VHS -> VCD

[wolfwood87]

How can I take a VHS video that I own and turn it into a VCD?

Thanks,
Wolfwood87

[havema-1]

I'd record it to my TRV320E via its analog in or just do an analog-to-DV passthrough to iMovie to save the camcorder heads. My 8600/200 has also analog-in but I have seldom used it.

Edit in iMovie and export via Toast VCD plugin to Toast and burn the VCD.

But IMO Toast VCD quality is bad so I'd export from iMovie as iDVD and encode that *.mov to VCD via some other app.

But VCD isn't so good so I'd encode a VCD resolution PAL 352x288 or NTSC 352x240 MPEG2 XSVCD instead.

Or some other (X)SVCD like 352x576/480, 480x576/480 or 720x576/480 PAL/NTSC.

[wolfwood87]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the newbie response, but I don't understnad what you mean by:

"I'd record it to my TRV320E via its analog in or just do an analog-to-DV passthrough to iMovie to save the camcorder heads. My 8600/200 has also analog-in but I have seldom used it. "

If you could elaborate in simpler terms a bit more I would appreciate it greatly.

Thanks again,
Wolfwood87[/quote]

[havema-1]

My Sony Digital 8 camcorder has analog inputs for video so I can record from analog sources (VCR tape, VCR tuner etc) to the camcorder's tape.

I can then feed this video via Firewire to iMovie, FinalCutPro or some other DV-editing applications on the Mac and edit unnecessary parts off.

Toast 5 Titanium has built-in VCD-export plugin which enables you to export form iMovie or from QuickTime as a MPEG1 VCD-compatible file which you can burn to a CD as a VCD.

Analog-to-DV passthrough means that you can record straight from a analog source (VCR etc) to the camcorder's analog inputs and the camcorder converts the video on-the-fly to the Firewire cable and to iMovie. Passthrough saves time because you don't have to 1st record to tape and 2nd play the tape to iMovie and it also saves the camcorders heads because the tape isn't running.

I've heard that converting the analog material to DV before encoding the (S)VCD may not be so good than using an analog capture card (such as is built-in in the PowerMac 8600) because 5:1 DV compression may produce artifacts to the video if the final output is MPEG. But capturing as DV isn't so disk-intensive as raw analog capture which requires very fast disks with full resolution.

[toisanji]

how is the quality of that sony's passthrough function? I was thinking about getting a standalone unit like those DV dazzle products or Sony's cameras with builtin passthrough, but I haven't seen too many comparisons/reviews on the net.

My Sony Digital 8 camcorder has analog inputs for video so I can record from analog sources (VCR tape, VCR tuner etc) to the camcorder's tape.

I can then feed this video via Firewire to iMovie, FinalCutPro or some other DV-editing applications on the Mac and edit unnecessary parts off.

Toast 5 Titanium has built-in VCD-export plugin which enables you to export form iMovie or from QuickTime as a MPEG1 VCD-compatible file which you can burn to a CD as a VCD.

Analog-to-DV passthrough means that you can record straight from a analog source (VCR etc) to the camcorder's analog inputs and the camcorder converts the video on-the-fly to the Firewire cable and to iMovie. Passthrough saves time because you don't have to 1st record to tape and 2nd play the tape to iMovie and it also saves the camcorders heads because the tape isn't running.

I've heard that converting the analog material to DV before encoding the (S)VCD may not be so good than using an analog capture card (such as is built-in in the PowerMac 8600) because 5:1 DV compression may produce artifacts to the video if the final output is MPEG. But capturing as DV isn't so disk-intensive as raw analog capture which requires very fast disks with full resolution.

[havema-1]

The D8's analog-to-DV quality is IMO good although I don't have anything to compare it to.

I can't tell the difference between the original VHS and the copied material on D8 tape.

I guess Sony DV/D8 camcorders use the same chip for the conversion as Sony's standalone analog-to-DV unit.

[vcdhowto]

IMO the analog to dv converters on most camcorders are great. the dv footage wont be that clean as if you were to film with the dv camcorder.

I agree you dont see any difference after conversion, but you will notice a difference after encoding to mpeg2. (more blocks) Thats probably cause you started off with a used vhs cassette which isnt a very clean source.

but overall the dv converters are great , try to convert video from your original vhs-c cassette or a hi8 tape.

Wolfwood, to convert vhs tape to vcd you ill need a analog->DV converter.
You can either buy a new DV camcorder with that option built in or buy a analog capture card for your mac.

If you dont have a digital camcorder id recommend a new digital camcorder with that feature. (analog to dv converter) this way you can convert all vhs stuff AND record with the new mini dv format which is much better.

You will also need firewire support in your mac, to connect your new dv camcorder to your mac. if you dont have that then your in for some money spending. Probably better off buying a new imac. (Imacs are fairly inexpensive and will have everthing you need)

For the conversion part in your computer to your vcd we can talk about that after you understand everything you need. later

[wolfwood87]

I believe that I understand everything that you are talking about, vcdhowto. I have a digital camera that can connect to my VCR and copy the tape directly onto the camera, and I have Firewire and OSX.2. I just recently filmed a video and edited it with iMovie, so I am familiar with that.

If I take my DV camcorder and hook it up to my VCR and copy the tape over, then if I put the DV into iMovie through Firewire, I can just export the video to Toast VCD and burn it, correct?

Thanks for everyone's help,
Wolfwood87

[vcdhowto]

Thats correct. Just place the video into the vcd option of toast and wait a long time for it to do what it needs to do(mpeg1 encoding) to make it burn to your cdr(bins files). You might like the quality but will see!

Use fit and crop option with better quality in vcd toast, this will scale the movie just right to fit your tv screen.

later