VHS Tapes to DVD

hi guys. i can't believe i finally got through this whole thread. but, i must say i understand what is going on much better at this point. thanks for all the time spent teaching here!!!

i am also using mydvd and showbiz. but i have a problem. when i try to play my dvd on my mom's VERY picky set top player, disks written with either of these pieces of s/w fail. so the question i have is, is the problem more likely in the vob creation or in the actual burn engine? also, what s/w writes highly acceptable dvds? i have successfully played backups of movies in her player, so i know it can read dvd-r media.

next, how much space do i allow for menus if i want to calculate my bitrate if i am making my own tv show disks? i want to have 8 half-hour shows per dvd with commercials edited out, they are about 22 minutes each. so, lets say about 180 minutes.

third question. is it better to encode each episode individually and then author them together or to bind them together somehow and the encode the whole kit and kabootle?

moonstone: i think i had showbiz write my dvd directly without sending it to sonic to get around the annoying clouds and music. you can also change those to some much nicer looking backgrounds and turn off the music if you still want a menu. the only way i found to get my vob files was to have them written to disk at the same time as writing a dvd. counterintuitive, so i may have missed something.

thanks much.

 

hi amps.

have no idea why your dvd dont play in your mums dvd player, i can tell u i have used SONIC MyDVD and SHOWBIZ for 6 mths now and never ever had any problems with anything i created on either of these programs, and ive used all brands of media as well.
i personally only use RITEK G04 dvd-r discs to burn vids onto, and use princo a-grade for backups etc.

i never use showbiz to burn my dvd's, its not as good as sonic mydvd cos sonic allows u to create great menus, add/delete/import transitions and effects and add/delete background music etc etc etc, and it allows you to import any type of video file and it will transcode the file b4 it burns it to the dvd-r.

i use sonic mydvd to capture my dv or analog vids to my pc in 720x576 pal mpeg2 format, then i use showbiz to import my mpeg2 vids from my h/drive to edit or join together, then save them back to h/drive, where i then create my dvd project and burn them with sonic mydvd.

i read a lot of silly stuff in this forum from people who are obviously trying to do some crazy stuff with dvd's and video files, i never understand why so many people use so many programs just to capture videos, edit them, encode them, author them and burn them, in most cases there is only 1 program required to capture, edit, and burn vids to dvd.

i use adobe premier 6.5 for serious editing and burning, and use sonic MyDVD and SHOWBIZ for everything else, and if u capture any vids using mpeg2, u never need to change the file type to burn it to a dvd-r.

anyway, i guess theres a lot of people who just dont try to learn these programs properly b4 they use them and then complain cos they have problems.

i actually used DVD SHRINK tonite for the first time and burnt a perfect copy of LOTR and can i say its got to be the absolute easiest program to use on the planet, i was nervous about it at first, just loaded the dvd, set it all up, waited till it copied to h/drive, then burnt it to dvd (with nero 6 as default burner which i use anyway) too easy, the makers should be congratulated. im about to try DVD DECRYPTER tonite as well.

cheers everyone.....GLEN

 

hey glenn,

i have no clue why mom's hitachi is so darned picky, but it took a while to get backups to work there too. once 321 came out with a stable version of xcopy it worked.

i'm going to have to have to try shrink again, last time i tried it was nearly a year ago and it made nemo pixelate. has it improved alot in the recent past?

as far as mydvd and showbiz go, they are the only s/w that hasn't totally crashed on my machine with the huge files i'm editing. i had lots of different packages just sitting on my shelf. most are free after rebate types. some seemed great, but stalled out. so, i'm off to try some others that have been suggested here.

btw, when you capture using mydvd, how large can your files be? mine cut off after 4gig on windvr...i need to check my file type and dma settings.

later. ann.

 

hi amsp.

you have fat32 file system, not ntfs, thats why its cut out (change yours to ntfs, u can get as large as u like)
as for my capture file size, i can get any size, but because i film in mini dv, and i only use the short play 60min setup, my 1 hr video will be about 3.7gb when captured by sonic mydvd using the "best quality" capture in 720x576 pal mpeg2 format, which is the size u need to capture in to burn to dvd.
file size on the video depends on the type of image u have shot on the tape, any outside filming i do will make much larger file size than footage shot indoors under lights.
its a pain that a dvd-r will only hold up to 65min of top quality 720x576 mpeg2 video, but i prefer to keep that quality and have a 2 hr home video on 2 discs rather than capture 2 hrs of video on lesser mpeg quality just to fit it all on 1 dvd.
im researching dual layer setup at the moment, but im not sure id all set top dvd players will play dual layer discs yet.
i have tried other basic capturing and editing programs, but as an all round 2 in 1 package, this suits me great, showbiz will capture and edit, but i dont like its capture part, i prefer sonic mydvd, i the edit with showbiz, send back to sonic to create and burn my project.
the think i like about this sonic mydvd is the video is captured in mpeg2, so u dont need to transcode or do anything to the video (apart from editing) b4 u burn it to dvd.
my serious work is done using premier 6.5, but i very rarely use it cos i can do most of what i need in showbiz.
anyway, thanks for your reply, good luck.....GLEN

