How to Copy Family/Home Video Tapes (VHS, Betamax, Hi8, mini DV) to Digital - ElGato Video Capture

[@Maraksot78]

Wanna skip to a particular part of the video? Use the Time Stamps. :) Time Stamps 0:00 - want to convert your old analog video to digital? 0:15 - things you'll need 1:46 - The ElGato Video Capture, what's in the box? 2:38 - setting things up 3:26 - ElGato Video Capture software - Getting started 6:25 - converting analog video to digital 8:27 - Thanks for Watching! Like, Share, Comment & Subscribe! :)

[@tekcore6290]

You should take MiniDV out of the title, they are digital and should be capture via firewire. Not only it is easier, but also doesn't degrade the quality by converting it from digital to analog and back again to digital, like in this process.

[@alexslusher16]

Do you know if the Elgato Video Capture can copy Copyrighted Tapes? Say for example Star Wars or Pokemon. Thanks in advance.

[@tomkaufmann9064]

Thank you for the video. I purchased the equipment and easily transferred my videos onto my computer. Your detailed instructions made the process very easy. Now I have many cherished videos of my family stored safely on my computer and backup drive.

[@lioninguccisuit]

Hi i only got a very old camera , my parents one, and it brarely even charged.. so i only got the camera, should i just buy the cable from video and that's all i need?

[@Bama1963]

Absolutely you get what you pay for, I tried a couple of the low priced video converters and they were useless. I then bought the Elgato, I have converted at least 50 VHS and VHS-C using the Elgato and it has worked flawlessly. For what it does and it’s price it pays for itself many times over compared to sending your tapes off to some company to have them converted.

[@WhiteJarrah]

If your home movies are miniDV, you should use the camera's DV out port to capture a pure digital video signal. If you have a DVD recorder which has a DV input, you can connect the camera to the DVD recorder via firewire and transfer the footage as a clean digital signal. If you need to transfer the miniDV recordings to the computer, you should buy one of those HDMI Elgato cards. I use the Elgato Game Capture HD. There are some miniDV cameras with HDMI out. Alternatively, if your DVD recorder has a DV input and HDMI output, you can use that to capture a clean digital signal. This will preserve the quality of the miniDV. I have no hesitations using S-video to capture VHS, but for miniDV you should use either DV or HDMI.

[@RockinEnabled]

And if you have smth on DV medium, there might be a DV-in in your PC. That way, you can connect your DV-device directly to the PC and capture the stream. The only things you need here are the cable and the software. (no DV-in = you can get a DV adapter)

[@fueledbymusic3]

I use a windows Vista computer with the firewire hook up for my miniDV

[@Crlarl]

Unless you're recording 1:1, you're doing it wrong. DVDs don't have enough capacity to record an entire MiniDV tape. Recording from HDMI doesn't get any metadata nor does it separate different clips.

[@WhiteJarrah]

@@Crlarl What are you talking about? In standard play mode miniDV have a tape length of 1hr, in LP mode they record for 90minutes. All DVD recorders I've used have an XP mode which a record capacity of 1hr and an SP mode of 2 hours. The XP or SP mode is the quality most people would want.

[@Crlarl]

@@WhiteJarrah MiniDV will fill up 1GB in a bit under 5 minutes. A full 60 minute tape will be around 12GB and in LP, around 18 GB. If you're recording to DVD, you're re-encoding it in lower quality.

[@MichelleGia]

thank you so much for this video! ive been putting this off because i was dreading the process, but you made everything super clear and easy

[@ShevillMathers]

The SCART connector is required for use with many European made recorders and players. They input or output Composite & Y/C video. Composite video is 240 lines - Y/C is 400 lines, almost twice the quality, use Y/C whenever possible for optimum quality. Google composite video vs Y/C video for a detailed comparison and tech specs. VHS is composite video, S-VHS is Y/C video, likewise Video8 is Composite format and Hi-8 is Y/C video format.

