Dumping ps1 games and copying vhs tapes to computer

[shinifish]

I'm looking to dump a few ps1 games that I have to my computer and it looks like I need no additional hardware to dump it and run on an emulator but I would just like to clarify. I was also wondering if any of you knew a good way to copy vhs tapes to my computer as I fear they are deteriorating too much.

 

[Prometheus]

I can't help with the VHS thing, as I'm still looking for a hassle-free solution for that myself, but as far as ripping your PSX discs for emulators goes, I highly recommend ImgBurn (it's for Microsoft Windows, but works fine with WINE on x86 Linux, too).

 

[Asmo]

There are lots of USB dongles and devices to allow video capture, just a matter of connecting the S-Video and audio output of your old VCR to one and sitting back as you record.


On the other hand, and it's the method I use, good quality DVD video recorders are so cheap these days that it 's a worthwhile investment. Record straight to DVD-R/+R and you can just copy the VOBs on the disc directly to a folder on your PC (your own recordings aren't encrypted so there's no 'ripping' software needed). You can then convert those VOBs to whatever compressed format you want, edit them or preserve them in full quality.

 

[Prometheus]

^ Asmo, do you have any specific recommendations for any particular DVD/VCR recorder units, please? That's the route I've been looking into, since it seemed far less hasslesome to me than a USB device.

 

[Asmo]

I have a fondness for Panasonic recorders. I'd just say avoid the super-cheap weird brands and check the one you go for supports rewriteables your computer can read (didn't Macs have issues with +R at one stage?) too, save you building up a pile of discs just for copying to PC!


Ones with a built in HD are useful for some basic editing before disc burning (though you can do those things in free software like DVD Shrink on the computer) and for recording long material and deciding on a quality level later for the eventual disc.


With VHS it's worth recording at the highest quality level, as the inherent video noise of VHS tends to result in blockiness at lower quality settings.


Note - if any of the tapes you want to copy are 'originals' you may need a Macrovision fllter/stripper - most DVD recorders won't allow recording if they detect Macrovision protection on the input.


PS - if any of your tapes are NTSC (US/Japan) and you have a PAL VCR that outputs 'PAL 60' (so called "NTSC playback on a PAL TV") you could have another hurdle - in spite of what dealers may tell you, I have not encountered a DVD recorder that can see PAL 60's colour signal. Needs to be pure PAL or NTSC. If the VCR cannot ouput true NTSC then you'd need an external video processor that can do the needfull and convert the colour signal back to pure NTSC.


PPS - Once you've got your VHS recording on your computer, you'll find that the image has rather tatty edges (all sides, but particularly top and bottom). These extremeties are normally framed out on ye olde CRT TVs, but can be quite distracting when on full show on your computer. Autocrop functions in processing software will generally be unable to determine where the noise ends and the picture begins, so a manual crop setting up and down (more up than down) is usually a must for a nice clean edge. Experiment a bit!

 

[shinifish]

Okay thanks for the answers

 

[Prometheus]

Much thanks for the very useful info, there, Asmo.

 

[CAZMIESTER]

I can't help with the VHS thing, as I'm still looking for a hassle-free solution for that myself, but as far as ripping your PSX discs for emulators goes, I highly recommend ImgBurn (it's for Microsoft Windows, but works fine with WINE on x86 Linux, too).

Yeah imgburn or alcohol 120%

 

[Weevil]

For capturing VHS tapes I can also recommend the Pinnacle Video Transfer, less hassle to me than the DVD recorder route.

 

[ikreos]

I use this for my PS1 dumps.


Playstation and Multi-track CDs


Read


cdrdao read-cd --read-raw --datafile [file.bin] --device [bus,id,lun] --driver generic-mmc-raw [file.toc]