VHS Tapes to DVD

I'm a newbie to the video capturing and editing world but I have found this site to be pretty awesome. I have a couple of questions...First, can the convertx 402 encode my audio to the AC3 format OR is the audio encoded using my software? I currently use Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 OEM but I do have WinDVD Creator OEM that came with the convertX. Second question is, can anyone tell me or point me to a tutorial on what my options are and what they mean for capturing? I'm referring to mpeg2 IPB DVD, mpeg2 IPB, and mpeg2 IP only. This is what shows up in my roxio software when doing a capture. Third question is, Easy Media Creator wants to re-encode my captured mpeg file when I try to add a basic menu with background audio which makes the project size so large that it won't fit onto a single layer DVDR. Is there any way around this? Also, does anyone know how I can change my resolution or bit rate on the convertX? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

The ConvertX spits out ac3 audio.
Download the GoCap capture tool from plextor.com and use it for capturing. You'll see it has many settings but bitrate settings are in bs not kbs so 7000kbs = 7000000bs.
Then find an authoring app. like Dvd Lab that doesn't re-encode.

 

ADVC 100 has issues with:
- slightly over-saturated images
- bright colors
- imperfect VHS tapes.

This might seem like not much, but the artifacts that are visible when you have an over-saturated image (like we get on cable over here) are truly annoying and unacceptable. It was not a problem with my setup, since i've tried 2 different cards in 3 totally different computers.

I've asked around for a SDI capture solution. It looks like you can take the signal from the VCR and put it through a TBC then into a analog-to-SDI converter then into the SDI card. The problem is that this whole setup is about $5000 and i haven't heard of anyone doing it this way.

Why is it so hard to get Uncompressed YUV avis from VHS??? There is NO simple way to do this, i've been searching the Internet for a while...

 

Are you kidding? I'll tell you why it's so hard- DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT.
The major studios are already nervous about what we can do now.

 

I'm only copying tapes that I have recorded in the past. I have no intention of copying protected VHS tapes when i can get those exact tapes on DVD.
While i'm 'researching' tapes become deteriorated. My quest to find the perfect capture card began in 1999. Since then, i've never been truly satisfied. The obsolete miro/pinnacle DC-10 card used to be sold for a few hundred $, and it couldn't capture more than 67 minutes of footage.
HOW MUCH do you have to pay to get 1:1 copies of 120 minute VHS tapes on your hard drive?


LATER EDIT: Liquid Edition 6 Pro $999.99 - [bold]support page says: Possible synchronization problems when capturing from certain analog sources.[/bold]
-----

EVEN LATER EDIT: What do you know about Matrox Axio SD ? It looks interesting.
http://www.matrox.com/video/products/axio/home.cfm

For $200 you can get the Osprey 210:
http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey/osprey210.html

Winnov Videum Duo:
http://www.winnov.com/products/capture/videumduo.htm



What do you think about all these? They can capture uncompressed avis, from the looks of things.



.

 

[bold]HOW MUCH do you have to pay to get 1:1 copies of 120 minute VHS tapes on your hard drive?[/bold]

Answer: $99.00

Buy a ReplayTV networked PVR, don't pay for their monthly service, and dub your VHS to their Hard Disk.

Then transfer the file to your HDD via Ethernet--you can even do it wirelessly.

I wasted *months* trying to do all this via computer and then bought my first PVR last November. Now I have five of them, because I record and edit *lots* of programs off of live cable and also am archiving all of my VHS to DVD. I like the Panasonic products that use DVD-RAM and the ReplayTV ones that use networking, since they can both make high-speed, lossless (digital) transfers.

There are other threads on these here, so I won't go into any more detail.

bob

 

Good idea video bob, however, I do believe those pvr's rely on mpeg 2 compression as do the tivo units. None-the-less your point is well taken as I've never seen much mention of this method. I suppose it's due to the limited input for capture settings.

 

Thank you for your reply.
The ReplayTV PVR does not do 1:1 copies of VHS tapes, it records them in mpeg2 format, and can do variable compression depending on your needs.
I would like a card that can record uncompressed YUV (and RGB) - meaning about about 60 gigabytes of data per hour of recorded material.

 

HI i cant believe how many pages there are posted for trouble with vhs to dvd as i only posted it not long ago! i had trouble earlier with images jumping and the sound not coming through properly i tried 1 i defraged the hard drive.
2 turned off the anti virus
3 checked aspect resolution frame rate 25 it was this was sugested by rebootjim thank you for that i thought it might have been the vcrso i bought a new one and it was worse as i couldnt capture anything and it kept coming up with a dialog box saying ulead had encounted an error and must close so i went back to the old vcr and it is worse than when i had the problem in the first place as now there is no sound when i capture and there are horizontal lines about 1cm apart all the time and i have ininstalled video studio 7 and reinstalled it and i still have the same problem i am using ulead video studio 7 with movie factory 2 the capure device is canopus advc 55 and i am using windows xp pro. cpu 64bit 3000+ 1gig of ddr ram gainward nvidia ti4200 seagate baracuda 200gig primary with 80gig slave thanks in advance cheers.

 

Just Try useing a native DV Capture program that is Made for Captureing from devices like your ADVC-55, Try something like "WinDV" or "DVIO" or if you can get ahold of "Scenalyzer Live" then that is one of the Best DV Capture Programs.....

 

hi minion i tried what you suggested to try scenalyzer live and i still had the same problem so i had an old vcr i had under my bench
for so long i forgot it was there i thought i would give i go and you wouldnt bellieve it i have really good capture it is only mono adio but i can live with that i really have nothing but praise for canopus products as my advc 55 makes capture so easy when your vcr is working thanks to you minion and to rebootjim you both where really helpfull cheers.

