VHS Tapes to DVD

Minion,
I have crashed!! Having just installed the new pioneer burner I received the Adaptec 4300 firecard and installed it in an open pci slot. Turn on the system and "nada" nothing, no signal, Pulled out the adaptec and tried again and got a 4 beep signal. Tracked it down through process of elimination and it looks like it fried the motherboard AGP slot. Ever heard of this happening? I tried a smaller PCI video card and the system boots back up but only with 16 bit color. So I guess I need a new motherboard. You indicated that you recently built several new systems. Any recommendations in terms of motherboards? I'm need something compatible with all my devices.

 

As a newbie, I have read the posts on this thread and remain somewhat confused. My need is to put old VHS movies on DVD, to preserve them in the best quality reasonably possible. From the posts, it would seem that I need to capture to an AVI file and then encode to DVD MPEG2.

The best way to get help is to describe my current doings/undoings - I captured a 2 hour 7 minute movie using a WinFast 2000XP Deluxe capture card and recorded directly to DVD using Sonic MyDVD. I wanted to have the movie on only one DVD disk and was given three options by MYDVD: BEST(720x480 at 8 Mbps yielding 60 minutes on a single DVD), BETTER (352x480 at 4 Mbps yielding 120 minutes on a single DVD), and GOOD(352x240 at 2Mbps yielding 180 minutes on a single DVD). Because of the movie length, I had to select the "GOOD" setting which, needless to say, was not my idea of good quality.

My questions are: What software do I need to capture to AVI and then, what software do I need to encode from AVI to DVD MPEG2 ? Are there any provisions to optimize capture quality for varying movie lengths so that I can adjust in accordance with what I can get on a single DVD? Is it better to adjust the VHS to AVI capture resolution or the MPEG compression?

Thanks for listening.

 

Well I finally created a quality caoture in virtualdub. I created a 19.2gb file in HuffyUV codec. Then once I import media into Vegas, the picture is colrfully grainy and inverted.audio is fine though, preview is fine. even tried trimming it down and rendering it, still video is FUBARD. Any help? is it the AVI 2gig limit? any way around that? Can virtualdub break it down into 2gig pieces?

 

DVDkid: The Reason why the Color is Inverted in Vegas Video with files encoded with the HuffyUV Codec is because Huffyuv captures the Video useing the YUV colorspace and Many programs do not suppoer this Colorspace but there is a Setting in the HuffYUV Codec settings that will Fix this, Just click the Button next to "Allways suggest RGB Output Format" then when you Load your AVI into Vegas it is converted to RGB Colorspace so you will be able to See the Images ,Abd yes you can edit with Virtual Dub and a LOT faster than with any other program , Just load in your AVI file and set the Audio and Video to "Direct stream Copy" and set your In points and out Points and then go to "File" to "Save AVI" and it will save the File with No Quality differance and in only a few Minutes, when you edit in Vegas you will allways Loose some Quality because it will allways re-render the file were with Virtual Dub on direct Stream Copy it doesn"t re-render the file....

GAloys: If you use a Simple Program Like Virtual-Dub or Virtual-VCR to capture to full resolution AVI useing the HuffYUV Codec and then used a Good Mpeg encoder like Tmpgenc or MainConcept to encode your Captured file to Mpeg2/DVD and then authored the file to DVD-R you will get Better Quality than you would captureing directly to Mpeg with MyDVD and you would be able to get Much More Video in a DVD because a Good encoder can Produce Better Quality at a Lower Bitrate than Captureing to Mpeg with a Capture Program Like MyDVD....

