Beta to DVD...results terrible

[CAnn12]

I hope someone can help me here. Years ago (1987) my dad took all of our old family movies (8mm), played them on a screen and videotaped them on a beta tape with music and commentary via microphone. We all have a copy of this beta tape, but would like to put it on DVD. I got his original beta tape and captured it with my TV tuner card (conexant 2388x). I used 8000 kbps when capturing (with Power Director) into Mpeg-2 and then authored and burned (at 7000 kbps) using Ulead Studio 8. Uggg! After 2 solid weeks of editing, adding titles. trying to correct color etc..the end result was garbage! I have read that there are numerous problems with Pinnacle studio 9 plus and so am reluctant to try that. I have successfully captured my own home movies (analog) from my VRC to DVD with same quality as on tape...and that's all I really want with the Beta. I have tested numerous clips at different kbps and am not satisfied. The problem is things look okay when I am viewing on my computer, but as soon as I put on DVD...the quality is terrible. Besides having to buy equipment, any suggestings..? Should I try capturing as .avi files..? I've included a sample image. Thanks for any suggestions or help that you can give me!!!


uvs050807-004.bmp

[unclebud]

Capturing to Mpeg and then re-encoding to Mpeg a second time is a poor choice.
If you have a way to capture to DV, then edit and render to Mpeg would be a better choice.

[lordsmurf]

DV is rather poor too as compared to uncompressed AVI or lesser compresssed AVI (HuffYUV, MJPEG, etc).

[presto]

Pinnacle Studio 9 does a great job capturing video. In the past I had a lot of trouble getting Pinnacle Studio to make a DVD because it was so buggy so I author and burn with Tmpgenc DVD Author.

Be absolutely sure to capture in one of the acceptable DVD formats and do NOT re encode. You can adjust the colors durring capture with Pinnacle rather than correcting it later which would involve yet another re-encode.

I think there is such a thing as capturing with too high of settings. It is possible that 352x480 4000kbs would give better results than 720x480 8000kbs. Perhaps others will confirm this or shoot it down.

[piano632]

Two possibilities to eliminate (just to be sure):

1. Since you say you are using a TV tuner card for capture, I hope you are not using a single RF/coax cable. You should be using separate A/V cables.

2. You aren't by any chance trying to play a SuperBeta tape on a regular Beta machine? If so, this will cause lots of picture distortion.

[CAnn12]

I am using separate A?/V cables and I do have a Beta tape and beta machine (not superbeta). I was thinking...what would the advantage of buying a Pinnacle MovieBox USB v.9 be? Might this solve my problem or is it just a time problem solution? Can I do the same thru software on my computer? I tried downloading STOIk converter and captured using .avi. If I want to edit, can I go back to Pinnacle Studio version 9 or ULead video studio 8 to edit? Also , should I use either of these 2 programs to encode the avi file to mpeg2 or should I try something else? I have a flyDragon avi to MPeg 2 converter..don't how good it is..never used it before.
Any other suggestions or help would be appreciated! Thanks!

[lantern]

I would use VDub with Huffyuv and capture as AVI. I would use half D1 (352x480 NTSC) if your card supports it. Try to get the colors right when you initially capture. Cap a small segment and convert and watch on television to decide if you like the outcome. Otherwise, adjust the settings and try again. I don't know if Pinnacle can read a frameserved file from VDub, but I would apply any filters (despeckle, noise reduction or smooth) or cut things out in VDub and try to frameserve. I use TMPGEnc and encode at 8000 kbps with half d1. I am happy with the results. I don't capture anything with mpeg2 if I know I will need to re-encode later. It generally comes out crappy whenever I have tried.

[Wile_E]

Do you still have the 8mm original film? If so, your best option is to use a professional transfer service, and allow them to transfer it. Projecting 8mm on a huge screen and filming it with a video camera is a poor choice. Most transfer services have specialized equipment that will capture each frame individually.

[thxkid]

might have better luck if you use a time base corrector between your beta machine and your capture device or any DVD recorder would be better since all use some type of time base corrector, panasonics have the best TB Correctors in them.

[junkmalle]

Don't adjust colors to look good on a PC monitor. Computer monitors have very different gamma curves than TV.

Be sure to keep the video interlaced and the DVD MPEG file should be top field first.

[mazinz]

you should just get a jvc drm100s homedeck dvd recorder. It has a nice set of built in filters (it records with them on) that help clean up and improve the video quality. I have some beta tapes that are 25 years old and it has worked wonders on them

[edDV]

As said by others, I would capture uncompressed at 720x480* using UYVY or huffyuv if disc capacity is a concern. Then edit and color correct uncompressed. Then Encode to MPeg2 at a high bitrate.

*match the native capture size of your capture card.

[slacker]

You're all going to drive this guy crazy. My suggestion...
pay the $25 and have a professional service transfer the BETA over to miniDV and DVD MPEG2 formats and be done with this. Your time is money, and hopefully worth more than $2 per hour. Pay the pro.