Converting Damaged VHS Tapes to Files on a HDD

[RhoXS]

I have some VHS cassettes containing irreplaceable family memories that range between twenty and thirty years old. One tape, the one with the most meaning, has no audio as the video was originally captured on silent 8 mm film and converted to VHS in 1980. This tape is badly degraded with portions no longer containing anything viewable but I want to salvage whatever is available. About six years ago I spent a lot of time and money in an effort to simply save the contents of these tapes to a HDD. I remember starting out thinking it would be a relatively easy task but I ended up failing miserably for many reasons. Due to the recent death of a close family member, these tapes have taken on a new importance.

I do not remember exactly what I did six years ago but I used an S-VHS output from the VHS machine to input a signal into a Hauppauge TV card I just happened to have. I think I used one of Pinnacle's products for software but I do not really remember. Whatever software I used actually worked reasonably well except for one show stopper; every time I hit a section of tape that was significantly degraded, the process crashed. I was expecting to just capture the garbage and edit it out later but without a synch from the tape the software would capture nothing.

I just happened to notice the Canopus ADVC55 on Newegg. It looks like it might be a perfect device to try this again. I do not mind spending the $160 if it will work so I have three questions I am hoping to get help with.

1-Will the Canopus device resolve the problem with the sections of tape where the signal has degraded to nothing of value?

2-I have seen some references in other posts for the need of a Time Base Corrector. I can't say I fully understand the need for it although I suspect it has something to do with matching frame rates. Is this function included in the Canopus product and do I really need to concern myself with it if I am only capturing to a HDD?

2-What software would be the best compromise.? I am only interested in 1) capturing the video, 2) editing out unviewable segments and 3) possibly reordering some sections for a more accurate chronological sequence.

My primary goal is to capture these memories to something durable like my HDD before any more degradation takes place to the tapes. Once I do this I can later figure out how to transfer the video to DVD but, at this time, having the video on DVD is not necessary.

[buckethead]

The most important tool will be a quality vcr. The Panasonic AG-1980 works well for me. If the tape is degraded too badly, you'll only be able to salvage the good segments. There are tons of discussions out here covering this very topic in exhausting detail.

My preferred work flow is Panasonic AG-1980 vcr>ACE processor>Sign Video proc amp>Feral TBC>Panasonic dmr-e80.

Not all tapes require all hardware, so I start with the minimum and add as needed. I never got into pc capture cards because of dropped frames, audio/video sync problems and general ass aches. I think all this proves that I'm not a purist, but it works for me.

If you still have the 8mm film, send it to a quality transfer house. I do my own 8mm transfers so I can massage the content to my heart's delight. A number of members here recommend Woodland for inexpensive and quality film transfers. They are lots of threads here on that as well.

Get ready for a labor intensive undertaking !!

[redwudz]

1) Sort of. It should continue to output a signal when the tape is messed up. A device like the ADVC-55 is just a DV converter. It does lock the audio/video sync together, but no stabilization like with a TBC. Another advantage is DV is very easy to edit, compared to MPEG video. Also reasonably low loss if you have to filter, then re-encode. I use WinDV for the transfer, then VirtualDub for filtering and editing. AVISynth is probably the better choice for software filtering, but has a bit more of a learning curve.

2) TBCs are expensive. If your VHS playback deck has one built in, that would help. A TBC is basically a stabilizer. VHS tape can have some ragged sync pulses that a TBC can clean up, resulting in a more stable picture. They may also have some corrective value to the video itself. Or you can use a Proc amp with a TBC to adjust picture attributes. It can get pricey, especially if you don't have a lot of tapes to convert. I usually go the cheaper route with old movie VHS tapes and do the video processing after passing the video through a a ADVC-100. Then I drop it into VirtualDub to do any software filtering.

3) See 1. WinDV, VD and AVISynth, along with Audacity for audio editing/filtering, are my choices. If my final product is a DVD, I frameserve the edited video directly from VD to a MPEG encoder. HEnc or similar and author with GUI for dvdauthor or similar.

[sphinx99]

My experience has been:

- a TBC outside the VCR will increase the chance that you'll capture something

- a TBC inside the VCR will increase the chance that what you capture will be of high[er] quality

[kimco52]

All good comments.
My experience.... I have a VHS deck with a TBC. That helps. If I have some source that is not great....meaning that the sync is not great or the tape has bad spots, or it creates dropped frames on capture, I run it through my analog/digital switcher which strips sync and adds regenerated new sync pulses on the output. It acts like a framer. The output of the VHS decks is not the cleanest video. Running it through my switcher outputs with new sync and color burst pulses that are rock solid, regardless of what the input video is doing. Then I can edit out the "crap" on the computer.

[lordsmurf]

You're best off letting a professional handle this important memory, from a company that specializes in VHS restoration work.

The cheap Canopus box is not what you need, no.

Where are you?