VCR capture troubleshoot

[Abas-Avara]

Hi,

I want to connect my VCR to the Camcorder and capturing through firewire to the PC.
So basically VCR>Camcorder>Firewire/PC
The connections are okay, I can connect also my Nokia (wich has TV out function) with no problem.
But if I connect the VCR and want to capture some of my own footage there is a problem.

Mostly when there is a outside footage in the tape the screen goes every few seconds to blue.
I think this has to do with the brightness because the colors has sometimes very high saturation, (when there is a bright lamp for example). I've bought 2 VCR players that has this same problem (blue screen and saturation).
The funny thing is when I connect the VCR to the TV there not a such problem.

VCR1 Sony SLV-SE620
VCR2 Daewoo DV-K 885

Camcorder Sony TRV420E

I hope someone can resolve my question

[zoobie]

sounds like it's detecting the cam and triggering the macrovision which is on all industry manufactured tapes (see macrovision in the glossary on the left menu)

you may have to use a device that disables macrovision in order to get the copywritten footage into your comp

[Abas-Avara]

Also on homevideo footage? It was just a empty tape when I bought it
If I buy a old 80's VCR player will it then work or will my CAM detecting it?

[zoobie]

it should be OK for home footage because there's no macrovision
but perhaps it's the PAL cam introducing it...Europe always had some sort of copyright thing with cams...which is why you can't write back to them from editors

[Abas-Avara]

That would be really bad, but why don't they just block the whole tape?
It's always happening on a outside footage cause of the bright Sky I think.

[Abas-Avara]

I dont think its the macrovision protection, it's my own tape.
It is the VCR I think, maybe something in the setting?
I want to make sure wich VCR I would need with what features etc
If the cam has the copyright issue why isnt there a problem with my nokia?

Can the cam detect that the connected device is a VCR?

Does someone have experience with this problem?

[sanlyn]

The VCR plays OK to your tv, so it's not the VCR and not the color levels.
What capture card and software are you using?
Why are you inserting the camcorder in the circuit?
Why don't you record directly from VCR to PC?

[Abas-Avara]

Its working fine now
Someone told me to buy a new VCR I did and its all okay, no more blue screen or high saturation.
The camcorder has a very high quality for capturing videos.
I have a TV card but even at the best settings it cant compete with the camcorder.

But anyways thanks you guys

[sanlyn]

Glad to see you got it going!

The camcorder has a very high quality for capturing videos.
I have a TV card but even at the best settings it cant compete with the camcorder.

A capture card that can't compete with a camcorder for capture from a VCR has to be a really bad card !

[Abas-Avara]

Glad to see you got it going!

The camcorder has a very high quality for capturing videos.
I have a TV card but even at the best settings it cant compete with the camcorder.

A capture card that can't compete with a camcorder for capture from a VCR has to be a really bad card !

I dont know, My capture card is Avermedia 007 Hybrid. I think the quality is normal but I've no experience with other cards.
On the capture card it adds some noise.
The camcorder puts the signal digital like it does to Hi8 tapes so thats why I used it.

[sanlyn]

That's one way of doing it. Have you tried going straight from VCR to your PC? Once you digitize VHS noise with a camcorder, it's difficult to clean-up later. You might encounter field-dominance problems when you render to DVD. However, I'm not famliar with your camcorder, its IRE-zero default value, or other issues. Also, it might be possible for you to simply bypass your capture card's software and capture with VirtualDub to huffyuv AVI, then render to DVD. If you wanted to clean up your video or edit, that would be the cleanest (altho a pain-in-the-neck on the processing end). But, then, VirtualDub capture might not work on your system, tho other capture software does exist.

Anyway, if your current setup works OK, no sense fixing something that isn't broken. Enjoy.

[Abas-Avara]

That's one way of doing it. Have you tried going straight from VCR to your PC? Once you digitize VHS noise with a camcorder, it's difficult to clean-up later. You might encounter field-dominance problems when you render to DVD. However, I'm not famliar with your camcorder, its IRE-zero default value, or other issues. Also, it might be possible for you to simply bypass your capture card's software and capture with VirtualDub to huffyuv AVI, then render to DVD. If you wanted to clean up your video or edit, that would be the cleanest (altho a pain-in-the-neck on the processing end). But, then, VirtualDub capture might not work on your system, tho other capture software does exist.

Anyway, if your current setup works OK, no sense fixing something that isn't broken. Enjoy.

The video is fine. I use Sony Vegas to render the video to MPEG2, I think Vegas is the best when it comes to this job.
On the PC you see some lines, interlaced, darker. I've captured a test fragment from Heat and burn to DVD (Data DVD) and the quality was exactly the same as the VHS. The DVD player fix the interlacing colors etc.