Vhs to DVD

[victoriabears]

Am considering purchasing this or the Canopus ACEDVio, have tried using Plextor CovertX and am getting good results but editing out commercials proving to be jumpy.
Could be the software though rather than the ConvertX itself.
Have very large collection of VHS treasures , up to 20 years old,from my life in the UK, thats the project to DVD.
Whats the difference between the CANOPUS ACEDVio and ADVC 300?
Also, if VHS is "copied' to DVD using a set top recorder, is the quality as good as using a computer, and can the resulting DVD(RW) be copied to HD and then edited. Also is an external firewire box(Canopus 300) better than a USB 2.0 external device?
Thanks a bunch.

[Harold7]

Depending on your hardware configuration (processor speed, HD space and ram) with the right software you can certainly produce DVDs that are as good as the original.

I use a DAC-100 to capture VHS through a firewire connection to iuVCR 4.8.8.341 using the huffyuv 2.1 1 codec, this creates rather large .avi files, but they are very high quality and iuVCR gives very good results with no dropped frames.

After creating the .avi file I use TEMPGEnc 3.0 Express to edit any changes I wish to make and then create an MPEG 2 file configured to use 100 % of the DVD., a long process, but worth the wait, I converted a 76 gb .avi yesterday and it took 7.5 hours to render to a 4.2 gb MPEG 2, but no dropped frames, audio and video in sync and the final product was clear and sharp .

Once I have the MPEG 2 file, I use TEMPGEnc DVD Author to create any menus I need and then burn the project to a DVD folder... I don't use the TEMPGEnc writing tool because it is a little flaky for me, instead I use the free imgtool Classic and DVD Decrypter to burn a DVD at whatever speed is recommended for the media I'm using.

If speed is not critical for you these programs will give you high quality results ... my VHS to DVD projects come out looking as good as the original (and in some cases better) and if you have the AC-3 plug-in for TEMPGEnc all your DVDs will be Dolby Digital ready.

Try out a few of the free trial versions of various programs until you find a combination that gives you the results youre looking for, I spent about 6 weeks trying various programs until I found what works for me... there's lots of tools to choose from, just play with as many as you can until you find a solution.

[handyguy]

"Also, if VHS is "copied' to DVD using a set top recorder, is the quality as good as using a computer,"

Sure, actually a little better & 400% easier. Circuit City has a Panasonic e55 for $279 on sale now. You can make a dvdr then edit later with any program that can edit a dvdr. Or record to dvdram instead with it & edit later.

[victoriabears]

So what about the "need" to enhance the VHS quality as the ADVC 300 says it does?

I would like to get the best quality from my VHS as I can, would using a set top recorder just tranfer the same picture quality?

Thanks for the input guys.

[Harold7]

I'm sure the best that a good settop recorder could do is exactly duplicate the VHS content on a DVD, unless some of your tapes are in really bad shape, a recorder may be your best bet.

Considering the cost of the AVDC-300, maybe you should get a good settop recorder at Best Buy or Circuit City, try it out to see if it meets your needs and if not, reurn it for a refund.

The adavantage of a good recorder is that you won't need to spend a lot of time trying to find software that gives you the quality you want at a reasonable price, ensuring you have a computer with enough hardware resources (processor, HD space Ram) to effectively complete DVD projects and getting it all to work together without conflicts.

If you don't have the time or interest in the computer/software solution, test a good recorder and save yourself a lot of aggravation.

[victoriabears]

Thanks a lot guys.

Just for the record I live in Canada, so your suggested sources for purchase are not really an option..

I have tried a Plextor Convertx, and it gives really good results and it does improve on the VHS image, which I need, and I found Intervideos software that came with it really easy to use. It just doesn't cope well with long captures.

I want to avoid getting into "manual" adjustment and Tmgenc just would ivite me to fiddle about too much.

I think I am on my way to the ADVC 300, just wish a local store stocked it for easy return.

[Harold7]

Actually, to use TEMPGEnc 3.0 Express and TEMPGEnc DVD Author doesn't require much fiddling with manual settings.

The upgrade from TEMPGEnc 2.5 to the Express version made it very user friendly and intuitive for new users to create MPEG 2 files from .avi captures, you can edit your .avi, preview the output and even adjust time sync if necessary in Express ... it just takes hours to process the .avi file into the MPEG 2 file. once you have it set up for encoding to MPEG 2....complicated user's guides are really not necessary to use TEMPGEnc anymore with the newest version.

