dvd recorded vs capture card

[titan23t]

Which do you think is better for transferring old vhs tapes of movies and tv shows; dvd recorder or capture card? I saw the post in this section about dvd recorders and capture cards but no one said which one they thought was the best. All the tapes are recorded in EP or LP. If your choice was a dvd recorder then which brand would you choose and why. If it was a capture card which brand and why. Price is a consideration. Thank you in advance for you suggestions.

[Krispy Kritter]

If you don't plan on doing any editing, then the easiest way is to just get a standalone dvd recorder. I haven't heard any particularly bad comments about any one brand, so it would just be a matter of options, price, and personal preference.

[spiderman2k1]

For me I like a DVD recorder with a hard drive in it. Makes life very easy—I do not care about menu at all.

With the PC after to capture it you have to edit the files and this takes up hard drive space. The author the DVD then burn it.

With my DVD recorder when I edit. It just deletes the commercials. Then I just pick the files I want and click burn.

Also I think DVD recorders give a better picture. I use Panasonic E80

[mats.hogberg]

Old VHS movies sound like they could need some creative filtering and stuff - if so, AVI computer capture is the choice.

/Mats

[handyguy]

If they still work. Sony said most start turning to fuzz after 15 years.

[thecoalman]

Depends on a few thinks, as mats mentioned if they older you may want to try some filters, adjust the brightness etc. For that AVI is the best. DVD recorders record in DVD compliant mpeg, it's a end format made for viewing. You'll get better results and prevent a lot of grief using AVI if you want to do some extensive filtering and editing. If your just going to record then trim go with the recorder.

There is one other alternative, if your in the market for a new camcorder most have DV passthrough. They convert the video to DV-AVI.

If they still work. Sony said most start turning to fuzz after 15 years.

I think that's a worse case scenario and the key word there is start. Some of the home tapes I have are over 15 years and look quite good.

[pfh]

At this point in mpeg recording it seems to be a matter of personal preference as each has it's pros & cons.
There is flexibilty with a cap card not nesc. offered by a recorder, however, the recorder frees up your computer.
Done correctly, I doubt there is much difference in quality considering vhs as a source.

[ZippyP.]

No question that for ease of use a recorder is the one to choose. If time is a consideration (if you have a lot of tapes) then it is also faster as it can record straight to disk in real time.

There are some good programs that let you edit footage from a recorder, Womble mpeg video wizard is one I have used. For simple cut edits TMPGEnc DVD Author is useful as it can edit, re-author (make menus) and burn to disk.

[mats.hogberg]

No question that for ease of use a recorder is the one to choose. If time is a consideration (if you have a lot of tapes) then it is also faster as it can record straight to disk in real time.

Exactly. Here's where a DVD recorder should be considered.

There are some good programs that let you edit footage from a recorder, Womble mpeg video wizard is one I have used. For simple cut edits TMPGEnc DVD Author is useful as it can edit, re-author (make menus) and burn to disk.

But for all these instances, a DVD Recoredr is the roundabout way, taking many more steps than if you captured with a realtime mpg capture card (Hauppage PVR 2/350 highly recommended).
Using a hardware encoder card, the computer is free for other tasks while capturing.
But as thecoalman points out, mpg is an end format, intended for viewing.
I should think an AIW card would be the optimal route, or use a DV camcorder.

/Mats

[DarrellS]

however, the recorder frees up your computer.

That would be the reason I would buy a recorder if I had the tapes to copy. Most of the tapes that I gave away were 8 hour recordings and that would take up all of my computer time if I was to copy them to the PC, edit, convert and burn to DVD.

[otpw1]

Maybe I'm just a sadistic *"!#?!! but I use a dvd recorder then import the files to the computer for processing as necessary.

[Jeremiah58]

There is one other alternative, if your in the market for a new camcorder most have DV passthrough. They convert the video to DV-AVI.

I've just started to use my old Sony TRV355 for DV passthru and I was surprised with the resulting DV video quality. It is almost like the VHS source.
Other good thing is that VSO DivXToDVD accepts DV and converts it to a DVD in approx. 1.5 hour on my machine.
So the whole process from VHS to DVD takes only 3 hours for a 90 minute video.

[mats.hogberg]

however, the recorder frees up your computer.

That would be the reason I would buy a recorder if I had the tapes to copy. Most of the tapes that I gave away were 8 hour recordings and that would take up all of my computer time if I was to copy them to the PC, edit, convert and burn to DVD.

You get the same advantage using a hardware encoder like Hauppage 1/2/350 -.You can use your box for anything you like while capturing - doesn't affect neither capture nor other tasks at all.

/Mats

[adamf9898]

i have captured a few using a tv tuner card... i use WinTV , and its turned out good for me, plus i dont mind spending the extra time editing and converting to dvd , i normally save as avi , cuz i use a divx/xvid dvd player, but if wanted to convert to dvd/vcd i would use tmpgenc, so its all good

[victoriabears]

Have tried it all, and if you are a perfectionist then yes a capture device, but if all you want to do is preserve and enjoy then a dvd recorder and taking the recording to a pc for editing is far easier.

I use a avt8710 device between my jvc digipure vcr and a Curtis/RJ dvd recorder.

The main advantage of a capture card is being able to capture a long recording (longer than 2 hours).

As has been said if you just want the recording without fancy menus, a dvd recorder is it.

Good Luck.