VHS to PC

[SportsVid77]

Hey, I browsed around the forums and picked up a bit if information before posting this, but still have some questions.

I have some footage on VHS that I would like to transfer to my PC so I can do some editing to it, so I will start with that.

I am pretty savvy when it comes to working with files and things already on the computer, and I have basic understanding of things like this but not as much as I would like.

I assume that an all in one VHS to DVD will not allow me to edit the files on the DVD?? (Transfer to a DVD, RIP onto the computer, edit the files, burn onto a different DVD). Maybe too many unnecessary steps in there? Also, quality is an issue. I want to keep the best possible quality on these videos as possible, so doing all these things are probably detrimental to the video.

Instead of going on and on maybe I will just take suggestions on how to go about this.

[rgs_uk]

The very best quality is usually by capturing to your PC using an uncompressed codec like HuffyUV, do your editing and any tweaking (levels, colour, filtering), then encode to MPEG2 and make the DVD.

DVD recorders encode the MPEG in real time which can mean slightly poorer quality and often there are no controls for brightness level and colour. However you can rip the DVD and do basic removal of sections using DVD Shrink or something similar and then reauthor it to a DVD with no loss of quality.

Womble MPEG VCR is a good tool for editing MPEG2, lets you do frame accurate edits and copy and paste sections. It only reencodes the frames that are immediately around edit points (which isn't noticeable). However I'm not sure how well it handles the .vob files that you'll end up with from a DVD. With a lot of software there are issues with joining the points where one .vob ends and another begins. That's why I suggest DVD Shrink.

[lordsmurf]

The "all in one VHS to DVD" is probably combo VCP (or VCR) merged with a DVD recorder, correct? These devices often have problems for transfer. They were made to have two separate units for recording or playing only, not really optimized to get from one half to the other. You're best with a separate good VCR, and a separate good DVD recorder.

Then yes, decompile disc to computer. Edit MPEG as needed, re-author, burn new final fancy DVD.