If you have older, analog media collecting dust in your office, the Tech Innovations team can help. We have tools to convert audio and video from DVDs, MiniDV tapes, VHS tapes and even audio cassette tapes. If you would like to learn more and gain access to our digitization equipment, please contact us to make an appointment.
Note the following:
- Analog capture takes place in real time. If your VHS tape is 2hrs long, it’s going to take at least 2hrs to capture.
- Capture from DVD, MiniDV and VHS using our setup will produce an MOV file. If you prefer an MP4 file, we will recommend an additional step to convert the MOV to MP4.
- We use the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle capture box and QuickTime for the capture process. If you would like to learn more about the device, or try out its bundled software, please refer to the product website and user guide.
Follow these steps to capture from a DVD.
- Turn on the JVC DVD/VHS deck, and insert your DVD.
- Turn on ViewSonic monitor. Using the Input button on the remote control, set the input to S-Video.
- Turn on the Kramer media switcher, set dial C to 3, and dial D to 3.
- Using the JVC remote or the buttons on the front of the deck, queue up the DVD to your desired starting position, and then pause the video.
- On the iMac computer, open the QuickTime Player application:
- From the File menu, choose “New movie recording…”
- Click the down arrow next to the red record button, and set both the Camera and Microphone inputs to Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle.
- Also from the down arrow, set the Quality to Maximum.
- Click the record button in QuickTime, and then press the play button on the JVC deck.
- When the video has ended, press the stop buttons on both the JVC deck and in the QuickTime application.
- From the QuickTime Player menu, choose “Quit QuickTime Player.” You will then be prompted to save the file.
- Type a file name in the Export As field.
- Choose Desktop in the Where field.
- Click the Save button.
- Turn off the devices:
- Eject your disk from the JVC deck.
- Turn off the JVC deck.
- Turn off the Kramer switcher.
- Turn off the ViewSonic monitor.
- Your exported videos will be in .MOV format. If you need to convert them to .MP4 format, use MPEG Streamclip.
- Don’t forget to transfer your video files to an external hard drive or UCSF Box before logging off and leaving the lab!
Follow these steps to capture from a MiniDV tape.
- Turn on the Panasonic MiniDV deck and insert your tape.
- Turn on ViewSonic monitor. Using the Input button on the remote control, set the input to S-Video.
- Turn on the Kramer media switcher, set dial C to 4, and dial D to 4.
- Using the buttons on the front of the Panasonic deck, queue up the tape to your desired starting position, and then pause the video.
- On the iMac computer, open the QuickTime Player application:
- From the File menu, choose “New movie recording…”
- Click the down arrow next to the red record button, and set both the Camera and Microphone inputs to Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle.
- Also from the down arrow, set the Quality to Maximum.
- Click the record button in QuickTime, and then press the play button on the Panasonic deck.
- When the video has ended, press the stop buttons on both the Panasonic deck and in the QuickTime application.
- From the QuickTime Player menu, choose “Quit QuickTime Player.” You will then be prompted to save the file.
- Type a file name in the Export As field.
- Choose Desktop in the Where field.
- Click the Save button.
- Turn off the devices:
- Eject your tape from the Panasonic deck.
- Turn off the Panasonic deck.
- Turn off the Kramer switcher.
- Turn off the ViewSonic monitor.
- Your exported videos will be in .MOV format. If you need to convert them to .MP4 format, use MPEG Streamclip.
- Don’t forget to transfer your video files to an external hard drive or UCSF Box before logging off and leaving the lab!
Follow these steps to capture from a VHS tape.
- Turn on the JVC DVD/VHS deck, and insert your VHS tape.
- Turn on ViewSonic monitor. Using the Input button on the remote control, set the input to S-Video.
- Turn on the Kramer media switcher, set dial C to 3, and dial D to 3.
- Using the JVC remote or the buttons on the front of the deck, queue up the VHS tape to your desired starting position, and then pause the video.
- On the iMac computer, open the QuickTime Player application.
- From the File menu, choose “New movie recording…”
- Click the down arrow next to the red record button, and set both the Camera and Microphone inputs to Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle.
- Also from the down arrow, set the Quality to Maximum.
- Press the record button in QuickTime, and then press the play button on the JVC deck.
- When the video has ended, press the stop buttons on both the JVC deck and in the QuickTime application.
- From the QuickTime Player menu, choose “Quit QuickTime Player.” You will then be prompted to save the file.
- Type a file name in the Export As field.
- Choose Desktop in the Where field.
- Click the Save button.
- Turn off the devices:
- Eject your tape from the JVC deck.
- Turn off the JVC deck.
- Turn off the Kramer switcher.
- Turn off the ViewSonic monitor.
- Your exported videos will be in .MOV format. If you need to convert them to .MP4 format, use MPEG Streamclip.
- Don’t forget to transfer your video files to an external hard drive or UCSF Box before logging off and leaving the lab!
Follow these steps to capture from an audio cassette tape.
NOTE: The ION cassette deck does not pass through the Blackmagic capture box, and instead connects directly to the Mac workstation with a USB cable. Instead of using QuickTime to capture the media, you will use an application called Final Vinyl.
- Turn on the ION USB cassette deck, and insert your cassette tape into slot A (the left one).
- On the iMac computer, open the Final Vinyl application.
- Set the following preferences:
- Final Vinyl > Preferences > General > Device > “USB Audio CODEC”
- Final Vinyl > Preferences > General > Default save format > WAV (16 or 32 bit)
- Click the play through button (bottom-left button on the interface, looks like speaker). This allows you to hear the tape audio through the computer’s speakers.
- Press play on the ION deck and cue your tape to the starting point for recording.
- When ready, play the tape on the ION deck, and then press the record button in Final Vinyl.
- When finished, press the record button in Final Vinyl a second time to stop the recording.
- To save the recording, File > Save.
- Eject your tape and turn the ION deck off.
- Don’t forget to transfer your video files to an external hard drive or UCSF Box before logging off and leaving the lab!
Converting to MP3 with Audacity
Your exported audio from Final Vinyl will be in WAV format. This is a high-quality, uncompressed, large file. To make the uploading and sharing process easier, you may want to convert the file to MP3. For that, you can use Audacity:
- On the iMac computer, open the Audacity application.
- File > Open… > choose your WAV file.
- File > Export > Export as MP3.
- Save, and close.
Note: You can also use Audacity to cut your recordings into shorter clips, and you can record from the ION deck directly into Audacity. For more information about the Audacity, please refer to the Audacity help website.