System advice for digitizing (very) large quantities of VHS

[Drach]

Greetings all! This is my first post to the VideoHelp forum, please forgive me if I inadvertently breach forum etiquette.

I work in the archives of a fairly large company that currently sends VHS off-site to be digitized. We have a large quantity of footage, (mostly in VHS, but some betamax & 3/4). We would like to start digitizing in-house to cut costs and provide increased freedom and control of the finished product.

I have been researching hardware and software options, and would very much appreciate the advice and feedback of the community.

Comp Specs:

Mac Pro5,1
Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz
L2 Cashe (per core) 256 KB
L3 Cashe: 8 MB
Memory: 3 GB (3x1GB)
Processor Interconnect Speed 4.8GT/s
Built-in Firewire 800

Proposed setup:

JVC HR-S9911U (or similar)
Datavideo TBC-1000
Canopus 77010150100 ADVC110 Converter
Final Cut Studio

A couple of questions:

1. If I buy a S-VHS player with a built-in TBC, do I need to also use a separate, external TBC? Is there any difference? What should I use?
2. What are the pros and cons of using an internal or external capture card/digitizer? Will the Canopus converter work optimally with the firewire 800? Should I look into getting an internal capture card instead?
3. Is it worthwhile to invest in Final Cut Studio for this project? Are there a better combination of converters/editors/encoders that I could use for a better price? For the most part, the only editing I foresee doing is cleaning up the beginning & end of each clip, light color correction, and noise reduction.
4. Do you have any advice for making the process as time-efficient as possible?

I truly appreciate any help and advice you can offer. Thank you all in advance.

-drach

[Drach]

-bump- I could really use some help please.

[minidv2dvd]

1) mostly depends on the quality of the tape. i assume they are recent and in good shape so no a external isn't required.

2) the canopus 110 is fine. firewire 800 is backwards compatible with 400 devices with that weird socket it uses.

3) you might get mac people to respond if you changed the title of the thread to "Mac" system advice. maybe a mod could move it to the mac section also.

4) send them out to a large video house that has multiple capture units. not much you can do with one.

[edDV]

Why don't you hire someone from the dub industry rather than re-inventing the wheel?

If quality is the goal the first thing I'd buy is a good frame sync with VHS optimized TBC (e.g. FOR.A, Ensemble Designs) and some good test and measurement equipment (e.g. Tektronix o'scope, waveform monitor and vector scope). The frame sync should output SDI or Firewire so you don't need to go back to analog. The operator should be trained in VCR maintenance and capture technique. Unless the operator is working for free, he/she represents your highest cost. Don't skimp on capital equipment.

You will need to capture multiple VCR's to make the labor investment efficient.
http://www.ensembledesigns.com/products/brighteye/be03



What is the FCP studio for? Are you digitizing tapes or doing production? Why do you need more than cut editing?

Do you plan to encode on the fly while capturing or capture uncompressed for post filtering and/or editing?