transfer VHS TO DVD

[codeman]

Equipment and Software I have;

Dvd/cd burner: Sony DVD RW DRU-500A
Computer: Gateway PC1400
Processor: GenuineIntel Family 15 Model 0 1.4
Memory: 256 MB
3 Hard Disks: 60GB, 120GB & 80 GB
Video: 1024x768in 32-Bit Color, ATI RAD
Windows Home XP
Video capture device: Dazzle Digital Video Creator 80

Software programs I have on the computer;
ArcSoft Software Suite – VideoImpressions 1.7
Dazzle MGI VideoWave 4.0
Sonic Archsoft ShowBiz
Sonic MyDVD Version 4.0

I can capture a VHS with Dazzle but I cannot figure out how to make the VHS fit on a single DVD. It appears that I need some compression software. I have a lot of VHS movies that I would like to transfer to DVD but I do not understand how to accomplish this.

I have been trying to do this off and on for about two years. I have been very busy with work and other important family matters. I have tried to search your archives for a clear answer to my problem but I get very confused reading and trying to understand what it is that I need. I just want to transfer a VHS to DVD using one DVD. My past attempts tell me that more than one DVD will be required.
Can someone just tell me what it is I need to accomplish my task in clear layman terms using the equipment that I have?
I have in the past been able to make a video CD from a very short VHS clip of some vandals (children under 9) damaging my property?

Please help and email me your suggestions.

Thank you,

Codeman
Email: edited out as advised.

[guns1inger]

You could look at upgrading MyDYD to the current version (V6), otherwise you need to look at a dedicated mpeg encoder. These can range in price (and therefore performance and features) from the cheap - tmpgenc, CCE Basic, through to the high end mainconcept, CCE SP, Canopus Procoder.

Tmpgenc is probably the most popular at the home end of the market. It is cheap, yet capable of producing good results. It is not a feature rich or as fast as some of the more expensive packages (very slow compared to mainconcept's encoder), but is definately the best bang for buck product available. Check it out in the tools section. There are also plenty of guide to get you started with tmpgenc.

[codeman]

Thank you for your reply. I will check out tempgenc and maybe update to MyDVD 6. Now that I have some time maybe I can get my VHS tapes burned to DVD's.

[fmctm1sw]

You may want to look into something other than a DVC-80. Can that do full res? I thought there was a 320x240 limit..

[codeman]

I went on line and check the specs on the DVC-80 and yes the resolution is max at 320x240. I got the device about 3 or 4 years ago and I am sure that I got an upgrade to what I now have.
What other capture device do you recommend and will more resolution cause me to use more than 1 dvd? Most of my VHS movies are under 2-hours that I want to put on dvd's.
When I got Dazzel it came with MGI software. When I got my DVD burner it came with all the other software (see my software list on my first post).
According the the online specs ( www.pinnaclesys.com/docloader_n.asp?templ=10&doclink=/WebVideo/digitalvideocreator80/English(US)/doc/key_features_us.html&Product_ID=1427&Langue_ID=7&l oc=spec&division_id= ) the DVC-80 does have MEP-2.
I guess that I need a step by step help on how to capture the VHS movie to my harddrive and put it on one DVD. I get the move captured and audio but when I try to burn to a DVD it says it will not fit on one DVD.
I also noticed that the voice track is off when I play the video on the computer via the hard drive.

Additional input would be helpful.

Thank you.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Choose a lower dvd quality setting to make sure it will fit on the dvd right off the bat. Use the lowest setting to ensure a long transfer will fit.

An alternative would be to author the dvd and then use dvdshrink to make it fit a regular dvdr.

You could also do a forum search for "audio synch problems" and you'll find a TON of references for it.

Kevin

[Brent212]

If you're going to get a new capture card, you also might want to consider just getting a dvd recorder. It may be a little bit more money than you wanted to spend, but, from what I've heard, it'll save you a lot of time and effort.

If you don't want to spend that much, I'd recommend the Hauppauge PVR 250. It's a capture card with hardware MPEG encoding. If you only want to capture in order to convert VHS tapes to DVD, using the hauppauge is the way to go, IMO. It'll capture to a format that you can just stick into your authoring program with no hassles.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Here's another nod for the wintv pvr250. I use it all the time and its great.

Kevin

[TheFamilyMan]

Using a DVD recorder may be the easiest way to go to get your VHS tapes onto DVD. You may have to sacrifice picture quality to get a 90+ minute film onto a single DVD. A basic rule of thumb for MPEG2 compression is that more compression means less picture quality (picture becomes blocky/grainy in high action scenes). Also consider that MPEG2 compression is sensative to video noise that is alway present in VHS, such that it also will lower the final picture quality. A great resouce for more info on VHS to DVD conversion is lord smurf's excellent site: www.digitalfaq.com

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[handyguy]

Yep, if you have a lot of vhs, get a dvd recoder like at panasonic e55. These have filters that you can't get in your PC. Put in dvd, push record, it does the rest, you can add titles too.

