OK: What is the best software out there for converting VHS tapes to DVDs?

Question

I'm aware of this Pinnacle Dazzle program, but here is what I'm needing to do: I also have to upload a lot of old footage from some 8mm tapes, so is it sufficient just to use my DV camera as a digital pass-through for that? will the video quality suffer at all from it? also, for actually getting footage from old VHS tapes, is this Pinnacle Dazzle the best thing to use? if not, what is? how many different versions are there of it and which is the best for the price? whenever I'm at stores that sell all this stuff there are so many options and I don't know where to begin dammit!

Answer 1

If you've already got a digital camcorder that can act as an analog / digital converter it's got to be the first thing to try - the quality's likely to be at least as good as the Dazzle.  If you're serious about doing this you should look at the Canopus ADVC range, probably the ADVC 300, since it's got time base correction.  The one thing I wouldn't do is use a TV capture card - the quality tends to be very poor.

Since you've got a camcorder you may already have an editing app that can create DVDs.  If not, have a look at Sony's Vegas Movie Studio - it uses a good MPEG-2 encoder and the DVD authoring app allows you a lot of flexibility.