Convert VHS tape with a Canopus ADVC converter

CONNECTING YOUR EQUIPMENT

 

 

 

VIDEO CAPTURE WITH CANOPUS CONVERTER / IMOVIE HD

 

1. First, connect your Canopus video converter to a VHS deck using the white and red audio jacks for audio left and right.  These should be connected to the deck's "Line out" jacks.  Then use either a yellow RCA jack in the deck's video line out, or an S-Video cable in the video line out.  All cables should then be connected to the corresponding jacks in the Canopus.

 

Then connect the Canopus to the computer using the firewire cable on the opposite side of the other cables.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Once your deck is connected and turned on, start up iMovie HD (version 6).  This is an older version of iMovie,

but is easier to use and requires less  file management.

 

If you don't have iMovie HD you can download it at http://support.apple.com/downloads/iMovie_HD_6_0_3

 

 

**Be sure your equipment is connected and turned on before starting iMovie, otherwise the application will say there is no

connection.  If so, quit iMovie, plug in / turn on and start iMovie up again.

 

 

3.  In the opening dialog select "New Project"

 

 

 

4. Click the mode switch to set iMovie HD to camera mode (shown below)

 

 

 

5. Choose the deck device from the pop-up menu that appears when you press the camera icon. The monitor screen should indicate "Camera Connected." If the deck doesn't appear in the list, quit iMovie HD and restart with the deck turned on first.

 

 

 

6. Cue your source tape to the point where you want to start recording and pause the video. When using VHS the deck cannot be controlled from the computer. Use the physical controls on the front of the deck.

 

7. Once you have found the material you would like to capture, press 'Play' on the deck then click the 'Import' button in iMovie. The video will be automatically imported into the Clips panes.

 

8. When you have captured all the video that you want, press 'import' again to stop capturing. 

 

 

 

VIDEO EDITING IN IMOVIE HD

 

9. After you've captured the video you want, you'll need to move the clip(s) into the editing area to export to iDVD. Drag the clip(s) from the clips panes in the upper right of your screen down to the clip viewer editing area. The icon for the clip will appear in the horizontal row at the bottom.

 

 

 

CREATE A DVD

 

10. In the top menu of iMovie go to "Share > iDVD"

 

 

11. iDVD will take a minute to open and load a button with your project name on it.

 

You will now see the main iDVD interface. The bottom triangle button is to preview how the DVD will look. Right now click on the bottom "i" button for menu settings. 

 

 

 

12. In the "Menu Info" dialog, you can drag the sliders to remove the looping menu, and to remove any menu music

 

 

 

13. You can change the menu design by selecting a different theme from the right thumbnail column. You will be asked if you wish to keep or change your current aspect ratio - click on Keep.

 

 

 

14. To insert an image in the menu dropzone(s), (1) click on "Media" in the bottom right, then go to the top right and (2) click "Photos" at the top right – you will then be able to select any photo out of iPhoto and (3) drag it into the dropzone. If your photo isn't in iPhoto, jump over and import it and it will then be a selection option. You could also insert a movie from your Movies folder by selecting "Movies" instead of "Photos"

 

 

 

15. The button will have the same name as the iMovie file, but you can select and rename all the text elements in iMovie by clicking on them.

 

Now click on the bottom right triangle to preview

 

 

 

16. You will see a controller which you can click on and use just like a DVD remote control. Test your buttons and see if your clip plays as it should. Click on "Exit" to go back to the editing mode.

 

 

 

17. Before actually burning your DVD you'll want to check your project info to make sure the DVD will fit on a standard DVD disc (capacity 4.2 GB) Go to Project > Project info

 

 

 

18. In the Project Info dialog you will see if you are reaching capacity. If the project is too large, you may get a warning - just go into project info and set encoding down to "High Quality" which provides more compression for larger files

 

 

 

19. Now you are ready to burn. Go to File > Burn DVD

 

 

 

20. You may be prompted if there is a warning in a project. Click on DVD map

 

 

 

21. In the map, rollover any yellow alerts - here the project has some empty drop zone, but those won't impact the final burn. When done reviewing, click the bottom right "Return" button.

 

 

 

22. You will now be prompted to insert a recordable disc (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+-RW - we recommend DVD-R). Be sure you have a recordable DVD, not a CD! After insertion you will see a progress animation - and once the burn is complete you will get a "success" message. You will also be prompted to insert another DVD if you want to record more than one.

 

 

 

23. It's a good strategy to test the new DVD in a DVD player, another computer etc before assuming it works. Once in a great while a burn won't work correctly.

 

 

Congratulations! You now have a DVD.