Technical geekery.

Philistine'sMonster

Hi. I'm not a very technical-minded person but I need to capture some old TV shows wot I wrote in the nineties and convert them into files that I can then post onto a website and YouTube and stuff.

I have a VCR and a Sony Vaio laptop. Is there some hardware I need to buy to get them "talking". And is there any free software I can use to enable capture and editing.

Or is there a simpler way, such as converting them to DVD and then formatting into editable AVIs or MPEGS?

Sorry if I'm being a bit of a dunce here, but I'm not a very gadgety person.

rainbow_carnage

I'm probably the least techie person on here, but I did look into converting VHS tapes into DVDs a little while ago. From what I gather, the easiest/cheapest option is to buy a DVD player/recorder with a built-in VCR.

David

Got a DV camcorder? You can use that as a converter from your VCR into it and back out into your laptop, alternatively its a [TV Tuner](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hauppauge-WinTV-NOVA-T-USB-Stick-freeview/dp/B000F8RPQE/ref=pd_cp_ce_3?pf_rd_p=136153791&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000C7ANH&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=019B22FDDZCM03A68PN9) - just plucked that out the web for an idea, don't know how good it is but you'll be looking for a USB one as you're on a laptop, otherwise a PCI card of the same thing if desktop

wisteria53

Same type of problem but with Powerpoint slides (including music/sound) - is there any way of converting these to AVI or MPEG? All the solutions I have found online seem to be expensive for a one-off operation.

David

[Something like this](http://www.download.com/CamStudio/3000-13633_4-10067101.html?tag=mncol) while you've got the presentation in slideshow mode.

andy

here's a bish-bash-bosh solution if you've got a mac 1. save your ppt 2. open it in keynote 3. export to quicktime

andy

Just done this - it mostly works, though you have to reset some of the timings for transitions and builds, but it embeds the media and retains the transitions in the right way. (and it's free and takes 5 minutes)

Here is my masterpiece:

<p><embed src="http://www.andymartin.net/misc/wisteria53.mov" controller=true autostart=false width=400></embed></p>

Advances on a clicks, rather than with timings, but you can play with that.

matt

So, Phil, what TV shows?