I give up. VHS to DVD

[im4umia]

I have read both the ADS Tech DVD XpressDX2 and the Ulead Video Studio Deluxe manuals. These are not complicated. And after much input from members of this board I still cannot create a VHS to DVD without the DVD looking like a one generation down VHS copy. They simply look worse than the tapes.

In addition, Ulead does not recognize the DX2 nor my IEEE connected HD Camcorder. For VHS transfers I must use the CapWiz program that comes with the DX2. Using the DX2, as the tape records to my desktop I can see it flicker (dropped frames?) and pixelate occasionally.
After editign using Ulead, I match up the properties of the captured file to the DVD burn parameters. The result stinks.


For tapes on my HDV Camcorder material I must use PowerDirector since the Ulead program does not recognize it this hardware. I captured video and burned it to a DVD and it pixelates terribly.

I am totally frustrated with this entire experience.

Can someone please tell me what to purchase that will allow me to transfer my VHS via a VHS player & HD tapes via Sony HDR HC3 Handycam to DVD with quality results.

I'm begging ya.

[rkm69]

Have you thought about plugging your VHS player straight into a DVD recorder?

[thecoalman]

First you sould have continued in your original thread, anyone reading this has no idea what has already been suggested.

As far as the software goes there is only two possible explanations for poor quality.

1. You have not matched the settings and it's reencoding it.
2. You have matched the settings and the software for some reason thinks it's not the same.

Set up properly and assuming the problem is not 2 it will not reencode the video, the software has been taken out of the equation as far as quality issues. The easiest way to determine if it's reencoding is make a cut in the middle of the file and remove a few seconds then export just a new file. It shouldn't take much longer than if you copied it the file from one folder to another.

If one and two are not the problem there is only one explanation.... and this applies to any software that will author a DVD without reencoding the file.... it's the device or your capture settings. If you take the file generated by your device and create a disc and the file has not been reencoded the software being used to author it is not the problem. It's that simple.

Lastly I'm not sure if this was mentioned before but make sure you are viewing your test videos on a TV. Made for TV video never looks anywhere as good as it does on a TV.

[edDV]

I have read both the ADS Tech DVD XpressDX2 and the Ulead Video Studio Deluxe manuals. These are not complicated. And after much input from members of this board I still cannot create a VHS to DVD without the DVD looking like a one generation down VHS copy. They simply look worse than the tapes.

In addition, Ulead does not recognize the DX2 nor my IEEE connected HD Camcorder. For VHS transfers I must use the CapWiz program that comes with the DX2. Using the DX2, as the tape records to my desktop I can see it flicker (dropped frames?) and pixelate occasionally.
After editign using Ulead, I match up the properties of the captured file to the DVD burn parameters. The result stinks.


For tapes on my HDV Camcorder material I must use

PowerDirector since the Ulead program does not recognize it this hardware. I captured video and burned it to a DVD and it pixelates terribly.

I am totally frustrated with this entire experience.

Can someone please tell me what to purchase that will allow me to transfer my VHS via a VHS player & HD tapes via Sony HDR HC3 Handycam to DVD with quality results.

I'm begging ya.

The Ads Dvd Express Dx2 is an MPeg SD resolution encoding USB capture device. Yes, those are proprietary and usually only work with the software enclosed in the box. Capture quality depends on the internal MPeg encoding hardware and user settings. Such a device only works for analog NTSC/PAL video over analog composite or S-Video connections.

HDV is usually transferred over an IEEE-1394 connction. HDV encoding hapens in the camcorder. The IEEE-1394 "capture" is just a data transfer. This will require an HDV capable program. What version of ULead Video Studio are you using? I think you need the Premium version to transfer and work with HDV.

HDV is high definition. DVD is standard definition. You won't be able to get HDV onto a DVD in high definition. The HC-3 allows realtime downres to DV 480i transfer over IEEE-1394. This is clearly described in the manual so I won't repeat the process here. A DV transfer over IEEE-1394 will work with most edit programs. Try WinDV if you want something simple. Once the DV format file is on the PC, it can be edited and easily authored to a 480i DVD using ULead Video Studio or other authoring software.

One more thing. If high resolution is important to you, save the HDV tapes for the future.

