Capturing Hi8 Analog Video/Question

[alegator]

I have some old (early 90's) Hi8 NTSC analog tapes that I would like to capture for later editing/DVD authoring. I have the following hardware and software at my disposal for that end:
HARDWARE:
- Sony Hi8 VCR with S-Video and analog A/V outputs.
- Canopus ADVC-100 Advanced DV-Converter (external unit)
- Sony DCR-TRV900 MiniDV Camcorder with built-in analog-to-digital converter.
- ATI RADEON ALL-IN -WONDER 9800 Pro Video Card
- Firewire400/USB2 PCI Card.
SOFTWARE:
- Windows Movie Maker
- Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5
- Ulead DVD Workshop 2

Question: I know I have redundant hardware and software for the job, but what combination of hardware/software will produce the best quality captured video from these tapes? If I plan to keep the video in DVD-format, should I capture direclty to MPEG2 or should I use uncompressed AVI? What software settings whould I use for best quality?
Thanks.
(P.D.: I plan to burn 1 hour of video to each DVDR5 for best quality, is this ok?)

[yoda313]

Hello,

My hauppage wintv pvr250 captures straight to mpeg2 (or 1). It works perfectly for me. If you want ease of use set your card for mpeg 2 capturing than load the file into your authoring program.

Kevin

[alegator]

But I wanted to know what software/hardware combination (from my available options) is the best to use for best quality video capture.

[thecoalman]

What are you trying to start WWW3.

Supposedly the ATI produces the best capture if you get it working properly. For ease of use go with the Canopus. I saw some screenshots comparing the two and they were pretty close.

My suggestion is you try them both and compare.

Use premier to edit your videos and DVD Workshop to Author. DVD workshop is an excellent authoring program but it's video editing capabilities are limited. Uninstall Movie Maker :P

Capture to AVI, Edit the footage in Premier and save your edited footage in DVD compliant MPEG2 (there will be presets), Import the MPEG into DVD Workshop for authoring, Create yoiu menus,chapters etc. Burn to disc.

You can adjust the mpeg settings to produce a smaller file, try doing a few discs first to get the hang of it. Then start playing with the settings.

[jakol]

hi,
for later editing then authoring to DVD i will capture it to avi as thecoalman stated.
you can try connecting your hi-8 to your minidv cam using the analog pass thru(which ive been doing) then capturing directly to Premier using firewire (i use Vegas) then do the editing from there.works good for me. cheers.

[vhelp]

Well, to really answer this, you have to know a few things:

* Recorded in what format: EP or SP

* Actual contents recorded on VHS (after the above is known)
... (ie, Movie; Game show; Interview/Documentary; Concerts; Sports)


Lets say that you know for sure that your source was recorded in EP
mode (for long-play advantage ie, 8hrs vs. 2hrs) Expect a little drop
in quality already. Probably will be more noise because of the
EP mode recording.
.
But FWIW.. SP would have given you best quality reproduction. But,
who would have known that years later, you would want to transfer these
to DVD's ??

Now, after figuring out the recording mode (ie, EP vs. SP) (or is it LP
on some machines, offered 3 recording modes)
.
You have to figure out what the actual contents are. Once you do that,
then it will only be a matter of our editing/encoding approach.. and
the quality resolt based on such.

What I would suggest to you, is that you might want to sort out all those
tapes (ie, either on a paper, and note all) what type of video is it:

* Telecine = Film/Movie
* Interlace = Game shows; Sports; News; Interviews/Documents; Concerts

Then..

All those that are Telecined, you can separate into a pile (or note) to
capture and encode using an IVTC process.

All those that are Interlaced, you can separate into a pile (or note) to
capture and encode with Interlaced set on.. (unless you plan to view only
on your pc, and apply a de-interlace process in your encoding)

As far as quality goes, if those tapes mostly are recorded movies from
say HBO or whatever (from your cable) you'll have a better chance of
obtaining best quality.
.
I may have said "best quality", but that's dependant upon your skills
level in editing and encoding. That will be your deciding factor.
.
Of course, the "condition" of each of those tapes is another story (and
deciding factor) Also, your VCR equipment as well. And not to mention
the wires you use, and the connetor your opt for (pending on your card
and VCR outputs) and then what you deicde to use, S-Video vs. Composite.

You also want to note, that even if you tapes are Movies, that your quality
will depend largely upon the success of your captures:

* Do you drop frames, or
* Loose audio syn etc etc.

The best I've come accross w/ perfect and flawless issues, is to make sure
that you have ZERO (better highlight it, ZERO) frame drops.. is the
ADVC-100 device.. and is the only device that I know of (based on my many
experiences w/ other capture cards) that will do it every time, perfectly.

That's really all there is to it, when your Source Medium is from VHS.

After all the above, it will depend on your skills.
So, weatehr your Source Device is a Laserdisc; VCR; Cable; Antenna etc,
keep the above conditions in mind, and have fun

Cheers,
-vhelp

[alegator]

Vhelp and all the others, thankls for your replies.
Let me tell you that these Hi8 tapes are personal movies I filmed myself with a Sony Hi8 Camcorder I owned (I think it was the TR101, but I'm not sure on the model, it was the top of the line Hi8 Sony Camcorder at the time I bough it, 1991. All of the tapes were recorded at the maximum quality possible (no LP mode, they all have the shortest recording time possible for that tape). All of the Hi8 analog tapes are already classified and coded.(it's almost 24 hours of film footage!).
I would agree on using the Canopus ADVC100 unit for conversion. I would connect the S-Video cable from the Hi8 VCR to the ADVC100, and then a firewire cable from the ADVC100 to the PC's PCI card. I would use Adobe Premiere 1.5 for capturing and later editing. I would also close all background programs while capturing to reduce the possibility of dropped frames.
Any other advice?
Thanks!

[thecoalman]

I would also close all background programs while capturing to reduce the possibility of dropped frames.
Any other advice?
Thanks!

With your system specs closing background apps shouldn't be necessary, I would only worry about it if you experience trouble.

To recap Capture using DV-1, edit your AVI and convert to DVD compliant MPG in premier. Something I forgot to mention when your authoring your disc there's a checkbox "do not convert compliant file" in DVD Workshop. Make sure this is checked as it won't rerender your mpg, you should never rerender a MPG. Get some RW's for test burns, besides that your ready to go. You have a good (actually 2) capture device and excellent software. Oh did you remember to uninstall Movie Maker That's a joke.

[alegator]

coalman,
Actually I could capture with Adobe Premiere and convert to DVD compliant using Canopus Procoder 2, I think it's the best encoder out there, isn't it?
Thanks.

[thecoalman]

That's something I wouldn't be able to answer.....