 

I"m glad you got it to work...Cheers

 

Hey Minion of PFH,
Is there any difference between the terms "re-encoding" and "re-rendering"? I use Plextor's ConvertX PX-TV402U to do a hardware capture, then edit and author using the WinDVD Creator software (came with my ConvertX) which is an OEM version from Plextor that has been configured to work with the ConvertX by Plextor. WinDVD supports AC3 audio and I have been basically pleased with the results I am getting. Using one of the predetermined capture rates called "DVD High Quality" I am able to capture at 8Mbs, edit,author, and burn with pretty good quality. I questioned Plextor about whether it was absolutely necessary for their software to re-encode and was told by tech support that even though I capture in mpeg2, the software still HAS to re-encode or re-render my entire captured file to make it DVD compatible. Is this true? If so, why are there programs out there like DVD Lab that do NOT re-encode? I don't understand. Thanks in advance for an answer to this question.

 

I'm curious are most of the posters here Americans or overseas?Sometimes the equipment escapes me.

 

Hi, Yes there is a Differance between "Encodeing" and "Rendering"...

Rendering is Basicly just the Creation of a New File which can or can not entail compressing the Video file...Encodeing is Compressing a File to a Particular Format....

Encodeing will allmost allways result in Some Quality Loss were rendering Can or Can not result in Quality Loss.....

If your Authoring Program "Re-Encodes" your Captured files then it pretty Much defeats the whole Purpose of Haveing a Hardware Mpeg-2 encoder as the Whole Point of Haveing a Hardware Encoder is so you don"t have to Encode your Captured file to Mpeg-2/DVD which is a waste of Time and Lowers the Quality....

If your ConvertX Captures to Mpeg-2 useing DVD Specs then there is No Need for your Authoring Software (WinDVD Creator) to re-encode the File because it is allready in the Correct Format (Mpeg-2 and VOB are Pretty Much the same Format so there is No encodeing happening when going from Mpeg-2 to VOB/DVD like when authoring a DVD from a Mpeg-2 file)...

I suggest you Try Captureing to Mpeg-2/DVD and author the File to DVD useing DVDLab and see if it will Do it for you and if it will then you should Not use WinDVD Creator to Author your DVD"s because it"s re-encodeing is Lowering the Quality and Wasteing Time....

Also Captureing at 8000kbs is way to high as you will only be able to Fit about 75 minutes of Video on a DVD at that Bitrate....You should Set your Bitrate Based on how long the Movie is so that it fits on a DVD properly....

For a 90 minute movie to fit perfectly on a DVD you should have the Video Bitrate set to 6500kbs and the audio at 192kbs...

For a 2 Hour Movie to Fit on a DVD Perfectly you should set the Video bitrate to "4850kbs" and the audio to "192kbs"....

For a 2.5 hour movie to Fit perfectly on a DVD you should set the Video Bitrate to "3850kbs" and the audio to 192kbs.....

Anymore Video than that on a DVD useing the Full D1 DVD resolution will start to Produce substandard Quality so if you are Trying to Fit more than 2.5 hours on a DVD then you should set the Video Resolution to the "Half D1" Standard which is "352+480" for NTSC and "352+576" for Pal.....

Hopefully in your Capture software you are able to set up Custom Capture Profiles so you can adjust the Bitrate to fit more Video on a DVD.....

So Basicly Try Captureing to Mpeg-2/DVD useing the Correct Bitrate settings Based on the Length of your Movie and then after Captureing the Video file Use something like "DVDLab" to author the File to DVD as WinDVD Creator will re-encode your File to Put it on DVD which Shows How much of a Mickey Mouse crappy program it is.....

Well anyways I hope some of this Helps.....Cheers

 

Thanks Minion....With WinDVD I have only about 3 choices for capturing which are: (1) "DVD HQ 60 minutes", which is "high quality" and captures at 8Mbs, (2) "DVD Standard 120 minutes", and (3) "DVD Extended Play". Regarding the latter two choices: I have no idea at what bitrate these settings capture at. I would have to run some test captures to see what bitrate they are capturing at, which I will do. Just yesterday I captured a 2 hour VHS movie using the DVD HQ 60 minute setting at 8Mbs. When it came time to create the disc, I selected the largest output size. It took 4 and 1/2 hours to finish the DVD! You reckon there was any re-encoding going on?! Man, your reply was really helpful to me. I concur; why have a hardware capture device if the software is going to re-do everything you just did?! I asked Plextor the very same question and they gave me an ambiguous response. Looks like I will have to break down and buy DVD Lab. Do you recommend the Pro version (costs $199) or would the standard version suffice for a newbie such as myself?

 

Hi, Yes it does seem that it is Re-encodeing the File because it should only take maybe 20 minutes to Compile a Video_TS folder from a Mpeg-2 file and another 20 minutes to Burn the Disk so if it is Takeing 4.5 Hours then it is Definately re-encodeing the File....

Yes you can probably get away with useing the Standard Version of DVDLab but you should Download the Trial version and use it for a while before decideing to Buy it just so you can get used to it and make sure it is to your Likeing....

You can download the Trial version here:

http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/


Cheers

 

Minion,
Do you know if one can use DVD Lab to burn DVD discs?

 

You can, but I wouldn't recommend it. The built in burner is a very basic ASPI burner, and not reliable at all.
You should have some good software that comes with your burner.

 

good advice