about to use advc50 for first time to capture vhs to dvd

[azuberi80]

hi,

first of all let me just say that this forum is very informative but im having a little trouble finding what im looking for.

i have a canopus advc 50 hooked up to a vcr and im trying to take may vhs tape (home video) and put some nice effects on it, menus chapters etc and burn it to dvd.

what programs should i be using and if there is already a how to guide id appreciate it if someone could point me in that direction.

thanks.

also im kinda confused as to what format i need to capture in.

[gshelley61]

https://www.videohelp.com/guides

http://www.digitalfaq.com/

[redwudz]

I use a ADVC-100, but the methods are the same. For DV transfers, I generally use WinDV because I like the preview feature, but DVIO is also popular. Scenalyzer is a little more complicated, with more features.

I use Type 2 DV because it is compatible with TMPGEnc encoder and Virtualdub (With a DV codec such as the Panasonic DV codec installed.)

Editing and filtering can be done with Virtualdub and other editors.

If you want simple, the Mainconcept encoder can take the DV stream and encode directly to MPEG2, but editing DV is much easier than MPEG.

Canopus isn't much for instructions or tutorials, but there is info out there. You should take a look at the DV forum here.

Menus and chapters you do when you author to DVD, try TMPGEnc DVD Author, my favorite.

That should get you started, good luck.

[azuberi80]

thanks for the response.....i was wondering if you could show me some specific guides that show me how to do it step by step until i get the process down.

something that will take me from the initial capture to the authoring portion.

thanks.

[redwudz]

I am not aware of any specific guide for the ADVC, but you can check the Canopus forum: http://forum.canopus.com/

Other than using a DV transfer program to get the DV file on your computer harddrive, everthing from that point on is about the same as working with other types of AVI files.

The links gshelley61 posted are a good start.

[jimmalenko]

I was wondering if you could show me some specific guides that show me how to do it step by step until i get the process down.

something that will take me from the initial capture to the authoring portion.

I too have an ADVC-100 hooked up to both a VCR and XBOX at different times.

My Method:
1. ScenalyzerLive to capture to DV format AVI using the Canopus-compatible DV codec.
2. Open that AVI in VirtualDub if editing is required and save back to a new AVI, using Direct Stream Copy on both audio and video. If not required skip this step.
3. Open the "final" AVI in TMPGEnc Plus and encode to MPEG-2.
4. Author using TMPGEnc DVD Author.
5. Burn using Nero.

There are a multitude of ways to do the exact same thing, each having their own idiosyncrasies.


I daresay this guide may be the most beneficial to you.


I don't want to overwhelm you, but just to throw another couple of ideas at you:

You can frameserve from VirtualDub directly to TMPGEnc instead of saving to another AVI. You would do this if you are limited by Hard Drive space. See the guide here.

You could integrate AVS scripting by using VirtualDubMod to edit. FulciLives' guide is here.


Some things to remember:

VHS will probably need noise reduction filters of some sort to clean up the video. The whole point of the Convolution3D filter is that it is a noise reduction filter and is much much quicker than TMPGEnc's Noise reduction filter.

Capture at the biggest resolution you can and at the best quality. A couple of format conversions means that we need all the quality we can get.

The size of the files means you will need around 13GB per hour of VHS before editing. The filesize will look after itself provided you use the correct bitrates when encoding to MPEG-2.


I remember how hard it appeared to me when I first starting doing this, but with a bit of practice and reading you'll nut it out

[aguillon]

Exact same steps as Jimmalenko, capturing using an ADVC50.

Just make sure you have plenty of hard disk space before embarking on the DV capture journey: one hour of DV quality footage takes about 13 gig on your hard disk.

Encoding to MPEG2 would add another 3 gig an hour (roughly). - re outputting DV video out of Virtual Dub multiplies the space by 2.

Another thought: undocumented feature on your ADVC50: remove the very last jumpered on your card (they are numbered) to get rid of any Macrovision protection issues (like trying to capture from commercial tapes).

Cheers