capturing copy protected vhs videos

[pop3]

Do I need to do anything different using a capture device if I want to put some commercial copy protected VHS tapes onto DVD? Like use a filter or anything? What would be a good USB or firewire device to do this under the $200 price range that would also give a good picture and maybe even come with some decent software? The viewing quality of the VHS tapes are still good, or atleast as good as VHS can look, so I'm not too interested in restoring or cleaning them up. Adding some menus would be nice, but isnt really necerassey. These aren't available on DVD, so I just want to get them on DVD before they start to deteriorate.

[Forum Troll]

You might see if you can get a Hauppauge PVR-250 PCI capture card. It doesnt recognize the Macrovision signal, so no problems with it at all. Newegg.com has it for $140US.
Lots of people here swear by this card. It does hardware MPEG-2 encoding, and you can use VBR or CBR modes, plus tons more things. I highly recommend it.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=15-116-602&depa=0



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/ Moderator John Q. Publik

[pfh]

For external devices check out offerings from Plextor or Canopus. I currently use the Plextor M402U giving me mpeg2 dvd compliant files. This unit captures with the included Intervideo s/w (oem junk) or Plextor's GoCap utility. It also works with VirtualDub 1.04.6 experimemtal which offers a lot of flexible settings. The Canopus solutions are highly reccommended as well- very well made.
As far as authoring and editing, I use DVD Lab and Womble mpegVCR. DVD LAB lets you add nice menus and chapter selections. Womble allows easy cutting and splicing. Intervideo oem stuff is real basic and slow when it comes to authoring (It re-encodes the whole file after authoring).

[FulciLives]

If you use a Full Frame TBC it will eliminate ALL forms of copy protection PLUS it will do what a TBC is made to do ... stabiilize the video ... this is especially important with videotapes.

The only two real choices (that don't cost an arm and a leg) would be the DataVideo TBC-1000 which is normally around $300 USD and can be ordered from a variety of on-line shops such as B&H PHOTO AND VIDEO

The other Full Frame TBC option is the AVT-8710 which is $250 USD and can be ordered on-line from the AV TOOL BOX website.

However as mentioned not all capture cards/devices recognize copy protection and if the videotapes are in very good shape with little to no drop outs then you might not need a Full Frame TBC although having one does come in very handy.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[AlecWest]

You might see if you can get a Hauppauge PVR-250 PCI capture card. It doesnt recognize the Macrovision signal, so no problems with it at all.

My Hauppauge PVR-150 (at $86, cheaper than the 250) works well in that department, too. I own very few DVDs but have quite a few VHS tapes ... most of which I want to preserve before they deteriorate. And in all the backups I've done so far, Macrovision has never been a factor. Here's a link to a seller:

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?refer=nextag&id=1003550

One disclaimer, though. My VHS tapes are circa 1980s/1990s. However, Macrovision is planning to upgrade their signal to include analog scrambling. So, what might work on older tapes like mine may not work on tapes in the future. And, though no one can say for sure how long films will continue to be released on VHS, the format isn't quite dead yet. But, for tapes existing now, any of the Hauppauge PVR's will do the job.

[pop3]

How is the Hauppauge USB 2.0?
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html

[dphirschler]

MY Hauppauge WinTV card and my Pinnacle PCTV Pro card both ignore macrovision. My ATI cards (TV Wonder VE and Pro) do not ignore it.


Darryl

[FulciLives]

How is the Hauppauge USB 2.0?
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html

Here is a website with information on the various Hauppauge WinTV PVR units including the USB 2.0 model:

http://www.shspvr.com/

Good luck with whatever you decide on.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[kelemvor]

I just picked up the Hauppauge WinTV-OVR USB2 the other day. I just started capturing from some old VHS-C tapes last night and will do more tonight. Soon as I have enough to do a decent test, I'll burn it and see how it goes.

From the intial capture and viewing it in WMP, it looks pretty good. Tapes are old home movies so I'm not expecting brilliant color and clarity but it looks fine. And everything looks worse on the computer because of all the pixels and things.

I'll try to remember to update this over the weekend...

[rumplestiltskin]

I use this:

http://www.hightechdepot.com/Detail.tmpl?cart=31945949125696&SKU=RX-II

...and it works perfectly. Insert it on the composite video line between the VCR and your DV media converter (or camcorder). This permits you to bring it directly into iMovie (or Premier, if you're a PC-guy). From there, export or transcode with whatever tool you prefer.

Of course, you can also use this device between your VCR and your analog input card.

[oldfart13]

A friend bought a Daytek DP-30 DVD recorder when they came out. He used the "no macrovision" hack and has been a happy camper since then. Those units (also the Liteon from which it came) are under $200 these days. You might look at one of those...