[@Crlarl]

S-Video doesn't have more resolution than composite for just the luma signal. As for chroma, S-Video is superior because it's not modulated into the luma signal and gives it much more bandwidth. VHS, S-VHS, Video8 and Hi8 all record separate luma and chroma. S-VHS and Hi8 just give more bandwidth (≈400 TVL) to the luma signal than their VHS and Video8 counterparts (≈240 TVL).

[@Peterkragger]

I love how the cookies works. I recently found some Mini DVs in my house, I searched for something to play them with, and this video popped up in my recommended

[@Crlarl]

Disregard this video. MiniDV should always be transferred over Firewire.

[@fueledbymusic3]

I use a windows Vista computer with a firewire hook up for mini DVs.

[@Crlarl]

You're doing it properly. This video is bad information.

[@JaredHudson7]

Thank you so much for making this video. I volunteer for the Southern Dirt Track Report and we video dirt track races and report on local dirt track races and do video interviews and more. I just recently got a older style Sony video 📹 camer that uses these little tapes. I'm videoing feature races and just purchased this elgato unit and I gotta say your video is very informative. It's helping me to transfer these to my pc. May God Bless you.

[@irbananas]

I’ve used Elgato Video Capture for years and truly loved it. Unfortunately it no longer works with the new Silicon M1 or M2 Macs. Hopefully they can work out the compatibility problems. In the mean time, what would be the next best option for Mac users? Thanks.

[@cdv.8244]

Wow, great detailed video. Thanks so much. I will order the Elgato device and re-watch this video when I’m ready to transfer our home movies. Thanks so much. God bless.

[@RochesterTVArchive]

I'm sure results may vary depending on overall setup, but I experience significant sync drift with this device and software. I'm sure it works great for shorter lengths of video, but if you plan on backing up entire libraries of tapes (6 hours in length), I recommend using software that has more options for adjusting timing and resampling audio to fit the video.

[@kara2814]

So what software would you recommend? I have about 12 old 60min 8mm Sony camcorder tapes that I want to transfer onto my PC.

[@Bama1963]

I have converted 6 hour length tapes using Elgato with no problems

[@CJRussell]

Use OBS

[@Hunger3Love]

Thanks for great video! Please specify, when digitizing VHS, the mp4 file ends up with a PAL 576 lines vertical resolution or only with a poorer NTSC 480 quality? 30 or 25?

[@MisterYeko]

The Scart adapter was used for the European TVs in order to use composite outputs.

[@ACommenterOnYouTube]

i had one of these, not this brand but a brand from best buy that i used about 10 yrs ago to transfer the same MiniDV videos to my hard drive, done lost it, can't find it but thats ok. i was in my closet looking for something and found my Sony DCR-TRV11 MiniDV camcorder and found about 15 tapes ... Battery was dead obviously but it still works and plays back those 22 yr old tapes ...

[@gabithemagyar]

Have you converted any longer (greater than 1 hour) VHS videos with ElGato ? Any problems with audio/video synchronization ?

[@lovesgadgets]

wow you have made a very daunting project i have been putting off for a decade seem very doable! thank you so very much

[@Deee.X]

2:47 why not transfer raw footage via FireWire since it’s digital video? 🤷‍♂️

[@renemies78]

Thanks so much for the review and for the step by step process. I have some VHS tapes I want to transfer and unfortunately have purchased crappy Converters that don't work or have audio issues where the audio is out of synch with the video. So I'm going to be purchasing this item to transfer videos. I do have a quick question. Why would you use the analogue connections and transfer a digital video like that? Thanks again.

[@Crlarl]

I think it's due to apathy. Firewire is the only way to transfer DV. By using analog, you may as well have recorded on VHS.

[@shaniyam.francis3436]

Hi! Thank you for this! I have a jvc camcorder and everything is showing properly but on the play back it shows tbc and the sp how do I take that off?

[@sls4561]

This is going to make so many people happy!

[@JenteGoffinghs-yn4qe]

Very helpful video, keep it up!

[@byrnedes]

Clear concise explanation. Will use VHS physical holder for most recent digital tapes. However have old larger tapes from an older long lost camcorder and I guess will have to try and buy an equivalent old s/h camcorder to play back these tapes and convert.

