Convert VHS to PC then to DVD-R

[BuckMaster]

I just built a media machine to convert some VHS tapes to DVD-R. I went out and bought a VCR and WinFast TV 2000XP Deluxe card.

I hooked up the VCR S-Video cable on the card and VCR but the Audio cable wont plug into the Audio on the VCR because of the connections are differant. Question I assume I just buy a adapter to convert the Audio cable from the card to the VCR also do I just hook it up to the mono side? Can I buy a Y splitter and hook it to both right and left side on the VCR for better sound?

Next whats the best and easest software to view and convert the VHS tapes to the PC to later burn to a DVD-R? What format does the VHS tape save to on the PC? Then what software do I use to convert the files on the PC to a DVD-R?

If anyone knows any good links to help me out id apperciate it! Just getting started and tring to figure out oll the steps!
I looked around in the guides sections but didnt see anything that went over each of these steps.

I have the following software if it helps any:
Unlead Video Studio
Pinnacle Instant Copy
TMPGenc
DVDXCopy

Thanks!

[Don2050]

BuckMaster,

For audio I use an 1/8" mini jack to RCA cable and connect it from the VCR directly to my sound card in. You can get the cables at Best Buy or any electronics store. This route allows you to capture in stereo.

As for capture software...I have found the bundled Leadtek PVR software to work excellent. It is very easy to set up and use but most importantly it allows you to custom pick any capture format you have on your computer, and then custom configure each format to how you would like. I recommend and use Huffyuv codec because it is a lossless codec and allows you to easily edit the video in any popular editing app and then encode to mpeg2 for burning to DVD. Huffyuv is freeware. I use TMPGEnc to covert to MPEG2 and Record Now Max to burn to DVD...though Nero works also. Huffyuv eats up alot of hard disc space but if both those 80GB and 60 GB are dedicated to video editing and caputre you should be fine. Alternativly if you are capturing VHS with no need for editing, you can try the the MPG setting in the PVR software and see how you like them..as they too can be custom configured to your liking.

As for instructions, the PVR manual should explain everything about the Leadtek software....for TMPGEnc their are many good articles on this site, but here is a link that may help for Tsunami...
http://dvd-hq.info/Compression.html

Virtualdub is the video editor I mainly use to edit the Huffyuv compressed video after capture if I need to...but if you are comfortable with Adobe Premiere it too offers excellent editing capabilites. Both Virtualdub and TMPGenc allow you to use noise reduction filters if you need them and virtualdub lets you use additional filters for just about anything you may need.

So the steps go roughly:

1. Capture VHS with Leadtek or other software.
2. Edit video with Virtualdub or other software.
3. Convert video to mpeg2 with TMPGEnc or other software if need to.
4. Burn to DVD with Record Now Max or other software.

goodluck

[BuckMaster]

Don2050,

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated!

[MrKGB]

I have the same card and for recording from cable I normally use the PICVIDEO MJPEG codec @19 quality setting ($30) or DIVX codec @ 10mbps (free ) instead of huffy because huffy is not good for playback and it has very low compression rate.
The MPEG2 encoder of the PVR is decent, but editing mpeg is pain, so it is better to capture AVI and then encode.

[Don2050]

huffy is not good for playback and it has very low compression rate

Huffyuv is not really a playback format....at least not for me. It is a temporary format that allows for editing and a good source in which to encode to any other higher compression format (ie..mpeg2 or xvid for me) For the interim purpose of editing and quality of allowing to encode to any other format with no drop in quality from the source huffyuv is excellent for this.

That is what I was saying earlier, if he does not intend to edit, then try to capture direct to mpeg2....I would not advise using divx to capture to in his case as he is going to be burning these on a dvd and that would mean extra encoding which means an unnecessary drop in quality.

That being said mjpeg is another (near lossless I believe) option for capture.