Beta tapes to DVD

[lerxst]

Hi,
I am relatively new at this capturing thing and I have been succesful at transfering a few VHS tapes to DVD but when I started trying to transfer my old Beta tapes, I get Dropped Frames (about 100 per minute) and Audio Out-Of-Sync problems.

From this, I gather that the quality or strength of these Beta tapes are not as good as the VHS, is this correct?

I know that it is not the VCR that's giving the problem given that it is one of the last models manufactured by Sony (SL-HF2100), which is quite fancy, and it's in practically mint condition. As well, the tapes I am trying to transfer are originals and in perfect condition.

I am using an ATI capture card and Nero Vision 3.

Any info on how to get around these problems would be greatly appreciated as I would like to preserve these out-of-print titles that I have on Beta.

Thanks.

[reboot]

The "strength" of the tape has nothing to do with it.
Nero sucks at capture.
Try capturing to DV-AVI, or avi with a picvideo mjpeg or huffyuv codec, then encode.
I'm sure that our resident smurf will be along soon, with some great ideas for capping with an ATI card

[lerxst]

Thanks Jim.
I am not too technical on this subject so I am not sure about these codecs that you mentioned.
Besides Nero, I also tried Pinnacle Studio 8 and got the same dropped frame results. This was done directly to MPEG2. Will capturing to AVI make a difference in the "dropped frames" department?

I also forgot to mention that I am using Composite inputs. My VCR has S-Video outputs but I don't have a S-Video cable. If I get a hold of one of these cables, will it make any difference?

thanks again.

[reboot]

A smaller aspect ratio will make a difference in drops, as should DV-avi.
Capping by one method or the other should be the same speed.
The problem is that you're trying to cap direclty to mpeg-2, and at full d1 (720x480) this requires a LOT of speed. Cap to avi (with a good codec), requires much less, no matter what cable you use.

[lordsmurf]

I am using an ATI capture card

Do this to capture:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/capture/atimpeg/atimpeg.htm

or

http://www.digitalfaq.com/capture/atiavi/atiavi.htm

[reboot]

I just knew that smurf was lurking