Possible to capture DigiBeta or Beta SP PAL with USB h.264 video recorder?

Hi there,

I have some PAL VHS, BetaSP and DigiBeta footage to transfer while in Europe. I'll only have my Macbook Pro while there and so I'm thinking of renting the necessary decks and outputting through the s-video port to the Blackmagic h.264 video recorder (the basic USB version, not the Pro version).

Based on the specs, it seems pretty certain that this setup will work for the VHS footage, but will it also work for the BetaSP and DigiBeta tapes?

Thanks very much,
Raoul.

Hi Raoul,

BetaSP and DigiBeta shouldn't be an issue with the Video Recorder. If you do decide to use the s-video output, make sure you also grab a Y-C splitter to separate the luminance and chrominance onto two RCA cables. You can find them on Amazon, B&H, and other places fairly cheaply. Also, since you are going to be capturing from VHS tapes, be aware that due to the ability of tape to stretch over time, you may run into issues where the tape has stretched in places and falls in and out of spec. When renting a deck while in Europe, you might consider something with a time base corrector built in or even a separate TBC to keep the tape in spec.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Sarah
Support Representative
Blackmagic Design Inc.

Hi Raoul,

An out of spec signal will typically manifest as black through the hardware. More often that not, you'll see the video flicker between picture and black at a high frequency. The tracking issues you would see on the VCR would not show the same through the Video Recorder (i.e. static and scrolling lines). In their place you'll see the flickering I've described.

Regards,

Sarah
Support Representative
Blackmagic Design Inc.