Can an S-VHS Player and S-Video Output Cable Benefit Standard-VHS Capture?

[hiptune]

I have to acknowledge that, being so new here and having not yet begun even my first project, I do not fully understand your advice.

I think your saying that either the Canopus ADVC-110 or the JVC 9800 VCR incorporates "automatic tracking" as an optional function, but that that function is not always reliable.

Since I don't know anything more, I assume you are suggesting that I look out for the problem your described.

Once I begin to learn how to use Adobe Premier Elements 11, will I be able to identify and correct the tracking problem you mentioned?

Thanks,

Howard

Not quite, the problem can be with auto tracking on VHS decks, nothing to do with the ADVC or Adobe software.

Have you ever had to sue the tracking control on a VHS deck to get the picture to be clean and free of snow, or to get the sound to be free of crackle? You need to usderstand this before you even plug in the ADVC, or consider anything.

You start the tape, and get the machine to output as perfect picture as it can do. This is the first step before capturing. Once sound and picture are as near perfect as can be, then you rewind tape and consider the capture to computer hard drive.

So read up about tracking and auto tracking of a VHS player, and consider the benefits of not using auto tracking.

[Avagadro1]

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[manono]

He's just saying the VCR may lose the track sometimes after the capture begins and then spend some time trying to reacquire it during which your tape will be captured with all those garbage horizontal lines, and suggests turning off the automatic tracking after the taping begins and it has locked itself into a good track.

I can't say I've ever noticed that myself, but I'm not all that experienced yet. Maybe it's because my VHS tapes are of very good quality, all things considered.

Edit: Oh, sorry, too late.

Should I NOT EVEN TRY to capture an hour or more of run of tape, but only do so for, say, fifteen-minute runs?

I capture the whole thing at once, upwards of three hours at a time. They can be easily split later on. There's some filtering that you might want to do to the whole thing, some to parts. Anyway, AviSynth is ideal for this kind of thing. My advice is to learn it if you have a bunch of tapes to work on.

[Avagadro1]

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[manono]

I don't know the answer to that. Mine is a Panasonic. Based on what hiptune said, though, yes, once locked on it stays there unless something throws it off (he mentioned "a bad patch, or weak signal"). But he and others will know better than I.