Programs & settings for highest quality DVD from VHS cap

[LABachlr]

Apparently not too many of you use iMovie. So, I was wondering what programs to use, and at what settings, in order to get the highest quality DVD from a VHS capture with a Mac. I am a newbie, so please do not assume that I know a thing. And if you could give me a simple step-by-step set of instructions to do this, that would much appreciated.

The Mac that I will be using has an 800MHz processor, and uses a USB connection to capture the video from VHS via a Dazzle Hollywood Bridge. And by the way, is USB fast enough to capture video? I didn't think it was, but it seems to work with iMovie, although the quality is not stellar, hence my post.

[curtw]

I'm certainly not an expert, but I can relay my experience. I've never used a USB bridge, as I have a Firewire-enabled DV camcorder. But here are some real-world numbers:

I've converted several VHS tapes to iMovies via Firewire, and the DV files take up about 12 GB/hr, which corresponds to 200 MB/min, or 3.33 MB/sec, or ~27 Mbps (megaBITS per second). This doesn't come anywhere near the bandwidth limit for FireWire, but it seems to vastly exceed that of USB (which, I believe is in the range of 11-12 Mbps). So, I'd say that some of your signal is DEFINITELY getting tossed out by the USB bridge. I'd highly recommend trying a FireWire converter or camcorder. I think you'll bepleasantly surprised by the results.

[LABachlr]

Thanks for the info. Actually, I guess he does have firewire as there is no USB Hollywood Bridge by Dazzle. My bad. But I would still appreciate a step-by-step guide to converting VHS to DVD with the highest quality possible.

Thanks.

[curtw]

(this is all based on iMovie/iDVD 2. I have not used version 3, and that probably eliminates some steps)

Step 1: Use your Hollywood bridge to import your VHS to DV via iMovie.

Step 2: Edit your movie as you desire.

Step 3: Export from iMovie to Quicktime using the setting "for iDVD"

Step 4: Drop the Quicktime movie onto iDVD, and make the menus purty.

Step 5: Encode and burn.

If you've made iDVDs using these steps, and they don't look good, please post with specific details (running length, encoding times, issues), and somebody will probably recognize the problem.

[LABachlr]

Thanks. The guy who I am doing this with has been using iMovie2 to do it using the above method with the default settings (I assume). It has worked, but I just feel that it is too grainy.

Granted, the VHS tape that we are currently trying to convert is grainy as well, but the guy who gave me the VHS tape had recorded it onto a DVD+RW disc with his standalone Phillips DVD burner, and the quality did improve. I tried to rip it, but my DVD player could not recognize the DVD+RW. I would like to at least match that quality.

We already converted the same VHS tape to DVD using the above method with iMovie2, but the quality is less than that of the DVD+RW disc that I was given.

Any ideas?

[digitaldave]

Granted, the VHS tape that we are currently trying to convert is grainy as well, but the guy who gave me the VHS tape had recorded it onto a DVD+RW disc with his standalone Phillips DVD burner, and the quality did improve. I tried to rip it, but my DVD player could not recognize the DVD+RW. I would like to at least match that quality.

We already converted the same VHS tape to DVD using the above method with iMovie2, but the quality is less than that of the DVD+RW disc that I was given.

Any ideas?

Here's my ideas:

1. The Phillips has a better analog/digital converter than the Dazzle unit. Less compression, better encoding. (For example the DVC 100 has a DVD encoder chip inside which automatically converts video in real time into DVD quality video. This shrinks the video to one quarter its original size saving hard disk space.) This additional compression is probably to accommodate USB. Along with a significant loss of quality. From a couple reviews I saw the Dazzle stuff doesn't exactly have a rep for the highest quality in the first place.

2. The Phillips may also incorporate some sort of algorithm to reduce the noise. Unlikely but a possibility.

3. It would sure help a lot if we were to get more details from as to the specs of some of the equipment you're using so that we know what else may be causing the deterioration of quality. VCR? Mac? Mac OS?

As suggested above a better analog to digital converter of some sort may help out, but you're still going to be limited with USB.

