Capturing from VHS to divX: Recommendations (Flicker & freezing proble

[roylayer]

PROJECT:

Capture clips and shows from hundreds of NTSC VHS tapes, most in LP speed, recorded off the air or from cable, some as old as 30 years.

GOALS:

1) Very little loss of quality (which isn't too great to begin with, of course)
2) Use smallest amount of storage
3) Easy to do: Hardware capture device direct to divX or other file format. No added encoding or authoring steps.
4) Burn files to data DVD for playback via standalone DVD players.

METHOD USED UP UNTIL NOW:

0) System: Pentium 4 2.53GHz cpu with 150 GB of RAM. 160 GB 7200 rpm hard drive.
1) Hardware: Plextor ConvertX 402U, using composite video input.
2) Software: Ulead VideoStudio 8
3) File format: divX 720x480, 3000 kbps, mp3 224kbps
4) Captured video: NTSC VHS, EP or SP speed, about 15 years old.

The resulting files look and sound about the same as the source material. I have been happy with the results.

CURRENT PROBLEM:

I am dealing with much older tapes (some are 30 years old), almost all recorded at LP speed. The method used above produces a flickering/flashing effect when captured. The tapes themselves look fine when viewed on TVs. The problem only happens when capturing. LP speed seems to be the problem. Most current VCRs support playback at this speed but not recording. The heads are not optimized for this speed. I theorize that the resulting image is not stabile enough for the Plextor and/or VideoStudio.

TRIAL SOLUTION:

I bought a Pinnacle studio movieBox Plus package which includes a Pinnacle 510-USB capture device and Pinnacle Studio Plus 11 software. The software allows for capture to divX, but it doesn't say if it is via hardware (like the Plextor) or not. (I suspect not due to the CPU utilization.)

In my first test, this solution captured video successfully that the Plextor/Ulead solution could not. (Same file specs: divX 720x480, 3000 kbps, mp3 224kbps.) Studio has an option called "VCR input" that "should be checked if your source device is a VCR. When the option activated, capture will be more tolerant of A/V synchronization problems in the incoming signal." Maybe that is making the difference.

Later, other test captures from the same show on the same tape froze either immediately, or a minute or so into the capture. Audio was still captured, but video was just a still frame. It looks like it probably happens when my CPU maxes out at 100%.

After reading other threads about capturing old video, I tried 352x480 at 1800 kbps. This had no problems. (The cpu usage was much lower which leads me to believe that Studio is doing software encoding.) The resulting video file looks about the same as my other old video captures that were done at 720x480, so I'm wondering if I should stick with this approach.

QUESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

So, if you've stayed with me thus far (Thanks!), I have some questions:

1) Do you consider my current solution (divX 352*480 @1800 kpbs) to be OK for this source material?

2) If not, what codec, resolutions, and bit rates would you recommend? (I only picked divX because I heard it produced as good or better quality than MPEG2 at a smaller size, and it is supported by my DVD player (a Philips). I have been happy with the 720x480 divX files that I have produced up until now.)

3) If you recommend that I stick with 720x480, can you think of any way to make either of my two hardware/software solutions work properly?

4) Is there any different capture software that I could try on either of those hardware devices? Ulead is clumsy and limited. Pinnacle Studio is bloated. I don't need 80% of their features. All I want to do is capture directly to divX (or some other recommend codec).

5) Any other thoughts you might have on how to best approach this project would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[filmboss80]

For simplicity, I usually bypass the computer altogether when archiving old VHS tapes to a digital format. I own a set-top, standalone DVD recorder that I link to the VHS deck. For really old tapes that need correction or enhancement, I use either a TBC or some sort of processing amp between the devices. I am not as in love with Divx as you are -- especially for archiving old tapes, but I always have the option of converting my recorded DVDs to Divx at a later time. If small storage is essential, I can understand your enthusiasm for it. But with a set-top DVD recorder, you could record to a rewritable DVD disc, load it in the computer, and do a quickie conversion to Divx (or Xvid) using simple freeware utilities like AutoGK.

It just seems to me that your method goes through many, many unnecessary steps -- facing several potential technical problems along the way.

[roylayer]

Thanks for the response, filmboss80. To be honest, I have never considered a standalone. I didn't know if it would give me enough flexibility. It sounds like an option that is worth looking into.

Actually, I don't think that the method I am probably going to use goes through many unnecessary steps. Hardware and software is all in place. I simply press Play on the VCR and Capture in my software. A file is produced that I can use "as is." Pretty simple, and no problems. (I will give more details about my new plan in a later note.)

Thanks again.