One of the best things about YouTube in my opinion, is the ability to watch things that were on TV years ago and you thought you’d never see again. Of course, most of that footage has been lying dormant on dusty video cassettes for years but YouTube has given them all a new lease of life. If you’ve got some footage on tape that you’d like to share with other users, you’ll need some software to transfer it from your VHS cassette to your PC’s hard drive. Most importantly, before you start anything, you’ll have to check that you’re PC or laptop has a video capture card. Instructions about how to go about finding the right capture card for your PC can be found here. After that, any one of these top tools can be used to capture the video.
- AVS Video Tools – Quick and easy transfers plus basic editing options
- MAGIX Movies on CD & DVD – One click VHS transfers and burning to CD or DVD
- BAO TV – Dedicated VHS and Betamax capture tool which requires only a TV Card
- Ulead DVD Movie Factory – VHS transfers, editing and post production tools
- Easydivx – Turn your VHS tapes into DivX format instantly
Good luck with these tools and in the meantime, I’ll leave you with one of my favourite TV moments, recorded on VHS and rescued from oblivion by YouTube. [Video after the fold]
[youtube]lliPLRuGxq0[/youtube]