If you have a good program for capturing .avi from your VHS tapes, you ought to try out the free trials of those programs to see if they give you what you need in terms of quality, just remember they are very time consuming to use.

If you wish to capture straight to MPEG 2, try a program called Power Producer 2 Gold (30 day free trial), it's given me very good sound and video quality in VHS captures, though the rest of the program is pretty useless, but you can then do editing and DVD creation in TEMPGEnc DVD Author with the MPEG 2 file from PP 2Gold and get good results... PP 2 Gold is fast also, 15 seconds after the capture is done, your MPEG 2 is ready to use for editing.

So much of this depends on your computer hardware setup, if you have enough processor speed, HD capacity and Ram things should work pretty well, but you never mentioned what equipment you have so it's hard to judge., these are programs I have experience with, but I'm sure others can give glowing recommencations for other software that works for them, just keep looking evaluating solutions until you get the results you need.

If Best Buy and Circuit city aren't available in your area, I'm sure there are other stores in Canada that carry stand alone DVD recorders, check around for one with a good return policy and try that method. to preserve your VHS tapes.

[Manokat]

Thanks a lot guys.

Just for the record I live in Canada, so your suggested sources for purchase are not really an option..

I have tried a Plextor Convertx, and it gives really good results and it does improve on the VHS image, which I need, and I found Intervideos software that came with it really easy to use. It just doesn't cope well with long captures.

I want to avoid getting into "manual" adjustment and Tmgenc just would ivite me to fiddle about too much.

I think I am on my way to the ADVC 300, just wish a local store stocked it for easy return.

Plextor ConvertX M402 is one of the best for archiving VHS's to DVD's.
You should have no problem even with long 6-8 hour EP tapes. I know the software that comes with it is not the best but they keep updating that. Check on Plextor download site for the latest driver, they've updated the driver two times since they released it back in february and Creator2 has been updated two times as well.

For editing those mpegs try to use Ulead Video Studio7/8 or Womble.

[hippo99]

Please give me some tips on "settings" for encoding with Mainconcept 1.42
I capture TV programs(analog, tv tuner is avermedia studio deluxe) in mpeg2 format, 720x480 size. Ideally, I would like to burn to DVD. After I capture program, I use Mainconcept to encode the footages to mpeg2- dvd compliant format. After this I then use Ulead DVD workshop to create DVD folder and burn or burn contents with Nero. In the end, after burning as dvd, the quality is like vcd quality. What steps or settings can I change (particularly with Mainconcept) to make footages sharper & clearer without changing tv tuner card.

thank you.

[disturbed1]

The ACEDVio is a capture board (PCI) with on chip Canopus DV codec. With the ACEDVio you don't need a firewire card/cables. It can be used with Vegas, Avid, Let's Edit (Canopus), Premiere.....

The ADVC 300 is a format converter. It converts anolouge (VHS) sources to DV format. You need a fire wire card and cables to connect this device to your PC. It includes mild DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) similar to the features on other Canopus MPEG capture cards. If using the correct firewire board, any OHCI compliant editor can use this device.

I want to avoid getting into "manual" adjustment and Tmgenc just would ivite me to fiddle about too much.

Both of the devices you mentioned need "manual" adjustment. They transfer footage to your PC in DV format, which needs to be encoded to mpeg, then authored.

The set top recorders (Panasonic/Pioneer) do offer mild DNR also, along with a TBC, but only record upto 4gig on a disc, so you'll lose around 700mb per recording. It would be better to get a unit with a hard drive, so you could edit. Or a DVD-ROM that can read DVD-RAM discs, so you can edit on the computer.

Either Canopus device has the ability to offer higher quality, because of the option to use software to edit and enhance the footage compared to a set top recorder. But that is upto the user's ability and software choices.

Other Canopus options are the Let's Edit RT+, which includes a board almost identical to the ACDVIO, but the Let's Edit software allows real time effects and real time output to an external monitor/TV. Includes an mpeg encoder and DVD authoring software, with an option to export to ProCoder Express from the timeline, and export to the MVR series of RT hardware mpeg encoders from the timeline also..

Canopus also has USB and PCI lines of hardware MPEG encoders. These are considered to be the highest quality RT mpeg encoders you can get at the consumer level.