Video Capture quality

[mukeshs]

Hi

I am looking to transfer VHS to my PC. I have Dazzle DVC80. To test I captured 5 minutes of video, added a couple of effects and 20 seconds of music and burned to DVD. This process took over 1½ hours to render and burn. Quality was poor. Am I doing something wrong? I have a P4 1.5 processor. Will a faster processor render quicker? Will gold connector leads (audio & video leads) improve quality as I need the same quality as the original VHS. I used Pinanacle Studio Quickstart to edit the VHS.

Is it the Dazzle device or does it normally take this long to process. One guy on the forum stated that it took a 2 hour video 20 hours to complete...

If this is true, is there anything that can speed up this. programs or hardware.

[Capmaster]

Hi

I am looking to transfer VHS to my PC. I have Dazzle DVC80. To test I captured 5 minutes of video, added a couple of effects and 20 seconds of music and burned to DVD. This process took over 1½ hours to render and burn. Quality was poor. Am I doing something wrong? I have a P4 1.5 processor. Will a faster processor render quicker? Will gold connector leads (audio & video leads) improve quality as I need the same quality as the original VHS. I used Pinanacle Studio Quickstart to edit the VHS.

Is it the Dazzle device or does it normally take this long to process. One guy on the forum stated that it took a 2 hour video 20 hours to complete...

If this is true, is there anything that can speed up this. programs or hardware.

The Dazzle captures real-time and once it's done, it's out of the loop.

The slowdown could be caused by two things - a slow CPU and/or a slow hard disk. I've found that in authoring, the hard disk speed has a greater effect on the time required than the CPU horsepower. It's a very HD-intensive task.

Check the specs on your HD and see if you're not due for an upgrade. There's never been a better time than now to buy a new one Then I'd seriously think about bumping up that CPU to the 2.4 - 2.6GHz minimum ballpark.

[mukeshs]

I have just purchased a new HD 120 GB, but without the 8MB buffer ( has this got to do with anything).
Will capturing or transferring VHS to a DVD recorder be of any better quality and then use the PC DVD writer to create menus etc..

[Capmaster]

I have just purchased a new HD 120 GB, but without the 8MB buffer ( has this got to do with anything).
Will capturing or transferring VHS to a DVD recorder be of any better quality and then use the PC DVD writer to create menus etc..

Capping on a DVD recorder and then editing the files on the PC is one way to go. Most newer editing apps will open .VOB (or .VRO from a DVD-R or DVD-Rewritable as the case may be). That is certainly an option, and a necessity if you want to add slick menus. Recorders usually only have rudimentary menu-creating and editing functions.

Yes, the cache/buffer on a HD has a huge impact on performance. Where did you find one without a buffer? Or did you mean it has a smaller 1 or 2MB buffer? If that's the case then the HD probably isn't the big culprit. I'd look at other things like memory speed, bus speed, and of course, CPU speed. Or all three. It's definitely taking longer than it should.

[mukeshs]

Thanks
But with regards to quality if i continue to use Dazzle, will gold plated connections make any difference when connected from VCR to the device. Should I capture as MPEG1 as the quality of the VHS cannot be improved. I captured as MPEG2 previously.

[winifreid]

You might want to look over some of the capture guides. Your capture program can make a big difference as can the codec. For best quality you should capture with either huffy or picvideo to avi. I use 352 x 480 resolution to capture vhs. This will give you good quality, but reduce the post processing time and file size. Adding transitions, titles extra sound tracks... can add a lot of time to post processing. I doubt your HD has anything to do with the speed. I noticed just a small improvement when I got an 8mb HD.

[Capmaster]

Thanks
But with regards to quality if i continue to use Dazzle, will gold plated connections make any difference when connected from VCR to the device. Should I capture as MPEG1 as the quality of the VHS cannot be improved. I captured as MPEG2 previously.

Gold-plated contacts won't make any difference in the quality. The advantage in gold-plated contacts is its refusal to corrode with time, moisture and contaminants. Gold is a noble metal and only a few chemicals, like aqua-regia, will attack gold. 304 stainless steel is also an excellent material for corrosion resistance.

In fact gold is the third-best conductor after silver (best) and copper:

http://www.amm.com/index2.htm?/ref/conduct.HTM

If you compare new gold contacts with new nickel-plated steel, brass or beryllium contacts, there will be no difference - except maybe in your mind as you subconsciously try to justify the extra expense

[Noek]

I had problems with quality and performance with one HD so I bought a dedicated 10k rpm raptor drive for all of my video transfers/editing/burning needs and no mas problemo.

If the HD you are using for your transfers is the same that windows is installed on, run an msconfig and shut down all of those startup apps/virus/firewall/ etc...maybe grab spybot (or disconnect from the internet altogether) and keep your HD defragged...this all might sound like overkill, but after hours and hours of bad transfers and dropped frames, I no longer take any chances.

[johns0]

Dazzle DVC 80 Capture Specifications
Format: NTSC Only
Compression: Proprietary
Maximum resolution: 320 x 240
Maximum frame rate: 30 frames per second

The best capture you`ll get is 320x240,better to get a capture card that can do 720x480/576.I`ve used this usb device and it is crap.

[mukeshs]

Thanks to all that have sent in their valuable advice.

Just wanted to know which DVD recorder will be the best to transfer VHS to DVD, one which has DV Link. I saw a LiteOn one for £150. For those people who has this recorder, What is it like, quality wise?

[babyboo]

You might want to ask your question in the DVD Recorders forum. You might have a better chance of finding someone with that particular recorder there.

[lordsmurf]

Gold is better, because it does not build up gunk. After even just a few months, other cables begin to form residue and other goo on the metallic parts.

[Capmaster]

Gold is better, because it does not build up gunk. After even just a few months, other cables begin to form residue and other goo on the metallic parts.

A few months? In a regular home? You're buying the wrong cables if they start corroding and building up "goo" after only a few months, buddy pal

[lordsmurf]

Gold is better, because it does not build up gunk. After even just a few months, other cables begin to form residue and other goo on the metallic parts.

A few months? In a regular home? You're buying the wrong cables if they start corroding and building up "goo" after only a few months, buddy pal

They start to turn color.

[Capmaster]

Gold is better, because it does not build up gunk. After even just a few months, other cables begin to form residue and other goo on the metallic parts.

A few months? In a regular home? You're buying the wrong cables if they start corroding and building up "goo" after only a few months, buddy pal

They start to turn color.

Whew. You had me worried that you were buying cables out of a car trunk there

Discoloration is pretty rare with decent nickel-plated contacts. I've only ever seen get really bad with bare copper or steel contacts. Bare copper isn't necessary because it's a high impedance path and thus very little current - usually microamps, and virtually no I-squared-R drop in the material. Almost any non-corroding plating works fine, and should last years without any measurable signal loss.

But ...if they were having a sale on the gold ones and they cost little more than the standard ones ....yeah. I'd buy them