this is fine won't make much difference unless maybe you have a pretty slow machine. The other settings on file, output, advanced, recording have to do with the compression that is made between the source and the final file, which can affect quality. The more compression, the more processor power you need to compress it (playback is about the same) and the less data you will have at the end. Select the mkv format, and use your graphic card (NVENC or AMF) as the encoder (x264 is software, use if you have to, its fine it will use more processor power to encode), and don't rescale the output unless you know that you want to. The next area there has to do with the compression. CBR is fine for most things, try starting around 3000 bps, go up or down to see how it works. If you think you are going to pass these files through an editor like Premiere or iMovie, add titles or other edits and re-encode later, having a bigger, less compressed file might be important. Editing and Re-encoding a file will lose a little resolution, so you want a higher bit rate, or experiment with VBR (Variable Bit Rate) being a bit better (but they are close) compared to ABR (Adaptive Bit Rate) which is a bit better than CBR (Constant Bit Rate) for files you want to edit further. All these should be read fine by editing software. CRF (software) or CQP (uses your graphics card) are simplified measurement of compression, higher numbers are lower quality/ smaller size. This is similar to JPEG photo quality settings, they can provide poor (small) up to best (huge) quality depending on size. There are ways to take your output, trim, make/ add titles and edits and stream/ output the video without re encoding using various tools like ffmpeg, virtual dub, lossless cut, even premiere and OBS, but it takes some learning. Keep in mind that almost all of the encoding and decoding is done behind the scenes on any front end is from ffmpeg, and as you learn about the settings, basically all the settings, terminology and documentation goes back to that software, so forums that talk about the settings in ffmpeg also apply to the settings in OBS or other front end video processors.

[@slumpedshrek3330]

Wow man this is the best video thank you so so much

[@W-Ostr]

Works perfectly for me. I had more problems with dirty heads than this setup. Thanks a lot. :) EDIT: There was problem with lack of sound, but I solved it by connecting VCR HiFi output to Line-In port in sound card.

[@williamgreen4473]

not all heros wear capes. I came to the comment section with this exact issue and you solved it for me. THANKS!

[@AntonioMayorga]

Thank you very much, greetings from Mty, Mx.

[@manuelcorrea5505]

Muchas gracias, funcionó a la perfección, excelente ayuda 👍

[@jedidiahkelley3197]

Thanks you help me out so much

[@Supasplat171]

Great tutorial!

[@Roxmarie]

Thank you very much, i am able to convert VHS with sound, you ROCK

[@aaronhernandez5791]

Can't like this video enough!!!!! Thank you

[@jaimeenriqueorozcoyapor832]

Thank you so much!!!!

[@rassbombo8136]

Thank-you so much, you are a life saver.

[@23jole]

Thank you very much!

[@brendakerrytaggart]

Thank you so much.

[@eggsandwhichian]

DUDE YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER, THANK YOU

[@DestiniBeardMusic]

This saved my entire childhood, legit thank you so much for this video!!

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

No problem!

[@ARDAUCOIGRES]

Thank you, i just ordered my DigitNow USB 2.0 Video Grabber.

[@Dorii56]

OMG Dude If it weren't for you, I would never have ripped vhs tapes to dvd ... thanks man!

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Glad I could help!

[@GavinSharplesDirect]

You are a frikking ROCK STAR!!!!!!!

[@anshormiz2378]

Thanks alot 👍

[@islamabadphotos3873]

Love urs style👌👌

[@RickiFerguson]

Great content. Easy to follow. Worked perfectly. Many thanks

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Great to hear!

[@flipitygibet]

Hi, Great video. Thanks. I noticed when you started recording that there was that bit of visual noise for want of a better term at the bottom of the recording. Is there anything that can be done to minimise or remove that?

[@rel4u121]

Thank you for the helpful video! Question: any idea why the audio comes out static and robotic? I am using a DIGITNOW USB 2.0 Audio/Video Converter. thanks!

[@dontcry2720]

I study ICT and computer is pretty much my life. No matter how hard I tried to make the honestech software work I couldn't. I can't thank you enough for this. Hours and hours wasted trying to fix those crappy CDs that came with it when the solution was so simple. THANKS

[@Moledmc]

Same here, so glad to ditch the Honestech, probably ok on Windows XP.

[@djavsdjavs]

Subscribed i wqs using easy capture it was rubbish and used dub video converter that was shite tooo. Then you made this badd ass video. Now i can capture all the old videos of my gran R.I.P my dad will be so happy that this worked

[@abhinavajith92]

In my particular case, i was getting repeated audio after like regular intervals of time. After a bit of fidgetting around, muting the video component also is what finally worked for me. Hope this helps someone else facing the same problem too

[@wanderlonging6264]

Hello! Thank you for this tutorial. I have done everything the way you have shown but I am not able to get the preview from the camera to show up. (The blue screen on preview screen( The audio will record but not the video.

