Capturing VHS to eventually make DVD

[Eyenovation]

Forgive the newbie question, but I have some home movies on VHS I would like to make into DVDs. I have seen several posts on the forums regarding different methods to do this, but am not sure how to proceed.

If I am understanding this correctly, I need a capture card? With this I can plug my VCR into this card and capture video in real time? Will this be in MPEG2, with audio, ready to rock and roll.

Then there is the USB method? Will this do primarily the same thing? I have seen the adverts for this, but am wondering the pros and cons of each.

My desired result is to get my home movies (VHS) on to a DVD with minimal loss in quality.
Any ideas ?

Thanks so much -
Chris

[geek rock]

try this very detailed tutorial.

http://www.richieh.com/tutorials.asp

Mark

[rsuave5]

i found out through much reading that a good basic card is the ati tv wonder ve or all in wonder that is better but i think the tv wonder ve is great and if you want to upgrade you can later its about 50 bux installs in 5 mins. its got tv player digital vcr etc.
the good thing is you can capture with any analog source i plugged my vcr in i bought this adapter that takes 2 rcas down to one sterreo jack(3 bux)plugged all in and tried to capture it was crap! i looked all over and just got confused with lingo and tech stuff. ne ways i tried capturing with windows movie maker in win xp and bam it ws perfect ! i capture there add more audio edit chapter add stills titles then i save the movie in dv avi then burn to dvd and its just awesome. you dont have win xp but you should be able to capture fine becuse its made 4 your win version e mail me its in my profile for specifics if you like

[tweety765a]

hi

just a tip dont go using usb capture cards because the transfer rate beween capture program and capture hardware is lower then vhs which will come out crap.

[Eyenovation]

Okay - so for OPTIMUM results - the capture card is the ticket?

[oldfart13]

hi

just a tip dont go using usb capture cards because the transfer rate beween capture program and capture hardware is lower then vhs which will come out crap.

Although I have issues with the ADS Instant DVD, I can say that my SVCD caps at 2.6 MB/s and DVD spec caps at 5 MB/s look superb. The real problem here is that an awful lot of people have grown up thinking VHS EP was "superb." Do a cap from a good source like DVD, LD or satellite instead of VHS and you'll change your mind. The transfer rate on the new cap devices like the SNAZZI USB 2.0 are great because of the USB 2.0 standard. Do you have a USB cap device or are you making assumptions without doing the tests yourself? I have both USB and AGP cap devices. I use them both for different captures, the AGP for short caps where conversion times are not an issue and the USB device for long caps like movies or TV shows. I'll probably buy another device in the near future, probably one that handles DV AVIs as well as analogue sources. Just more hardware for my capping arsenal...

[Eyenovation]

Well - now I am truly confused.
The stuuf I have is not too good anyway.
Its poor quality VHS stuff of me playing football in high school..
You know.. THAT kind of stuff, you just want to keep sake.

Basically, I know that over time the VHS will deteriorate further, so I want to preserve what I can, while I can.

Here are my questions -

Regardless of whether its USB or AGP - will it be MPEG2, ready for DVD, or is there conversion involved?

If I dont have USB2 on my motherboard, is the USB not a smart move?

Which will give me the flatout best pic quality, and sound?

[dezine]

I would recommend getting the Canopus ADVC1394 Capture card. It is a Firewire card that will enable you to capture much quicker than USB and with better quality.
It has a breakout board that enables you to capture and send AV or DV in or out of your computer. It is very reasonably priced and Canoopus makes a great product.
BTW what king of system are you working on?
Check this before you purchase a card as you processor speed and RAM are extremely important to video capture as well as your OS.

I hope this helps.
Dezine (Michael) 8)

[Eyenovation]

Thanks --

I have a AMD 1.4Ghz / 512MB RAM / DVD-A04 (the pioneer one).

I dont have a fire wire card, nor a capture card.
Will my VCR have fire wire outputs?

I guess I am not understanding the difference. Here is what I am getting. Please correct me if I am wrong.

With a capture card, it will have Audio / Video In. With a capture card, I will be able to record an MPEG2 in real time on my PC from a VHS? Is that correct? Where does the firewire come in? Why would I need that ??

[rsuave5]

ill try again all the stuff posted here is true and good but some people go a little over kill for what you need i was just like you wanting to save old movies to dvd or svcd orvcd i did the usb thing and it sucked i now have ati tv wonder ve and i capture great not a frame lost good aaudio. i use win xp movie maker though and not the enclosed stuff. ne way it was 50 bux at best buy installs in 5 minutes to your pci slot it has a coaxial in for your tv or cable and a composite in that is the yellow cord on your av cords. i didnt care for that you have to connect the red yellows to your sound card and for this you need an adapter that goes y rca to single stereo mini jack then when your done capturing with a composite source you have to disconnect it and put in a male to male small cord from the ati card to your sound card goto ati.com and look for the manual for tv wonder itll show you the hookups you need all in all its a very good card for what your looking for i will upgrade someday but for now this is fun and looks good

[Eyenovation]

i will upgrade someday but for now this is fun and looks good

Is there something... even better?

[macleod]

Ok everyone, this is a newbie and it sounds like he is getting confused over the suggestions.

First thing, READ the newbie beginners guide and then READ the capture guides. That will get you in tune to the lingo.

Reader's digest version of what you need (Other software, hardware, etc. out there, but this is to answer your questions since you have not read the guides or did searches, etc.):

0. verify that your dvd player will play vcd's

1. Go to best buy or circuit city or electronics store and purchase the ATI-TV wonder card (I own the ATI-TV wonder PCI card) and install the hardware and software on your computer. $50.00

2. Buy some CD-R cd's

3. Purchase nero,cd creator (copy software, which is much easier to use for a newbie than any other the free stuff on the software links section to the left)

4. Go to www.ati.com and download the latest drivers for ATI cards and run it.

5. Hook up the cables from your vcr to the capture card

6. Go into the software for ATI and make sure that it is the VCD format, which is 352x240 1150 bit rate

7. Record your winning touchdowns

8. Open your authoring software (nero, CD creator, etc.). They will have an option for creating vcd. Burn the VCD and play it in your DVD player.

9. Marvel at the coolness of the "perfect" vcd.

10. Wife, who thinks your wasting your time and would rather you buy stuff for her or spend more time with your kids, tells you it looks like crap.

11. Spend untold hours printing instructions and reading about peoples' triumphs and failures, trying different codecs, res sizes, VCd,SVCD,XVCD with wife bitching the entire time

12. Purchase powervcrII 3.0 for $10 on ebay

13. set up powervcrII and come back to this site, search for powervcrII and read how to apply tweeks to allow you to capture at above 352x 240 and then apply the tweeks (w/o frying the registry)

14. Begin capturing using CVD format with powervcrII and loving the results.

15. Spend the next 20 billion years capturing wedding videos, martha stewart episodes, for wife, family and friends while your footbal videos continue to degrade.

Forgot to mention, you won't sleep at all from step 0 through step 15. 8)

Short answer to your questions-real time capture, try powervcrII. The best quality you'll get is a little less than what is on the tape. Its the crap in crap out mentality.