Would like to look at some VHS video to convert and though I own Roxio’s VHS to DVD device, I cannot get it to work on my current Mac Studio. Neither the software that I have downloaded (Roxio video capture) nor QT Player seems to recognize the signal. If I can get a cheap converter from Amazon, I would consider it, but some seem to have the qualification that they will work “up to” an older Mac OSX version.
Does anybody have something that they found works for this, or just go ahead and grab a Video converter from Amazon and hope it works?
The video output format from an RCA jack on a VHS player is called “composite video”. It is the original VHS standard, abandoned years ago, so all the converters are old designs. I doubt you’ll find software that works on a silicon Mac. Can you use an older Mac for this purpose?
Elgato is a respected developer of such products. According to customer feedback, this $88 product is compatible with MacOS 10.15 and 11 on an Intel Mac. No one asked if it’s compatible with MacOS 12 or 13:
My ancient RCA to digital converter uses Firewire so is no good for “modern” Macs (<10 years old?).
I’m amazed you have a working VHS player and that the (magnetic) VHS tape is still readable.
I can’t make any recommendations here, but if you’re looking for a device, look for something that is a generic USB Video Class device. This should work with no special device drivers (since macOS 10.4.3).
With such a device, it should show up in macOS as a camera and a microphone (much like a webcam). You should be able to use any video-recording app to record its output. You can probably use iMovie. There are also open source products (e.g. Open Broadcaster) you can try.
Again, I can’t recommend anything, since I have no personal experience, but I would probably start with a cheap device that doesn’t require (and doesn’t even come with) any device drivers. Maybe this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB6BW6X4/
Devices that require proprietary software are probably not UVC devices. I’d avoid these - there’s no need for a proprietary protocol now that UVC is common proven technology.