S-VHS to DVD - with maximum quality

[Tafflad]

I want to convert my collection of S-VHS tapes to DVD.

I have a Panasonic NV-HS800B S-VHS recorder and a Panasonic DMR-E95H DVD Recorder
I do not have a DV Camcorder so can’t use pass through function, therefore the way I am intending to do this is plug my S-VHS Player into my DVD recorder, create DVD RAM discs at maximum record quality and use these discs to get ‘video & audio’ into PC for editing.

Initial task is to get S-VHS tapes onto PC Hard drives (have 2TB Q-Link DNS drive) so no shortage of space

Assume best Hook up will be S-Video lead and separate L+R RCA audio leads between S-VHS deck and DVD recorder.
I also have option for switching S-Video over SCART AV1 but don't see it adds any benefit, as it's same Y/C signal.

Should I record straight to DVD-RAM disk (in DVD recorder) or to the HDD disk in DVD Recorder and then transfer to DVD-RAM ? not sure which is best from Analogue to Digital conversion.

Once on PC, probably keep at MPEG2 when I want to do only basic editing (without re-encoding) and convert to AVI files running through Virtual Dub if I need to do any colour correction, de-noise video etc.

Is what I plan logical ? welcome advice.

[lordsmurf]

1-hour XP mode only. Direct to DVD-R would be my suggestion, RAM probably fine, too.

Panasonic DVD recorders are low quality. Keep that in mind. The MPEG encoders inside it really suck.

[Tafflad]

Ok … a slight addition (or change) I noticed that on several posts members were advising that best way to convert VHS to Digital and obtain best you can from the tapes was to use an ADVC-300
As luck would have it there was one on eBay .. so I just picked on up for less that ½ price.

When using one of these, I would feed Audio and S-VHS video (via S-Video) into one side and then it provides me with several output options.
Is it sensible to stick with original plan and feed output into my Panasonic DVD Recorder, and as before then transfer converted digital files to PC using DVD-RAM disks.
(I know that I could also feed direct to PC using ‘FireWire’)

Or now having the ADVC-300 is there a better step ? or different workflow.

[2Bdecided]

I think you're confused about what the ADVC300 does!

[lordsmurf]

The ADVC-300 is an overpriced toy. You can get similar results from a $30 USB capture card or a used $50 DV camera.

But given the two choices, the Panasonic is a bigger piece of crap.

The DV box converts incoming video to DV on a computer. You then edit as needed, and encode to MPEG-2 with an encoder, authoring and burning to a DVD. In NTSC, DV conversion is a bad idea, but for PAL it's okay.

[Baldrick]

One similar topic is enough. Continue in http://forum.videohelp.com/topic375978.html .