How to avoid Generation Loss as much as possible?

[Undead Sega]

i was wondering, due to current circumstances, and as well due to the fact i would want to retain the quality of a video, would it be possible that if this method of capturing a MiniDVD by:

MiniDVD Camcorder > S-Video > TV Card/ Capturing Device (S-Video input) > Lossless .avi ?

...be a way of trying to retain quality or a good way to try and eliminate some of the generation loss of quality in video as this method sometimes is known to do?

[schematic2]

MiniDVD Camcorder > rip (copy) to hard drive

[Undead Sega]

if u read/ follow this thread:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic355938.html

i have been having the most difficult time when it comes to repairing it, because it is not possible when having it direct (another reason why not to use miniDVD camcorders, with the exception of using MiniDVD-RAM, becaue its better), thus why i need to have a cleam capture.

anyone?

[Undead Sega]

okay, not precisely a MiniDVD camcorder, but if i have DVDs or Tape and the only way to capture is by the mentioned method above, would that be recommended? and would there a loss of quality may i ask?

[Undead Sega]

anyone at all may i ask?

[filmboss80]

The method you mentioned in your first post, using an S-Video input, involves a digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion that will likely have some loss. If you cannot simply copy the miniDVD disc onto your harddrive (as suggested by schematic2), you may not have a choice but the S-Video input. I assume you finalized your miniDVD disc...right?

[Undead Sega]

of course, the discs are finalized and playable, however, as i mentioned and with the link i provided, i came across an fault with the MiniDVDs and went through extreme lengths to repair them, but nothing could have been done and this was really upsetting.

To those who read this, DO NOT buy MiniDVD camcorders, because they are not worth it, even though u can take ur DVD directly to ur computer, however, if it IS something u have to get, i advice to get a DVD-RAM camcorder, and ONLY use RAM discs!

and with the digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion, using S-Video, how much quality loss will be resulted? is there another purer way than this?

[edDV]

of course, the discs are finalized and playable, however, as i mentioned and with the link i provided, i came across an fault with the MiniDVDs and went through extreme lengths to repair them, but nothing could have been done and this was really upsetting.

To those who read this, DO NOT buy MiniDVD camcorders, because they are not worth it, even though u can take ur DVD directly to ur computer, however, if it IS something u have to get, i advice to get a DVD-RAM camcorder, and ONLY use RAM discs!

and with the digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion, using S-Video, how much quality loss will be resulted? is there another purer way than this?

If you can extract the digital file from the VOB, that would have no additional loss.

Analog capture requires MPeg decode to YCbCr, then D/A then NTSC chroma encoding to Y/C then NTSC chroma decoding, A/D and MPeg recoding at the computer. The losses are substantial. An analog component connection would avoid NTSC encoding.

[Undead Sega]

If you can extract the digital file from the VOB, that would have no additional loss.

i am aware of that, but as i mentioned twice, i have already tried ripping, but because of the dropped of frames while recording and having the computer perfectly read them, it will not be in sync as the camcorder will, as it cuts the audio by a few milisecs before a new scene or shot starts. Thus why i have to capture this way.

As this u mention is a analogue capture, is their such thing as a digital capture?

Also, my format is PAL, so the colour space will be different. and that, i will be taking it directly to a lossless avi file (HuffYUV, LAGS, MSU Lossless).

[edDV]

If you can extract the digital file from the VOB, that would have no additional loss.

i am aware of that, but as i mentioned twice, i have already tried ripping, but because of the dropped of frames while recording and having the computer perfectly read them, it will not be in sync as the camcorder will, as it cuts the audio by a few milisecs before a new scene or shot starts. Thus why i have to capture this way.

As this u mention is a analogue capture, is their such thing as a digital capture?

Also, my format is PAL, so the colour space will be different. and that, i will be taking it directly to a lossless avi file (HuffYUV, LAGS, MSU Lossless).

Better to solve your VOB issues if possible.

Some DVD camcorders allow USB Mpeg2 transfer using proprietary software and drivers. This would provide a first generation MPeg2 transfer to your hard drive. Check your camcorder documentation.

PAL has the same issues as NTSC. Just substitute "PAL" for "NTSC" in what I said above. S-Video consists of Y (luminance) and C (PAL encoded Chroma).

Direct encoding to "lossless" comes after all the MPeg decode and PAL losses so you are losslessly encoding a degraded signal.

[Undead Sega]

hmmm interesting, i looked up the camcorder, and it is a HITACHI DZ MV2000E, and apprantly on eBay, there is such cable for it to my suprise, but it is said it is used for transfering photos or as a photodock somewhat, im not sure about MPEG2 transfer, i mean, is that soemthing it official does? or a special application to do the job?

[edDV]

hmmm interesting, i looked up the camcorder, and it is a HITACHI DZ MV2000E, and apprantly on eBay, there is such cable for it to my suprise, but it is said it is used for transfering photos or as a photodock somewhat, im not sure about MPEG2 transfer, i mean, is that soemthing it official does? or a special application to do the job?

There would be a CD in the box with the application and drivers.

All of this would be proprietary to the manufacturer. There is no transfer standard for DVD camcorders. Each manufacturer does their own thing. They rarely upgrade such products.

You need to research the documentation for this particular camcorder.

[nic2k4]

I've been doing DVD camcorder edits for a couple years now. I use TDA, FixVTS, DVDDecrypter and NVE. The recordings are done with a Sony and it's crap, the thing doesn't follow standards and causes most apps to fail reading the VOBs.

TDA seems to be able to get around that, so after ripping to the hard drive I open the video with it and do my edits at the same time. Then I output the edited video with no menu. These new files will work with any other apps.

FixVTS has helped me recover corrupted recordings. I use it after DVDDecrypter fails ripping parts of discs. Usually the results aren't directly usable in TDA. It will read up to the point where the disc was corrupted, so that's where I'll cut the movie. Then I re-input the corrupted rip into NVE and output with no menu. What ever usable bits left can be opened in TDA and edited.

You can try TDA for free, but it's so good you'll want to buy it.