The Frame-Grab Tutorial on TVCrit.com is still pretty up-to-date.  
You'll find it in the Tutorials section of:

http://www.tvcrit.com/

My standard suggestion these days is to copy the VHS tape to DVD first 
and then use a software DVD player to capture frames on your computer 
(my favorite player:  Cyberlink's PowerDVD, for Windows; similar 
products exist for Macs).  Once it's on DVD, it's super-easy to do.

This has the added benefit of creating back-up DVD copies of your aging 
tapes.

DVD recorders--both the standalone kind and ones for your computer--have 
gotten very reasonable in price.  And if you've having trouble making 
fair-use, back-up copies of pre-recorded VHS tapes you own, please see:

http://www.videoguys.com/sima.htm

Regards,

> dear folks
> what is the latest technology for a private researcher to download 
> images from a vhs tape? i checked with the screen-l archive, and there 
> are suggestions that are 3 years old. is there anything available 
> nowadays that is relatively affordable and high quality? the ultimate 
> goal is to have publishable quality stills to accompany a manuscript
> thanks
> ken harrow
>
> Kenneth W. Harrow
> Professor of English
> Michigan State University 


-- 
Jeremy Butler
www.ScreenSite.org
www.TVCrit.org

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