[@Nightrain76]

Can a Microsoft surface handle this program? The El Gato program doesn’t have any chance of giving you a virus or anything?

[@StyleRecordGroupcom]

once you have captured , how do you upscale it to HD.

[@kas2388]

Appreciate the video man, keep up the great work! Can’t wait to digitize all my mini DV’s / VHS-C

[@Crlarl]

This is fine for VHS but don't do this for MiniDV. Transfer over Firewire to not destroy the quality.

[@CookyMonzta]

I have over 200 VHS tapes dating back to 1986 (I went to DVD recording in 2008); and assuming my tapes are not badly degraded, the sooner I get an acceptable refurbished VHS player or recorder, I plan to turn all of my tapes into digital files. Do I risk losing _too much_ video quality from the original if I convert all of my VHS material to DivX? I don't particularly have any use for a 10GB AVI event if it can be compressed to 2GB or smaller without losing too much visual quality.

[@ChrisPriceCars]

I've just bought this but unfortunately my VCR only has 2 RCA holes so I can only hear the audio of the video, not the picture. My pack didn't come with the adapter - would a SCART Adaptor AV Block To 3 RCA Phono Composite S-Video With In/Out Switch rectify this so I can plug in all 3 RCAs into the Scart adapter? Many thanks

[@garleto]

Nice video. I wonder if you can make a video about converting tapes from the JVC through Elgato video capture. I’m having an issue with hooking the camera to my Win laptop. Can’t seem to get the proper cables. Thanks for any help.

[@bendowson3124]

It really irritates me when I see people using analogue video capture devices to convert Mini DV tapes. This means taking a digital video tape and converting it to an analogue signal and then back to digital, resulting in a loss in quality. Not only that, but if your Mini DV camcorder has an AV input, you can actually use it to digitise VHS or 8mm tapes. It just means connecting your VCR to the Mini DV camcorder and connecting your camcorder to your computer using a firewire cable and thunderport adapter. By doing this, you don't even need to get a USB capture device.

[@Crlarl]

Agreed. This video is just bad.

[@bendowson3124]

@@Crlarl It's not terrible, just uninformed. I actually have much more sympathy now for those who choose to convert Mini DV tapes in this way than I used to. When I first made this comment (which was later edited), I had incorrectly assumed that you could use a firewire to USB adapter to connect a camcorder to a computer. However, it turns out that firewire and USB are incompatible and that your only options are a thunderbolt adapter or a card that slots into your computer. However, many laptops nowadays don't have the option for either making them useless for this purpose. Given how popular Mini DV camcorders were during the 2000s, people really need to start making video capture devices with firewire inputs in addition to AV inputs. That way, those who don't have the right computer can still use the correct method to convert digital video tapes.

[@huey6000]

I imagine if you're just converting home videos though then slightly worse quality won't matter much :-)

[@MISSY4EVR]

I have beta movies I was also told to connect my beta out into a dvd machine in and then dvd out to a capture device. Will this work?

[@chrispickrell4027]

Hi there , Legato video was helpful however can you trim segments of the video ie crop or is trim only available at the beginning and end of the video?. Thank you.

[@ShravanParthasarathy]

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but thanks for the video! I've been in the process of digitizing some old photos and I'll keep this in mind when I get to the videos.

[@natashac6036]

What device did you use to digitize your photos?

[@ShravanParthasarathy]

@@natashac6036 just a plain old scanner, nothing special

[@red149]

I was looking for more technical information : bitrate , interlace/deinterlace, aspect ratio, resolution ... !

[@gregdrmax]

Approx. how many GB for say 1 hr of vhs tape? Watching your video looks like 60 min 1 gig. Trying to determine the size of flash drive I will need for maybe 30 tapes, and maybe 120 minutes each. Have old family tapes that I will just let record to the end (not keep an eye on) and then just trim the end of blank space. Thank you kindly for any info.

[@joeysevn8331]

Hey, thank you so much for this video, is this software compatible for the newest Mac? macOSmonterey ? 12.4 ?

