VHS to DVD

[reicherb]

I'd like to begin moving VHS home movies to DVDs and have a few questions. I've look around this website and others, but must either be dense or am not seeing everything.

I've got an AIW RADEON that I'm using for input from a VCR. What is the best program to go about this? I'm playing around with VirtualDub and Nero, but have yet to find the combination that works in a DVD player. What resolution, frame rate, audio sample rate, etc should I be using? There are some many different formats. What is the standard TV format? What is the standard DVD format?

Please put a Newbie on the right track.

Thanks.

[kitty]

For VHS and an AIW I would look at capturing at 352x480 NTSC (352x576 PAL) which is the Half D1 size. You won't be able to get much more resolution capturing at the full D1 DVD res of 720x480/576. Capture with whatever software you feel comfy with, edit if you wish. Then encode - TMPGenc is a good program and for a 2 hour film look at tweeking the encoding parameters to the correct frame size above and try 2 pass variable bit rate maybe 1000 min, 3000 ave, 5000 max MPEG2 encoding and see if the size and quality are acceptable. When you get a file you like you can burn with your favorite program (Ulead Moviefactory 2 works well as does Nero, trials available on both).

Regards!

[reicherb]

I appreciate the help.

What software is regarded as the best for capturing and encoding? Right now, I'm using VirutalDub and TMPGenc with the huffyuv codec. Are there better programs?

Thanks.

[kitty]

I would stick with those for now if you like the results and can tune the capture size and rate according to your tastes.

[reicherb]

I appreciate your help.

Question 2:
I'm a big Redwings fan and would like to consider archiving games which can sometimes reach 3hrs. Should I drop down the resolution and/or the frame rate and/or the sample rate to make them fit on a single DVD? Or maybe even more than one game per DVD?

Thanks for your help.

[kitty]

You can use the DVDrHelp.com bitrate calculator to get the best settings & play before you burn.

https://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm

Looks like 3155 kbs might work well.

[reicherb]

Just Thought of question 3.

I've got a mpeg2 movie that I captured a while ago at 720x480 which I just tried to put on a DVD with both Nero and Easy CD Creator. The DVD will not play in my Sony DVD player, but will using WinDVD in my PC. I know my DVD player will play DVD-R as I've played other DVD-R discs in it. Is it possible that the mpeg is not the correct version? If so, how do I know and how do I convert it?

Again, thanks for your help.

[kitty]

That one puzzles me. These days Nero isn't the most reliable way to burn a DVD. You might try other programs and use a DVD+RW or -RW to test it to avoid coasters.

[reicherb]

Ok, I'll leave you alone while I go play for a while.

I really appreciate the help.

[vcdlover]

Hi Kitty,
I'm looking forward to coverting VHS to DVD and shopping around for a high quality video capture card. I read a lot of comments on this site. I found 4 of them that should fit my need and but dget, AIW 85000DV, AIW 75000, Adaptec Videoh! DVD and Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250. What do you think about these products? My first choice will be AIW 85000DV.

Thanks for your advice.

[kitty]

The AIWs or the Hauppauge PVR 250 would be my choices. I have a PVR250 and capture direct to MPEG2 and burn with Ulead DVD MovieFactory. I am not as familiar with the AIWs but so many people have them that you'll get all kinds of advice.

[vcdlover]

Kitty,
And you think Hauppauge PVR 250 is the best? Will it really capture 720X480? Since you have PVR250, it's worth it for $150.

Thanks again

[kitty]

Definitely will cap at 720x480 full rate, no drops (on a computer that meets the min specs or higher).

The disadvantage is some of the older cards in the pipeline need updated drivers. The newest are at www.shspvr.com under News. Onceyou have it tuned up (if necessary) the MPEG2 caps are very good.

I would not select this card for MPEG1 VCD caps only as there are better MPEG1 only cards on the market.

[vcdlover]

I will pay less attention to capture VCD, but more on DVD. My main concept will be focussing on VHS to DVD and TV shows to DVD. Will you be able to tell quality lost on these, comparing to the original ones?


Thanks