Video Encoding Help

[VampireZombie]

I have all my Disney Videos on VHS-C and the old ones on VHS, I want to encode them to my computer, and burn them to DVDS in the highest quality possible (Im thinking Mpeg4, Divx quality) Any Help on what I should buy or do? I have a DVD Burner (with MyDVD Software) and A stand-alone DVD Recorder.

 

[barnum42]

Do you have an analogue caputure card and editing software on your PC? I have a pinnacle DC10 and studio 9 software. It's very user friendly, but be warned it's buggy as hell, however if you luck out it may be the sort of thing you are after.

 

[marni1971]

To get started try using Microsoft Movie Maker - included in Windows XP. First though, get the free upgrade to version 2. Then as Barnum said, you can use an analogue capture card (built in or purchased sepatately, internal or external) to get the video into your copmputer. At least use S-Video to get the picture into your PC - composite (normally a yellow phono plug) is the worst quality. If you have the capability on your equipment use Firewire - even though the original quality isn`t upto DV, you won`t loose any quality, however its unlikely you can do this with your VHS source (unless you were to cap it to DV using a camcorder or `clamshell` with DV in.

Once you have it in your PC (Movie maker will capture DV, S video or composite) it is saved as a WMV, unless you use Studio9 and save it as an MPEG. I agree with Barnum - Studio9 is so bugged up I gave up on it. Shame. If you do cap it as a WMV, you need then to author it as an MPEG-2 for DVD burning. Unless your PC has an authoring package pre loaded (Power DVD for example) you will need to add one. One note; try not to burn more than one hour per disc to keep the quality as best as possible. Have a look at http://www.videohelp.com/ for lots of forums and neat programs. TMPgenC is a great package for transfering WMV files to MPEG for burning, thats available on this site too.

 

[pumba100]

Barnum and Marni are right, don't use Pinnacle Studio 9. It has major problems and you need a monster machine dedicated exclusively to video editing to make use of it for even the most elementary tasks. I dumped it and used MS Movie Maker as described by Marni. It has worked quite well for me. The web site Marni refers to is also something I use often, very useful.

 

[barnum42]

I've got Studio working for me now - Studio 8 was a huge pain in the as was Studio 9, but Pinnacle recently released a patch that finally allowed me to burn a DVD.

 

[DigitalDisney]

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of decisions involved in this process. I know because I'm going through the exact same process.

A) How do you want to store the videos? You could put one video per DVD and make it playable in a DVD player. Or, you could put several tapes as individual files per DVD disc. This is more efficient for storage, but it means you won't be able to watch the videos on any DVD player.
B) If you go with the file route, then what format do you use to store the data? Each one has their own strengths and weaknesses. You can pick from WMV, MPEG2, or AVI
C) If you use AVI, which codec do you use? Windows Media? XVID? DIVX? 3VIX? etc.

Since it takes a very long time to digitize a video collection, you need to make sure it's done properly.

Personally, I think that I am going to go with having multiple files per disc, stored as AVIs using the XVID codec. Of course, that is always subject to change.

 

[VampireZombie]

As you most likely know, a VHS-C is only 30 minutes a tape so I can put 2 tapes on 1 DVD. I am very familar with Windows Movie Maker, so I know what it is and how to use it, but what capture decive should I use, (DAZZLE?) and also I want the BEST quality possible (Hopefully DiVx, if I can) how would i do that?

 

[dolbyman]

At least use S-Video to get the picture into your PC

not possible if the source is vhs-c ... best he can do is composite

(DAZZLE?) and also I want the BEST quality possible (Hopefully DiVx, if I can) how would i do that?

you could use:

a tv card with video in function (BT/phillips capture chip)
a vivo grapics card (like Radeon vivo with rage theater chip)
a dedicated capture card (pinnacle or canopus)
a passthrough dv conversion (by a camcorder)

last two offer best quality .. but are kinda expensive (>400$) first ones could get rather cheap but also do nice quality .. and that for a beginning proce of <100$

 

[barnum42]

Have a search for the Pinnacle DV10 capture card, which will come bundled with Studio. It's designed purely for analogue devices. Don't bother with Dazzle - I tried it, and the best quality it could manage was still blocky, it went straight back to the shop.

Whilst I have had problems with Studio 8 and pre-patched Studio9, the capture card itself has done a good job.

 

[marni1971]

not possible if the source is vhs-c ... best he can do is composite

I`ve never used VHS-C but I thought in theory the tape could be played (in a caddy) in an SVHS player with an S Video output (regardless of a VHS or SVHS source, the S Video output gives separate luma and chroma signals - or am I wrong?)

 

[barnum42]

I`ve never used VHS-C but I thought in theory the tape could be played (in a caddy) in an SVHS player with an S Video output (regardless of a VHS or SVHS source, the S Video output gives separate luma and chroma signals - or am I wrong?)

Correct - VHS-C tape is identical to VHS. Just a smaller quantity in a smaller casette. It can be played back either from the camcorder, or as you said, in a VHS machine when placed inside and apaptor.

 

[dolbyman]

I`ve never used VHS-C but I thought in theory the tape could be played (in a caddy) in an SVHS player with an S Video output (regardless of a VHS or SVHS source, the S Video output gives separate luma and chroma signals - or am I wrong?)

hmm well yeah .. this could work.. but most of the time people use the camcorder itself or a normal vhs player (with adapter) to output the signal .. and they don't give out svideo...

depending on the age of the camcorder .. it could be usefull to take the y/c output .. but (just in case) it's an old vhs-c camcorder (like my old toshiba from 1986) I don't think svideo would be much of a quality enhancement to normal composite output

 

[VampireZombie]

What if I transfer the VHS-C videos to DVD using my DVD recorder than transfer them to my computer using a dvd drive and encode them from there, would that work and if so how would the quality be?

 

[dolbyman]

that sure could work

don't think the quality would be mch worse that any other way .. but why don#t you try it ? :animwink:

 

[marni1971]

try it with just one DVD first - I`m having great trouble in finding a reliable program that can rip a VOB file from a DVD. Either they crash, won`t cap all I want, or make an AVI heading on 20gb in size....

Either way I doubt you could improve the quality - the weak link in the chain is still the composite output from the VHS-C; it won`t make a difference if you send it to disc or your hard drive. Its all part of the fun!

 

[RU42]

Marni is making a good point. You final video will only be as good as the original source. Transferring -C to DVD to Computer will gain you nothing over going straight from -C to Computer.

I recommend Windows Movie File (WMV) over DivX. Believe me, I have made plenty of both. I find no real loss when coming from a source like -C, VHS, or 8mm. If the source was digital I could argue it either was, but for your purposes WMV works best.

Not only will you not lose clarity you video will have greater playability. Most everyone has the Windows player - far more then people that have the DivX codecs. And working with the free Windows programs is a lot easier then Divx.

Maybe I am missing a post something in these posts - do you have a capture card already?

RU