gcchaser:You Never said what Type of Processor you have But there are a Lot of Budget Motherboards out there that are Very Stable and Inexpensive and have a Lot of the Newer Features Like ATA/133 and 8X AGP and Onboard Lan ect..One newer Company that Makes very Stable Budget Motherboards is called "Asrock" they are owned By Asus and they make very Inexpensive but very Stable Motherboards ,They don"t have a Lot of Overclocking Features but they are Rock solid and Cheap I picked up a Model For a P4 called the PE Pro HT that I used for close to a Year without a Hitch at all then Sold it in one of My PC"s and it is still running strong and it was Only $40 New..Another Company that Makes Fairly good Cheap Boards is ECS which is What I"m useing Now with my P-4 ,the Modell I"m useing is the ECS L4VXA2 which has an 8X AGP and Really Good Overclocking Features and supports the 3.06GHZ 533fsb HT CPU ,I have a P-4 2,53ghz CPU in it and have it overclocked to 2.8ghz and it is Very stable and the temp Rarely ever gets past 30 Celcius so I"m sure I could put it up to 3ghz+ without much Problem ,These Motherboard Run about $40-$50 ,I actually Just Bought 2 of them in a Combo with Intel 2.5ghz Processors for $115 which is Pretty Damn cheap for a Motherboard & 2.5ghz CPU Combo ,I find Most of my stuff on E-Bay because it you really put your head into it you can get Really Cheap Deals accept the Shipping can be a Bitch..I have a Guy that I get Most of my Motherboards and CPU"s From on e-bay if you want I can hook you up with him or if you tell me What Type of CPU you have (Speed,Model,FSB speed)I can Try to Look for something for you....Cheers

 

Minion,
After sending you my last note I bought the ECS L4VXA2 with a p-4 2.6Mhz cpu. I sent $159 on sale, you got one heck of a deal on yours. My ATI AGP card wouldn't work so I went with a ATI radeon 9200 8X. I'm sure I will find benefits in my new upgrades when it comes to video editing. cheers

 

Ok I have to date made one five minute test video that actually worked on a stand alone DVD player. That method didn't work with a huge a 1hr 15m file.
Here's what I'm doing (wrong):
First I capture my home video (VHS) to AVI (HuffYUV codec) in VirtualDub. Then I import the file into Vegas to trim off the beginning, dead spaces in the middle, and end. I also add a few transitions. The I goto "Render as..." render it to an AC3 (Audio: 192 Kbps, 48,000 Hz, Stereo 2/0 coding) Then I render the video stream as a .M2V (Video: 29.97 fps, 720x480 variable bitrate 192,000-8,000,000bps NTSC DVD-compliant). Then I import those elementary streams into DVD-Lab (I've tried DVD Architect, but prefer the ease of use with DVD-Lab). After creating my menus, adding chapter points and saving my layout, I tried to compile the DVD into a Video_TS folder and during the muxing process I get an error that says something along the lines of "The compilation process can't be continued and has been aborted. If your source files are not-elementary files, demux it first and try again. If this doesn't work re-encode your file."
I had originally rendered as one MPEG and demuxed it in DVD-Lab, this didn't work, so I tried rendering the original AVI into two elementary streams.
Currently I think it is a problem with my audio, because I tried compiling the movie with no audio and it (doing it right now) and it did not error in the muxing process, well maybe because there is nothing to mux it with, but no errors, and it still muxed in the compile process. What should the parameters be on my AC3 DVD compliant audio stream?

 

Well I have never had that Problem and I get Most of my Audio files from Vegas as AC3 audio...I just use the default setting useing Stereo at 192kbs...Well I"m stumped as I do not know what the Problem is ,The only thing i do differently is I usually use a different Mpeg encoder, I would usually render my AVI file useing the HuffYUV Codec and Render it to AC3 then encode the Video with something like CCE and then add my 3:2 Pulldown Flags and author to DVD with DVD-Lab...Was the Video Rendered as a M2V file or was it a Mpg file that you remaned to M2V?? If so you Might try Running the File through a Demultiplexor to remove the audio header but this is all I can think Of...good luck

 

Minion can you explain the difference between .mpv and m2v? I tried using CCE and wound up with a m2v file that I had no luck with in DVD lab. What I do is capture in Huffy UV run it through premiere (because I could not figure out Vegas, but I will ask you about that later).Next I encode with Mainconcept which seems to be the fastest encoder I have found. I then import to DVD lab and it demuxes into .mpv and lpcm. It seems to work for me but I have heard good things about CCE and would like to know what makes it so great. Also could you explain the difference in AC3 audio and PCM? I still do not know how to achieve AC3. Thanks alot

 