[LABachlr]

Here's my ideas:

1. The Phillips has a better analog/digital converter than the Dazzle unit. Less compression, better encoding. (For example the DVC 100 has a DVD encoder chip inside which automatically converts video in real time into DVD quality video. This shrinks the video to one quarter its original size saving hard disk space.) This additional compression is probably to accommodate USB. Along with a significant loss of quality. From a couple reviews I saw the Dazzle stuff doesn't exactly have a rep for the highest quality in the first place.

2. The Phillips may also incorporate some sort of algorithm to reduce the noise. Unlikely but a possibility.

3. It would sure help a lot if we were to get more details from as to the specs of some of the equipment you're using so that we know what else may be causing the deterioration of quality. VCR? Mac? Mac OS?

As suggested above a better analog to digital converter of some sort may help out, but you're still going to be limited with USB.

OK. Thanks for the info.

1. Good to know about the Dazzle Bridge. By the way, as mentioned above, I found out that it actually uses a firewire with the Mac.

Do you think an ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP Retail card would have better quality? If so, how much better? I realize this is for a PC, but I just figured I would ask.

3. He has a Mac that I believe has an 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM, and the Mac OS that came right before Jaguar. It's the Mac that has the 15" LCD screen that is attached to the computer itself, which is a round base. He bought it right before the 17" widescreen LCD monitor came out. He got it less than a year ago, I believe. The VCR looks like a $100 VCR. Not sure of the brand. Of course that could have something to do with the quality. If you need any more info, let me know.

I was just wondering of there was any tweaking that one could do, or any software that is better at converting than iMovie, or any settings that need to be adjusted in iMovie.

[Jeffersonian]

Just my two cents...

DV video always looks grainy to me on my comptuer when I am editing, but after I burn the DVD it looks great on a TV. It's weird, but I've always noticed that. Don't know if that could be part of your problem, but thought I would at least mention it. By the way I've used the same iMovie/iDVD methods.

[LABachlr]

Just my two cents...

DV video always looks grainy to me on my comptuer when I am editing, but after I burn the DVD it looks great on a TV. It's weird, but I've always noticed that. Don't know if that could be part of your problem, but thought I would at least mention it. By the way I've used the same iMovie/iDVD methods.

Actually, I am comparing what both look like when watching them on TV, but thanks.

[digitaldave]

Ah, iMac. Perfectly fine for for what you want to do.

Best solution: Get your hands on a DVCam that has Analog In (these have a built-in Analog to Digital Converter), preferably with Passthrough, from all I've seen they are tremdously better than something like the Dazzle stuff. Connect the VCR to the DV Camera and then from the camera to the iMac (with Firewire). If the camera doesn't have passthrough capability then you'll need to record onto DV Tape and then feed it to the iMac.

Next I assume that the iMac has a SuperDrive (DVD-R). Follow the steps outlined above and burn with iDVD.

[LABachlr]

Ah, iMac. Perfectly fine for for what you want to do.

Best solution: Get your hands on a DVCam that has Analog In (these have a built-in Analog to Digital Converter), preferably with Passthrough, from all I've seen they are tremdously better than something like the Dazzle stuff. Connect the VCR to the DV Camera and then from the camera to the iMac (with Firewire). If the camera doesn't have passthrough capability then you'll need to record onto DV Tape and then feed it to the iMac.

Next I assume that the iMac has a SuperDrive (DVD-R). Follow the steps outlined above and burn with iDVD.

Great idea! I'll try that!

[LABachlr]

Just found out that his DVCam does not have Analog In.

What is the best product to use in replace of the Dazzle Hollywood Bridge for the Mac that he has (see above for description of model) that would produce the highest quality?

[digitaldave]

1. Find some other camera that does have Analog In.

2. There are other ADC that are more expensive than the Dazzle, but may give you the quality you want.

3. Take the VHS and put it to DVD+RW (as mentioned eariler) and then bring it to the iMac. Then output to DVD-R.

[LABachlr]

2. There are other ADC that are more expensive than the Dazzle, but may give you the quality you want.

Can you name any?

