VHS importing
by chuck manly
on
Mar 21, 2008 at 3:45:40 am
What are the differences, if any, when importing VHS the following ways?
1) VHS to DVD standalone recorder > burned DVD > Vegas 8 using the import DVD Camcorder Disc.
I believe some of these VHS to DVD recorders have built-in TBC.
Are there any VHS to DVD recorders that have firewire out so I can capture without burning a DVD?
What is the quality of the mpeg2 information on the burned DVD.
At least this way I can copy alot of VHS tapes without the computer.
2) VHS player composite or s-video > converter > firewire > vegas capture.
Will the quality be better or worse going this route?
What kind of file will it be imported as in Vegas?
My 2 VHS machines are 6 and 8 years old btw.
I know if I have a Canopus ADVC110 it has a TBC and I can hook up a NTSC monitor for preview.
I use my Sony HDR-HC7 camera to pass preview to a TV.
It does not have analog pass thru I believe.
What other ways are there to digitize VHS?
Sorry this is so long but I want to spend my time and limited budget on quality and productivity.
Re: VHS importing by Allen Zagel on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:14:49 pm
Uh, I don't think the Canopus (Grass Valley) ADVC 110 has a TBC built in. I have the 100 and it doesn't. You'll need the AVDC-300 or above to get a built in TBC.
Without a TBC your quality will depend on the quality of the VHS tape. I captured some 10 year old VHS tapes and the quality wasn't all that great.
Re: VHS importing by Mike Kujbida on Mar 21, 2008 at 2:45:06 pm
Allen is right about the 110 not having a TBC. It's strictly a bi-directional A to D converter.
The "right" answer for your questions depends on what you want to do with the videos.
If it's a straight conversion to DVD with no need for future editing, stick with option #1 as it's much easier.
If you plan to do any editing, you'll get better quality with option #2.
Files end up in DV-AVI format on your computer which are much easier for Vegas to deal with, especially if you want to do any noise reduction.
With option #1, files are converted (compressed) to MPEG-2 as part of the DVD creation process. While not impossible to deal with, MPEG-2 is harder for Vegas to edit, especially on an older computer.
In addition, you suffer a quality hit doing it this way.
DV-AVI is roughly 13.5 GB/hr. while a DVD (let's assume max quality of 1 hr.) is only 4.3 GB.
That works out to about a 3:1 compression. Something has to give here and it's the picture quality that will take the biggest hit.
