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  1. Hello,

    I need to move out soon, and I have started to digitize some VHS tapes because I need to get rid of them. Most of them are in surprisingly good condition.
    I am using an Elgato USB converter with an old Sony SLV-SE730 player (I also have access to a JVC HR-J780, but it seems to me that the quality is superior with the Sony unit).

    Each tape has different recordings from different sources, mostly music performance recorded on TV.
    The conversion is working fine, except that I noticed that sometimes, when the source is different the video "jumps", many lines appear on the video and the sound is cracks or mutes (and the Elgato software sometime displays "No signal detected" for a few seconds).
    Of course I tried rewind the tape and ripped it again, but the same thing happened. However, if I rewind the video, eject it and put it back in, the player "re-aligns" when you press play, then the playback is smooth or the problematic scene.
    So in other words, this is what happens :
    - Start playing video
    - Music performance 1 (source A) => rip OK
    - Music performance 2 (source B) => rip OK
    - Music performance 3 (source C) => video "jumps"
    - Rewind the tape to beginning of performance 3 (source C)
    - Eject the tape
    - Put the tape back in and let video player "align"
    - Music performance 3 (source C) => rip OK
    - Rewind to beginning of tape
    - Music performance 1 (source A) => rip OK
    - Music performance 2 (source B) => rip OK
    - Music performance 3 (source C) => video "jumps"

    So the problem seems to be related to the "alignment" done by the Sony video player, since ejecting the tape and re-aligning it fixes the issue. But since 2 recordings from different sources have no issue, the problem is not systematic.
    If the tape could be re-aligned at the beginning of each new footage on the tape, the rips would be fine.

    My idea was to use a video analysis tool that could detect those "bad scenes" and return when they occur in the video. This way I could check manually on the rip (faster than on the tape) and only re-rip the tapes that actually need it (the bad scene might occur on a recording that has no value - mostly at the end of the video if the tape just kept recording whatever was on TV).

    I have 100+ tapes (the shortest are 180 minutes), and they are unlabeled (so I don't know if it's an important family movie or not). I cannot afford to watch them while they are transferring. However, I have dedicated a computer to this task, so I don't mind running time consuming task while I'm at work.

    Do you guys have any idea which software could help me detect these "bad scenes" ? Or if you have any better ideas, I am more than happy to hear your suggestions because I am not an expert.

    I don't think this is a common problem and couldn't find anything quite similar in the forum.

    Thank you so much in advance for your help and suggestions,

    Gybe
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  2. Capturing Memories dellsam34's Avatar
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    Member Since 2005, Re-joined in 2016
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    It might have something to do with elgato software which you should have avoided and elgato device itself which is not a good quality capture device. You can avoid transitions by pressing pause on the VCR until the software recovers the video and hit play again and resume the capture.
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  3. Use the manual tracking control.

    AviSynth might be able to detect the bad recordings -- via some distinguishing characteristic. Do you have a sample?
    Last edited by jagabo; 19th Aug 2019 at 20:58.
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  4. Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
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    Memphis TN, US
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    Originally Posted by gybe View Post
    Hello,

    I need to move out soon, and I have started to digitize some VHS tapes because I need to get rid of them. Most of them are in surprisingly good condition.
    I am using an Elgato USB converter with an old Sony SLV-SE730 player (I also have access to a JVC HR-J780, but it seems to me that the quality is superior with the Sony unit).

    Each tape has different recordings from different sources, mostly music performance recorded on TV.
    The conversion is working fine, except that I noticed that sometimes, when the source is different the video "jumps", many lines appear on the video and the sound is cracks or mutes (and the Elgato software sometime displays "No signal detected" for a few seconds).
    Of course I tried rewind the tape and ripped it again, but the same thing happened. However, if I rewind the video, eject it and put it back in, the player "re-aligns" when you press play, then the playback is smooth or the problematic scene.
    So in other words, this is what happens :
    - Start playing video
    - Music performance 1 (source A) => rip OK
    - Music performance 2 (source B) => rip OK
    - Music performance 3 (source C) => video "jumps"
    - Rewind the tape to beginning of performance 3 (source C)
    - Eject the tape
    - Put the tape back in and let video player "align"
    - Music performance 3 (source C) => rip OK
    - Rewind to beginning of tape
    - Music performance 1 (source A) => rip OK
    - Music performance 2 (source B) => rip OK
    - Music performance 3 (source C) => video "jumps"

    So the problem seems to be related to the "alignment" done by the Sony video player, since ejecting the tape and re-aligning it fixes the issue. But since 2 recordings from different sources have no issue, the problem is not systematic.
    If the tape could be re-aligned at the beginning of each new footage on the tape, the rips would be fine.

    My idea was to use a video analysis tool that could detect those "bad scenes" and return when they occur in the video. This way I could check manually on the rip (faster than on the tape) and only re-rip the tapes that actually need it (the bad scene might occur on a recording that has no value - mostly at the end of the video if the tape just kept recording whatever was on TV).

    I have 100+ tapes (the shortest are 180 minutes), and they are unlabeled (so I don't know if it's an important family movie or not). I cannot afford to watch them while they are transferring. However, I have dedicated a computer to this task, so I don't mind running time consuming task while I'm at work.

    Do you guys have any idea which software could help me detect these "bad scenes" ? Or if you have any better ideas, I am more than happy to hear your suggestions because I am not an expert.

    I don't think this is a common problem and couldn't find anything quite similar in the forum.

    Thank you so much in advance for your help and suggestions,

    Gybe
    What is a "VHS rip"?
    Do you mean a VHS capture? I didn't know anyone could "rip" a VHS.

    Rip
    To take off the audio or video from a CD or DVD. Often CD Audio is "ripped" to MP3 files or DVD video ripped to VOB files. VCDhelp ripping
    https://www.videohelp.com/glossary?R#Rip
    - My sister Ann's brother
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