VHS RECORDER TO PC

[dvd]

hi,
i'm new to all this.
can you transfer vhs to vcd without using DVcamcorder.
in other words can you connect a vhs recorder direct to your pc to make a vcd?
i have a cd writer using nero burn rom.

thanks

dvd

[menace]

You can but you need the right equipment. Some kind of capture card is required in the PC to physically connect and interpret the signal coming from the VHS recorder. If your next question is "which card is best" keep reading the forum, opinions are everywhere. Personally I get good service out of my ATI radeon VIVO.

[KingJohn]

Personally I get good service out of my ATI radeon VIVO.

Can you give some more info on this card, I'm long overdue for a replacement, what are you capturing (spec) any frame loss etc. Machine you use, would be helpful ?

Anything better ? I have seen the spec at ATI, but feedback from users is always better.

[menace]

Specs eh? I have a AMD 1700+ with 384MB ram and ATA100 40GB HDD. The card is the ATI Radeon 64Mb DDR VIVO (video in video out). It has composite in and composite and s-video out.

With my current rig I can realtime capture MPEG-1 at 720x480 resolution at anywhere from 1.15MB/s to 5MB/s (haven't tried any higher) without frame drop. The quality is nice and the sound (passed through my creative 128) is always in sync (in your face tmpgenc!). The nice thing is is that it doubles as the video card and being a gamer it does quite a good job.

The software is easy to use and fairly stable. I say fairly stable because i'm running windows 98 SE which has its own issues I have no idea about technical support as I haven't needed it but I'm told ATI is less than helpful. Fortunatley there's this forum which kicks ATI's ass any day!

AS far as virtualdub capture goes, it gets hedgy..theres this video wrapper that you have to install but near as i can tell this is more legend than fact as I have not ever been able to find it... Overall, well rounded card with lots of juice and the fact that it makes a good gaming card is just that much better than a stand alone capture card.

[boggle]

I have just bought a computer with an ATI allinwonder radion card built into it and i want to transfer VHS videos to DVD using my DVD burner.
Do you use the aTI software for capturing and if so what settings etc do you use?
any help would be appreciated

[KingJohn]

With my current rig I can realtime capture MPEG-1 at 720x480 resolution at anywhere from 1.15MB/s to 5MB/s

What does this look like, compared to say a DVD rip, or a DVD DivX

[menace]

dunno haven't done either! Quality is pretty good though--Im still looking for better ways though to clean up picture--biggest problem is reducing bitrate to the point where file size will fit on one CD and DVD player will play it--my two biggest headaches. I capture from satellite to put onto xVCD. Also i only use mpeg-1 as my editor doesn't like editing mpeg-2 as easily. sorry!

[KingJohn]

Ok, size is not a problem, I'm happy with 2 VCD's or 1 DivX

If you have the bit rate up high, and everything else up high, does it produce near DVD quality with no frame loss ? or lip sync ?

[menace]

Well the quality is good but to be honest with you I have never gone that high to see what I could max out at. Currently it is near DVD quality during low-motion scenes but becomes a little pixelly if someone is running or a real fast motion scene--nature of the on-the fly compression process i guess. I suppose i could set it way up and then convert down but the reason i like my card is that I can make xVCD's without having to reencode everyhting--capture, edit (if needed) and burn.

[lucindrea]

i have an ATI-TV WONDER and i havent had any problms with it capturing video and buring onto vcd... the good part is it does capture to mpg and you can even set it up to capture to vcd/svcd spec so their is nothing to do after but burn ( womble helps if you want to clip out commercials etc. ) ...

this guy has all the info you would need to set up an ATI card to make vcd/svcd's

http://www.pcphotovideo.com/

[KingJohn]

Hi, well VCD (PAL) is what I want, don't want those large sizes you are using. 352 X 288 would be fine, looking for good quality at that size.

I already capture at the VCD compliance, using software not hardware with the Hauppauge WinTV, its a basic card and does not have Mpeg hardware, but some German software works well with it. Trouble is the quality is only going to be as good as the cards capabilities. I capture from DVD via VID in and Audio In, tuner is not so good. It works well, but does not have hi quality.

What would a 355 X 288 turn out like ?
352x288 25fps CBR 1150kbps, Layer-2 44100Hz 224kbps

[KingJohn]

i have an ATI-TV WONDER and i havent had any problms with it capturing video and buring onto vcd... the good part is it does capture to mpg and you can even set it up to capture to vcd/svcd spec so their is nothing to do after but burn ( womble helps if you want to clip out commercials etc. ) ...

this guy has all the info you would need to set up an ATI card to make vcd/svcd's

http://www.pcphotovideo.com/

cheers, will have a good read of that