I am trying to transfer some old music vhs tapes. Some of these tapes are old and the audio is a bit crackly. Is there software available that could somehow even out the sound? Any suggestions as to what's the best capture software? Thanks
Capture software is typically tied to the capture device. What capture device are you using or planning to use?
Right now I have 2 devices... and I only need to get one of them to work. I bought a TVBox usb external device. It came with Intervideo windvr3. At first, I thought all was well, but then I realized that the sound could be better, so I tried hooking up the audio directly from the vcr to the soundcard. Unfortunately, the windvr would not allow me to change the input option. So... I tried a few other programs. Some would allow me to record the audio just fine, but not the video. Nothing seemed compatible. In the meantime, a relative sent me an old computer. I thought it was worth a shot, so i hooked up the tvbox and vcr to it. Again, windvr would not allow me to record from the sound card. But then I noticed something....there was another option listed for capture device. Apparently, there is an internal device "pinnacle DC10 plus" already installed. After a little probing, I found that it came with software called studio 7. I hooked everything up and the results were great... BUT, after you capture the video, you must "render" it. This process takes 5 to 6 times the lenghth of the video.... so a 1 1/2 tape takes 8 or 9 hours to complete. I thought that maybe I could copy it to an external HD and bring it to my other pc and see if I had some software that could do it, but the captured video is 22 gbs! How can that be if it's only a 2 hour vhs? Anyway, I'm stumped, any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated
My opinions about USB capture devices has been stated before. I don't like 'em. I have found their performance to be spotty and too dependent on the quality/bandwidth avilable of the USB port. The pinnacle DC10 is an ANCIENT (ran on Win '95) piece of hardware. Pinnaclee apparently does still provide support. I cannot speak personally to the quality of this hardware, but it apparently has a loyal following. Analog video capture/transfer will be a function of the following components: 1)Quality of the original source material 2)Quality of the output hardware (VCR) 3)Quality of the Input hardware The software plays a very minimal part in the capture of the audio/video, other than providing driver support. IMHO, you need to get good hardware to get the material into the PC. Then you can focus on editing software.
Yeah, I figured out most of that last night after quite a bit of research. I actually did a project with that pinnacle, and the results were great, but like I said, It took all night. I guess I just gotta spend the cash and get a decent card. Thanks again, this site has been a great help for me on a number of issues