There is absolutly no Differance between Mpv and M2v they are interchangeable so if DVD-Lab will not accept one then rename it to the other...There is a Big Differance between LPCM and AC3 ,LPCM is the same as Wav format or PCM it is also the same as the Audio Format on CD"s ,It is basicly just Uncompressed Audio...AC3 is a Very Compressed Audio format also Known as "Dolby Digital" the File sizes of AC3 can be up to 1/8 the size of a LPCM Audio Track and with simular quality so that is why it is the prefered format for Audio in DVD"s...Vegas Video 4 has a AC3 encoder and so Does Premier Pro But the one in Premier Pro only works 3 times and you have to Buy a special Licence for it that costs a fortune ,With vegas 4 you just need to have DVD architect Installed to Encode to AC3....As For "CCE SP 2.67" I Rate it as the Fastest and Most High Quality Mpeg2 Encoder out there but it is Difficult to use Because it does not have any filters to Change the resolution or for CLeaning up the Video Quality so you have to use a Frameserver like AVISynth in Many Cases to use it to it"s Potential..It"s encodeing speed is Extremely fast,I have been able to encode to DVD at 3 Times Real time ,CCE is also the encoder that Supports up to 9 Pass Encodeing ,It is the encoder I use 90% of the time.....Cheers

 

Minion, here is another small problem I have. When I add background music to the menu of a dvd it is way to loud and sounds distorted coming through my tv which is not hooked up to surround sound. Using Goldwave or anything else is there a way to make my background music more tv friendly?

 

Well yes you can allways use something like Goldwave or Sound Forge to Normalize the Audio.....

 

I've read through this thread and noted a few people that are having the same problem I'm having. I may have missed the answer so I apologize if I'm reiterating a solved issue.
I recently installed a MSI FX5200 VT128 Personal Cinema card into my machine a connected a VHS machine to it using a composite cable. Everything was fine until I view the recording. It has a white horizontal band or blank area covering the middle third of the image. I've tried different tapes but to no avail.
I was told this could be a Macrovision issue and that an older WDM would solve the problem but again no go. I would have thought that a Macrovision issue would result in a pulsing luminance not a stable white band! Anyway, just wondering if anyone has found a solution.

Thanks

 

New VHS movie back up to DVD. I heard that if you play your VHS movie through a pre 1986 VCR & save it to your HD, it removes the encryption/macrovision. Any comments on this.
DVDTD

 

The Affects of Macrovision are allmost allways a Image that Goes Dark and then Light ,Pulsateing between the two, I think your Problem is Something else...I"m not saying this is your Problem But I once has a problem that sounds simular to yours were the Captured file had a Dark thick Black Stripe going through the Top 1/3 of the Image, I think this Problem was due to me Trying to capture to a Pal Resolution on a NTSC Capture device....Why don"t you try Recording some TV and see if that works, or Try a Different Resolution or even a Different Capture Program.........

 

Sorry for the lack of clarity in my 2 February 2004 message and maybe I am not using the right termonology. I am new to all this and I am on a learning curve.

I have succeeded in backing up my store purchased DVD movies by using a free software from a shareware site - this software decrypts and then shrinks the data onto a 4.7 GB disk. I have a lot of VHS movie tapes that I purchased over the years and I am trying to back them up onto 4.7 GB disks. Some will back up with no problem. Others back up but when I try to replay them a note saying "COPY PROTECTED" pops up on the screen and the frame freezes not allowing the movie to advance any further. I heard that if you use a pre 1986 VCR and feed the VHS signal into the TV "in" on the TV card that it might work. If this is correct, I am assuming there is something in the electronics of the older VCRs that allows this. I thought this might be an easy solution, maybe not. My problem is not a video distortion one, but rather how to get decrypted the data and get it onto my hard drive. The "Sonic" software that came with my computer won't decrypt the data but willlet it be recorded and sent to the HD. Notice that I may be using decryption and macrovision as the same thing but from Minion's message it looks like they are not. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

Here is my setup:
Gateway 510
MicroSoft Media Center
Intel P4 2.8 GHz Processor
512 DDR 400 Memory
128 ATI Radeon 9600G
250 GB HD
DVD +/-RW
DVD ROM

