Unusable results from VHS to Digital Conversion (Long)

[ZARTT]

Hello Everybody.
I have reached the point in my library duplication that I have dreaded. VHS conversion.
I want to digitize my wife's collection of Disney tapes before they become dust. Some are almost 20 years old and kind of rare. I also have a large collection of SciFi, and horror/slasher films that are long out of print.
I have a good quality VCR, and I have viewed the Disney films. For the most part they are still in decent shape with good pic, and sound quality.
My P/C is a P-4 3.06 mhz. WIN XP pro S/P-3 home built. It is very stable, no O/C or hot Mobo voltages.
It has 3 gb of DDR RAM that will run a 24 hour memtest without error. There is 50 gb of contiguous defragged disk space for the capture.
The mobo is a SOYO P4X400 Dragon 533 FSB with Hyper thread enabled.
The PSU is a Thermaltake 650 watt unit.
Video is Geforce 6200 with the newest Nvidia drivers.
Capture method is RCA into an ADS Pyro A/V Link , and thence into the P/C via a firewire card.
Capture software is Adobe Premier Elements 2.0 that was bundled with the Pyro.
Problem:
During an analog capture, the video will stall for 2-10 seconds while the audio continues, then the video will resync up to the point that the audio is at, and all will continue from there till the next similar event.
Sometimes (1 in 10) it will BSOD. There are no other tasks running. I boot the P/C to a minimal configuration with no other startups before starting a capture
It has taken 30 attempts to get one film to DVD. Upon review of that DVD there were about ten half sec. video stalls that were annoying, but could be called acceptable.
Questions:
Does this HW/SW combination sound adequate for this task?
Is the Adobe S/W reliable for this or does it have shortcomings?
Are there P/C bios settings (RAS, CAS, Timings) that could affect these attempts?
Could this be Codec related?
Is this the way that it is? Am I expecting too much, or should I be getting better results?
I am open to all suggestions, I used to think, that I sort of had a decent handle on how all of this tied together, but this has me buffaloed.

Thanks to all for any and all suggestions.
I will listen.

Art.

[redwudz]

Are you converting the DV from the Pyro box 'on the fly' to MPEG format? If you are just doing a transfer from the Pyro to the hard drive in DV format, you shouldn't have any of those problems.

You could also try WinDV for the transfer, then encode to MPEG.

And welcome to our forums.

[ZARTT]

The Pyro box takes the analog(RCA) input, and creates a huge .avi file in the H/D space in the first step.
So I guess the answer is yes, it does convert to digital "on the fly"
The next step is a S/W piece called XtoDVD that will create a DVD .vob file structure on a DVD-r for playback/archival purposes.
Two seperate steps, capture to digital, then convert .avi to .vob.

[handyguy]

Why not just get a dual deck dvd recorder, easy to make a copy? But you'd have to deal with some copy protections.

[redwudz]

Then the transfer of the DV from the Pyro is not the problem? The DV on the hard drive plays back correctly and is complete?

It's the next step, the conversion to MPEG and authoring to the DVD format where the problem occurs?

Have you tried a different MPEG encoder and encoded from the HDD stored DV to MPEG?

[tinker]

Elements should be able to capture and output mpeg DVD compliant file for burning, unless it is a strip down version of full software.
I use same process as you except with different combination.
Can you play DV.avi file without any hiccups?
If there is something there, than your problem is in original file. For commercial VHS tapes I use Video Stabilizer in video stream to get rid of tape protection.
I did not find anything on your Pyro box, if you could give a model , it would help.
Some of these converters have a stabilizer build in, but check your original file on HD to play.

[filmboss80]

Several issues here, beginning with Macrovision copy protection. As a follow-up to redwudz inquiry: Did you really look over the DV-AVI file on your computer after you captured? Macrovision copy protection on the commercial VHS tapes may have messed up the video signal. You may need to buy one of those black box copyguard stabilizer devices to run between the VCR and the Pyro device.

If your DV-AVI file looks good, a program like FAVC will easily turn it into a DVD-compliant file. See this link:
https://www.videohelp.com/tools/FAVC

Also keep in mind that a standalone, set-top DVD recorder would be the best 1-step method to accomplish what you want. You would still need a copyguard stabilizer box between the VHS vcr and the DVD recorder.

[tinker]

ZARTT
I think you got some good answers here. Specially the last one, concerning requirements for your box.
http://club.cdfreaks.com/f34/convert-analog-vcr-digital-264533/

[orsetto]

The key question is, as others have stated, does your first-stage AVI file play without the stuttering? If so, switching to different DVD authoring software will likely solve your problem. But if the AVI also suffers from these symptoms, your problem is in the capture stage. Disney tapes are utterly infested with MacroVision copy protection: if your PYRO board was going to react to that it wouldn't stutter, it would refuse to record at all, so we can probably rule out the protection signal as the main culprit (although its still a good idea to include a protection filter in your hardware chain). Since you are also getting symptoms on your other VHS, you might simply be experiencing the very common problem that most capture cards really do not like VHS signals, no matter that the mfr sells them with that exact use in mind. Its usually not cost effective to replace a capture card you've already bought and used for awhile, so I second the recommendation to buy a standalone DVD recorder and connect it to your VCR. Don't stint on the recorder, though: either buy a Panasonic (DVD-only) or buy a Phillips/Magnavox model with both DVD and hard drive. The Panasonic is a bit cheaper, and you can just rip the DVDs it makes into your PC for final editing and authoring. If you can afford the Phillips/Magnavox, recording VHS to their internal HDDs allows editing unwanted material before burning the DVD, and can speed up the whole process if you don't mind using the simpler authoring capabilities built into the recorder (it makes nice static menus with thumbnails for each title name, and you can select your own chapter points, but thats about it).

[theewizard]

I use DVDxpress with with CapWhiz and movie factory

it creates mpeg2 files directly to the hard drive, DVDxpress is hardware based encoding, the mpeg2 file is created in the box and then sent to tru the USB to the PC to be saved.

I have had excellent results and have used it on (3) different PC's

i can use any program capable of mpeg editing, to edit the mpegs and burn the DVD's

[redwudz]

AFAIK, the OP is using a analog to digital DV-AVI converter over a FireWire link to his computer, simlar to a ADVC box. Should just be a simple data transfer. If it's dropping frames during transfers, then that's another problem.

One Pyro AV-Link: http://www.firewire-1394.com/pyro-av-link-api-555.htm

[ZARTT]

In a fit of desperation I un-installed the driver for my GeForce 6200 video board, running the board with the generic windows driver.
It was the latest Nvidia at 181.22.
I have not re-installed it yet.
I was able to capture one of the Disney tapes without a hiccup.
No stalls, or stuttering, or BSOD's
One hour and forty minutes of capture into an .AVI file.
The .AVI file plays perfectly on either WMP. or Nero, and XtoDVD has burned me a .VOB DVD that plays in mine (SONY) and my granddaughters (PANASONIC) stand alone dvd player.
I have duplicated the capture for the third time now, with the same good results.
Maybe I'll get this project done after all.
Go figure.
Many thanks to all, for your insightful, and intelligent suggestions.
It's good to know that you guys are out there.

Art.