[@davidgold5961]

I have a current generation iPad mini in my vehicle for using Apple Maps and Google maps. I need a way to connect the analog video output from my backup camera to plug into the lightning cable. There will be no analog video signal unless I go in reverse, which turns on the camera. So the iPad mini should just automatically switch to that source when I am in reverse.

[@marina95117]

Great, detailed video. Thank you for saving me hours of my time otherwise i would of spend trying to figure it out on my own.

[@lisakelly3849]

Thank you! My Mom passed away and I’m keen to transfer videos…does the software work with window 10? Thanks again

[@Samxglez]

By any chance do you know if we can use a video capture that isn't elgato but still be using the elgato program???

[@shockme79]

Great video.. quick question if you were digitzing VHS or VHS-C, would you be selecting 4:3 aspect?

[@Maraksot78]

Yes, I believe so.

[@gamechamp19]

Excellent video, Helping out a friend, this will be a great tutorial for him when I get his Elgato for him.

[@JohnHenrySoto]

Best video for doing this type of transfer! Thank you!!

[@pacowonderful]

Hi. Thank You very much for this very good and instructive video. All is clear and well explained. Thank U for sharing this with us.

[@syedshehzad8149]

Sir pls advice that what are best for video capture from VCR 1-elgato capture usb 2-easycap capture usb if output movie size are same in both stuffs so what i chose

[@pecunia1701]

Hi , Once I record to the Hard Drive can I transfer to a memory stick ? Thank you

[@rapteakewl]

Thanks for the great video! Small question, I have a Sony Handycam Vision with only black and yellow output (one for video and one for audio, I'm assuming one for audio and not two because its only 1 channel) You have any idea if this product will support it? I'm assuming it will but I wanna verify before I purchase one :)

[@claymiller]

Yellow is always video, and the black is mono audio. In this case you plug the black into the white input on the Elgato cable, and you don't worry about the red one.

[@berlindabahnam6044]

Hi, how do you think Elgato compares to a Dazzle* Video Creator for quality when transferring H8 videos? Thank you

[@Hunger3Love]

Does connecting via S-video or RCA give better video quality?

[@ProjectGenesisMusic]

Are you able to use the mini dv controls through the computer? My buttons on my camcorder are pretty much shot. I used to use pinnacle studio 12 and that had that feature.

[@Crlarl]

Only if you use Firewire. This video is useless for info on MiniDV. Firewire is the only way to record MiniDV properly.

[@struisdevogel6602]

Verry good explanation!

[@imyhomemovies3636]

Hello! My Elgato does not have PREFERENCES. How do I get this?

[@natashac6036]

Once you have the videos, is it best to store on DVD, USB or another format? And can you easily convert it to any of these formats by using this device? Thank you for the great video!

[@Crlarl]

Deinterlace the video and encode in H.265 or AV1.

[@MsMyra22]

Your video was the best I liked how you walked through everything

[@TinLeadHammer]

Does it pass through interlaced video, or does it deinterlace? Can you choose whether to deinterlace or not? Does it deinterlace to 30p or 60p?

[@johnmustol8828]

Excellent overview. Nicely done.

[@Peterkragger]

I have a question. Does this software works with different video captures? The Elgato one is a bit too expensive for me

[@Maraksot78]

As far as I know the software only works with the elgato capture device. Other capture devices will most likely have their own software too.

[@Crlarl]

You can use software like OBS Studio or VirtualDub. They give you much more control.

[@wherebluemeetsgreenoutdoors]

Hi from Oz ! My Sony HandyCam simply has a yellow and black output cords ? I was surprised when I opened the old case.... will this still work ? Cheers.

[@victoriastatz6844]

I do not have composite audio video cable that came with the camcorder. Is this something I can buY? If so, is that what I'd shop for, "audio-video cable" and is it universal to all camcorders?

[@Anglynn74]

will this download for Elgato work with a Windows 7 desktop pc? I just bought the video adapter cable & an external hard drive so that I can capture my old VHS home movies onto my PC, I was going to use OBS but it sounds like OBS is only for Win 8 and up.

[@A1cine]

wait, where did that black s video output come from? I didn't see it come in the elgato box, did I miss something?