[@bowbookbike]

This should have way more views! All of these other people are acting like we have to pay $142 for that "Elgato" thing. Thanks for the money save!

[@JoeysMedia]

Thank U brotha

[@MP-ry1vw]

it works .-- greetings from Germany

[@elkantanuvasa4852]

Thanks for this video. This is awesome 👌🏽 I just have a question I'm not getting any audio from my video. I've done all the steps and then when I come up to the audio output capture, my usb 2.0 driver option doesn't show and it only shows 1. Default and 2. Speaker Realtek audio. Do you think you could help me please?

[@bczpkhny]

Fantastic! Any pointers on getting audio that's distorted sound less so?

[@ypunati]

Thanks a lot! This was very helpful.

[@debbiland]

Thank you so much! Yours was the most informative and straightforward tutorial I have seen. I am all set up and ready to go!

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MrAudiodez]

Sony Vega because the layout and very easy to use. Lots of features and comes with architecture program .

[@TekinU]

ur a madman for this

[@ms2668]

I've been using VirtualDub2 and VSDC to capture video, but mostly VirtualDub2 which outputs .AVI files. Inputs are via a Canopus A-D converter for the video (fed by an S-Video cable from the HI8 camera) and an I-O Data GV-USB2 for the audio (also capable of handling the video, but think the Canopus does a better job). Have you compared the quality of OBS Studio captures with VirtualDub2 captures? Converting my 20-year old Hi8 tapes to digital format before they degrade and/or the camera breaks...at least want to get the highest quality captures saved to the computer so that I can process (deinterlace, edit and compress) later when I have time.

[@rufatibrahimov3141]

Hi, thanks for video, I have a sound cut off in obs all the time, and I have not the blue screen in my obs, how to solve the problems?

[@Ronineducacionmx]

Great!

[@jeet-Seattle]

I use roxio creator 2012 old one so works. Will try OBS and see

[@Ognyan397]

Man it works perfect i recored almost all of my memories ! One Question i recorded a TV show with my VSR back in the days on a VHS tape , now when i run that VHS tape with that method i only hear the sound but i can not see the picture , however if i run it on my TV i see the picture ! Does this has something to do that the TV show was recorded with the VSR from the TV ? Is there any fix for that ? All my memories recorded with my old camera are on TV / Pal system and i got no issues with that watching on the PC , only that VHS tape with the recorded TV show has screen issues!

[@jaimematus8447]

Thanks for the tutorial, Please mention that the quality of the RCA cables is very important for the final resolution of the image, If you use the cheap RCA cables that come with the old VHS players, the quality or the image decreases. I bougth a good set of cables and the picture quality increases by far .

[@davidplets9249]

any link for decent cables?

[@tietscho]

Very nice Video my friend. Helped me alot. When i plug in the Audio to OBS it starts to beep or whine constantly. Is this normal?

[@red149]

not sure you covered the essential part. how you fix the interlacing problem? how you adjust the settings for NTSC or PAL? how do you set up the fps ?

[@perfektcrime]

Great video. Thanks!!!

[@Mayu2009]

Hi! This helped me a lot, but I just get a black screen. I can get audio, but not the video. This is my first time doing this, so I have no idea, what I am doing wrong. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[@ayrtonvargas7706]

Really good video, thanks a lot :D

[@billyhotrod2004]

Hey Man..... I appreciate the videos for sure. I'm sorry, I'm sure you have already answered this or close to it.....How can I record a VHS video faster than normal speed?

[@JonChacko]

Can't thank you enough!

[@valjoh778]

Great Tutorial it worked very well ! Is it possibly to do the opposite ? would like to transfer the digital signal directly into my hi8 camera.

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

That's a good question. I honestly do not know. I've tried googling for some sort of solution but most of the results I see are how to convert a hi8 tape to a digital format. Not the other way around.

[@markus3355]

Dude, you are a total life saver. Subscribed

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

I appreciate the sub and I'm glad the video has helped. Thanks for watching 🙏

[@riffmania5321]

Thanks for the video a great help!! Just one question, am I able to use the white and red cables only to extract just the audio from a cassette?

[@TechThatDoesntByte]

Technically should you be able to, but there is no option to choose an audio file format under the output>recordings settings. You can record it as a video(displaying an empty black screen) with just the audio. I would recommend using an audio software like Audacity if you just want to record the audio.