VLC Media Player Transfer VHS to Computer

     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.