Video Tape to Digital

[Chip Chester]

I have used DVCPro machines to convert (on the fly) from analog to either SDI or firewire. I've used a Sony DVCam machine for analog to firewire. Also used Pinnacle Video Recorder units to go from analog direct to h.264 files (at various quality settings) on USB drives without a computer.

They all do a reasonable job -- however the source material was recordings of cable and network news programs on consumer VHS machines at various speeds.

Outland's pass-thru approach works well, as stated. The Pinnacle devices were around $100 or so. For one large project, I had about six of them running simultaneously, recording on flash drives. The biggest challenge was record-keeping.