 

Greetings To All,
I am a new come to this thread and have tried to read what is going on with some of you. Good luck. I hope that I am not stepping onto old ideas and answers but have to ask! I seem to be on old technology, funny as that sounds being I have just bought this system 1 year ago, but am trying to get my VHS tapes onto my DVD's. I have seen in this forum that, what seems to be, the best way to go is the Canupos ??100 card. I am not looking for anything special and definitly not expensive but will capture VHS AND Digital. All I have is 900, and some odd, MGH chip with about 45G hard drive, free, and a 1394 board. Unfortunately I cannot, at this time, purchase a separate drive but am looking for the analog solution. I have the Sonic DVD software, which I like very much exept for the background and menu choices. All I need is a card to capture the analog and digital video, hopefully without eliminating pictures or sound, that is of good quality and price.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

 

HI CREATE.

i cant tell u what the best card to capture my analog vhs direct to pc because i dont use one.
i do mine a different way and here is how and why i do it like this ok.
1. i have just finished copying my old vhs videos (about 100gb worth) onto mini digital tapes using my new panasonic 3ccd mini digital camcorder which i connect to my vcr using s-video or av plugs.
the reason for this is that i want to keep an archive of all our videos on tapes, as well as on my pc and dvd, and transfering the vhs to mini dv tapes keeps a better quality image and keeps my archive storage down to a very small box full of tapes.
2. i then capture the videos from dv tape from my camcorder to my pc using SONIC MyDVD, capturing in 720x576 (pal) high quality mpeg2.
3. if i want to edit anything and do effects etc, i send the videos to ARCSOFT SHOWBIZ (or adobe premier) then when im finished editing etc, i save the vids back to my h/drive then open MyDVD and create my DVD project, then burn the video to my RITEK G04 dvd-r discs.
i personally like the effects, backgrounds, menus etc im MyDVD, but remember, u can import your own if u want, i often use a photo as a background theme, but usually i use one of the default ones.
if i really want to works, ill use adobe premier 6.5, but for me, theres no need to go past sonic mydvd and showbiz.

if u can get a mini dv camcorder, save your vids to a dv tape first, then u still got a good quality hard copy of your vids at hand incase u lose your dvd or video files on your pc.
when u do videography quite a lot like me, u get to understand u never film over any existing dv tape, u always archive them JUST INCASE.
all my videography work is kept on dv tape, the captured mpeg2 files are then archived on a 250gb ext h/drive + backed up on dvd disc so i always have 2 copies of the mpeg2 file. the finished dvd project is then stored as well and kept until i know the client is happy with the finished result, i then give them a dvd copy of the saved project and if they want any additional dvd burnt later, they give me the dvd with the files on it, and can burn another copy for them.

anyway, hope that gives u an idea of how and why i do it like this....good luck....GLEN

 

hi glen.

i checked my file system, and it was as i though - ntfs. so, that blows my theory of why i was getting clipped out the window. maybe it is limitation of windvr? i have dma enabled if available also.

theCreate:

if you don't have the nice equiment that glen has (a dig video cam), (ok, yes glen i am jealous...i only have a digital camera - no video) you can do what us peons do and get a capture card. make sure it does max resolution of pal or ntsc - around 700x500 and that it has a good bit rate - over 4000b/sec i think is a low end number i'd guess. the higher the input the better, as in s-video is better than coax if your vcr has an s-video out. capture cards start at around $50, and the one you've read minion talking about runs somewhere i think i read between 170 and 225 on ebay. you need to read the specs on whatever card you buy and sofware you use for system requirements. you are at the low end if i'm not mistaken. i think some of this stuff requires at least 1ghz processor and 512mg memory.

good luck!!

ann

 

HI ANN.

nice reply btw, if u capture your vids, make sure u capture 720x576(pal) or i think 720x480(ntsc) to to enable burning to dvd.
i think mine set at 16bit, and aspect ratio at 4.3 (normal screen) or whatever.
another thing, video editing drains the cr-p out of your pc unless ur running something pretty fast, im in the process of building a video editing specific pc, the best i can build. i run 2 identical amd systems at the moment, both asus a7n8x del, amd 3200cpu, 1gb corsair xms3200c2 ram, saphire 9600pro and 9500pro graphics, liteon 811s dvd burners etc etc, anything less than what im running and it gets a bit slow and painful.
anyway, im taking a break from the forum for a bit, been reading too many posts from people getting into all sorts of trouble and having problems they shouldnt be having. im a newbie here, but shocked at what some people are doing wrong. anyway, have a good one, and will be back soon i hope.....cheers....GLEN

