VHS capture recommendations

Can anyone suggest a good capture program to capture old movies to AVI format using a DAC-100 Digital Video Converter. No software comes with the unit.

 

try the Mainconcept MPEG Encoder 1.4.2, there is a free demo download from the Mainconcept website. the demo's only limitation is during encoding, where it places a watermark on the encoded video. but the program also has an integrated video capture tool that has no limitations and captures very good DV AVI video.

 

Thanks turkey. I'll give it a try. Unfortunately my DAC-100 has decided not to work after just two weeks so it has to go back for repair/exchange.
I'll try Mainconcept on it's return.

 

WinDV (free) is all you need to capture, i use it too,
starts quick, few settings, only to set once when installing, (well..its just a .exe you need)
later encode with Cinema Craft Encoder Basic,
which makes files .mpv & mpa (both MPEG)
and author it later with DVDLab,if you want you can also encode the audio to AC3, with Besweet etc..
Do it like this, and make some dvd's like this,
and later, if you feel the need, edit the avi, (effects and stuff like that) Working with DVDLab for any additions, is enough most of the time, to get a nice end result.

 

Thanks fugitive2 - Sounds good. When I get my unit back, I'll definitely give your recommendations a try. I appreciate your help

 

Yes, my unit came only with demo software,
i've got the ADVC100 (Canopus) well, it's because
you can use any software with these devices,
that's so fine about it, Using CCE basic, which
is affordable software, you can do good encoding,
with a average bit rate of 5500 or 6000 you can
get a feature movie onto one single layer dvdr
with good quality, DVDLab almost same story,
easy to use authoring, with very pro-like results.

 

Thanks again fugitive2 - looking forward to getting my unit back and trying the progs out. Could I ask what RAM you have? I'm thinking of using my spare machine as a dedicated unit just for transferring vhs etc but it only has 256mb ram.
My main machine which I have been using, has 1g

 

Yes, i have 1Gb here too, but on this one i dont work a lot with video, on the one i do, i have less,
0.5 Gb and it works fine it does have a Intel chip
set, which is recommended, for good and fast IDE access,
although the devices we are using, don't put much strain on the CPU, so it should be allright.
Tell me, what equipment you're using type vcr,
connections (switches ?) etc..

 

Hi fugitive2

When I get my DAC-100 back (hopefully this week) I'll connect to the vcr with composite cables (my vcr only has scart and composite outs), and to the PC with a firewire cable. To capture I'll try WinDV, No1 Video Converter for transferring AVI to MPEG2 and then try out TMPGEnc Plus and DVD Author.
I've nothing set in stone, so I don't mind trying anything.

 

You mean DVD Author also from TMPGEnc ?
because this is a good one, easy to use, nice result,
a good one to start with.

 

Yes - TMPGEnc DVD Author. I'm thinking of setting up my spare PC purely to convert VHS to DVD. I've only 256mb in that machine at the moment but will probably upgrade to 512 or so.

 

The nice thing of TMPGEnc DVD Author is, when
you have
a lot of commercials in your tv recording, you
can easily edit them out, this is hard to do
with DVDLab, it can be done with DVDLab, but
it takes time and with it's GUI you can make
easily a mistake, with TMPGEnc DVD Author, you
have only to mark starts and ends, (within the
GOP structure boundaries of MPEG2)

Most of the time, i roughly capture with WinDV
(AVI type2) i precisely set start and end
points of the MPEG2 within CCE basic, (you can
use the scroll-wheel of your ps2 mouse, for
the exact frame, well, almost,
because DV video has a little compression
already)
if the amount of bytes is still to high to fit
on a single layer dvdr, you will see this, and
you can also adjust this with CCE basic, i use
use 2 pass VBR, and convert the sound to a
wave file, because this doesn't alter the
sound quality, and as soon CCE basic has
produced this wave file, i convert it to AC3,
with Besweet+GUI, (free software) when also
the .mpv is ready, i load this two files as
assets in DVDLab, drag them into the
"connections" window, add chapter-points, most
of the time i use a frame from the
movie/recording as background for the menu(s).

i also sometime make a motion menu, (is easy)
you get
a avi which you have to convert to MPEG2
seperate, and import as a asset again.
(i still have no need for the Pro version of
DVDLab)
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]Bedankt, Thanks,

Fugitive.[/small]

 

I take it that CCE basic is your choice of encoder? Is it better than TMPGEnc?
Not sure exactly what a motion menu does?

 

Yes, it's better and faster, a motion menu, is a animated menu, made out of a MPEG2 file that is used as a background for your menu, you can place buttons on top of it, or frames, or place "hotspots", which can also be used as links for actions, like buttons.

 

Looking at the CCE website I see it sells for about $58. They apparently do a 'demo' version which gives 3 minutes only - not a long time to evaluate it. Still, I might just try it out.
With regard to the motion menu, do you need special software for it and is it easy to learn?

 

You make the motion-menu also with DVDLab,
it produces a avi, which must be externaly (CCE basic, etc..) encoded to mpeg2 (.mpv)
CCE basic is a real good deal for that money,
it delivers quality at low price, other software is
expensive, ask other people on the web for this.
TMPGEncPlus is real slow compared..
www.videohelp.com is a goodsite to check.

 

TMPGEnc takes about 12 hours to encode a 90 minute film - a long time. Sounds as if CCE is well worth considering. $58 is about 48 Euros which isn't a great deal these days.

 

As in : isn't a great deal... you mean, a not to high
price to pay, because you can say also that's a great
deal, as in good ! I use CCE basic on a daily basis,
to store the tv progs. i want to keep.
btw. you should also take a look for Besweet, it's
free, and easy to use for converting wav to AC3,
converting to mpa (mpeg audio) degrades the audio
quality, which destroys the surround sound effect.

 

"isn't a great deal" as in terms of money. In other words it sounds a bargain.

Might try Besweet when I'm more familiar with the other programs. Still waiting for my DAC-100 to be returned so can't do anything until then unforunately. Quite anxious to get started again using the progs you recommended.

 

"isn't a great deal" as in terms of money. In other words it sounds a bargain.

Might try Besweet when I'm more familiar with the other programs. Still waiting for my DAC-100 to be returned so can't do anything until then unforunately. Quite anxious to get started again using the progs you recommended.