Better quality from VHS capture

[dross333]

Hi, Very new to this stuff here. I am trying to get my Wedding video to DVD. I am using my Camcorder which has the analog cables plugged in and then I have a firewire cable to my computer. The quality that I see is not near that of the VCR. I was trying Ulead Video Studio 7 and 8. Are there certain settings I migt be missing, or a better software program for this?

Thanks
David

[FulciLives]

Hi, Very new to this stuff here. I am trying to get my Wedding video to DVD. I am using my Camcorder which has the analog cables plugged in and then I have a firewire cable to my computer. The quality that I see is not near that of the VCR. I was trying Ulead Video Studio 7 and 8. Are there certain settings I migt be missing, or a better software program for this?

Thanks
David

It sounds like you are using your digital camcorder in what is called analog-to-digital pass through mode to copy your video from your source (a VHS tape?) to your computer via FIREWIRE using DV AVI format.

Correct?

If so then there really is not a whole lot (knock on wood) that can go wrong there. In short that is going to be about as good as you can get.

How much further along have you gotten past the capture phase? Are you still stuck there or have you gone on and attempted to convert to MPEG-2 DVD spec and if so what programs and/or methods have you used?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dross333]

Hi John, Thanks fr replying to my post. You are correct in my setup. I am only on the capture phase and am previewing the capture in Video Studio. It looks really bad, as I see lines and other things that are not in the original tape. If I showed this to my wife, she'd freak and say lets pay the studio to convert it. I wan't to figure out this so that I can convert others if needed.
I wasn't sure if other software would capture better. I also noticed that not all the software can capture with this setup. For example, Windows Movie maker, keeps asking me to insert a tape in my camcorder when I try to capture, not recognizing the feed is coming from my VCR and camcorder as a pass through.

Thanks Again
David

[junkmalle]

I see lines and other things that are not in the original tape

It sounds like you are seeing interlace artifacts. Since your final output will be a DVD just ignore the artifacts while editing. The final result on DVD will look fine. Don't use any deinterlacing filters and be sure to keep the field order correct. I'm pretty sure you should select "Field Order B" as the Frame Type in VS7.

[Harold7]

Try out the Demo version of Power Producer 2 Gold http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/products/product_main.jsp?ProdId=47 , I've had very good results transfering VHS tapes to DVD... the video quality I get with the finished DVD is almost indistinguishable from the original, especially if you have captures that are less than 60 miin.

There is a DV capture function that works really well, so your camcorder should work great.... try it and see if it gives you the results you're looking for.

[BSR]

I have used Video Studio 6 and your versions 7 and 8 should be plenty for what you need.
I agree with Junkmalle, those are most likely interlaced lines that you see on your monitor. Don't worry, they wont be seen on your TV.

Computer monitor = Progressive
TV = interlaced

Test out a short clip and burn to a DVD-RW and base your decision on that.
Or playback on your computer with DVD player software that does the de-interlacing for you on the fly while your watching it.

Sounds like your on the right track so far, and what you've seen is normal.

[presto]

Also distortions along the top and bottom will not show up on your TV because they are in the overscan area.

The video looks much better when played on TV from the final DVD than it does when previewed. Even watching the final product on your computer monitor does not look as good as on TV.

[dross333]

I feel much better now. I will try a small clip tonight and Burn to DVD and see the results on the TV. As far as Power Producer, I did give that a try, but it does not see the VHS video when using the camcorder as the pass through. It keeps asking for me to insert a tape in the camcorder.

Thanks again for all the great replies and support.

David

[spiderman2k1]

Get your self a good JVC VCR that has nouise reduction. And get a DVD recorder. Panasonic or APEX. VHS tape will look as good as it can get.

The other way would to use A ATI AIW capture card and use Video soap to clean up the picture you can get one of these cards at www.pricewatch.com there cheep reason being they upgrade once a year for video gamer's but the capturing is the same in the old one's and new one's that for any where from $33.00 dollars to $500.00 dollars. just get the RADEOn model All In Wonder

[BSR]

Are there certain settings I migt be missing, or a better software program for this?

