VHS to DVD... Ulead VideoStudio 7 OR TMPGEnc?

[jmatej]

I am trying to come up with the best solution for a somewhat lousy 3rd generation VHS tape. The original footage was shot on a canon MiniDV by my Swedish buddies when we were skiing in Canada. They produced a PAL VHS which they then had converted to NTSC VHS for me. It is a keepsake and I would like to burn it to DVD. I did a capture via my Panasonic GS200 on to my hard drive with Ulead VS7. I then used the "share" option to burn a DVD. The resulting video can be a little choppy at times, and of course there is some color bleed. What would be the best way/sequence to handle this type of VHS footage? I also own TMPGenc plus. Which has a better mpeg2 codec for this purpose? I do realize that you can't make chicken salad from chicken sh*t but are there any other steps and or utilites that can enhance the result from a suboptimal master? I don't have access to the original digital footage...

[vhelp]

TGIF..

@ jmatej

If you really want to enjoy the final product of your labors, about the
only way you'll obtain the maximum quality of this 3rd generation copy
is to encode it, CBR 9000 bitrate, and make 1 hour DVD disks.
So, if it takes two disks, so be it. If you have dual burner, you'll
probably have better chance at a 1 disk project.

For something like this (VHS) and has gone through several generations
of copies, I would not treat it like GIGO (or crap)

I went through a similar experience just yesterday. And this (my)
VHS tape was recorded in EP mode, which is even worse. The worse you
can get. And it had lots of color bleed. But in my mind, that VHS was
*the* original master (until I find the actaul 8mm tape) and I had
treated it as GOLD. Only a very high bitrate would do the job.
Speically since the source was all Interlaced to begin with.., which
makes the final process all that much poorer in the end. Interlace
is the most difficult to do, as far as obtaining maximum quality.

I would not give in to a multi-pass encoding routine for this project.
I would do a straight CBR and highest birtate you can afford with the
least amount of comprimise.
.
I would also *not* recommend any filtering on this source too. And,
since you performed a DV to HD, then that your best chance in obtaining
the maximum quality. This *is* a good route to take.

I think that in your case, you will have to play around w/ a bunch of
encoding scenarios. That means, in addition to encoding settings,
I also mean Encoders as well. Until you reach a decision on which is
the best quality.

Also, because of the nature of this project, I would not give in to
multi-pass -to- fit on a single DVD disk route. The objective here,
is to reproduce the best quality possible. That's your goal. It's all
too obvious here

Good luck,
-vhelp