Converting from AVI sourced by old VHS tapes...

[hardrock]

Hi one more time !

Is there a good tip or a way to convert an AVI sourced by old VHS tapes to AT LEAST keep the same quality? I've tried a lot of settings, encoders, and I can't get quality similar from the source. I'm talking about (S)VCD captures; with DVD resolution I don't get any problem; but I don't have a DVD burner and it's bad to get only few minutes in a CD-R

Please help me
Thanks in advice

[bolta]

hardrock . . .

This is what I do . . .

1) capture from analog VHS tapes, using VirtualDub, the Huffy codec and PCM 44.1khz sound

2) take this LARGE file and strip the sound of it to a WAV file, again using VirtualDub

3) then, do one of two things . . .
3.1 - if the original movie rip was crappy quality, re-encode an avi using the original avi as the video source, the ripped WAV file as the sound source, and apply VD filters such as "temporal smoother", setting 4 or 5, and re-encode the AVI.

3.2 - if the original movie quality is ok, go to step 4

4) start up TmpgEnc and, using any of the generic PAL VCD templates that are around, encode to MPG format, using the AVI as both sound and video source (in the case of 3.1), or the AVI as the video source and the WAV file as the sound source (as per 3.1)

Hope this helps . . .

B.

Points to note -

1) if you capture from an analog source, then you'll never get the same sort of quality as a DVD. If you want to try capturing to SVCD standard then go for your life, but same sort of provisio applies - if the data ain't there to start with, then you can't create it out of thin air!! Experiment with the other formats by all means (hell knows I still do), but you may find that a bog-standard VCD will be the best compromise you'll find, given your original data source

[hardrock]

if you capture from an analog source, then you'll never get the same sort of quality as a DVD.

I know that, but at moment, the only way i've found to keep the same quality from the source is with the DVD resolution.

Experiment with the other formats by all means (hell knows I still do), but you may find that a bog-standard VCD will be the best compromise you'll find, given your original data source

What format you recommend to try?

[bolta]

What format you recommend to try?

Stick with the standard VCD formats (MPEG1, 25fps for PAL, 29.97 fps for NTSC) - let me know how you go

B.

[Barnabas]

If you capture with Huffy at 640 x 480, then use TMPGenc 2 pass VBR, your SVCD should look pretty close to your tape. A time base corrector would also help. One thing I noticed is that while some of the real-time capture cards can do a great job from a good source, captures from video tape need all the help they can get. Frame drops can be a real problem from tapes. With an 80 minute CD, you can get about 45-50 minutes on it in SVCD and still look very good.

[hardrock]

Stick with the standard VCD formats (MPEG1, 25fps for PAL, 29.97 fps for NTSC) - let me know how you go

B.

I'm tired of VCD, blockness sucks!

If you capture with Huffy at 640 x 480, then use TMPGenc 2 pass VBR, your SVCD should look pretty close to your tape. A time base corrector would also help. One thing I noticed is that while some of the real-time capture cards can do a great job from a good source, captures from video tape need all the help they can get. Frame drops can be a real problem from tapes. With an 80 minute CD, you can get about 45-50 minutes on it in SVCD and still look very good.

The problem is capture with Huffy at 640 x 480... I think I can't capture at this format without dropping frames (PIII 500MHz, 256MB RAM)... About the time base corrector, what's it and where I can get it?
With real-time capture I also get
a lot of blockness, and I don't want it. I want videos with great quality

Now I'm trying to do a SVCD from a VHS i've recorded yesterday from Antenna signal with some ghosts (that's bad), but I'll try...

[Barnabas]

Are you using RGB24? If so, that will cause lots of frame drops. Better to use any of YUY2/UYVY/YVYU if you can. You can also use the PicVideo codec at a setting of 19 rather than Huffy. You will get much better compression and the results are just about as good. You can also capture to 480 x 480 if you need to. Be sure to turn preview off. A TBC or time base corrector is a device that goes between your tape deck and capture device. It will correct the timing on the video tape. Search the Net for "time base corrector" to find these units. NO real-time capture or even hardware device I have tried yet can do a decent job from video tape. If your tape is very clear, you can probably make a VCD without much blocks by using the highest quality settings in TMPGenc and turning on the "soften block noise" in the quantize matrix section. SVCD is your only choice if the quality of the tape is poor.

