What do you use to digitize your old vacation VHS? From SECAM tapes?!?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Bigou@jlai.lu⁩ to ⁨homevideo@feddit.uk⁩

https://jlai.lu/pictrs/image/ce808441-af8c-4984-8300-ee0b0a632a81.png

Hello everyone on Mbin, Lemmy and other parts of the Fediverse!

I have some family moments, (vacations, Christmases, birthdays, …) on VHS tape. I want to convert them in into modern, digital video files. I tried doing it with a GBS-C, but being French, those VHS are in SECAM, and neither GBS-Cs nor OSSC support thore formats. (At first it looked like I would only have the sound, but it ultimately killed my GBS-C.)

So, what do YOU use to preserve your old family memories in the modern, digital world? And does it support SECAM?

Thanks to all of those that can and will help me.

#VHS #SECAM #tape #SECAMtapes #SaveOldMemories #digitizingOldTapes

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SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
blackmagic design intensity pro 4k. I have a VCR DVD combo with composite/component/s video/HDMI outputs, so I’m excited to try it out and see which connection gives the best results.

just got it a few days ago off eBay for $50

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- Bigou@jlai.lu ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  If it work, and your VCR/DVD combo can really output the VHS’ signal through its HDMI port, let me know. It might be the way I go, as the simplest way to obtain what I want. (I already have an HDMI capture card, which is why I tried using my GBS-C to capture my VHS… And killed said GBS-C.)
  
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  - SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    the VCR does output both audio and video over HDMI, but the video is stretched, and I haven’t dug through the menu to see if I can change it.
    
    but the beauty of this piece is it has basically every input.
    
    We’ll see! I’ll post an update once my s video cable gets here
    
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  - Taleya@aussie.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    The samsung one can. We also use it to patch legacy rca consoles to the hdmi tv, but it’s hdmi 1 so ymmv
    
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- Taleya@aussie.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Yeah i’ve got a samnsung vcr/dvdr and i usually record to dvd for starters, then export if need be. Mostly people just ask me to put tapes straight onto disc
  
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fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’ve previously used a bog-standard £20 “video capture to USB” device (like this sort of thing (amazon link)), but from about 10-15 years ago. That particular one says it does Secam, apparently.

Anyway, this went into an S/Video/RCA to SCART adapter, which went into the VHS player.

The VHS player played PAL, SECAM and NTSC. The majority of tapes I was working with were PAL, but there were a handful of SECAM and occasionally NTSC, so I can’t 100% confirm that device worked with SECAM - but If it didn’t… this other method must have…

The other method I used was running the signal through an old Mini-DV camera, which I guess must have had an input through the AV port (3.5mm jack from RCA) or an Svideo port, then it outputted through the DV/iLink/Firewire port, then into the Firewire port of the computer - through this “daisychain”, you could capture VHS directly into Mini-DV capturing software, but also output video from the computer directly to VHS.

Bear in mind I was mostly doing this between 2002 and 2008 (and even using “Windows XP”), so I can’t guarantee that pathway even works these days.

The USB capture card method I’ve done far more recently on Linux.

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- Bigou@jlai.lu ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Interesting to know the capture card work on Linux.
  
  Never had a miniDV. My cam is a Panasonic NV-M7, SECAM version. As I said in the original post, it play and film on full-size VHS, and can be plug-in in composite. (Hence why I killed my GBS-C trying to use it to capture the signal. 😭)
  
  Thanks for all those informations, I will have to think on what is the best solution for me.
  
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  - fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    The MiniDV camcorder was being used basically for its Firewire output (ignoring the actual tape deck), but I don’t think Firewire tended to be used for output on any VHS kit.
    
    I can’t confirm the linked one off Amazon definitely works, but it’s that type of device I used with Linux, just a ten year old one. I think I ended up running it through VLC to capture, or possibly I’d found a small dedicated program for it. I’d likely use OBS, if I was doing it again.
    
    I don’t know why it killed your previous device - that looks a lot more well made than the shoddy little wire thing I was using!
    
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desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’m surprised that even VHS-decode has only experimental SECAM support It’s as if SECAM was a niche format.

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- Bigou@jlai.lu ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  It was, in a way. As far as I know, France was the only European country to use it, others preferring PAL over it. There was some country from Africa (mostly former colonies), but not much else as far as I know.
  
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