Looking for a good vhs cap software

[checker]

Hello, in case similar thread already have been created, the point with the thread is to get an idea of devices that are popular in modern time because of stability and good quality. I did quite recently bought an external Pinacle device, but looking at the reviews I saw that there are better softwares than Pinacle Studio 14 which is also included in the package. Should be free and support MPEG-2 conversions.
Another, smaller question; is it really necessary to clean every seperate vhs heads, instead of just cleaning of the vcr heads?

[hech54]

Have you even tried the Pinacle software?

[checker]

Yea, it was all right. I just want to make sure if there are any obiously better softwares available. But maybe studio 14 isn't that bad after all?

[hech54]

Just capture MPEG2. There are plenty of free MPEG2 cutters around for simple edits with no quality loss.

[checker]

Ok will do, btw, is there any guide for MPEG2 cutters out there?

[hech54]

Check YouTube for a Pinacle guide. Once you pick your editing software(if you need one) there are plenty of guides here. Remember.....DVD is MPEG2 and can be nothing else. Don't get fooled into saving space by using some crappy video codec. MPEG2 is what you need for a DVD.

[checker]

The standard formats I'm pretty familiar with, though it's a different story with the new ones like h264 etc. but I guess I have to read on about them here Thanks for pointing out the direction to MPEG2 cutters. Once the capture's been done, Mpg2cut2 seems promising as edit tool

[checker]

I decided to delay the project for the reason that the svideo jack didn't render any color. Only when composite video was used color was visible. Because there's a quite big quality increase between the two I've tried with another svideo cable but with no success. It seems like a pretty common problem but I couldn't find any solution when searching the webs. Nothing wrong with the cables means it's probably something to do with the Pinnacle hardware. And there's no option within the software what I can see to change the fps value nor switch between PAL and NTSC.

[hech54]

Many USB devices only capture "what the software was installed as"....meaning that somewhere during the install you were asked which you wanted....PAL or NTSC.....from then on you are locked into your chosen format.

I got lucky with my Hauppauge USB device and the accompanying WinTV7 software. I no longer need to re-install the software to switch between PAL and NTSC. It's still a tiny bit of a pain in the ass but what once took half of an hour now takes a few minutes.

Are you using the S-Video cable direct from an S-Video socket to another S-Video socket.....or via an adapter of some sort?

[checker]

Many USB devices only capture "what the software was installed as"....meaning that somewhere during the install you were asked which you wanted....PAL or NTSC.....from then on you are locked into your chosen format.

I got lucky with my Hauppauge USB device and the accompanying WinTV7 software. I no longer need to re-install the software to switch between PAL and NTSC. It's still a tiny bit of a pain in the ass but what once took half of an hour now takes a few minutes.

Are you using the S-Video cable direct from an S-Video socket to another S-Video socket.....or via an adapter of some sort?

Sorry for late answer, the cable has a scart end that splits up into 2 RCA and 1 s-video cable intended to sit in the the Pinnacle jacks. Are you leaning towards the use of a separate s-video cable while using the scart cable for the audio or even replacing the scart cable with a 2-way forged Audio cable? Didn't think of the install settings, I will look further into that someday. Only been hearing good things about Hauppauge I might as well get one myself if the trouble remains

[hech54]

the cable has a scart end that splits up into 2 RCA and 1 s-video cable intended to sit in the the Pinnacle jacks. Are you leaning towards the use of a separate s-video cable while using the scart cable for the audio or even replacing the scart cable with a 2-way forged Audio cable? Didn't think of the install settings, I will look further into that someday. Only been hearing good things about Hauppauge I might as well get one myself if the trouble remains

Unless your VCR has a devoted S-Video connection....the odds of a SCART connection(on the VCR) outputting what is required for S-Video is 50/50. USUALLY unless the VCR is actually marked as S-VHS and has a dedicated S-Video connection....you are not going to get S-VHS or S-Video out of the SCART connection.
I have little doubt that the SCART cable you have is designed to carry S-Video/S-VHS signal since it has an S-Video cable/plug coming out of it.....it's the fact that your VCR SCART connection is not wired to output S-Video. So if you plan to keep on using that VCR....buying another capture device will not solve the problem.

