Lost video capturing from Beta to Pioneer DVR-220

[dustinbeitz]

Hello everyone,

I have done quite a bit of searching around and can't seem to find a solution to my problem. Here's what's going on:

I am trying to transfer my family's old Beta home videos to DVD. I am capturing directly to DVD using my Pioneer DVR-220. The audio is capturing fine, but everytime the tracking is the slightest bit off or there is a poor spot in the Beta tape, the DVR-220 either just captures a black screen or it just captures a few frames.

When I play the Beta tape directly through my TV I can make out almost everything except a few parts where the tape seems damaged. It seems like the DVR-220 is filtering out all the video that isn't "perfect". How can I just capture what the Beta player is sending out, which is very "watchable"?

Is there a way to do it without spending a lot more money?

Thanks!

[dustinbeitz]

So I take it nobody has experienced this problem before, huh?

[FulciLives]

That model Pioneer was known to be a bit "picky" with the video thus causing video drop-outs when the video wasn't "perfect". It seems Pioneer has since fixed the problem with newer models.

The only way around it really is to use a stand alone Full Frame TBC device. This will "re-sync" and "stabilize" the video so that the Pioneer will not have any of those "hic-ups" where it "drops" the video.

In fact a Full Frame TBC is a great device to have for analog video to digital video conversion.

There is one slight problem though ... a Full Frame TBC is not cheap. The only two "relatively cheap" models are the AVT-8710 and the DataVideo TBC-1000. The AVT-8710 is around $200 or so whereas the DataVideo TBC-1000 is around $300 or so (I'm talking US Dollars here).

A reliable on-line website for ordering these would be: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

Good Luck !!!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dustinbeitz]

Thanks for the reply...I'll look into that

[FulciLives]

Here is a link for you:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=250528

That thread is a good starting point for finding out more about a Full Frame TBC ... it also has links to other threads chock full of good TBC information.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dustinbeitz]

One last question...wouldn't it be cheaper to just purchase a different model of DVD recorder, or will other models pretty much give me the same result?

I'm not looking for very high quality, really...just enough to preserve my old family videos

[budz]

If you really want to preserve those Beta footage you could buy a Canopus ADVC 110 and capture it to your computer then use TMPGE to convert to mpeg 2 then use a dvd author program to create menu then you'll be able to burn to dvd media. It's a long process but that's how I did my beta tapes. With the Canopus ADVC 110 you won't have dropped frames or video/audio sync problems as well.

http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php

[budz]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=349146&is=RE...ughType=search

bhphoto sells the canopus advc 110 for $218.00

[FulciLives]

You already have a most excellent DVD recorder so yeah you need to "bite the bullet" and get a Full Frame TBC.

Most people that have the AVT-8710 seem to be happy with it just so you don't use it 24/7 because it does seem to act strange for some people when it gets hot and stays that way for "too long".

I mean your Pioneer unit is susceptible to frame drop issues but is otherwise one of the better DVD recorders made ... Pioneer really did a bang up job of it ... and truth be told if you even see it (some video drop outs etc.) on the TV (with the Beta VCR hooked up directly to the TV) then chances are just about any capture device (that does analog to digital conversion) will have issues to some extent.

The Full Frame TBC should solve the issue and give you a better capture or recording if you will than without it even if you didn't have drop-outs because of the benefits of using a TBC in general.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman