VHS to DVD Transfer

[VideoChunkster]

Hi guys, im in the process of transferring home family movies to DVD and am just wondering, is there any reason after I am finished, to keep the original master tapes?

Many Thanks.

[PGB]

Unless you're really pushed for physical space, yes. It's always best to retain originals. That way, if a new storage format comes out, or a magical processing algorithm etc. you can recapture from the source. I've still got VHS tapes from 1991 which are in good condition.

[VideoChunkster]

Unless you're really pushed for physical space, yes. It's always best to retain originals. That way, if a new storage format comes out, or a magical processing algorithm etc. you can recapture from the source. I've still got VHS tapes from 1991 which are in good condition.

Thanks for the reply, my tapes are 1989-1991 also. I've made DVD's from most of them so far. Some are in great condition, others are starting to show their age as I think they had many recordings before the home movie was put on them. Im burning them in HQ which only fits just over 1 hour per DVD. As the quality is as good as it gets and looks surprisingly good on both my 10 year old SDTV and my new HDTV besides professional restoration I was thinking not much else could be done.

Just wanted to know peoples thoughts before getting rid of the tapes, id rather have the OG's and not need them than need them and not have them.

Any extra info on programs that could enhance the video quality a little would also be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

[manono]

As the quality is as good as it gets...

It's not even close to being 'as good as it gets', and sometime in the future you may decide to do a better job on them. I also vote for keeping the tapes.

[DB83]

[QUOTE=VideoChunkster;2253675
Any extra info on programs that could enhance the video quality a little would also be greatly appreciated.

[/QUOTE]

You do not even say what your work-flow/equipment used is. "Burning in HQ" means nothing unless you are simply using a VCR straight to a dvd-recorder or even a combi.

[VideoChunkster]

[QUOTE=DB83;2253681]

You do not even say what your work-flow/equipment used is. "Burning in HQ" means nothing unless you are simply using a VCR straight to a dvd-recorder or even a combi.

Yep im using a VCR to dvd recorder, any info on how to do a better job is appreciated, im still learning when it comes to all this.

Thanks guys.

[sanlyn]

Keep the tapes. Among several methods of transferring home-made VHS to digital video, VHS-direct-to-DVD is among the worst. Even at high bitrates.

[VideoChunkster]

Keep the tapes. Among several methods of transferring home-made VHS to digital video, VHS-direct-to-DVD is among the worst. Even at high bitrates.

?

Ok makes sense, does Virtualdub do a good job

[VideoChunkster]

Im using an Akai VCR and Sansui DVD Recorder.

[jman98]

VideoChunkster - You do need to understand that sanlyn has some very deeply held beliefs about VHS transfers. I'm not saying he's wrong, but you do need to consider that his viewpoints represent a very small minority of people who want to do this kind of thing and he will fight to the death about certain ideas on this subject where I think he's overly fussy. Yes, if you do things his way you will get the best quality, but as a newbie the odds of you spending months or longer learning to do it "the sanlyn way" are very unlikely and my personal belief (which he will argue with me to the death about) is that his way offers less improvement over your way than he claims. Yes, his way is better but is it 100 times better? I don't think so. I think you're looking at maybe a 10% improvement at best and honestly you may not be able to tell the difference.

There is always some chance that technology in the future will enable improvements in VHS capture that we can't even conceive of now so keep the tapes if you can, but at least use your method as you will have a copy of those precious tapes just in case something unforeseen happens to the tapes and you can't use them again. Please use good quality DVDs which means either Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim (anything EXCEPT their Life series) and do NOT store to re-writable DVDs but use either DVD+R or DVD-R for your captures.

[DB83]

The equipment used means nothing - I am sure that both Akai and Sansui have or have had several models. The better VCRs can only be obtained on the S/H market.

The forum is headed up as 'Restoration'. Direct transfer from VCR to dvd-recorder has no restoration. I am not gonna re-invent the wheel here since there are countless topics on the 'better' ways this can be done. These ways do take time so if you are not prepared to invest that time (and money to obtain the equipment) stick with the the quick'n'dirty current method.

