How to Dub a Camcorder Recording to VCR

VHS tapes aren’t complete dinosaurs…yet. And since camcorder cassettes can still be a little pricey, to get the most for your money, it’s not a bad idea to dub your camcorder recordings to VHS. Not only will you have an easily viewable copy of your video-worthy memories, but you’ll also have a brand-new camcorder tape, in a manner of speaking.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Get a blank video tape. You can buy one brand-new, or just recycle and use one you find around the house. Be sure you’re not grabbing the video of your wedding or your first baby’s birth, however!

2. Gather together your camcorder’s S-video or RCA cables. An S-video cable is a single-ended, round-tipped cable with several little prongs. RCA cables have three ends, red, yellow and white, and will likely have matching color coding on the device you’ll connect it to.

3. Locate the video input/output connectors on your television. Newer televisions have them on the front of the TV, as well as on the back (like many older models only have).

4. Attach the connectors accordingly. In the case of RCA cables, red to red, yellow to yellow, white to white.

5. Place the destination VHS tape into your VCR and make sure it is turned on.

6. Turn your television to the appropriate channel for watching VHS movies. In most cases, this will be either channel 3 or channel 4. Some VCR’s will start showing a movie immediately no matter what channel your TV is set to.

7. Turn on your camcorder.

8. Set your camcorder to the mode that allows you to playback your video.

9. Press record on your VCR and play on your camcorder as close to the same time as possible.

10. Find a safe place to set your camcorder while you are dubbing the video, grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.

Tips & Warnings

• In the case of most VCR’s, there are a couple different recording speeds you can choose from: SP, the best choice for quality, and LP & EP/SLP, both of which are poorer in quality. You will get more recording time by choosing to use either EP/SLP or LP, but less quality. Choose which speed best fits your needs.
• You can use the AV input/output connectors to connect your camcorder to the VCR. This is great to know if you happen to have an older TV with no RCA connections anywhere in sight.
• If your TV and camcorder are both equipped to handle S-video, you should use that method for dubbing your tapes. S-video uses a two-channel method for transferring the color signals, as opposed to the single-channel method of the Standard RCA connectrs. The picture will be much better and the color much clearer using S-video.
• Be sure to plug your camcorder into the wall while you are dubbing to VHS. You don’t want your battery to die during your recording.