[hech54]

Just think of this as the female SCART connection on the back of your VCR. Your SCART connection pins #s 13 and 15 have no connection to anything inside the VCR. If that is the case then you will never get an S-Video signal from that SCART connection.

[checker]

the cable has a scart end that splits up into 2 RCA and 1 s-video cable intended to sit in the the Pinnacle jacks. Are you leaning towards the use of a separate s-video cable while using the scart cable for the audio or even replacing the scart cable with a 2-way forged Audio cable? Didn't think of the install settings, I will look further into that someday. Only been hearing good things about Hauppauge I might as well get one myself if the trouble remains

Unless your VCR has a devoted S-Video connection....the odds of a SCART connection(on the VCR) outputting what is required for S-Video is 50/50. USUALLY unless the VCR is actually marked as S-VHS and has a dedicated S-Video connection....you are not going to get S-VHS or S-Video out of the SCART connection.
I have little doubt that the SCART cable you have is designed to carry S-Video/S-VHS signal since it has an S-Video cable/plug coming out of it.....it's the fact that your VCR SCART connection is not wired to output S-Video. So if you plan to keep on using that VCR....buying another capture device will not solve the problem.

Hi, sorry for late answer again, but now I'm able to devote some time to continue this project.
To recap: I can't get the s-video output on the Panasonic nv-sj203 vcr to generate colour to my pinnacle device. These are the cables I've used: http://imageshack.com/a/img51/7720/co9w.png (the second from left doesnt support s-video). Can you or anyone else point out the correct cable to use on http://www.amazon.co.uk/?
Thanks

[hech54]

Again.....you are not listening.
Unless your VCR has a devoted/dedicated S-Video connection....the odds of a SCART connection(on the VCR) outputting what is required for S-Video is 50/50.
I've looked at about a dozen completed listings on Ebay at Panasonic NV SJ series VCRs and NONE of them say they are S-VHS VCRs and NONE of them list a dedicated S-Video connection as an output.
Do you know why there is no dedicated S-Video connection on the back?.....BECAUSE IT'S NOT AN S-VHS VCR!!!!!!!
With that VCR you will need to use the Y/R/W cinch connections just like I use on my Panasonic NV-HD620.
Period.
End Of Discussion.

[checker]

Again.. It's YOU that don't listen.
This is what I asked:

Can you or anyone else point out the correct cable to use on http://www.amazon.co.uk/?
Thanks

With the addition: In case the vcr didn't support s-video scart, or s-video at all for that matter ( quite obvious if you listened to what I said before, that these kind of cables already had been used).
This is the relevant part in your post:

With that VCR you will need to use the Y/R/W cinch connections just like I use on my Panasonic NV-HD620.

The first google search result didn't give any further details about it, which is the reason why I posted the model number here. That means you shouldn't respond by spelling it out in caps "CUZ ITS NOT A S-VIDEO VCR.." You really have no reason nor right to rage about nothing, it just shows what kind of person you are. You probably know some stuff but it's your attitude that's in the way. This is such an interesting project that I don't want any other people to spoil the fun. Also you cant be 100% sure wether its the cable or the s-video output on the device that's broken (unless you know the specs about the vcr, I found out about it now even though it took a while).

There's no discussion and there never was.
Bye.

[DB83]

@checker

Nice rant.

Now for some simple facts. The majority of VCRs do NOT support s-video over scart. Now maybe yours does but you would be in a minority so my bet is it does not.

But to humour you, just in case it does, take a close look your your s-video cable and in particular those very thin pins. Have you bent one ? I guess not.

And if you were really smart you would have read that many, many people have the same issue as you. They also can not get a colour signal from their vcr over s-video. I wonder why.

Generally, the ONLY vcrs that support s-video are S-VHS ones. These are two different terms but manufacturers only support s-video on these higher spec machines as it is not cost-effective for them to do all.

[checker]

@DB83: Yea either that or if something would have been wrong with any of the jacks transfering the s-video signal on any of the devices since it already works with the standard rca composite. Or it could have been something else.I did actually search with google about colour loss but the outcome generated too many possible solutions, like switching settings from ntsc to pal in the recording software, an option which wasn't visible in this capture software. Trial and error would've been possible but that would've been far more expensive. At first I also suspected the vcr to be the culprit because it looked so old to be able to generate such nice graphics/video quality (probably not hd, but still) Thanks anyway, will check further into a dedicated s-vhs vcr

[DB83]

s-video and composite are two different systems. The 's' stands for separate which means, in technical terms, that the Luma (light) and Chroma (Colour) are transmitted separately whereas with composite they are transmitted together. That is why s-video gives a better signal quality.