[@Emily-lo2do]

What’s the camcorder used in this video?

[@cliffsands8343]

Do you know if this works with Windows 10 because I have read reviews that are confusing to it's compatibility. Thanks!

[@marisollopez4804]

Quick question. My camcorders display window no longer shows picture but I can still watch the video through the eye piece. Do you think this will be a problem when trying to transfer it to a digital file ?

[@Nine4Eternal]

When I plug the el gato to my computer, nothing happens? Can you help with this? I don’t get anything come up for me to install the program

[@daverichards6557]

Really interesting video very informative. Thank you for educating me.

[@naturalcare2373]

Thanks for the video. Justa a question.....I have some supper 8 film reels and I have an old Hi8 camera that uses tapes... Could you open the tape case Hi8 and place the film inside of the supper 8 and try to see it on the camera screen???? oor they are a different format. Thanks

[@claymiller]

No that would not work

[@Crlarl]

Hi8 is video, Super8 is film. There is nothing similar about them.

[@franciscoxochical149]

Will this work on a Samsung scL810 camcorder?

[@TheReptain]

will this work with elgato hd aswell?

[@NancyONeill]

Your explanation was one of the best I've watched so far. Two questions if you don't mind. My Sony Hi8 came with an AV cable with only one plug that goes into the camera (not the three colored plugs) and the other end of the cable has only two plugs: a yellow and a black one - not three like the device has. The camcorder also has an S-video port but it didn't come with that cable. 1. If I used the AV cable to transfer, I know my yellow plug would go to the Elgato yellow but which color would my black plug match to on the Elgato: the red or white? 2. Which has better quality: AV or the S-video cable? If the S is significantly better, I'd have to buy that type of cable. Thanks.

[@chrissherlock443]

Nancy what did you end up doing. My camcorder only has AV out also. Not sure what I need to do this

[@claymiller]

The one plug to your camcorder covers both audio and video. On the other end, yellow is always video, and the black is mono audio. In this case you plug the black into the white input on the Elgato cable, and you don't worry about the red one.

[@atul2363]

SIR NAMSAKAR MUJH PAR SONY DCR HC 32 E HANDYCAM HAI KYA YEH SUPPORT KAREGA MAI INDIA SE HU PL .ANSWER THANKS

[@rokc8782]

the scart input is more used in Europe that's why you guys in the US don't use it❤️ love the video.

[@Maraksot78]

Oh...ok. Haven't made it over to that side of the pond before. That makes sense why I've never seen it before. 😅

[@erich434]

I have a bunch of old Betamax tapes my dad gave me to digitize, but I don't have a Beta VCR/player. Can I rent one somewhere?

[@marlarice]

I recoreded a few 5 min. Clip and my audio does not sync. How can I prevent this?

[@felixsummer4130]

Hi there, this model is no longer in Amazon. Any idea where to find it?

[@roryreinbold3363]

My camera has svideo but the audio in doesn't support the elgato chords is there a different way to get the audio to work on a Sony camera

[@griseld]

My cassettes are perfect when watched on TV, but when using a usb capture like this the video is shown with greenish interference, any ideas?

[@Ho-Ten]

Well understood, on my way to some memories!!

[@coreysoto]

Does this work on an M1 Mac? Seems like a lot of these devices do not have drivers for the newer Macs.

[@mylovesongs2429]

I understand that hooking a camcorder with firewire will digitize the video footage automatically. it digitizes everything without much involvement of a person. is this true?

[@tekcore6290]

PLEASE, DON'T USE analog capture with MiniDV cameras. They are DIGITAL! They have a FireWire out, which is ment to be plugged to the pc and allows for DIGITAL TRANSFER, which is going to give you individual .avi files for each scene in the DV/DVCAM codec, like if you pulled them from an SD card camcorder. If you use the COMPOSITE or S-Video out, you will make the process more complicated and RUIN the quality. Whenever it says digital on the tape or camera, look for for the digital capture. Newer pc's don't have a firewire port, but you can get adaptors or, even better, a pci card for your desktop or an old laptop. Software-wise you can use WinDV, which is free, easy and the best I've used, but also Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere, Pinnacle and camcorders proprietary softwares.

