Capturing VHS-C

[Biffarama]

Newbie here, trying to figure it all out. Last summer I bought a Dazzle DVC80 to capture VHS-C video and burn it to DVD. The video is of my kids so I'd really like to do it right. I tried the DVC80 but wasn't crazy about the software that was bundled with it. Then I found this site and through some research found that there are better ways to capture video and I started second guessing myself.

As I educate myself it appears that the best way to capture is with a dedicated capture card, like the ATI All-In-Wonder, etc.

Some questions I have:
Am I making too much of this, is the DVC80 adequate for the job?
Will the AIW interfere with my Radeon or are they two different animals?
Is it even possible to capture to 352x480 or 720x480 with the DVC80?
I don't have a sound card right now (using onboard), would investing in one improve the sound in the video?

I'm sure more questions will come to me. Looking for feedback from anyone and everyone. Thanks in advance for your help.

Biffarama

[npaulie2000]

Have you tried to capture with your current configuration and software? I could not tell from your post! Until you take that plunge and learn from the experience. You are putting the cart before the horse. Good luck.

[Will Hay]

Newbie here, trying to figure it all out. Last summer I bought a Dazzle DVC80 to capture VHS-C video and burn it to DVD. The video is of my kids so I'd really like to do it right. I tried the DVC80 but wasn't crazy about the software that was bundled with it. Then I found this site and through some research found that there are better ways to capture video and I started second guessing myself.

As I educate myself it appears that the best way to capture is with a dedicated capture card, like the ATI All-In-Wonder, etc.

Some questions I have:
Am I making too much of this, is the DVC80 adequate for the job?
Will the AIW interfere with my Radeon or are they two different animals?
Is it even possible to capture to 352x480 or 720x480 with the DVC80?
I don't have a sound card right now (using onboard), would investing in one improve the sound in the video?

I'm sure more questions will come to me. Looking for feedback from anyone and everyone. Thanks in advance for your help.

Biffarama

The AIW would replace your existing video card so no, it wouldn't interfere with your Radeon
Don't assume you need to invest in the AIW, I had superb results with my ATI Radeon 64mb ViVo (£35 ebay; $45-ish) until I invested in the (excellent) ADVC-100.
I've seen conflicting reports regarding on-board sound cards.
I have one but disable it, instead preferring my SB Live 1024 which I guess you can pick up for peanuts nowadays.
I suppose all I'm offering you is the fact that I captured many VHS-C tapes very successfully with ver ycheap software.
the software I used was as follows:

Virtualdub to capture using the PicVideo MJPEG codec at quality setting 19 (of 20).

TMPGEnc Plus to encode to mpeg2 at 720 x 576 (PAL) 8000CBR (bitrate)

Ulead Movie Factory 1.0 (I now have v2.0) to author with menus and chapters

RecordNowMax to burn

The only way to be sure, as already pointed out is doing some extensive testing with a few of your tapes, burn to disk and see what you think.
The bottom line is unless you have mega-pounds (sorry, mega-bucks) to invest there is no dedicated capture card at this level.
Sure, there are cards that can do a job and do it well but there are so many factors that affect final output.
On-board sound cards, VIA chipsets, FAT32 file size limits etc. all will determine the level of success you will eventually acheive.
Be warned...
....if, as I suspect, you're just starting out then don't be prepared to start today and have a perfect disk tommorrow.
It can be a long road, full of pitfalls such as lost frames and audio/video sync issues.
Of course, you may land lucky, lets hope so
Test, test and test again.
Good luck, or don't rely on luck and go buy the ADVC-100, it was sent by the Gods for people like me and you
Will Hay

[Biffarama]

Thanks to both of you for posting.

npaulie2000 - Good point. Months ago I captured one of my tapes and it seemed to come out OK, although I don't have anything to compare it to. I haven't encoded or burned it yet though as I only recently bought my burner. You're right, I need to give it a shot.

My post was more to hear from experienced users to make sure I'm heading down the right path. But, I should start down that path with some trial and error.

Will - So, if I understand you correctly, I could use my Radeon card to capture video? All I would need is a way to connect the video out of my camcorder to the card? Any suggestions on how to do that?

I will admit, the ADVC100 looks very tempting right about now.

Biffarama

[Will Hay]

You're right, I need to give it a shot.

But, I should start down that path with some trial and error.

Yes, you should.
If you're happy with the results on the PC you'll be happier one burnt to DVD-r and watched on your standalone/normal TV.

Will - So, if I understand you correctly, I could use my Radeon card to capture video?

I don't know, without knowing the exact model, but not necessarily.
Mine is a Radeon ViVo (video in; video out).

All I would need is a way to connect the video out of my camcorder to the card? Any suggestions on how to do that?

Again that depends on the camcorder, but I guess a VHS-C model will have composite out (red and white plus yellow) which will connect thus:

yellow to the compoiste port of the (ATI) video card and
white and red (via a jackplug adapter) to the line in of your soundcard.

I will admit, the ADVC100 looks very tempting right about now.

It's superb, but you'll still need...

1 ) ...a firewire card (mine is Adaptec and was £25)...you connect the VHS-C camcorder to the ADVC-100 via composite and the ADVC-100 to your PC via firewire.

2) ...an encoder such as TMPGEnc

3) ...a authoring package, such as Ulead Movie Maker or TMPGEnc Author

4) ...a burning package, such as RecordNowMax

I prefer Pinnacle Studio 8, it has the facilit yto do everything (but I still use TMPGEnc and RNMax).
Will

[ZippyP.]

3) ...a authoring package, such as Ulead Movie Maker or TMPGEnc Author

4) ...a burning package, such as RecordNowMax

TMPGEnc DVDAuthor will burn, no need for Recordnow if you go that route.

[Will Hay]

3) ...a authoring package, such as Ulead Movie Maker or TMPGEnc Author

4) ...a burning package, such as RecordNowMax

TMPGEnc DVDAuthor will burn, no need for Recordnow if you go that route.

No, of course you're right, but you stick with what you trust, right?
Will

[Biffarama]

I've got a Radeon 9700 Pro card. I wasn't aware that it would capture. Looking at their web site there isn't much info about video in or out with it. I gotta take a look at it when I get home tonight.

Just to clarify, I would only need the FireWire adapter card if I didn't have a free FireWire port on the back of my PC, correct?

[Will Hay]

I've got a Radeon 9700 Pro card. I wasn't aware that it would capture. Looking at their web site there isn't much info about video in or out with it. I gotta take a look at it when I get home tonight.

I'll see what I can find out.
Maybe smurfie can help....
Smurfie?

Just to clarify, I would only need the FireWire adapter card if I didn't have a free FireWire port on the back of my PC, correct?

Yup.
Will Hay


EDIT:
You can't capture with that card.
WH.

[Biffarama]

That's what I thought. The ADVC-100 looks more and more tempting!!!

Thanks for all your help so far, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go along!

Biffarama