Should you decide at some future date that you want to attempt to do this properly then you will need your original tapes. Some people attempt restoration from the dvds they have created but that is not suggested either.

[VideoChunkster]

VideoChunkster - You do need to understand that sanlyn has some very deeply held beliefs about VHS transfers. I'm not saying he's wrong, but you do need to consider that his viewpoints represent a very small minority of people who want to do this kind of thing and he will fight to the death about certain ideas on this subject where I think he's overly fussy. Yes, if you do things his way you will get the best quality, but as a newbie the odds of you spending months or longer learning to do it "the sanlyn way" are very unlikely and my personal belief (which he will argue with me to the death about) is that his way offers less improvement over your way than he claims. Yes, his way is better but is it 100 times better? I don't think so. I think you're looking at maybe a 10% improvement at best and honestly you may not be able to tell the difference.

There is always some chance that technology in the future will enable improvements in VHS capture that we can't even conceive of now so keep the tapes if you can, but at least use your method as you will have a copy of those precious tapes just in case something unforeseen happens to the tapes and you can't use them again. Please use good quality DVDs which means either Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim (anything EXCEPT their Life series) and do NOT store to re-writable DVDs but use either DVD+R or DVD-R for your captures.

Thanks for this, very informative. I was using Memorex DVD's but have Just bought a big pack of TDK Gold DVD-R's so im using those. I may grab some footage later and let you guys have a look. Everyones been quite helpful, im enjoying doing this like a little side project but as I've been reading this forum a bit the last couple weeks I've realised I got a lot to learn with all this so thought id ask.

[VideoChunkster]

I'm using mpeg2, is there a better format I should use?

[sanlyn]

VideoChunkster - You do need to understand that sanlyn has some very deeply held beliefs about VHS transfers. I'm not saying he's wrong, but you do need to consider that his viewpoints represent a very small minority of people who want to do this kind of thing and he will fight to the death about certain ideas on this subject where I think he's overly fussy.

Not to the death. The O.P. asked about getting better quality, not about quick 'n push-button easy.

Yes, if you do things his way you will get the best quality, but as a newbie the odds of you spending months or longer learning to do it "the sanlyn way" are very unlikely and my personal belief (which he will argue with me to the death about) is that his way offers less improvement over your way than he claims. Yes, his way is better but is it 100 times better? I don't think so. I think you're looking at maybe a 10% improvement at best and honestly you may not be able to tell the difference.

With dirty crappy noisy icky crummy home-made tape and a Sansui DVDR? ?? LOL!! I think lorsdsmurf and others of the very small minority would disagree. 10% ?? You jest. But in one major respect you're correct, and I agree: the O.P. likely wouldn't take the trouble.

There is always some chance that technology in the future will enable improvements in VHS capture that we can't even conceive of now so keep the tapes if you can, but at least use your method as you will have a copy of those precious tapes just in case something unforeseen happens to the tapes and you can't use them again. Please use good quality DVDs which means either Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim (anything EXCEPT their Life series) and do NOT store to re-writable DVDs but use either DVD+R or DVD-R for your captures.

Agreed. If the tapes have any personal value for you or your family, keep 'em. Chance are pretty good you'll be sorry you didn't.

[pepegot1]

I have over 1500 DVD's. I would need a warehouse to keep the original tapes. I have DVD's and can reauthor (repair), if needed, using ISOBuster.

[vhelp]

with hevc right around the corner, filtering will become uncessary on high quality content such as commecial movies or good quality equipmented recorded stuff, etc. i tested a few and am satisfied with the results. plus, i prefer not to filter since i prefer the perceived noise as detail and/or sharpness.

Yep im using a VCR to dvd recorder, any info on how to do a better job is appreciated, im still learning when it comes to all this.

since we are not wizards, first, post an *unprocessed* sample clip from your current capture setup as that will tell us what your abilities truely are. that means, if you captured via huffy codec, post <100mb of that, but not huffy->xvid or huffy->youtube.

