Capture 17y/o VHS tape using ADVC50, best software &

[adzy31]

Hello there,

I have an ADVC 50 on its way in the post. I'm aiming to convert a box full of family home video VHS tapes to DVD, but only have one shot at it as I need to send the video back down from uni to my family pretty soon, with it being highly unlikely to get another chance to convert it... long story.

Anyway - I'm new to capturing/encoding to DVD/etc, and was really hoping that someone who has had decent results using this card would be able to guide me through the process. I'd love to be able to sit there for a few months learning, tweaking, editing, perfecting and figuring out the best way to do this for myself to get the best results, but unfortuntely time is short.

So yep, would someone experienced in this with old tape and the ADVC 50 please be able to describe to me their full method, including exactly what software gives them the best results, please? Preferably with decent audio rather than AC3/DTS. Some of this video tapes are 17 years old [the others spanning from then to the present] and the picture is already deteriorating massively... and thus i'm desperate to capture it in the best possible method straight away as our side of the family might not be able to get hold of the tapes again. [Tried once a while ago whilst borrowing a Dazzle external thing but it was dropping frames all over the place and didn't really have good results in the non-dropped frames...hoping the ADVC50 is better.]

This would be fantastic - thanks in advance if anyone can spare me their time and industry secrets!

Adam

[Dr_Layne]

Software: Scenalizer Live!
Hardware: Get a Time Base Corrector (TBC) to run between the vcr and the ADVC 50. This will keep a clean signal going from the VCR to the ADVC 50 to prevent dropped frames. A TBC won't improve the picture, but will make your job much easier. Look for a Datavideo TBC 1000 or a AV Tools AVT 8710. Since the tapes are 17+ years old this will be a must.

VCR: Best choice is to use a JVC SVHS vcr with TBC and DNR. If this is in your budget, it will give you the best transfer.

DVD software: Tmpeg DVD Author works well and is easy to use.

Audio and video bitrate: this will be a personal desicion. If you want to get the most amount of video onto a disc, I'd use 352x480 for the video resolution at 4000bps bit rate with 2 channel AC3 audio at 192kbps. You should be able to sqeeze about two hours of video onto a dvdr this way.


You will need to experiment a bit with what will give you the best results.

Steve

[adzy31]

Still waiting for the ADVC to arrive seeing as there was a screw up in the paypal payment... will probably let you know how I get on next week sometime, I'm going to have an attempt without the TBCs and fancy VCR due to lack of money/availability, and hopefully be able to find some soon.

Thanks for the help

[Sartori]

I recently captured off 23 year old tape , as it had been stored well which I think must have helped , they didnt drop a frame or go out of sync whatsoever , quality was excellent (that was just a ATi Radeon AIW nothing else at all in the line) , I appreciate why people say to use a TBC , but theyre expensive full stop .

[adzy31]

Yep, I just captured the 13 year old tape and the results were impressive considering I haven't got a TBC yet and am just using our bog-standard Hitachi VCR from downstairs. I've started capturing the oldest tape [My first birthday... cute :P] and haven't dropped a single frame in the first 15 minutes of video.

Are the TBC gubbins just for stopping dropped frames? because if so, I don't need them really... or are they to keep audio and video in sync? because I had perfect sync with the 13 year old tape, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed with this 17 year old one.

Also, what are the advantages of using Scenalyzer Live? is it any better than using WinDV? I was using the trial but it was putting up silly little logos every 2 minutes on the video. If there's any special advantage to using Scenalyzer [like better AV sync or something] then I'll buy it, but if not... I might stick with WinDV I'll let you know how that goes though, I used scenalyzer for the 13 y/o tape then when I realised it put a logo on, started using WinDV for the 17y/o one...