Newbie wants to convert VHS to DVD

[TroopaKart]

I have been recording a series from DirecTV for a while now. I have 52 episodes. I used high quality VHS tapes on SP mode. My VCR is a cheap Emerson that my mom bought me a year or so ago.

All that I want to do is put the VHS footage onto DVDs. And I want them to look and sound exactly the same as they do on the VHS. I'm happy enough with how the VHS looks and sounds. I don't have a big and nice HDTV set, so it's not like I can tell that the VHS hurts the quality.

My computer is too slow for a capture card, it will drop frames, so I've been looking at external devices like the ADS Instant DVD 2.0 and the Dazzle Digital Video Creator 150. I only need to do simple editing, mostly just removing some commercials if I could.

I'm pretty savvy with computers, but I haven't done anything in the sense of capturing video besides my little webcam here. Please give me advice on which product I should use, and what is the best way for me to accomplish my task.

I wish I could just buy the DVDs and save myself the trouble, but it's $25 for every 3 episodes. Too expensive. Thank you so much any help!

[FulciLives]

I looked at your computer specs and your computer should capture fine with a PCI type capture card (such as an AVerTV Stereo or AverTV Studio).

It would help to add a second HDD though just for capturing if you don't already have a second HDD.

This is if you are capturing using an MJPEG codec such as PICVideo MJPEG or even HuffyUV but your computer is probably too slow for software MPEG-2 encoding.

None of the direct to mpeg-2 USB devices seem to work all that well. If you insist on direct to mpeg-2 then look maybe at the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 which is a PCI card with hardware MPEG-2 encoding (thus taking the load off of your CPU). Even this device will sometimes produce errors in the mpeg-2 stream but it seems better than most and their is a lot of support out there for it.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Here is one website you might want to look at:
http://www.shspvr.com/

[TroopaKart]

Wow, thanks for your quick reply. I checked out that web site, it seems like a great resource. I'll bookmark it.

I'm open to more suggestions from everyone, so don't be shy to reply!

[louthewiz]

I went the capture route and many times it was bad,then i purchased a dvd recorder the panasonic e-80h and it was so easy I almost slapped myself. And finally you can get a good deal at ebay or ecost.com

[TroopaKart]

the panasonic e-80h

That looks great, except for the $520 price tag. I need something for $150 or less.

[bobinga]

Borrow a DVD Recorder

[Bob W]

Borrow a DVD Recorder

Yeah I agree a recorder seems to do a better job than any capture at least any capture I was able to do.

Here is a deal on a new recorder. I have one of these and it does a fine job on VHS and TV conversions. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3079697003&category=32864

[TroopaKart]

Hmm, that seems cool. And simple. Just plug the VCR into it, put a DVD-R in, and hit Record.

Still, at $200-$250, it's a little more than I want to spend. If I go with this, I'll wait some time. I'm sure they'll come down in price in a year or so. I'm not in any hurry to get the tapes done for now.

With a unit like this, is the quality of the DVD video & audio the same as it would be from the recording source, like my VCR?

Borrow a DVD Recorder

I don't know anyone who has one.

Do the ATI All-in-Wonder cards have hardware encoding? If so, I could just pick up a 9000 Pro or a 9200. I need hardware encoding though, because my computer isn't fast enough for software encoding, otherwise I would just get the AVerMedia DVD EZMaker.

[FulciLives]

Hmm, that seems cool. And simple. Just plug the VCR into it, put a DVD-R in, and hit Record.

Still, at $200-$250, it's a little more than I want to spend. If I go with this, I'll wait some time. I'm sure they'll come down in price in a year or so. I'm not in any hurry to get the tapes done for now.

With a unit like this, is the quality of the DVD video & audio the same as it would be from the recording source, like my VCR?

Borrow a DVD Recorder

I don't know anyone who has one.

Do the ATI All-in-Wonder cards have hardware encoding? If so, I could just pick up a 9000 Pro or a 9200. I need hardware encoding though, because my computer isn't fast enough for software encoding, otherwise I would just get the AVerMedia DVD EZMaker.

The ATI AIW cards have HARDWARE ASSIST meaning they do the MPEG-2 partly in HARDWARE and partly in SOFTWARE.

My guess is your computer would be too slow for direct to MPEG-2 with an ATI AIW unless you stick with Half D1 ... then maybe.

This is why I suggested the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 since this does 100% hardware MPEG-2

Also the ATI AIW can do AVI captures as well and your computer should be fast enough to handle that type of capture. You then convert the AVI capture to MPEG-2 in less-than-realtime using something like TMPGEnc Plus or CINEMA CRAFT ENCODER

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
If you go with AverMedia I would stick with the AverTV Stereo or the AverTV Studio and use the BTwincap drivers. It's a nice combo. It's what I use

*** EDIT ***
For more on ATI AIW capture cards see the smurf:
http://www.lordsmurf.com

[TroopaKart]

John,

I've been thinking about upgrading to Athlon 2Ghz eventually anyway. If I did that, would that help my performance with going direct to MPEG-2 if I got the AIW from ATI? Well, of course it would help, but would that be enough?

[teegee420]

I'm running an All-In-Wonder with an Athlon 2000XP and I rarely get any dropped frames when capturing to mpeg-2. In fact, the only time they occur at all is when there's a jitter on the tape or other such VCR/tape error. As much as I'd love to get a JVC SVHS deck witth built in TBC, I just don't do enough VHS captures to justify the investment.

[FulciLives]

John,

I've been thinking about upgrading to Athlon 2Ghz eventually anyway. If I did that, would that help my performance with going direct to MPEG-2 if I got the AIW from ATI? Well, of course it would help, but would that be enough?

Yes an Athlon 2.0Ghz would definately be more than fast enough to do Full D1 resolution direct to MPEG-2 using an ATI AIW

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Kolosus]

Get a minimum of 512mb of ram with it, you'll be glad you did.

[TroopaKart]

Thanks for the help everyone. I really am grateful for it.