[thecoalman]

Try this thread, it has a detailed explanation for your capture program.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=325840

[theewizard]

choose de-interlace PREVIEW, in the custom settings box, with a 3 gig machine, you have something else going on that is interfereing with the capture

DO not use it on a HUB, plug it directly into a USB port on the PC

also video capture is CPU intensive even with hardware encoding

so make sure all those background tasks, that aren't needed are shut down, RM player ,automatic email checking, your internet is OFF/unpluged, and you are NOT using the that PC as a web server or music/video server for the rest of the house

and check your capture settings anything over 4mbs/4000 is a pure waste of space when working from vhs tape, the drop out loss kills any quality you are getting

[thecoalman]

choose de-interlace PREVIEW,

Is that just the preview it deinterlaces or the capture? If it's the latter then you shouldn't use that. Made for TV video should be left interlaced.

and check your capture settings anything over 4mbs/4000 is a pure waste of space when working from vhs tape, the drop out loss kills any quality you are getting

You should probably qualify that pertaining to the resolution, that would be for half D1. 4000kbps is the minimum you would want to use for 720x480 when working with a high quality source, realistically 6000 to 8000kbps for VHS when using 720x480 . The 720x480 vs. half D1 debate is pretty much along the lines of the Mac vs. Windows debates, you have two camps. One that will say it's useless using 720x480 because the resolution of VHS isn't that large, but there are other factors. Whatever the case you certainly aren't going to lose anything by using the larger resolution.

[theewizard]

its preview only, and gives a more stable preview ( abate have the frame rate )

if hes capturing at 1/2 D1 then 4000 is about max needed

if hes capturing at 720*480 ( D1 ) then it depends on the quality of the input source, 8000 won't hurt, but it won't improve the quality of capture of somthing that is topping out at 4000 from a 1/2 D1 source

it's kinda like displaying 64 bit color data on a 32bit video board

or using a large frame landscape camera to copy a polaroid picture, the extra data encoding is wasted because there is NO extra data for improving the image

[thecoalman]

if hes capturing at 720*480 ( D1 ) then it depends on the quality of the input source, 8000 won't hurt,

But using 4000 will, if you use 4000 on 720x480 you will introduce MPEG atifacts regardless of the source even if it's the highest quality material you can get your hands on. Noisy VHS makes it that much worse, that's point I'm trying to make

but it won't improve the quality of capture of somthing that is topping out at 4000 from a 1/2 D1 source

That's debateable and has been beaten to death on many threads so I started another one. :P

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1680620

[ark]

If you can, get a Dazzle DVC 2. It is no longer manufactured (after Pinnacle took over Dazzle) but you may try your luck on e-bay.

And visit www.dazzlegeek.com for all the help.

You will be able to get very good quality transfer even at video bit rates of as low as 2000Kbps with Half D1 DVD Compliant captures.

[jman98]

If you can, get a Dazzle DVC 2. It is no longer manufactured (after Pinnacle took over Dazzle) but you may try your luck on e-bay.

And visit www.dazzlegeek.com for all the help.

You will be able to get very good quality transfer even at video bit rates of as low as 2000Kbps with Half D1 DVD Compliant captures.

The old DVC II is an excellent card, but it's worth pointing out a couple of things about it that might be issues.
1) It has issues with some AMD CPU systems. If you have a VIA chipset, you have the best chance of it working. It WILL work in AMD systems, despite what some claim, as I used mine for years in an AMD system with a VIA chipset. If you have an Intel CPU, you will not have any problems. If you have an AMD system and an nVidia or other chipset, it may not work at all.
2) It's a PCI card and it sometimes has interrupt issues on certain motherboards. The best advice I can give is that if you get one and it has problems, move it to a different PCI slot. Try to put it on a slot with low activity. Mine was in a slot that shared ICQs with USB and it worked OK.

Hauppauge makes cards just as good or better now than the old DVC II. I have the Hauppauge PVR-350 and honestly, it's better than the DVC II and has the bonus of not having any nasty AMD issues like the DVC II did.

[theewizard]

I have the first version DVDxpress and i get excellent results

yes at 4000k even as low as 2500k, introducing mpeg artifacts have not been an occurance/ problem for me

i have found, that bad captures are usually bad tape OR a to busy CPU or a poor/busy USB port configuration

[jackie2]

I am new 2 this. Why can't I get my dvdexpress dx2 too show my vhs in preview it has the sound?