improving quality of VHS captures

[geek rock]

i've been capturing some VHS tapes with my canopus ADVC-100, into iMovie, which gives acceptable results.

I'm thinking about moving over to Final Cut Express, to have more options. I'm wondering if there are any plug-ins or filters available for the program to improve the quality of VHS captures. i'm thinking de-noising, etc.

i know of a program called "virtualdub" on the PC, which had a ton of filters, and some people i talked to managed to get a near-DVD quality result at the end of it.

so.. anybody got any suggestions or ideas?

thanks!

-Mark

[Thargok]

Although filters may look something look better, the quality is usually worse. Asking to improve quality with a fixed source is like asking for 12 apples just by running 3 apples through a machine.

Anyway...

You can mask some of the VHS faults by making the video darker and saving the final video at a low resolution like 320x240 and absolutely no more than 480x480. I have never used FCE, but I would expect it to give you more options with filters as well.

[TugBoat]

I've used both iMovie and FCE for VHS captures. As for the capture itself, there's not any difference between the two. Whatever comes across the wire is what you get. That's why the cover to my Samsung V2000 is off right now. I clean the heads between each tape. Now after the capture, FCE KICKS BUTT! It's taken me a while to learn the basics, but it's much more detailed than iMovie. You won't believe some of the things you can do with this software. It is important to have a fast Mac as you must render the clip when you make changes. This can take hours on a Dual 1.25. I have definitely improved the looks of some of these old movies using FCE. If you can afford it, go for FCE!

[spiderman2k1]

Buy a high end JVC vcr for around $300.00 dollars it you can get one at http://www.crazyg.com/ I use panasonic but they do not make high end vcr's any more only JVC

[pants]

are you wanting to output to dvd? if so maybe save the money and not get fce and go for the instant dvd from ads. vhs straight to mpeg, instead vhs to dv to mpeg, it should look somewhat better.

[geek rock]

I've used both iMovie and FCE for VHS captures. As for the capture itself, there's not any difference between the two. Whatever comes across the wire is what you get. That's why the cover to my Samsung V2000 is off right now. I clean the heads between each tape. Now after the capture, FCE KICKS BUTT! It's taken me a while to learn the basics, but it's much more detailed than iMovie. You won't believe some of the things you can do with this software. It is important to have a fast Mac as you must render the clip when you make changes. This can take hours on a Dual 1.25. I have definitely improved the looks of some of these old movies using FCE. If you can afford it, go for FCE!

thanks for the info. i do actually have FCE already - i didn't see much point using it for straight capturing then mpeg2 encoding, i prefer the simplicity of iMovie for that. what sort of filters or plugins do you use in FCE to improve the quality?

thanks

-Mark

[ejai]

STAY AWAY FROM ADS INSTANT DVD, you'll be sorry.

This device is garbage, I've lost many hours behind trying to get a stable video signal and audio sync issues. This box is the worst investment I've made in the last year or so.

Believe there are much better products out there, you've been warned.

[MichaelLAX]

STAY AWAY FROM ADS INSTANT DVD, you'll be sorry.

This device is garbage, I've lost many hours behind trying to get a stable video signal and audio sync issues. This box is the worst investment I've made in the last year or so.

Believe there are much better products out there, you've been warned.

My experience with ADS USB Instant DVD for Mac is exactly the opposite; although Tech Support and the manual leave much to be desired. But the hardware/software combo does exactly what it is marketted to do: digitize your choice of MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 in realtime, with either default or manual settings to adjust video quality, bit size, audio quality, etc. Then you can author a DVD with background artwork, titles and chapters; even create you own style "buttons." Plus you can even "trim" out extraneous material, such as openings, closings and commercials.

I only lost the video signal twice: once when I tried to digitize a VHS that was recorded at LP speed 22 years ago at a super-high rate of 6 bits. Once I reduced the bit rate and even the resolution to 1/2 D1, it produces excellent digitizations. The other time was when I tried to flip a Laserdisc in mid-digitization with no background video signal. Artifacts started at that point. I have NEVER had an audio sync issue.

If there are "better products out there" why didn't he tell you what they are??? Besides he didn't even name it corrrectly, so I suspect he has the Windoze version (which may account for his troubles -- dump the computer and OS!)

I currently have cranked up the bit rate to 5, audio to max, resolution to full D1 and am making DVDs out of those LaserDiscs in my personal collection of movies that are not available commercially on DVD. My copy of That's Entertainment (with chapters matching those on the original commercial disk) is one of my favorites and the picture and sound are terrific.