You do not state your country but I guess it is somewhere in Europe since the US do not use Scart connectors.

You have also not stated the source of your VHS tapes but if you have colour over composite they are inevitably not NTSC ones since the majority of capture devices do not support PAL-60.

If you attempted to capture a NTSC tape by changing the capture source to NTSC you will get a black and white picture but that will also happen over composite.

Bottom line. None of this affects your inability to get a colour signal over s-video. I own a VHS/DVD combi and that has a s-video socket. However I have no signal from that unit when playing a tape. It only transmits s-video in pass-through for dvd.

S-VHS machines are pretty rare these days. They will be second hand in probably 'gone through the mill'. To get one repaired (or even a standard vcr) will be a nightmare and parts would be very hard to find.

While capturing over s-video is prefered, I have captured tons over composite. Never had any complaints. That is but a small part of a much larger picture for good VHS capture.

[PuzZLeR]

S-VHS machines are pretty rare these days. They will be second hand in probably 'gone through the mill'. To get one repaired (or even a standard vcr) will be a nightmare and parts would be very hard to find.

I happened to buy a brand new JVC SR-V101US, still in its box, some 3-5 years ago for my VHS transfer project. However I was very lucky, and it was still very expensive.

I don't think this is nearly as possible today (or would be even more expensive). I would not have carried on with any degree of success on used S-VHS models. The S-VHS models I did buy for alternatives/backups were all failures - two Panasonic AG-1980s (a known excellent model), and just recently a Panasonic AG-1970 (an apparently indestructable tank) - ALL have issues (tracking, comets, chroma bleeding, etc), and certainly beaten up like a vast majority of used S-VHS models would be IMO today.

If you want some decent VCR choices today, particularly with RCA/composite, look into posts from "Orsetto" on this Forum, who is pretty much an expert in this department.

[checker]

You do not state your country but I guess it is somewhere in Europe since the US do not use Scart connectors.

You have also not stated the source of your VHS tapes but if you have colour over composite they are inevitably not NTSC ones since the majority of capture devices do not support PAL-60.

Europe is correct and so is the source of the tapes, which is most often PAL. But I guess I'll have to use the NTSC setting since it doesn't look like it's changeable in this cap software

If you attempted to capture a NTSC tape by changing the capture source to NTSC you will get a black and white picture but that will also happen over composite.

Bottom line. None of this affects your inability to get a colour signal over s-video. I own a VHS/DVD combi and that has a s-video socket. However I have no signal from that unit when playing a tape. It only transmits s-video in pass-through for dvd.

These are things you get acknowledged of when you've been around in the business or having read up the forums for a while, so it's good information. I'll try to avoid these then. The s-video socket probably works in the same way like with a combined dvd/vcr device that supports recordings from vhs tapes to dvd discs. Better not to take the risk

S-VHS machines are pretty rare these days. They will be second hand in probably 'gone through the mill'. To get one repaired (or even a standard vcr) will be a nightmare and parts would be very hard to find.

I happened to buy a brand new JVC SR-V101US, still in its box, some 3-5 years ago for my VHS transfer project. However I was very lucky, and it was still very expensive.

I don't think this is nearly as possible today (or would be even more expensive). I would not have carried on with any degree of success on used S-VHS models. The S-VHS models I did buy for alternatives/backups were all failures - two Panasonic AG-1980s (a known excellent model), and just recently a Panasonic AG-1970 (an apparently indestructable tank) - ALL have issues (tracking, comets, chroma bleeding, etc), and certainly beaten up like a vast majority of used S-VHS models would be IMO today.

While capturing over s-video is prefered, I have captured tons over composite. Never had any complaints. That is but a small part of a much larger picture for good VHS capture.

This seems to get more complicated than expected. Maybe I should grab a decent composite video vcr for starters

If you want some decent VCR choices today, particularly with RCA/composite, look into posts from "Orsetto" on this Forum, who is pretty much an expert in this department.

Good call, will check these posts out.