 

Hey Ann,Glen
Thanks for the reply. Ann hit it pretty good, my digital camera(Samsung SCD-23) will ONLY input the 4 Pin DV and output the RF/RCA/USB/DV. My analog camera(Sharp VL-L390U Slimcam) will only output/input RF/RCA. I don't have a problem connecting my VHS player to the computer but the only outputs I have there are S-Video/RCA/Coaxial. My question with the S-Video is what do you do with the audio portion, as I thought the S-Video is only video? Do you capture them separatly and mix together internal to software? I also have the Ulead software and I can extract and and add audio as I see fit.
Thanks,
Peter

 

I finally bought Video Studio 8, and Movie Maker 3. Could it be possible for you or someone else to give me a guide on how to get 6hrs vhs to a dvd? What all do you do to get it done step by step?

Also, I captured in the best quality 6.2GB, and tried to shrink it with dvd shrink. It worked almost fine; the video plays, but no audio? Is there a reason for this? Ive heard of people doing it this way so i tried.

Thanks again for all the help.

Nut

 

havn't read the this whole thread (16 pages...) but i was hopeing to help with just the last couple posts.

amsp:
there is a setting in windvr 3 that causes the file size to cut at 4GB. you need to change the record quality setting. Setup->Record Tab->Customized->Profiles, choose the profile that best suits your needs and then choose Duplicate->System Tab, here you can choose any file size cut off you like, i've set mine to 100GB. this will only work in windows 2000 or above, which i assume you have.

glenpinn:
glenpinn is right about subpar systems being "slow and painful". if people are serious about video capture/editing take glenpinn's lead and get something that will do the job right. as for myself, i am running dual Opteron 244's, 1GB Corsair, two 120GB HDD on RAID-0, and Radeon 9200 VIVO (that is not to brag of course...).

thecreate:
S-video is for video and the RCA (red and white) is for audio. you should be able to plug the s-video output into your s-video "in" port and plug RCA audio output into "line-in" port on your sound card or equivalent (you need an adapter to go from left/right RCA to stereo mini-jack). do not attempt to record video and sound separately...talk about slow and painful!!

 

thanks turkey!!!! i'll have to try that. it is increadibly annoying not being able to capture more than an hour and 15 minutes at a time. if i knew exactly when the commercials were it wouldn't be so bad, but....

ok, i'll try my hand at a couple more answers.

nut: try looking in the search for the word sif or cif. i know i have run across this info...maybe earlier in this thread. i believe minion is the one talking about it here. there may even be something in the guides tab about that. as i understand it, d1 gives you full ntsc or pal compliance adn ~2 hrs on a disk, half d1 is half the vertical res and is interlaced and gives ~4 hours on a dvd, and sif or cif is 1/4 the size (so divide both numbers by 2) and gives ~6 hours on a disk. at least that is what i understood in my many nights of going through this thread. did you make sure your captured files had sound? maybe you need to demux for that shrink can remux....totally a guess.

peter: my capture divice make it really easy for me - it has rca (red and white) sound inputs and an s-video. i use the adaptec videoh! usb 2.0 capture box. i had trouble with internal cards and interferance. so, some cards may have also have this. my box was mid-range in price $100-150. i decided i hated anything cheaper that i had tried. otherwise you need to put your sound into your sound card using the device like turkey said.

glen: hope you have/had a good break.

bfn. ann

 

Greetings All,
Thanks Turkey.
Ann,
Do you have any problem with the speed of the USB creating havoc with your videos. I have seen these units out there but was understanding the speed of the USB would not handle the video. I was afraid to try and fail for the cost. Does your unit also have the capabilities of capturing from a digital camcorder as well? If so, have you used it and how well does it work?
Thanks Again,
Peter

 

Im so fed up with this crap............I just wanna put 6hrs of vhs tape to one dvd.......Ive just finished with Ulead, and it recorded only 1 hour of vhs. As a matter of fact, when i loaded the video from my desktop, Ulead said that there was 1-2 hours of video present.........but when i played it with my media player, there was 6 hours and 10 min present. What the hell is going on? Somebody guide me please?

Other than that, I guess i'll buy a DVD recorder player, which is way more expensive......anyone have any suggestions on this?

