There are hundreds of programs available for editing video but with so much choice comes a lot of rubbish. When you copy a DVD to a computer it will have several files with the extension .VOB – these are the data files with your video. They are MPEG-2 format but cause problems when trying to combine them into one long video. The sound can become de-synchronised so the lips move separate from the words. To fix this we first need to import our video from our DVD as one long file. A great piece of software to do this is DVD Shrink.

vhs to dvd software

DVD Shrink

DVD Shrink is a great start because you can import discs into one long file. It does no re-encoding so it only take around 5 minutes to copy your disc to your computer. The separate .VOB files are combined into one long file most importantly with no sound synchronisation problems. 

 

  1. Select Re-Author
  2. Go to Edit -> Preferences -> Output Files, and untick “Split VOB Files into 1GB chunks”
  3. Insert your disc and double-click your disc drive
  4. Drag the main movie file to the “DVD Structure” box
  5. Adjust the start/end time by clicking the double arrows icon if you want
  6. Click Backup!
  7. Choose your save location and press OK

 

OpenShotVHS to DVD software

OpenShot is a cross-platform video editor, with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows. OpenShot Video Editor is designed to be an easy to use, quick to learn, and surprisingly powerful video editor. Quickly trim down your videos, and find those perfect moments. Add as many layers as you need for text, background videos, audio tracks, and more. For basic editing of your VHS to DVD this software is great however when you feel comfortable to move to the next level OpenShot has advanced features such as background removal, add effects and manipulate the audio. 

This software is definitely decent and fully free. This editor really works quite well but also has a few drawbacks. For example, it is very resource intensive and I wish to also mention slightly complicated precise clip slicing functionality.

 

VHS to DVD softwareKdenlive

Kdenlive is an intuitive and powerful multi-track video editor compatible most recent video technologies. It is completely free, and open-source as defined by the GNU foundation. 

Pros:

  • It has the basic features like transition, basic effects, cutting video and audio
  • What it does it does good, you can customize the parameters of almost every feature you have
  • It renders properly
  • I had my VHS to DVD Convertor create a disc and it edited well in Kdenlive

Cons:

  • The interface isn’t that intuitive, it would take you a lot of time to do your first project and figure out how to operate this software
  • The transitions don’t have a preview, so you need to apply them and check them on your own (and if your computer is slow it’s a big drawback)
  • There’s no built feature to add text, you need to create a transparent image (png etc.) and add it to the video

 

VHS to DVD softwareVideoPad

VideoPad is a professional video editing application which allows you to create movie projects from various video clips or a single video file. It also allows you to import a wide variety of audio and video file formats including .avi, .wmv, .3gp, .wmv, .divx and many others.

Video Transitions and Effects:
* Fade transition effect gives your movie that professional touch
* Preview the effects in real time
* Customize the duration of the effect

Complete Video Optimization:
* Fine tune brightness, saturation and color for your video
* Add still photos and digital images with a click of a button
* Apply effects such as black, white, sepia tone and negatives
* Add text captions to individual clips

Amazing Audio Tools:
* Add up to 255 music tracks to your video project
* Record narrations with the click of a button
* Import pre-recorded narrations

Share With Your Family and Friends:
* Easy way to put your VHS to DVD and watch in your living room on your TV
* Show off your latest pics and clips on PSP, iPod, iPhone, 3GP mobile phone or Pocket PC
* Great way to put VHS to DVD
* Output video files and share your creation with more friends on computer or through the Internet

A free video editor version is available for non-commercial use only. A professional version of VideoPad is available from NCH Software with additional supported formats and features.