3. Take the VHS and put it to DVD+RW (as mentioned eariler) and then bring it to the iMac. Then output to DVD-R.

Great idea, but we tried putting the DVD+RW into his Mac, but it could not read it. I believe that Macs use the popular Pioneer DVD-R/RW drives, which can not read DVD+R/RW's.

[digitaldave]

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company, you should also search with other vendors to comparison shop. I believe I did see some positive reviews of this product. Again, let Google be your friend and confirm this information.

http://macsolutions.com/homepage.html

Look for the CANOPUS ADVC-100 ADVANCED DIGITAL VIDEO CONVERTER.

[LABachlr]

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company, you should also search with other vendors to comparison shop. I believe I did see some positive reviews of this product. Again, let Google be your friend and confirm this information.

http://macsolutions.com/homepage.html

Look for the CANOPUS ADVC-100 ADVANCED DIGITAL VIDEO CONVERTER.

OK. Cool. Thanks a lot. I didn't find it at that vendor, but all I did was do a search with the keywords Canopus ADVC-100. I didn't bother trying to find it via the menus. I did find it at newegg.com, though.

[kingm]

Hello,
I am no expert either, but I have been able to make surprisingly acceptable SVCDs and CVDs using:

1. Analog video played into a Dazzle Hollywood Bridge
2. Captured in iMovie (350Hz G4)
3. Editted as desired (cut out "bad" transitions between "scenes")
4. Export for iDVD - this makes a .mov QuickTime file
5. Turn on High quality bit using QuickTime Pro (I believe this is an important step in the process I follow)
6. Then, use ffmpegX to prepare the files to burn to CD. I always use the NTSC/SVCD preset or the NTSC/CVD preset. I do not have a DVD burner, so I can only burn about 30 minutes at a time.

When I look at the captured video after step 2, the quality looks good to me. I attribute most of the blurriness to the autofocus on the camcorder we used to record with. It looks that way even when I play it directly into a TV from the original VHS tape.

If I skip step 5, the results are noticably inferior.

I agree with a previous post that the best way to view the results are on the TV played through a DVD player.

Note: I am looking at SVCDs (480x480) and CVDs (352x480), and I think the quality is as good as the VHS. Since you have a DVD burner, you should be able to use the above process and burn files for it (ffmpegX has presets for DVD, too).

I have even followed steps 1-3 above and then exported from iMovie to the camera - I connected a VCR and caught the output in record mode. The resulting VHS tape looks fine.

In summary, if your movie looks OK in iMovie, then maybe the problem is with the subsequent compression, etc. for DVD. I thought I had heard that iDVD does a good job, so this is a little confusing/surprising.

[LABachlr]

Thanks for the tip on the Quicktime Pro step. I'll see if I can get my hands on that software.

[LABachlr]

1. Analog video played into a Dazzle Hollywood Bridge
2. Captured in iMovie (350Hz G4)
3. Editted as desired (cut out "bad" transitions between "scenes")
4. Export for iDVD - this makes a .mov QuickTime file
5. Turn on High quality bit using QuickTime Pro (I believe this is an important step in the process I follow)
6. Then, use ffmpegX to prepare the files to burn to CD. I always use the NTSC/SVCD preset or the NTSC/CVD preset. I do not have a DVD burner, so I can only burn about 30 minutes at a time.

...If I skip step 5, the results are noticably inferior.

Could you give me a step-by-step guide for performing step 5? I'd appreciate it.

(I tried opening the .mov file in question into Quicktime Pro and exporting it as mpeg4, which is noticeably better, but I don't think that is what you are referring to.)

[kingm]

from the menu at top:
Movie/Get Movie Properties

from the sub-menu:
change left choice to Video Track
change right choice to High Quality
click on High Quality Enabled
(I also click on Single Field, although that may not be necessary - if motion scenes appear grainy, Single Field may help)

from the menu at top:
File/Save

[LABachlr]

OK. Thanks. I just tried it, and it didn't really do much to improve the quality. However, I am just talking about viewing the before and after versions on the computer, not after burning to DVD. However, have you tried exporting it as an mpeg4 file? Seems to make some noticeable improvements. Can the mpeg4 file be then converted to mpeg2 so it can be burned to DVD?