 

HI DaNUT

i have just finished copying and burning all my old family vhs tapes (about 20 of them, thats about 50hrs) to my pc and onto dvd-r discs.
i believe its absolutely impossible to get 6hrs of vhs to 1 dvd-r disc. i burnt 50 hrs of vhs tapes onto 40 dvd-r discs to watch on my tv, and that was pushing it.
u can get your 6 hrs onto 3 dvd discs at the most, but for better quality u will need 4 to 6 discs ok.

when u capture your vhs tapes to pc, u can do it whatever format u like but the video has to be converted to mpeg2 codec to put on a dvd-r disc, and it hast to be captured or decoded at 720x576 (pal)

if u want absolute best quality mpeg2 video on your dvd, u will only fit 66min max video (which will be about or 3.7gb to 4.3gb file size) onto a dvd disc.
u can get lesser quality mpeg2 and get 2 hrs of video on the dvd, but the quality is a lot less.

top quality 720x576 mpeg2 is about 60mb/min so 60min of video is about 3.6gb, lesser quality mpeg2 is 30mb/min so u work out how big your 6 hrs will be and divide that into a 4.3gb dvd disc, i just wong go ok.

there may be a way if u want to compress the video somehow, but i dont go into that stuff, its not worth the bother. where is the real problem with your situation, r u bothered that u need to get out of bed to change the discs over, cos thats what this sounds like to me.

anyway, good luck ok, and if u have read anything ive posted in this thread the past week or so, u will see that i use SONIC MyDVD to capture and burn my vhs and dv tapes to my pc in high quality 720x576 (60mb/min) mpeg2 format ready to burn to dvd, its so simple even a kid can do it.

good luck m8, u gunna need it ok.....GLEN

BTW, patience is a virtue, u need lots of it doing this stuff ok, and a lot of trial and error, if u read everything in here, ur gunna be so dam confused you pull out ya hair.
take some advice, read what u can, then trial it, if it dont work, try and try again, u will get there in the end, but u wont get 6hrs of vhs on 1 dvd disc

 

You Sure can get 6 + hours on a DVD you just have to utilize the other DVD formats....
I can get about 3 hours Max on a DVD useing the Full D1 standard But when useing the SIF/CIF format you can get 6 to 8 hours on a DVD......

 

nut: i can't lead you on this one since i haven't done it myself. as i understand it, you record at a much lower bit rate (1800 or so) and a much smaller frame size 360x288 pal or 360x240 ntsc. but, i'm not sure if you use the full number of frames/sec or 1/2 of that...that is where that cif/sif standard comes in....i belive minion explained it a couple times earlier in this very thread. but do a search on those terms and you should find something.

peter: i have been happy overall with my adaptec. my machine is a good deal faster than yours though...i'm running 2mhz with 512 memory. the adaptec has some hardware encoding going on. when recording a show i see glitches that don't seem to be there on playback. my guess is this is due to harddrive lag. it works pretty hard to record 4 gig in less than an hour. my resulting files do not seem to have these same glitches when i play them back. also, my machine is usb 2.0 not 1.1 - significantly faster, and i think it's even faster than firewire. it does not have a "dv input" that i know of...i don't have such nice new fancy equipment, so i've never really looked. actually, i don't have kids so i have never been able to justify a camcorder. i got my device at compusa with a preformance guarantee. so, as i was blowing through cards that didn't work for me, i could apply the $$ toward a new card. talk to someone at customer service and ask if you can return whatever you buy if it doesn't suit your needs and if there would be a restocking fee on an open item. buy there if you like the answers.

good luck guys.

ann

 

as i said b4, u might get 6 hrs of video on a dvd, but you obviously have to compress or capture the original video in such a tiny resolution, so for me, doing all that is not worth the hassle, and what about the image quality ??? GLEN

 

absolutely right glen. the video quality on a disk that has 6 hours on it would have to suffer greatly. my guess is that it would look like medium to low grade vhs. fine if capturing from tv, but not so good when capturing from hq dig video. my goal for the addam's family is 3 hours (8 episodes) on a disk.

peter: unfortunately, i can not find min sys req. on my adaptec...the individual s/w must have those. but it may be worth a try if you get it from somewhere where you can take it back if it doesn't work for you.

minion: welcome back....you haven't been around here for a while. could you point nut in the right direction for where you explained all the sif/cif stuff. i know i read it .... somewhere. thanks.

happy weekend to all!!!

ann

 

minion, as long as you are around right now, could you answer some of my questions from july 21 please? i cut and pasted them for ease of use. thanks much. ann


"i am also using mydvd and showbiz. but i have a problem. when i try to play my dvd on my mom's VERY picky set top player, disks written with either of these pieces of s/w fail. so the question i have is, is the problem more likely in the VOB creation or in the actual burn engine? also, what s/w writes highly acceptable dvds? i have successfully played backups of movies in her player, so i know it can read dvd-r media. those were using gear burn enging i believe (it was integrated into the product.)"

"next, how much space do i allow for menus if i want to calculate my bitrate if i am making my own tv show disks? i want to have 8 half-hour shows per dvd with commercials edited out, they are about 22 minutes each. so, lets say about 180 minutes of programming."

"third question. is it better to encode each episode individually and then author them together or to bind them together somehow and the encode the whole kit and kabootle?"