In the last post, I described the steps that took me from failing with OBS, to succeeding with VLC. In this post, I included the step by step images that actually worked for me, and a portion of the resulting video. Portion, because the test video recorded for well over an hour. When I played it back, the entire duration played fine. Audio stayed synced. Image quality looked great (for a plus-or-minus 30 year old VHS tape). It was satisfying, gratifying, after the entire journey from "Why isn't this working?" to "Look, Mom!"
For the record, here's VLC's official site. VLC is completely free, and a very "swiss army knife" of a video player. Versatile, fast, and lightweight. I've used it for years, but even so didn't realize it could capture video until a year or two ago. It's sort of 'hidden', unless you explore the menus. And VLC could do with some actual documentation. But I can't complain. It's free, works great, and solved the problem.
Quick note about the video recording - I played with some options that should have shown the video as it played, while recording. Nothing worked exactly right. If I chose the "Play" option and recorded from there, the video was visible while recording, but would only record AVI, which has a size limit. Ultimately, I had to follow the steps, but take it on faith the video was recording correctly. Once I hit the "stop" button, it finalized the file. Only then did the finished file play. As you see, it worked, I just couldn't see the actual video while it was recording.
I still strongly recommend visiting "How to Record Screen with VLC." By the time I found this site, I had a lot of the puzzle pieces. This was the website that put it all together and showed a wide variety of ways to record. But for a quick visual shortcut, the images below shows the process that actually worked for me.
Above you see VLC's startup screen.
Next, under the MEDIA menu, select "Open Capture Device"
Here, under the Capture Device tab, make sure "DirectShow" is selected for Capture Mode. I'm using AV2HDMI for the capture hardware that connects the VCR to my computer. For me, the Video Device Name was "USB Video." The Audio Device name was "Digital Audio Interface (2 USB Digital Audio)." Your devices may be different, depending on your capture device and your computer setup.
Where it says "Play" near the bottom, click the dropdown arrow and select "Convert."
The "Convert" popup should appear. Source was automatically set for "dshow:\\", I didn't have to choose that. I did not select "DeInterlace." Thought it might be needed, but it worked fine without. I did try the "Display the Output", but still couldn't see the video as it was recording. The recording worked, with or without trying to display the output, it just didn't seem to make any difference either way. Under "Profile", I selected "Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4)." There was a higher numbered Codec for H.265. I tried that, but it embedded the audio in a way that my players and video editors could not use, so I went back to H.264, which works just fine.
The only thing important here is that the "Browse" button is highlighted. Click on it to open the save window.
From here, you select the target directory you want to save the video to, name the video, and type ".mp4" at the end of your filename. Adding .mp4 seems to be all you need to tell it what format to save in. There are other options, but mp4 is the only one I wanted.
Now you're back to the "Convert" screen with your destination file selected. Click Start.
Now you're on the recording screen. I know, it's blank. That's all I could see. But the red dot was depressed, and the counter was counting up. At this point, I took it on faith, and went to eat supper. How did the video turn out? Check out the clip above!
For the record, I (accidentally) recorded an hour and 13 minutes for the test video. Left it running, and forgot it was on. Most of the video is very old children's cartoons recorded from broadcast television. Rather than bore you with all of it, I took the first six minutes because it was me... playing 30 years ago. It's like a window into the past. And a chance to see how my playing then compares to my playing now.
Honestly, I think I played better back then. Still made mistakes, but my playing was more certain, and felt more 'full of joy'. I've learned a lot since then, and can play things now that I couldn't back then. But it seems to be missing some part of what I loved about the piano. Food for thought. Maybe I need to simplify, and get back to just having fun with it.
I mentioned OBS in a previous blog, as a great free option for capturing video. I'll have add a caveat. It's great, when it works. When it as working, it was perfect. The first time I ever used it, it felt like a godsend. Now, I have another videotape to capture. Booted OBS, it still captures video great, but no audio. I hadn't changed anything about it. Settings were still the same, hardware still the same. I'm using AV2HDMI, by the way. Sneered at by professional VHS restorers, but they consider a minimal set-up investment to start at $1,000, and freely recommend much more expensive equipment if you're serious.
Those guys are exactly that - professionals who make a living salvaging old videos at the best quality humanly available. I had to wait weeks to afford the $35 I needed for the AV2HDMI unit plus an HDMI to USB cable. Would love to have the pro stuff. I used to do weddings/industrial video production, so once upon a time I had most of the gear they mention but that was decades ago. Back in the first great days of video production using an Amiga 4000 and NewTek's Video Toaster. Revolutionary days back then.
Back to modern times...after several days of research, studying, trying to learn, following multiple guides and suggestions, it started looking like it wasn't a hardware issue, but a compatibility issue. OBS's main strength is as streaming software. Seems like video capture is kind of a side effect, and doesn't work equally for everybody.
