Is There a "BEST" formula/ format for VHS to DVD

[thebignewbie]

Sorry, I guess my previous question was pretty vague. I actually have been reading a lot of the HOW to guides and maybe I already got the answer I'm looking for --- There is No "best".

My real question is about VHS to DVD conversion. I've used VirtualDub to cature from my KWORLD TV878RF-PRO TV Tuner / Video Card. I captured at 720X480 , 29 fps , and saved as an AVI. I did some minor editing and burned it to a DVD with Roxio Creator 6. It actually played great and looked pretty good.

I guess I was just looking for the "best" formula for VHS to DVD (ie. 720X480, 29fps, YUY2 (after read about data format, I'm still not sure which custom setting in VirtualDub to choose on the Data Format YUYV, YUY2, etc.) then burn at MPEG1 with such and such resolution etc.


These home movies are really important to me and just wanted to preserve as much quality as possible, even if it means buying a new capture card.

System Specs.
P4 at 2.5Ghz , 512RAM, 200GB hard drive, KWORLD TV878RF-PRO
(I've been using the coaxil cable just because my old VCR doesn't have an S cable out)

[redlester]

If you want the best possible quality, buy the Canopus AVDC100 analogue to digital converter. Then you can capture from VHS to DV via a cheap firewire card. No messing about. Thats the way I do it.

[teegee420]

Sorry, I guess my previous question was pretty vague. I actually have been reading a lot of the HOW to guides and maybe I already got the answer I'm looking for --- There is No "best".

My real question is about VHS to DVD conversion. I've used VirtualDub to cature from my KWORLD TV878RF-PRO TV Tuner / Video Card. I captured at 720X480 , 29 fps , and saved as an AVI.

What kind of compression did you use?

I did some minor editing and burned it to a DVD with Roxio Creator 6. It actually played great and looked pretty good.

If you're happy with the results, good for you. I would do things differently. Instead of encoding, authoring, and burning with Roxio, I would probably just use it to burn only. I would use a dedicated mpeg encoder such as TMPGEnc to convert to mpeg-2 using a resolution of 352x480. This is the resolution that is closest to the actual frame size of VHS. Using 720x480 would be overkill. Using the smaller resolution would allow you to put more footage on one DVD because it doesn't require as much bitrate. You don't need to use any more than 5000kbps. Once you have your DVD mpeg created you can author with something like TMPGEnc DVD Author. I'm not sure if Roxio will be able to import the mpeg you create because of the resolution. It might attempt to re-encode. TDA is easy to use and creates pretty good menus. You can either burn your authored VIDEO_TS folder with TDA or with Roxio.

I guess I was just looking for the "best" formula for VHS to DVD (ie. 720X480, 29fps, YUY2 (after read about data format, I'm still not sure which custom setting in VirtualDub to choose on the Data Format YUYV, YUY2, etc.) then burn at MPEG1 with such and such resolution etc.

First of all, why would you want to use mpeg-1? You should use mpeg-2 for DVD purposes. Secondly, you really don't need to worry about the data format in Vdub. Once you make your cuts, set the video menu for direct stream copy and save. You don't need to recompress for simple trims and cuts. If you require more serious editing like effects, titles and transitions you should use another editor.

These home movies are really important to me and just wanted to preserve as much quality as possible, even if it means buying a new capture card.

Unless you are unhappy with the end result you should keep what you have and try to get the most out of it.

System Specs.
P4 at 2.5Ghz , 512RAM, 200GB hard drive, KWORLD TV878RF-PRO
(I've been using the coaxil cable just because my old VCR doesn't have an S cable out)

Your system if fairly well suited for the task at hand. The only advice I can give you in this area would be to get a DC block from Radio Shack. It's a cheap little device that connects to the coax cable that prevents interference from other electrical equipment. It might help clean up the picture if you are experiencing any "fuzzy" distortion.