[sanlyn]

The captures are to MPEG2.

[2Bdecided]

Depending on the tapes, adding a Time Base Corrector, and making the levels correct (if they're not already), can be far more than a 10% improvement. I say this as someone who usually finds sanlyn to be way over picky.

It could be zero improvement with near-perfect tapes, it could be 50%-100% with mediocre tapes, and it could be 200% or more with tapes with serious problems that can be fixed by this alternative approach. It could also be 0% for tapes with serious problems that can't be fixed by this alternative approach. It depends on the tapes, how much luck the OP is having with the current approach, and how much luck they have with this alternative approach.


If, when compared on a CRT TV and compared a second time on an HDTV the DVD copies really do look as good as the VHS originals ever did when viewed directly (direct connection VCR>TV) on either TV, then I wouldn't worry.

If, upon careful inspection, you notice bright areas being blown out, dark areas being lost, straight vertical lines becoming wobbly, picture jitter or wobble, or colour loss, or drop outs etc then it may be worth trying to do better.

Cheers,
David.

P.S. I'd keep the tapes too. Always. But they are a fire risk, and they will degrade, and you will struggle to find anything even half decent to play them in a decade or so.

[sanlyn]

I'd agree with 2Bdecided about the "%" one can gain improvement, and agree that most VHS tapes in the typical home library aren't worth a great deal of trouble and angst even if that magical improvement could be attained. Home made family videos might be another story: most users will record 6 hours of family history directly onto a single unedited disc at the lowest bitrate and resolution possible and will claim that it looks "great". Their viewers will agree.

On the other hand, when someone posts the question about how to attain the "highest quality" from those old noisy damaged faded tapes of a wedding or other family history, how would one answer the owner? The proper reply would be a quickie summary of lossless capture and processing, and recommendations for Avisynth/VirtualDub filters and a good encoder. Or a recommendation to consult a good capture and restoration guide at the likes of digitalfaq, AfterDawn, or AMV. Those recommendations are almost always a waste of time and forum storage space. The average user has no concept of quality to begin with nor any intention of doing anything more than dropping by Walmart for the cheapest DVD/VHS combo they can get (if they don't already own a worse such combo or $15 USB device from the past), then find a way in the forum Tools section to reduce the size and bitrate of that 6 hours of captured video so that it fits on a 1GB Dynex USB stick with room left over for another 15 hours of super-compressed music. This, in effect, is what they are really inquiring about, or something along similar lines. The other "quality" inquiries frequently are similar entries from those who've spent considerably more $$$ on Vegas Pro or some other "Pro" NLE that has many capabilities but is used primarily as simple cut/join apps to assemble damaged video clips and accomplish pretty much the same reductions, working on the assumption that quality is automatically "improved" by using pricey software and/or running a 4th or 5th re-encode thru h264 at the lowest possible bitrate.

If you think the examples here are extreme, you haven't been following this forum very closely. Those who are more serious about looking for answers with Avisynth, VirtualDub or any other restoration app or process are in the minority, as they are in all tech or crafts forums. There really are picky people in this forum and elsewhere. If they can't come here to get picky answers, there are other sources. But I don't believe that I or anyone else in this forum has ever forced a user to follow the picky path, and I've made plenty of compromises in my own projects. If the inquirer chooses to ignore the picky approach, I'm never surprised. It's their video, not mine.

[2Bdecided]

Those who are more serious about looking for answers with Avisynth, VirtualDub or any other restoration app or process...

...find their way over to doom9




I hate to continue the agreement, but I do agree with sanlyn.



No one has yet mentioned that burnt DVD-Rs might not last that long. Especially if kept on a bookshelf in direct sunlight. The original VHS tapes, though now degrading, will probably out-last them. Both would do better in a cool dark storage box.

Cheers,
David.

[sanlyn]

My comments are not meant to dismiss the comment by 2Bdecided -- from whom I've learned much. And right here in this forum !