VHS -> DVD on my PC

[Daniel A]

This might not be the right Internet forum for this type of question, but frankly I don't know who else to ask, and you know I trust you guys...

I would like to archive a bunch of old VHS recordings before they fade away completely (and my VHS machine stops working). I want to record the videos on my PC and then create DVDs which could be played in an ordinary DVD player. I will need some kind of software for capturing the signal and processing it for the DVD format.

The easiest way to go about would of course be to get a standalone DVD burner. However, these are generally not very user friendly when it comes to editing, input of track titles etc. and ideally I would like to see some solution where I can record the signal uncompressed, and subsequently set a quality/compression which will allow me to fit a given program length on one DVD. I'm thinking there could be some kind of software which enables me to change several compression parameters - much like LAME with a good frontend does with MP3 compression.

Is this possible? And what will it cost me...?

[WD45]

I did this a couple of years ago with a $90 RCA to USB converter from the fine folks at Pinnacle. It comes with some software to create menus, chapters, etc.

It worked well; my only beef is that it worked best after installing a 2nd hard drive. [Per Pinnacle's recommendation.] That, and it is less than real-time when all is said and done [like you might get with a standalone unit].