Capture VHS with Premiere Pro CC 2017

[dstruning]

Hello, I would like to capture the footage of my VHS camera (JVC GR-AX270) with Premiere Pro CC 2017. I use a Video Chinch to Scart adapter and a cheap Scart to HDMI A/D converter from Ebay to connect the camera with my Macbook. I open Premiere Pro CC 2017 and select File > Capture. However, nothing happens and I am not able to capture the footage. Any ideas?

[Ann Bens]

Wont work.

Premiere will only capture with firewire.

Only way is to get yourself a Grass valley AV converter.

[dstruning]

Only Firewire? Why?

Not even the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle would work?

[John T Smith]

This Blackmagic Design: Intensity  says USB or Thunderbolt

Premiere Pro will NOT work with USB, but I think it will with Thunderbolt (I'm on Windows, I think that is Apple's name for Firewire)

[gerikp]

I use an array of Blackmagic Design hardware to capture video to Mac OS X. And yes it will work with Premiere Pro via Thunderbolt. However I usually prefer to use the Blackmagic Design capturing software Media Express to first capture the video file and then import that file in to Premiere Pro.

[dstruning]

May I ask what array of Blackmagic hardware do you use?

[gerikp]

I use them for input and output but I currently am using UltraStudio 4K, UltraStudio Mini Recorder, UltraStudio Express, and Decklink Extreme PCIe cards.

[dstruning]

That would be a quite expensive setup... any ideas for a much compacter and cheaper setup? Just would like to play around with old VHS footage.

[gerikp]

All you would need would be what was already mentioned the Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle. They cost around $200 Blackmagic Design: Intensity Which is still an investment.

[dstruning]

So maybe I just need to add a HDMI to Thunderbolt adapter (as Premiere Pro CC seems to be compatible with Thunderbolt) to my setup? Or do I need a special I/O box like the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle?

[johnnyb2u]

Do you capture older VHS and 8mm tapes and if so, what's your signal path? Trying to wrap up all of our family footage and get it into the digital world.

Thanks!

[Peru Bob]

johnnyb2u  wrote

Do you capture older VHS and 8mm tapes and if so, what's your signal path?

I use  a Canopus

ADVC-110

You may be able to find a used one on eBay.

[Stan Jones]

What Grass Valley product is still available that will do this? The 110 does not appear to be available any longer.

I'm getting ready to do this for the first time in many years, and I think the last time, my clumsy method was a Sony VHS - DVD recorder. It provided some stabilization of the signal, then I used the vob (vro?) files.

[Ann Bens]

Firewire is getting very old fashioned. Might have to resort to e-bay or something similar for a converter. I still have a little hdv camera for things like that.

[gerikp]

Another option is something from Elgato. It's $99 but I don't think you have to use their software to capture the video first and then import in to Premiere Pro. I have no experience with it. Video Capture | elgato.com

[Ann Bens]

I think that is a waist of money, heard many times say OOS problems (pc side).

[RjL190365 · Accepted solution]

You may need such a specialised converter for capturing VHS videos. This is because many simple adapters either severely degrade video image quality even further (making an already low-rez, 352 x 576 video the effective equivalent of only a 176 x 288 quality output) or do not properly convert the video to a suitable digital format (with tons of errors abound).

And I can see why your attempt with a simple SCART to HDMI adapter failed miserably: The HDMI port on your MacBook is only capable of outputting video, and cannot input video at all (the video data in HDMI can only travel in one direction). In other words, your MacBook (at least by itself) has absolutely no video capture input at all whatsoever.

[dstruning]

Thanks for the answer, that helps me a lot! Do you know any affordable converters? I guess the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle (with Thunderbolt) is already a cheap one, right?