[somebodeez]

Have you seen this article?
Maybe it will help:

http://www.divx-digest.com/articles/vhs_capture2.html

[hardrock]

Are you using RGB24? If so, that will cause lots of frame drops. Better to use any of YUY2/UYVY/YVYU if you can. You can also use the PicVideo codec at a setting of 19 rather than Huffy. You will get much better compression and the results are just about as good. You can also capture to 480 x 480 if you need to. Be sure to turn preview off. A TBC or time base corrector is a device that goes between your tape deck and capture device. It will correct the timing on the video tape. Search the Net for "time base corrector" to find these units. NO real-time capture or even hardware device I have tried yet can do a decent job from video tape. If your tape is very clear, you can probably make a VCD without much blocks by using the highest quality settings in TMPGenc and turning on the "soften block noise" in the quantize matrix section. SVCD is your only choice if the quality if the tape quality.

I'm using YUY2 just because this: less dropped frames!

Have you seen this article?
Maybe it will help:

http://www.divx-digest.com/articles/vhs_capture2.html

Cool article, good info, but it don't help me... but thanks anyways

Hey guys, i'm trying something new right now...
I've captured at DVD resolution with PicVideo MJPEG with quality 13..
The AVI looks great, hope the DVD-MPEG2 file too
What do you think?

[Barnabas]

13 is too low. Try 18 or 19. Take a look at the quality differences between 13 and 19 here:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/compmjpeg.htm

[hardrock]

The problem is my computer, I tried to put in quality 19... a lot of frames is dropped

This is the reason to use quality 13.

[crjackson]

Will this PicVideo MJPEG CODEC work with Pinnacle Studio 7, and where can I get it at?

[Betamax]

...PicVideo MJPEG CODEC..., where can I get it at?

A year ago, PIC MJPeG was free, now you've got to pay for it..
It's from Pegasus, you can get it (no longer free) here : http://www.pegasusimaging.com/picvideomjpeg.htm.

[crjackson]

Which one would give better results? The $18 CODEC or the lossless CODEC?

[Barnabas]

Lossless Huffy looks the best, but needs a larger HD. 60 Minutes of video at 480 x 480 needs about 22 gigs with Huffy. At 640 x 480 huffy needs about 30 gigs or so. Picvideo at 19 looks nearly as good as Huffy, but compresses twice as much.

[crjackson]

Lossless Huffy looks the best, but needs a larger HD. 60 Minutes of video at 480 x 480 needs about 22 gigs with Huffy. At 640 x 480 huffy needs about 30 gigs or so. Picvideo at 19 looks nearly as good as Huffy, but compresses twice as much.

I encoded a VHS movie last night that looked great. I found that the AVI files captured using Pinnicle 7 / firewire from my Soney passthrough would indeed work with Tmpgen(sp) and it made a GREAT looking copy.

There were problems though. The sound was TINny sounding which sucks. It was encoded at 384 kbps. Studio's sound was perfect. The other problem is that after cutting off the end (blank space) of the movie, the time line was some has screwed up, and when I was adding chapters for the DVD it thought the movie was ten minutes shorter and wouldn't let me jump to the end. Also the chapter point were shifted from where they should have been.

Using Pinnacle Studio 7, sound is perfect, editing is perfect, time line is perfect, and then it authors perfect, but the encoded video quality isn't nearly as nice as Tmpg.

Using Tmpg the picture is near perfect, but so far the rest sucks.

I ask again. Does anyone know if that Picvideo CODEC can be used within Studio 7 for encodeing? That way I could get the picture I want, and all the other goodness of Studio 7.

[Barnabas]

Don't know for sure but would think it would. Just download the trial version and see. Then you will know for sure.

[crjackson]

Don't know for sure but would think it would. Just download the trial version and see. Then you will know for sure.

I'll have to try after it gets finished working on my current video. For now I think I've found an acceptable workaround (albeit time consuming).

I'm capturing in Studio 7 through the Sony Firewire in DV format. Then I edit and add transitions/titles. Next I'm saving new file back to HD in DV format (AVI).

Then I encode the AVI using the TMPGEnc+. It seems to take about 24 hrs. to encode a 2 hr. video but the quality is great. I think it may be slow due to the hightst quality settings I chose. I remember changing a default (fast) setting to (slowest - highest quality).

I don't know how much impact this actually has on speed or quality as I haven't tried the other settings and prolly won't unless someone tells me it makes very little difference in quality, and a big difference in speed.

I also downloaded CCE lite tonight, and I'm going to give it a try once my system is finished processing the edited AVI file I just finished.

I hear it has equal quality to TMPGEnc+ but is much faster. The thing is though, I noticed that TMPGEnc has noise filter / crop selected by default (I like this), and I didn't see any filtering/croping options with CCE.

I wonder if the Pro version of CCE would have those options, or is it even needed?

If my CCE test movie doesn't come up to snuff on quality compared to TMPGEnc+, then I'll sacrifice the speed (of CCE) in favor of the quality of TMPGEnc+.