 

It is Possible But I do not know For Sure if a Old VCR will work from Defeating Macrovision copy protection...And Old VCR will Though Produce Lower Quality Captures because I believe Old VCR"s had only One Maybe 2 Heads for Reading VHS Tapes, were newer VCR"s Have 4 heads or 16 micron Heads which Deliver Much higher Quality...If you really want to get Rid of the Macrovision get a Video Stabilizer ,This will get rid of any Copy Protection and Clean up the Signal Somewhat, They are Quite Inexpensive ,I have seen them for as Low as $15 on Ebay, so I think it would be a Better Option than useing a 20 year old VCR...Cheers

 

I have followed this forum for some time and others that focus on backing up DVDs and VHS tapes, both of which are of interest to me. They have been very useful to me and I thought I would share what I have learned. I decided that the more difficult problem was VHS tape to DVD because of the need for analogue to digital conversion. Other key issues seemed to be copy right protection, synchronization of the video and audio, and the quality of the product DVD. Another important related consideration was getting variable amounts of VHS content on to a single 4.7GB DVD disc. I decided the best way to deal with the macrovision protection and eliminate the synchronization issue was to buy and use the Canopus ADVC-100 to acquire the VHS output from my VCR and transfer it to my HD. A side benefit is that the speed of the cpu does not appear to need to be as high and I have been able to capture successfully using my 800MHz PentIII laptop with a 30GB HD.

From another forum I obtained the following tip on how to disable Macrovision using the Canopus ADVC-100 hardware video converter device that works for me. Press and HOLD the Input Select switch. When colour-bars appear at analogue output, KEEP THE BUTTON PRESSED. Wait until the colour-bars DISAPPEAR before releasing the button. Macrovision is now disabled until the unit is switched off. You do not have to be playing a Macrovision-protected signal into the box while doing this.

The software to use must also be decided. For me, the easiest solution is to use windows movie maker to do the capture. I play the tape and make sure I have the macrovision disabled. Then I set the tape to the desired start position and start both play and capture at the same time. I use the DV + AVI setting under movie maker. It requires about 18GB to capture 80 minutes of VHS tape. I use the free version of MainConcept to crop the avi file as necessary and encode the avi file to MPEG format. I have not found the MainConcept water mark to be a significant diversion on the final video. I use TMPGEnc DVD Author to convert and DVD Shrink 3.0 Beta 5, if necessary, to shrink so the video will fit on a 4.7GB DVD disk. A nice feature of DVD Shrink 3.0 Beta 5 is that it will let you know if shrinking is necessary and how much to use. I have not found any free DVD authoring software that works reliably in my hands. If anyone knows of any I would appreciate knowing. I use DVD ImgTool Classic 0.90 Build 8 to create an image file and DVD Decrypter Version 3.1.7.0 to burn to the DVD disc. The quality of the resulting DVD is, to my eyes, as good as the original VHS tape on a "normal" size TV screen. On my 65" wide screen HDTV both the DVD video and the VHS tape are ok but noticeably worse than a regular DVD video.

I have backed up over a dozen of my VHS movies this way without any problems or the need to get too involved in the technical details. If macrovision protection is not an issue, easier and less expensive methods should work (the ADVC 100 is pricey, $300 retail. I was able to get mine on eBay for considerably less than retail and it works fine.)

 

Yes I have Posted that method of disableing the Macrovision on the ADVC-100 on this Forum before..The only thing with your Method That I would change would be to use the Correct Bitrate when encodeing to Mpeg so that the File is the Correct size to fit on a DVD-R because Re-Compressing it again with DVD-Shrink will Just degrade the Final Quality so you would get better results if you used the Correct Bitrate to Start with....Cheers

 

Thanks for the bitrate info. I will keep that in mind and use it.

 

Thanks Minion & kgmrsm I'll look into both methods. Equally important to me as converting my VHS tapes to DVD is good quality video when I am done. Another query: what baffles me is that I am able to back up some of my old purchased VHS tapes to DVD with no copy protection/macrovision problems and not able to back up other VHS tapes even if both were of the same era and in some cases the same company.