[@Crlarl]

WinDV or Scenalyzer are great options as they record 1:1 what's on tape, no conversion or compression. Recording via analog from DV is just plain incompetent.

[@TheFrenchChef]

great video very informative _ i was looking to replace my video mate c200 but for windows 7 - but i have windows 10 - you convince me to gete elgado -thank

[@jenniferpochy2071]

Great video! This is not working for me. Could it be the Apple M1 chip or Monterey? Sent an e-mail to Elgato but waiting for a response.

[@daber2000]

#Maraksot78 if I have a vhs with composite output and i get a composite to hdmi adaptor, will the translation of the original vhs tape be better when digitizing?

[@Mufakkir786]

Dear friend I have purchased the device and tried to convert my vcr cassette to my laptop but the problem I faced is that the video being run on laptop doesn't show colors and is black and white. Please help to resolve the issue. Nusrat Khan from Pakistan.

[@filiplou74]

Another approach would be to use a FireWire to FireWire or thunderbolt cable. Just need to make sure you have those ports

[@toejam9372]

Does this require .net framework 3.5 to be installed? If so, will it work with other/newer versions of .net framework installed? This assumes Win 10 as the base os.

[@ruthier508]

Does the el gato work with the newer Mac updates ??

[@harshk9839]

Is it true that this device has trouble working on Windows 10 and if your laptop has only USB 3.0 ports? Please guide. I'm looking to buy a device to transfer content from mini DVs to my laptop. Thanks in advance.

[@Crlarl]

Disregard everything in this video. MiniDV needs to be transferred over Firewire.

[@outdoorslackers1449]

there is no audio on my Elgato. How to fix it?

[@buxepov]

hii! great video, I have a vhs that has mono sound, the elgato works for that?

[@claymiller]

yes

[@adriaancamambert1971]

Is it compatibee with windows 10 and 11?

[@atiradeon4671]

This capture device is great the old analog video formats for VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, Beta, but i don't know why not buy one used HDD/DVD recorder? All can recording with DV input.

[@RockinEnabled]

DVRs' DVD-drives don't age well. My DVR has lots of recordings which I can't drag out of it only because the drive is dead. Otherwise, DVR are a nice tool.

[@AFstudio-hc9dm]

the software is free???please answer me🥺

[@corellavanwijnen6878]

Will any surrounding sound also copy on to the digital version?

[@Crlarl]

Only stereo. If you recorded it in matrix surround, then you can use your AVR to decode it. If you recorded MiniDV or Digital8, then disregard everything you saw in this video.

[@timisaacs9583]

Excellent video, worked like a dream first time, thank you :)

[@reactionfunnyfunny]

this was a great video thank you I don't usually comment

[@sanaullahkhankhattak3518]

Sir hw to i8 file converted normal video like Mp4 avi...

[@beverlycrusher9713]

what OS aret you are using, from what i could tell it might be windows 10?

[@Maraksot78]

Yes it's Windows 10. I loved you in Star Trek the Next Generation by the way. Dr. Crusher FTW! 😀

[@beverlycrusher9713]

@@Maraksot78yeah, she was hot in season 1 of next gen, that red hair and that blue uniform, she got me there.👍👍👍

[@kathleenhannigan1263]

I cannot understand the S-video portion. I have VHS-C casettes to xfer. I am bent on finding a VHS player that has a S-video jack. But I have also been told that S-video is irrelevant on CHS-C tapes. All I want is the best quality possible, but I don't know how to go about that. I have the Elgato, just trying to find VHS (with the S-Video!!)

[@Crlarl]

VHS and VHS-C will look a hair better over S-Video but you'll be served fine with only composite.

[@EethanZedGaming]

Great video! Any idea if this works to capture game consoles that use AV (Yellow, Red, White) inputs?

[@Maraksot78]

It should.

[@Crlarl]

Not all consoles. Older systems used 240p which may not be interpreted properly with these devices. From the Dreamcast and onwards, 480i and 480p are more common. If you're trying to capture 480p, 720p or higher, you'll need something else.