I have a collection of bootleg concert videos on VHS and I want to convert them to some sort of avi type files. I'm not looking to do anything fancy, just 1:1 copies of the videos.
I have a high(ish) end sony vcr and a hauppauge 150 capture card. I have the hardware set up and working properly.
But I don't know what software and process to use. I've tried looking around on this site and others for guides but to be honest I am completely overwhelmed (and sometimes underwhelmed) by the stuff I find. Imho, they don't really explain what to do.
Thanks
Try StreamFab Downloader and download from Netflix, Amazon, Youtube! Or Try DVDFab and copy Blu-rays! or rip iTunes movies!
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 8 of 8
Thread
-
-
There's no such thing. Your thread title,
and your also stated, "I'm not looking to do anything fancy", are contradictory. You can do it easily but not optimally (just use the software included with the card to capture MPEG-2 video), or you can do it best.
Lordsmurf has written some guides to doing it 'best'.
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/1567-vcr-buying-guide.html
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/2251-tbc-time-base.html
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/
Also, look around for and read the several threads floating around these days regarding the restoration of video tapes. There's no way I'd consider a captured VHS tape as done or finished or good enough. -
I own a different capture card but what options does yours give you? You should be able to set up a capture using the software which installed with the card. I can capture to standard formats such as DVD, or to AVI or MP4 etc using installed system encoders.
As VHS is basically in the same format as 4:3 DVD I've be very tempted to capture directly to DVD compliant mpeg/vob files if you can while keeping it interlaced. I'd use the maximum possible bitrate. I'd keep those files as the "master" copy, and from there convert them to another format such as AVI.
In my case my capture card will also let me capture to a lossless format such as uncompressed AVI. They'd probably be even more ideal as "master" copies but they'll also require a lot of disc space. -
I shouldn't have used the word "Best". What is 'best' for me is something that looks as good as the vhs tapes and is relatively easy to do. I'm pretty sure those guides are overkill for what I'm looking to do (although I won't know that for sure till I see the videos I capture and see what they look like)
The hauppauge 150 only comes with this software called WinTV. I didn't even really think of using it to capture the video since it looked more like a tv viewing program, and it looked kind of crappy so I assumed it wouldn't do a decent job.
So I tried to use Virtual Dub, but, ran into problems. When I captured uncompressed video with it I couldn't open those videos in VLC and I couldn't even open them in Virtual Dub because they both complained about the format. So I tried to install huffyuv and capture to that format, but, either huffyuv refuses to install or virtual dub won't recognize that it's installed. (Still haven't solved that yet, but I made other thread(s) about that)
But yeah, thanks for the idea hello_hello. I'll try using WinTV and see how that goes. -
Yeah, WinTV seems to record them just fine. I don't know why I didn't figure that out right away, I guess I was just caught up in my broken VirtualDub problems.
I am recording at the top quality WinTV is capable of, MPEG2 12.0MBit/sec (CBR) which I assume is going to have no noticeable loss in quality from the source.
Now I just have to figure out what's a good way to filter the video to improve the quality. As manono suggested, I am doing that over here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/4088-recommendations-vhs-filtering.html -
The Hauppauge 150 with it's original WinTV software are easily capable of giving you damn near identical copies of your tape.....WITH the proper settings. Blud mentioned it's 12.0MBit/sec capabilities already(if your version of WinTV has that option). I've found out over the years that this setting is an overkill AND it is not DVD compliant.
Stick to 720x480 or 720x576(for PAL format) MPEG2 and you'll do fine. Anything less than that IS LESS as far as quality goes.
And as for you mentioning "some sort of avi type files"....unless they contain H264 video....you can kiss all of your hard work at retaining as much quality as the original out the window. -
-
Similar Threads
-
Best capturing method from VHS to digital format with highest quality?
By jbloggs in forum Newbie / General discussionsReplies: 10Last Post: 14th Nov 2015, 04:36 -
Please help me decide the best method to save my VHS tapes
By wickeddvine in forum CapturingReplies: 2Last Post: 31st Dec 2010, 09:05 -
Which VHS to DVD method for Newbie
By TimJ in forum Newbie / General discussionsReplies: 5Last Post: 11th Jan 2009, 08:49 -
Method of VHS Capture to DVD
By robjv1 in forum RestorationReplies: 15Last Post: 28th Nov 2007, 10:00 -
Best capture card and method for VHS to DiVX?
By Vantage in forum CapturingReplies: 9Last Post: 4th Aug 2007, 15:11