VCR Cassette to Digital Video File?

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Hello all,

My mother has decided to move back to the UK after 15 years of living in Switzerland. During the "cleaning" process - getting rid of stuff she doesn't want to take - we have stumbled across a VCR cassette with a home video from the 90's. This has become a major thing for us, as there are clips of family members that are no longer with us.

I would like to preserve these videos while they are still in decent condition, and so I've decided to create a mini project on the idea. The most basic (and essential) of requirements is taking the video from the cassette and having a digital copy on a HDD.

Maybe I've over-thought the idea, but I was thinking of doing a SCART cable from the VCR (thankfully we still have that) and then trying to either use an adapter with the TV or with my laptop to grab the information as it plays, saving it on my laptop's drive (or an external, same thing.)

I'm starting from an idea of knowing nothing about this other than the theory. With that in mind, I would appreciate if someone could offer some ideas as to how to make this happen. I know I could take the tape down to a few specialist stores, but I like the idea of the challenge when it comes to something tech-related that I've not attempted before.

Any help and/or suggestions would be most welcome. I have a couple of months to mess around with it, so if I find myself defeated there is still the shop idea.

Cheers all!

EDIT: Just to clarify, I will need suggestions on how to transfer the information, but also suggestions on software to best edit the data once it is transferred. I might have screwed up the placement of this thread.

[+hedleigh Subscriber²]

G'day Nick,

Not sure if this is what you are after, but I found this on Amazon UK.

I transferred some old videos myself using something similar, can't remember the brand now. The software came with the device, connect the vcr to pc using the device via usb.

You may have already discovered this. Good luck.