[nelson133]

This is a very common topic of discussion here, do a search and you will find much info. A dvd recorder is the easiest solution, but if what you have is commercial tapes with macrovision copy protection, it won't work. Then the best and easiest solution is the canopus 100 box, which can remove macrovision,. It will put files on your hard drive, via a firewire port, that will need conversion and authoring. This project isn't difficult, as I have done many, but it can be time consuming. Nyah Levi

[lordsmurf]

www.digitfaq.com

!

www.digitalFAQ.com

[Garibaldi]

I'm the person that you want to talk to because I have a dazzle product also! I have a dvc 150. I have been fed up with the dazzle software for sometime now because the encoder in moviestar 5 would encode my video in such a way that it was jerky when I played the dvd. So I asked on here and found tomk, who had written a few different programs to work with the DVXCEL program. Check in C:\program files\dazzle multimedia\digital video creator 80\ or something like that for a program called DVXCEL. If you give me your email address I can then send you these programs. They will automatically merge each capture into 1 file and they will let you do a timer for multiple captures, so you don't have to sit around and stop it. The one good thing about a dvc is that it lets you capture to mpeg2 ntsc dvd format. This is good because you don't want to render the video if at all possible.

Here is my process, take my captured video, split the mpeg2 file with demux, a great program by Ted Rossin, found here:
http://www.geocities.com/ted_rossin/tools/Video/Video.html
That will split the file into an m2v (video) and pcm (audio file). You can then use BeSweet GUI or ffmpeg gui to convert the audio to mp2. Then import the mp2 and m2v files into Mpeg2schnitt and edit out all the parts that you don't want. It will then export a new file without rendering! Then, import your new mpeg files in GUI for DVD author or DVD Author gui and make your dvd. This will create 2 folders on your hard drive, AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. Make a data dvd with your favorite burning software (there are some free ones on this site) and drag only those two folders on there and burn! That's it.

All the software I talked about is free. I'm glad to answer any other questions you might have.

[codeman]

Thank you all for your responses and advise. I will try some of the responses.

Garibaldi, I have edited by email address out as advised. I check into how we can correspond later.

Oh, my VHS movies are ones we purchased not home made. I never bought a video recorder for home movies, I just took pictures. One of my future projects is to scan them with a story line to dvd. But first just my movies.

Thank you all again.

Codeman

[proxyx99]

Thank you all for your responses and advise. I will try some of the responses.

Garibaldi, my email address is... xxxxxxx@worldnet.att.net but if the files are large use my work email address xxxxxx@mwaarch.com. ...
....

Codeman

You forgot to post your tel. no, address and Visa numbers. Seems you feel lonely and love to receive emails from strangers. Next time, just put it on New York Times cover page...

...but seriously, use the PM (personal msg) if you want to communicate with a specific person or exchange sensitive info.
Edit your post and remove your email addresses before they flood your mailbox at home and at work.

[codeman]

I have edited my post and deleted my emails as you advised. I was a bit concerned about giving them out but I have faith in all who wish to help in just being helpful.

I belong to a Building Code forum and a few others forums and I just like to help when I know the answer.

I just did not think anyone wants to be mischievous in these forums.

Thanks,

Codeman

[codeman]

Doing more searching and reading I now am thinking of the fastest and easier way to transfer my VHS movies to DVD. I read where Lordsmurf suggest to someone to get two JVC products (VHS and DVD recorder). I checked that out and I could be spending around 500 to 600 dollars total. My present VHS player does not have S-video and I thought that S-video would be better to play out of.

In my searching I came across a product soon to hit the market that is a combination VHS player DVD player/recorder by Sony (RDR-VX500). I already have a Sony DVD burner in my computer.

Could someone read the specs on the Sony RDR-VX500 @ sony.com and see if that is a good buy? I am unclear and unsure if an entire Movie on VHS will fit on one DVD through the Sony unit.

I am still having difficulty with putting a VHS movie on one DVD through my computers software.

Thanks,

Codeman

[gshelley61]

Try to stay away from combo units. The VCR's in them are cheap. The purpose of getting a high-end s-vhs VCR has to do more with playback stability and quality, due to the heavier duty tape transports, better tape heads and video processing circuits that automatically provide some cleaning and enhancing of the image. In fact, many people are surprised how good a VHS can look when played back on something like a JVC HR-S9600U.

Sony DVD recorders are too expensive for what you get, IMHO. Have a look at the JVC DR-M10 or the new Pioneer units. There also is a new ILO DVD recorder that just arrived at Wal Mart for only $149, and it is apparently is pretty decent (and even records to +RW's).

There's lots of info in the DVD Recorder forum about this subject...

