ADVC-300 + JVC S3911U a good choice for old home movies?

[treefrog]

Greetings all. I'm new to the forum -- thanks for the informative threads, they've been helpful during my research.

We have some old home movies recorded with a VHS video camera (NTSC) in the early 80s that I'd like to bring into a Mac for some minor editing and preserving. I'd probably use the newish version of Final Cut Pro X on the software side.

So far, the Canopus ADVC-300 has caught my eye, since:

1) I'd prefer a minimally-compressed Firewire/USB solution rather than converting straight to DVD, ripping, editing, and re-converting.

2) I like the idea of most/all of the cleanup work being done in the conversion process rather than trying to wrangle it in software, since I'm not skilled in that area.

Would this converter be a good choice for my purposes? I'm open to any suggestions that aren't hugely more expensive. The 300 seems like an oddly dated model to be buying at this point, but if it works, it works.

As far as the VCR, I have a JVC HR-S3911U that I picked up at a thrift shop awhile back for $10 because I noticed it had S-Video out. However, it doesn't appear to have some of the more advanced features found in the recommended decks in this forum. Should I invest in a better VCR, or am I not likely to see an improvement in picture quality with this type of source material? It would seem a little strange to pair a $10 VCR with a $400 A/D converter, but I don't want to throw money at the project if it's not going to change the results.

Lastly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around TBC. Will I definitely need to add in full-frame TBC for decent results, and is the AVT-8710 still the best cost-effective solution? I'm not sure if the VCR I have even has line TBC, but the Canopus does. (Canopus line + 8710 full-frame = good combo?)

Overall, I'm just looking for a stable, straightforward workflow that will squeeze a relatively high-quality reproduction out of these tapes. I'd also eventually get around to transferring some old TV recordings and the like, but the home movies are my primary focus. Thanks for any advice.

(FYI, here's JVC's page about the S3911U: http://support.jvc.com/consumer/product.jsp?modelId=MODL026796&pathId=49&page=2&archive=true)

[magillagorilla]

"converting straight to DVD, ripping, editing, and re-converting."
For the love of all that is decent, please don't do that.

If you have been reading the forum, I think you already know the answer to your $10 VCR question. The playback deck, In my opinion, is doing 80-90% of the work. I use a Panasonic AG-1980p which has a field TBC. I find it does the job good enough for my expectation level. I tried 3 different capture cards and settled on a Happague 1250. I wouldn't recomend it to all my friends, but it does OK. I found that the deck made way more of a difference than any of the cards I tried.

I don't use an external TBC but, at the end of the day, what you are getting is a stablized picture, as in no wobbly lines or frame jitter. Some external video processors do fancy stuff like correcting u/v gain and cross talk problems and there are some which claim to fix dropouts. That kind of hardware can get really expensive.

Once I saw how good my video looked on a proper VCR, I quit seeking more hardware. I am sure there will be contrary opinions on the subject of external signal processing.

I suggest getting a $300 VCR and a $60 capture card and NOT a $300 capture card and a $10 VCR, where budget is concerned.

Pick a VCR form here https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/286055-VCR-buying-guide-(S-VHS-D-VHS-Professional)

[treefrog]

For the love of all that is decent, please don't do that.

No intention of it

If you have been reading the forum, I think you already know the answer to your $10 VCR question. The playback deck, In my opinion, is doing 80-90% of the work. I use a Panasonic AG-1980p which has a field TBC. I find it does the job good enough for my expectation level. I tried 3 different capture cards and settled on a Happague 1250. I wouldn't recomend it to all my friends, but it does OK. I found that the deck made way more of a difference than any of the cards I tried.

Touché, although to be fair, it's not going for quite as low on ebay as the $10 I found one for locally. I just thought that since many of the recommended models are also JVC S-VHS players with similar-seeming model numbers there might not be a huge difference at the end of the day.

But what you said about the VCR doing the heaving lifting makes sense, so I'll start pricing out how my budget would look when applied to a better deck and perhaps an ADVC-55 or 110 instead of the 300. The only reason I was looking at such an expensive converter was for the image-correcting features, which I thought 30-year-old tapes might benefit from.

I don't use an external TBC but, at the end of the day, what you are getting is a stabilized picture, as in no wobbly lines or frame jitter. Some external video processors do fancy stuff like correcting u/v gain and cross talk problems and there are some which claim to fix dropouts. That kind of hardware can get really expensive.

Once I saw how good my video looked on a proper VCR, I quit seeking more hardware. I am sure there will be contrary opinions on the subject of external signal processing.

I suggest getting a $300 VCR and a $60 capture card and NOT a $300 capture card and a $10 VCR, where budget is concerned.

Good advice, thanks. I'll do some test runs with other tapes when I get the deck and converter in place, but I'm hesitant to play back the actual home movies until I'm ready to capture for fear of deteriorating them further. So I won't know for sure until that point if the footage is in need of further assistance/stabilization. Sounds like a decent VCR with its own TBC might be all I need, though, as you said (the AG-1980p does seem great).

[themaster1]

If i had a 30 years old tape i would transfer the reel inside this old tape into a brand new shinny one

[magillagorilla]

But what you said about the VCR doing the heaving lifting makes sense, so I'll start pricing out how my budget would look when applied to a better deck and perhaps an ADVC-55 or 110 instead of the 300. The only reason I was looking at such an expensive converter was for the image-correcting features, which I thought 30-year-old tapes might benefit from.

Don't get me wrong. A good Procamp, external TBC and a kickass capture card will likely help you footage. But you are making gains in that 10-20% area instead of throwing your money at the number one piece of hardware, the deck. Many of the people on this forum have it all, I'm not one of them.

Also, always test a deck with a tap eyou dont care about. It's also good to repack your tape on a deck with a known good transport. Repacking meant fast forward to the end and rewind it. That will get any slack out o fthe tape and prevent it from misaligning or worse wraping around the rollers.

I couldn't recommend repackageing the tape in a new shell. It's not something I would do unless the tape has completely failed. I have taped footage back together before though.

[2Bdecided]

You really need a TBC in the VCR or capture device. A cheap VCR + AVC300 doesn't offer you either.

Either get a VCR with TBC built-in, or a capture device with TBC built in (e.g. some DV camcorders with analogue AV input).

Cheers,
David.

[magillagorilla]

You really need a TBC in the VCR or capture device. A cheap VCR + AVC300 doesn't offer you either.

Either get a VCR with TBC built-in, or a capture device with TBC built in (e.g. some DV camcorders with analogue AV input).

Cheers,
David.

I Agree 100%. If you don't have a stable image, you are going to have a nightmare of a time getting decent results in the software realm. There is no software that can correct wiggly fields. Sadly, software TBC remains a pipe dream.