copying VHS to CD ....Line at bottom of picture

[GinnytooU]

I just love this site
I have a Aver TV studio capture card
My only problem is when I try to capture a VHS tape to hard drive there is a line close to the bottom of the picture that runs all the way across the screen. The picture is very good quality except for that line.So when I tranfer it to CD that line is there.
I have tried just about everything to get rid of that line.Changed VCR's, tapes, cables ( composite )and even my capture card Frey's exchanged it for me). Still the same. That nasty little line.
I can capture TV programs just fine ( No Line )
I'm using Power VCR 2 and or Aver TV's software both have that line.
I have a still shot but I can't figure out how to post it.......stupid me.
Help Please........................and Thanks

[youyouyou]

Hey dude....the problem you are having according to my experience in television is that the line you are talking about is a TBC line, in which the Video and Audio are syncd with. It's difficult to remove that line from my knowledge unless you can crop the area that you are recording otherwise it's there for good. take care

[GinnytooU]

Thanks youyou
Not sure I know what you are saying. This only happens when I play a VSH tapes on my PC using PowerVCR or put it on a CD and play it on TV.
TV programs I copy don't have this line.
Wonder if others have this problem???????????????

[therick]

actually, I think that this is a dudet we are talking to here...

The line that you are referring to is acutally 4 lines (or 8 )-that is the tracking information from the VCR...

Ginny, your ablility to take care of these lines depends on what format you are recording to...if I remember correctly power vcr captures directly to mpeg1 or 2. if you want to get rid of that line I would suggest capturing to AVI (look at the virtualdub guides on this site) and THEN converting to mpeg1 or 2. Trying to re-encode the mpeg1 (or 2) will not bring very good quality UNLESS you can capture to the highest settings in power vcr (don't know what this is) and then convert down.

So I guess what I am saying is that a little more info is needed from you to figure out the best way to get rid of the tracking info...

[GinnytooU]

Do you know how to attach a picture to this forum? I have a BMP that will show you what I'm talking about
And Yes I am an old Gran Maw that loves PC's and Movies

[GinnytooU]

Thanks The Rick
It does seem to matter what settings, that line is always there when watching a tape or recording it.
I do try and copy to mpeg 2 at 3000 K Bits 640x480 layer 2 stereo at 44.1khz

[therick]

edited

[GinnytooU]

Ok , I have tried just about every program VCDhelp refers too.
The best way so for is to cut the film using Tmpeg. from there I use Ulead Movie factory to add chapters. then burn using Nero.
Virtual dub doesn't reconize my card.
I just downloaded VirtualVCR. Going to get it a try.
Hey Rick I sure do thank you for your help.
As you probably can tell I'm pretty new at this.
For DVD's I use Smartripper, DVD2AVI , Tmpegenc then Ulead Movie factory. Works pretty good.
Maybe you can tell me how to do it easier..............Thanks Ginny

[energy80s]

Just to clarify this. The lines you see are the video head switching signal and are on all domestic video playback pictures. The way I get rid of them is to crop & mask them out with the filter in TMPGenc. I capture the original footage in very high bitrate MPEG1 (if it's a long piece) or HUFFyuv .avi files (if it's a short piece) and then re-encode these to VCD or CVD standards with TMPGenc later. It's at this stage that you can easily mask the bottom few lines of the picture before encoding to your final format. Remember to add the mask after you crop the lines or you wil end up with a picture that is slightly out of proportion.

[Wonderin]

The lines you are getting at the bottom is where the switching points occur. If you have ever seen inside a VCR you will see a large silver drum near the rear of the mech. This carries the video heads, and depending on the features of your VCR it can carry between 2 and 7 heads. The first 2 for standard play, 2 more for HIFI, another 2 for Long Play and a 7th ( or 3rd ) is for Trick Play, this one gives you a super still/pause picture.

Anyway, getting back to the line, it is where the heads are switched from one to the other and back again, as only one head can read information from the tape at a time. Watching on a TV you don't see this as all TVs overscan, the bits your computer shows is actually off the bottom of a normal TV screen. TV Programs don't show it because most of them will be broadcast from digital sources and do not have switching points. Some of the very old material will still have them but it will be a lot less than a domestic VCR due to the tolerances involved.

To get rid of them you will need to capture to AVI, I've used Virtual Dub, and then use TMPGenc to encode with settings in the advanced tab and Clip option set to crop the lines.

One final note, even though you can see the lines on the computer have you tried the resulting VCD/SVCD through your DVD player and TV? The lines should once again not be seen as they should be in the overscan portion and so off the bottom again.

Best regards,

L

[SilentRAGE]

just crop the line out in vdub or tmpeg, there problem solved...

[GinnytooU]

Thanks to all
I will try cropping and see how that turns out.
Yes I do see the lines when playing the CD I made on the television.
But cropping should do the trick. Thanks again to all of you............Ginny
Thanks Vcdhelp ..........keep up the good work.