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=28

Here's a captured MPEG2 frame from the Titanic VHS recorded directly from a JVC SR-W5U VCR to a JVC DR-M10 DVD recorder to give you an idea of the image quality that is possible:

[Marvingj]

That is a nice, crisp video!!!

[gshelley61]

no need for applause... just send money

:P

[clem2270]

Not sure if this thread is still being looked at, but here is my 2 cents.

I too, have been performing the trial and error thing to figure out a system that works for my purposes to convert my VHS collection to DVD format. The following is what I'm using to convert my collection.

Here is the current hardware that I'm using for my video conversion process:
-JVC HR-S2902U VCR ( has S-video output and component and coax/using the S-video output and the RCA stereo output to the Canopus box )
-Canopus ADVC-100 (firewire connection to PC) this device also removes the MACROVISION copy protection found on most commercial VHS movie tapes

-computer consists of:
Intel P4 @3.0ghz
Intel MB D865PERLL ( has onboard firewire ) ( used for Canopus )
1.0gb Kingston PC3200 (Dualchannel mode)
MSI FX5500 8x AGP
Creative Audigy sound
Western Digital 60gb system/OS drive
Seagate 160gb SATA storage drive
Plextor PX-708a DVD burner

Primary software used.
-Windows XP pro SP1a

-Windows Movie maker

-DVDSanta (full version; not demo)

I'm using Movie Maker to capture at DV quality settings, after a complete tape has been captured (4 hours unedited), I then run through the capture and chop scenes as needed ( chop commercials, etc ). I also edit for run time; splitting for approx 1hour & 50minute runtime. I'm doing this all with Windows Movie Maker. I then use DVDSanta to convert the edited Movie Maker files to DVD format and upon the completion of the conversion; I then use Santa to burn back to DVD-r media.

I know that this is probably not the best way to convert formats; but for my situation it seems to work ok. I'm not worried about trying to improve the picture quality or wanting to create menu's. I just want the easiest way to be able to import analog video and then be able to cut out scenes and then burn to DVD media, so that it is compatible with home theater DVD players.

A few months ago I did purchase the TMPGEnc suite of programs, but was kinda overwhelmed by the complexity of the whole process. I have also tried a couple of the other highly recommended programs; but for what I wanted to do, they were just too complex.


Codeman, in reply to your question about the new Sony combo unit; it sounds like a nice unit; but the main problem with the unit is listed here from their site: One Button Dubbing
From VCR to DVD or DVD to VCR (non copy written material only).
And from my research into various combo DVD / VHS this is a common restriction, due to copywrite laws. Also with most combo units, the more advanced outputs are only for the DVD player: i.e. the S-video output would only show DVD playback and not the VCR playback.

So, at minimum I would suggest upgrading to the Canopus unit; getting a stand alone VCR ( w/S-video output )(got my JVC for $100) and installing a firewire card into your PC. But either way get away from the DAZZLE product. IMO DAZZLE products are for the casual user and are not meant for the project you are attempting.

Jim

[parkay2]

I don't know what Sonic MYDVD 4.0 is like. I have 5.0 Deluxe. I have Kworlds USB2DVD device and capture to SVCD (SVCD gives me best quality without taxing my P4 2.4GHZ machine). I burn the DVD to my hard disk with MyDVD 5.0. (It transcodes to 7.00mbps, which is good but you can only fit about 90-100 min VHS on one DVD) This is where the freeware program DVD2SVCD comes in. I use it with the TMPEGENC encoder. I have a freeware bitrate calculator applet that I use to find out what bitrate to use to fit to 1 DVD+R. I just did this to put Independence Day onto 1 DVD+R. The movie is 2hrs and 25 mins long and my DVD came out quite good. Quickly in the program directory for DVD2SVCD, there are ini files to morph DVD2SVCD into a variety of programs. One of the ini file is DVD.ini Anyhow burn your capture to your hardrive using Sonic MyDVD's burn to hardrive feature. Next open DVD2SVCD and in the MISC tab hit load settings, find the DVD.ini file and you are almost there. Use a video bitrate calculator to find out exactly what bitrate will fit your DVD to one disc. In DVD2SVCD there is a bitrate tab, type your calculated bitrate in all the boxes in the bitrate section. Then I use TMPEGENC encoder. Go to the encoder tab of DVD2SVCD and set it to TMPEGENC. I set the settings to CBR and highest quality in the Precision search tab. I then go to the advanced settings and click the soften block noise square. Then make yourself a folder on your hard drive to store your DVD2SVCD files. Then in DVD2SVCD point your files to your created folder. Go to the conversion tab and find your Ifo file that relates to the movie you want to put on the DVD and let 'er fly. A 2 hour movie can take about 10-12 hours to make your new Video_TS folder. I usually do the processing overnite. When complete, I use IMGtool 0.90 and DVDdecrypter to burn my disc. You will be pleased with the results!