To recap a bit, the order of succession that I would advise for this process is:

1. Capture
2. Edit
3. Encode
4. Author
5. Burn

Hope this helps. Bear in mind that this is merely my opinion. Other people here may suggest an entirely different course of action. You will have to conclude what you think will work best for you. Good luck and have fun.

[jimmalenko]

Sorry, I guess my previous question was pretty vague. I actually have been reading a lot of the HOW to guides and maybe I already got the answer I'm looking for --- There is No "best".

My real question is about VHS to DVD conversion. I've used VirtualDub to cature from my KWORLD TV878RF-PRO TV Tuner / Video Card. I captured at 720X480 , 29 fps , and saved as an AVI.

What kind of compression did you use?

I did some minor editing and burned it to a DVD with Roxio Creator 6. It actually played great and looked pretty good.

If you're happy with the results, good for you. I would do things differently. Instead of encoding, authoring, and burning with Roxio, I would probably just use it to burn only. I would use a dedicated mpeg encoder such as TMPGEnc to convert to mpeg-2 using a resolution of 352x480. This is the resolution that is closest to the actual frame size of VHS. Using 720x480 would be overkill. Using the smaller resolution would allow you to put more footage on one DVD because it doesn't require as much bitrate. You don't need to use any more than 5000kbps. Once you have your DVD mpeg created you can author with something like TMPGEnc DVD Author. I'm not sure if Roxio will be able to import the mpeg you create because of the resolution. It might attempt to re-encode. TDA is easy to use and creates pretty good menus. You can either burn your authored VIDEO_TS folder with TDA or with Roxio.

I guess I was just looking for the "best" formula for VHS to DVD (ie. 720X480, 29fps, YUY2 (after read about data format, I'm still not sure which custom setting in VirtualDub to choose on the Data Format YUYV, YUY2, etc.) then burn at MPEG1 with such and such resolution etc.

First of all, why would you want to use mpeg-1? You should use mpeg-2 for DVD purposes. Secondly, you really don't need to worry about the data format in Vdub. Once you make your cuts, set the video menu for direct stream copy and save. You don't need to recompress for simple trims and cuts. If you require more serious editing like effects, titles and transitions you should use another editor.

These home movies are really important to me and just wanted to preserve as much quality as possible, even if it means buying a new capture card.

Unless you are unhappy with the end result you should keep what you have and try to get the most out of it.

System Specs.
P4 at 2.5Ghz , 512RAM, 200GB hard drive, KWORLD TV878RF-PRO
(I've been using the coaxil cable just because my old VCR doesn't have an S cable out)

Your system if fairly well suited for the task at hand. The only advice I can give you in this area would be to get a DC block from Radio Shack. It's a cheap little device that connects to the coax cable that prevents interference from other electrical equipment. It might help clean up the picture if you are experiencing any "fuzzy" distortion.

To recap a bit, the order of succession that I would advise for this process is:

1. Capture
2. Edit
3. Encode
4. Author
5. Burn

Hope this helps. Bear in mind that this is merely my opinion. Other people here may suggest an entirely different course of action. You will have to conclude what you think will work best for you. Good luck and have fun.

Great stuff teegee.

No complaints with that here.

[lantern]

I use the same Kworld card occasionally, it is on my backup system. When I capture, I have it set for 352x480, 29 fps, YUY2 for VHS capture (through coax cable). I also use the PicVideo codec set on 19 for quality in VDub. I use Tmpgenc to convert to MPEG-2 usually (sometimes to MPEG-1). I generally use the default settings. The audio is captured uncompressed then edited and cleaned up. I then convert to AC3 for DVDs. Then Tmpgenc DVD Author to create DVDs or VCDEasy for VCDs.

I think that the video capture is the easiest part, getting the audio clean is the big pain in the a$$!

[lordsmurf]

My method is best to me:
www.digitalfaq.com/digitalfaqway.htm

Lots of others have said they like it too.