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  1. Member
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    Jan 2019
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    I'm about to start a project to capture VHS home movies to digital format. My plan is to digitize the VHS tapes to dvd quality and bitrate and store them on external storage. I'll then view them over the local wifi network on a media player via streaming device (like a roku stick).

    I have 32 VHS tapes and 7 VHS-C tapes. I have two VHS-C adapters and two VHS players (Sony SLV-N55 and Panasonic PV-7450). The Panasonic looks like better of the two but both are consumer grade. I don't plan on getting an upgraded VCR with TBC -- I tested a couple of tapes on the VCR's I mentioned the quality seems sufficient for my needs as long a I can capture at a similar quality.

    To capture I'm currently deciding between the Diamond VC500 or Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2. Any recommendations between these two or is there something better in this price range?

    Is it preferable to compress video as it's being captured or after with something like ffmpeg? I know uncompressed videos are huge but I have enough HD space that I could have a couple uncompressed videos at a time, then encode the files and move them to external storage, then repeat the process. It's a couple of extra steps and would tack a lot more time on the project but I wouldn't mind if it improved the output quality, audio sync, reduced dropped frames...
    I have some past experience with VirtualDub so I'll probably use that for capturing or maybe OBS over whatever bundled software I get.
    Also whats the best codec and format for what I'm trying to do? I've used Xvid many years ago but is H.265 or something better for compatibility and performance? I'm not trying to upscale the video or do anything fancy.

    Sorry if some of these question have been asked an answered already, I've scanned the forums here but was a bit overwhelmed and got lost in some of the jargon.
    Thanks.
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  2. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    either device is fine. or you can get no name chinese knockoffs for 10. they all record to mpeg-2 dvd spec just fine.
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  3. Member
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    Really, I thought those EZ-Caps were frowned upon? I must be overthinking things.
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  4. Member
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    I decided to go with the Diamond VC500. My plan is to first capture VHS to Huffyuv then maybe do minimal editing (like trim to length), then convert it to Mpeg2 dvd.
    Does this sound like a good plan? I'll post my results after I try a few videos.
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