capture to DVD Writer or USB device.

[obender79]

I'm planning to transfer some of my old Hi8 analog video tapes to DVD. I don't plan to do any fancy editing, but I'd like to be able to trim unwanted scenes, create a few transformations, improve the picture (if possible) and finally create menus. My dilemma is:

1) capture using a USB device to a computer.
2) copy the tapes to DVDs using a standalone DVD-Writer with analog inputs (I have access to one), then edit the resulting .VOB files and reauthor to another DVD.

My questions are:

1) if I choose option 2, will it affect the quality of the final DVD as compared to option 1?

2) for option 1, what format should I capture to: avi? mpeg-2? mpreg-4? Like I said, I don't expect to do much fancy editing and the quality of the original is sometimes average (shot at night, etc.). I'd like to preserve the raw "original" files too, however, in case a better editing technology emerges later, or redo it for HD-DVD.

3) For option 1, any recommendations as to the devices themselves.


Thanks in advance.

[redwudz]

I would recommend DV AVI format. If you upgrade your camcorder to a newer model in the future, it will likely output in that format.

If you could borrow a camcorder with DV output that has passthrough capabilities and you had a Firewire card, you could use that to get the videos into the computer.

Or use a DV device like one of the ADVC units from Canopus or similar.

I like DV as it's easy to edit and using freeware programs like VirtualDub Mod, you can apply editing or filtering as needed.

If you transfer them to DVD with a recorder, it makes it more difficult to edit and filter. But if you just have a few tapes, it may be the way to go. You can use a freeware editor like Cuttermaran or spend a little cash and use MPEG-VCR or similar as they do a fair job of editing MPEG video.

Another method is to use a capture card and capture to AVI.

As far as quality, it really depends on the devices used and their settings. The capture card route would probably yield the highest quality, but requires a fast computer. USB converters vary in quality, depends on which ones. I use a ADVC-100, so I haven't tried any USB capture devices.

[ZippyP.]

2) copy the tapes to DVDs using a standalone DVD-Writer with analog inputs (I have access to one), then edit the resulting .VOB files and reauthor to another DVD.

A standalone will give better quality than a USB capture, especially for someone with little experience. So right from the start you have a better product, use the 2 hour setting (or less) on the recorder. For transitions and higher level editing I use Womble Mpeg Video Wizard which only re-encode where necessary (e.g. transitions). Simple cut edits and the menus can be done with TMPGEnc DVD Author.

That's what I use and I'm very happy with the quality.

Edit: Free fully-functional trials available for the above programs.

[obender79]

Gentlemen,

Thanks to everyone who's replied so far. Let me throw another ingredient into the pot. I have ReplayTv, which can record from regular analog inputs. I can conceivably use it to capture the video. One small downside is having to transfer the resulting mpeg file to a PC via LAN. This is fairly slow, but the time is of no real essence here since I can let it go overnight, while I'm at work, etc. The main question remains: quality of encoding. Any other issues here I'm not seeing?

[edDV]

Alot of this depends on the importance of these tapes and the amount of effort (and funds) you can invest for the last 10-20% of quality.

For important material that you want to digitally filter, uncompressed or DV capture gets you the highest quality raw capture file. You can then filter or edit with a variety of computer tools.

Next best is a standalone DVD Recorder in highest quality mode. These recorders have very good quality analog acquisition and 1hr DVD (~8000Mb/s) mode results in very good MPeg2 quality. The limitation of this method will be filtering in a subsequent pass on the computer. You have scraficed significant field by field detail from the original Hi8 to the MPeg2 encoding process. MPeg2 is considered a final display format, not an intermediate production format*.

USB devices would at best match a good DVD recorder and usually use the same parts. None of them are currently capturing to uncompressed or production imtermediate formats.

The Replay option would just be for a knock off. Quality would be significantly lower than a good DVD Recorder especially after it is re-encoded to DVD.

* there are exceptions to this rule.