By the way, what are your capture settings?

I use my DV cam with pass through and capture as DV.
Edit the video and then convert to DVD either as 720x480 or 352x480(great for VHS capture to fit more on DVD and not lose any if much quality.)

If your not going to do much if any editing, you can also capture straight to Mpeg2(DVD compliant file) with Ulead Videostudio(under capture settings). It saves time, but the quality might not be as good because it does the encoding to MPEG(dvd compliant) on the fly. Then all you have to do is author and burn.

Also found that using my Sony DV cam with passthrough helps to stabalize the picture. Had jittery video on the VCR that was transferred without any notice of jitter.

Good luck with your DVD. And after you perfect the basics you'll start asking questions about filtering your video to smooth out edges or to clean up crappy VHS captures. It's time consuming but very intersteing stuff.

[dross333]

Thanks for the post BSR. I am going to mess with this tonight, hoepfully and see what results I get. Based on the replies, I think I'm on the right track and have faith.

PS: What should my capture settings be, and where is this in Video Studio?

Thanks Again
David

[sacajaweeda]

Get your self a good JVC VCR that has nouise reduction. And get a DVD recorder. Panasonic or APEX. VHS tape will look as good as it can get.

That's all well and good for a quick fix on mundane stuff like tv shows or backing up your VHS movie collection, but I certainly wouldn't settle for those type of results with something as important as a wedding video.

But that's just me.

[Biodroid]

easy buy a WinTV PVR250 $99.00 it has all the software to develop a DVD
so using a standard analog RCA cables you connect your VCR to the WinTV then capture using standard DVD then you get a 6000 to 8000 kb and 48kz 2 channel PCM audio. That is a standard DVD i am using this card for a while and will be continuing uing it.

[spiderman2k1]

"sacajaweeda" buying the high JVC is the best way I remaster VHS tape's all the time. I have tried almost ever trick to remaster VHS tape's. A good JVC has aTBC and the Panasonic DVd recorder's have TBC in there.

[sacajaweeda]

"sacajaweeda" buying the high JVC is the best way

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. Doesn't make it so, however.

[BSR]

PS: What should my capture settings be, and where is this in Video Studio?David

If you are captureing DV(my recomendation), then you are just copying the info from the DV cam and you don't have to fool with the settings for this. The DV cam has it's own standard settings, 720x480, 29.97fps etc. Most DV cams with passthrough have a TBC built in, so unless you feel you need it, I do not recommend spending money on one right now. If you do some reading you will see that many people prefer to capture with the DV cam rather than the capture card. But of course there are mixed feeling for this.

If you are captureing MPEG, then you would need to set the settings. I have VideoStudio6, and if I remember correctly(I'm at work now), when you are at the capture tab its one of the buttons on the left, it will either be set to DV or MPEG. Click on it and change it. I'm in the US so I use NTSC.
Important settings = 720x480 or 352x480 resolution(both DVD compatible), 29.97fps, and quality(6000 or higher). I think all the other settings are left at defualt.
I don't personally use this method, but plan on fooling around with it for less important footage that I don't want to have to wait for long encode times.

Sounds like you have all the equipment you need to get great results captureing video. Just make sure you have a decent VCR. Because if the quality of that sucks, then it's just going to get transferred to the computer. Garbage in = garbage out.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[mikesbytes]

Yes a decent VCD will be worth its weight in gold. The better ones seem to be able to cleanup the signal.

You could also try simply recording it to a DV tape and then loading the tape to PC, using some simple software by WinDV. By breaking it up into several steps, you may be able to see exactly where the challenge is.

One more point to remember is that VHS is of lower quality than DVD. Often you can get a better result, simply be using lower resolution as a higher resolution may simply be displaying the noise?