Given the number of other people online making the same complaint about OBS - no audio - and the lack of any consistently successful solutions, I had to give up. I did try Virtualdub, but really had my doubts. While the software will run in Windows 10, it's specs list Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Vista, and 7. While that's a huge spectrum of continued support, it's age and lack of mentioning Windows 10 put me off. Gave it a try, the quality was fair, but most disappointingly the only output format was AVI. Some modern media players don't even recognize AVI, others struggle to play the audio in an AVI. For the record, 5kplayer was great at playing AVI files.
The biggest problem with AVI was that I could only record a few minutes and then it auto-stops. Some very minimal searching on google, and I found that AVI files were originally limited to 2GB, and using some tricks with pointers, can go to 4GB. I'm not certain that's the problem here, but it's a limitation that MP4 doesn't have, so that disqualified VirtualDub for me.
There were a few paid options, but I didn't look into them. I've already invested my limit. :^) Then I remembered that VLC Media Player has a rather obscure video capture system. It didn't work for my previous capture card, so I'd forgotten about it until yesterday. Didn't even have to update, it was immediately compatible with AV2HDMI. There were still some bumps in the road, but at least it worked with the hardware, and grabbed clean video.
First problem? Defaults to AVI. The initial guides I found all lead to saving the file on the default format. Plus, the guides were a bit outdated, so I had to blunder around blindly on the parts that weren't accurate any more.
The article offered instructions for multiple techniques. The most useful part for me was the section on recording a video. You have to read between the lines a little. But following the steps, the article got me exactly where I needed to be.
The best part, when you get to "Convert/Save", and the option to create the file name, you can choose MP4 format simply by TYPING .MP4 AT THE END OF YOUR FILENAME!! That seems too little, too simple, it feels like there should be a button to select or a preference somewhere. VLC actually offers a lot of format options to save in, and it's very simple once you know how to get to it.
I just did a test video, running for over an hour, and the quality was great, the audio was perfect, and it recorded the entire hour-plus. Finally, a reliable way to get video from VHS tape to my computer!!
I've been tearing my shed apart trying to find old recordings of my uncle Freil playing piano. This VHS tape is over 30 years old, so it's not perfect, but it really means a lot to hear him play again! I've found several others, but this is exceptional. Nearly 25 minutes of video with Freil playing, and there are quite a few songs I don't have recorded anywhere else. The video quality is rough, the tape is stretched, and the VCR's auto-tracking couldn't compensate enough. But this may be the only surviving copy, and I'm grateful it works at all.
The search for more recordings is just about over. I've gone through nearly every box that could possibly hold any more. Haven't found the Hi-8 tape I was actually hunting... but did turn up some audio cassettes and vhs tapes. Even got my hands on a couple of record albums he played on.
This videotape was recorded somewhere between 1990 and 1991. Maybe on multiple days. It wasn't made by me, and I have no recollection of how it came to be in my storage. It's an awesome video. The quality's not great... probably a copy, but more importantly, the tape is about 33 years old at this time. VHS wasn't meant to last this long, way back then nobody knew for sure how long it would hold up. It certainly hasn't been kept in optimal conditions. Most of those years were in a box in a shed.
As a result, the quality would be unacceptable, had it not been for the unique and irreplaceable nature of the subject. For a few weeks, I couldn't even test it out. The old digitizer (EZCap) that worked years ago no longer works. The computer identifies it as attached hardware, but I couldn't find any software able to use it.
In a previous post, I mentioned a YouTube guide by Jumble that explained an inexpensive setup to digitize videotape. It involved an RCA to HDMI converter called MINI AV2HDMI, and a small video capture device that converts HDMI to USB. Everything else I already had, or was available for free (the OBS "Open Broadcast Software".) OBS is way over my head, but Jumble explained the basic setup in his video. Once it was all connected, it still didn't work, but a quick Google search fixed that. Hint - check your windows privacy settings. I had all related settings for Windows Webcam turned off. As simply as turning on permissions, and it was recording video.
Beyond that, the resulting video files had an odd echo effect. The audio was being mixed back into itself. I turned off the desktop/mic volume in OBS, and it worked perfectly. Or, at least as good as the videotape itself was. Repairing the damage of years was beyond me.
The result is a fabulous memory of some of my favorites. I hope you can forgive the inconsistent video quality and enjoy the music!
IMPORTANT NOTE!!!
OBS worked great... once. I didn't use it again for a few weeks, and the next time I tried to use it, there was NO AUDIO. After days of googling, struggling to learn, trying different things, I went looking for other solutions. Here's the step by step process that finally worked: VLC Media Player Transfer to VHS
