I had been doing some research on capturing video cassette tape footage. Mostly for transferring old family recordings. To be honest, I hesitated for a while to post a question on any forum. I caved, though, when I saw a post from [lordsmurf] on one of the forums I was looking at.
Which is why I'm here. So far, there are four videos that I have looked at which seemed to be a bit trustworthy. I am having second thoughts about them, though.
My current "good" VCR is a Sony SLV-775HF (without its original remote). I have AV to HDMI converters, as well as two capture devices. One is a knock-off EasyCAP, the other a cheap HDMI capture card. Also currently have both VirtualDub2 and OBS installed.
Some tapes have white spots on the edges. I assumed that they were moldy, but one comment somewhere said that it could potentially be lubricant. I don't know if those tapes can still be saved.
Some sources say to not clean the tape before capture, some do. Some say to use specific concentrations of isopropanol, others say to not use any at all, or to use a different thing. For cleaning, some use expensive chamois sticks, others use microfibre cloths or foam pieces. Some use the VCR's rewind function, others use a VHS rewinder, still others do it by hand...
The list goes on and on.
All that I want are a good set of tips for capturing VHS tape footage at a decent quality. Something that is of a good enough quality.
I'm just hoping that doing this isn't as confusing as I've seen thus far.
To be honest, I hesitated for a while to post a question on any forum. I caved, though, when I saw a post from [lordsmurf] on one of the forums I was looking at.
Which is why I'm here.
Welcome.
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Originally Posted by learningToRestore
I am having second thoughts about them, though.
Each of those Youtube videos is terrible advice.
- The 'little weird" guy is an idiot. He doesn't know much about video (his video-related videos are littered with myths and nonsense), and his method is bunk. As I wrote elsewhere, he's literally the "fake news" of video conversion. He knows less than you do.
- The "60p" guy is fumbling around, mixing terms, wrong settings, and using cheap Easycaps, quality sucks.
The main flaw of the mold videos is in NOT telling you do do the work outside, in a garage, etc -- and NOT in your house. Mold can be toxic, and you can have unforeseen severe allergic reactions to molds. To handle mold, you need PPE: masks, gloves. And well vented area NOT IN YOUR HOME. ("The Oldskool PC" does at least have that warning in the video text.)
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My current "good" VCR is a Sony SLV-775HF (without its original remote).
Not great. Many better, many worse.
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I have AV to HDMI converters, as well as two capture devices. One is a knock-off EasyCAP, the other a cheap HDMI capture card. Also currently have both VirtualDub2 and OBS installed.
You're going down the wrong path here. Wrong tools.
- not good capture card
- never use HD anything for SD video (VHS,etc)
- not VirtualDub2, but VirtualDub
- never OBS, it's not an analog capture software, but streaming screen record software
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Some tapes have white spots on the edges. I assumed that they were moldy,
Maybe. Attach photos.
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but one comment somewhere said that it could potentially be lubricant.
Where was that? Unlikely.
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I don't know if those tapes can still be saved.
Saved? Sure, probably.
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Some sources say to not clean the tape before capture, some do.
Depends on what needs to be "cleaned", and why.
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Some say to use specific concentrations of isopropanol,
90%+ is the usual go-to. Just realize IPA is a solvent, and factors can make it not desired.
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others say to not use any at all, or to use a different thing.
Advice like this is usually parroted by morons, so tread carefully, vet sources carefully. "use nothing at all" is clueless, while "other stuff" really depends.
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For cleaning, some use expensive chamois sticks, others use microfibre cloths or foam pieces. Some use the VCR's rewind function, others use a VHS rewinder, still others do it by hand...
REW/rewinders are out, too fast.
Others work well, just tedious. But video is tedious already, so deal with it.
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All that I want are a good set of tips for capturing VHS tape footage at a decent quality.
So .... huh? Most of this post focused on mold removal. That's really separate from quality capture.
There a recipe for capture: VCR > TBC > capture card
Follow it.
Good VCR, some form of TBC is required (not optional), good capture card.
Realize your idea of "good" may be way off.
Ideally, line+frame TBC. You can attempt shortcuts, but each level down (added shortcut) will harm both quality and ability to capture whatsoever. No TBC = no chance at getting quality capture, or any capture.
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I'm just hoping that doing this isn't as confusing as I've seen thus far.
It's really not.
The main hurdle is funding. Some stubborn people don't want to buy the tools needed, so they attempt cockamamie methods that still don't work well, or at all. If you have an adequate budget to buy what's needed, this can be quite easy.
Sorry about how most of my post seemed to be about cleaning the tape; that was the part that threw me for a loop the most.
I'm guessing that, with capture devices, something like an Elgato or higher is better than a cheap EasyCAP knock-off?
Also, for clarification (because my perception of VHS quality may be hilariously off-base), when I'm talking about a "good quality" VHS capture, I was willing to accept some fuzziness, noise, or a flicker here or there. Because you have more experience than me, my "good enough" may actually be shockingly horrendous.
I'm just very scared of doing something very wrong, I suppose.
Some tapes have white spots on the edges. I assumed that they were moldy, but one comment somewhere said that it could potentially be lubricant. I don't know if those tapes can still be saved.
Some sources say to not clean the tape before capture, some do. Some say to use specific concentrations of isopropanol, others say to not use any at all, or to use a different thing. For cleaning, some use expensive chamois sticks, others use microfibre cloths or foam pieces. Some use the VCR's rewind function, others use a VHS rewinder, still others do it by hand...
The list goes on and on.
Yes the YT videos on VHS tape cleaning I've seen are pretty dreadful. Cleaning tapes without doing damage can be very tricky. I'm struggling myself to develop a system for removing mould. It's a particularly difficult problem. But it depends on how extensive is the mould. Could you upload a photo or two of the extent of the mould as seen through the windows in the VHS cassette?
I'm guessing that, with capture devices, something like an Elgato or higher is better than a cheap EasyCAP knock-off?
Easycap earned the nickname Easycrap.
Elgato earned the nickname Elcrapo.
Both are bottom-barrel lousy capture cards.
And the "grabbers" are right there with too, total garbage cheap Chinese USB cards.
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Also, for clarification (because my perception of VHS quality may be hilariously off-base), when I'm talking about a "good quality" VHS capture, I was willing to accept some fuzziness, noise, or a flicker here or there. Because you have more experience than me, my "good enough" may actually be shockingly horrendous.
VHS inherently isn't sharp by modern standards -- but equally not fuzzy.
"Noise" is a broad term. Some noises are inherent to the format, and some tapes have damage that reates noise. But other noises are the fault of cheap VCRs and capture cards, and should not happen.
For example, bad VCRs have not just tracking issues, but image wiggles, dropouts, bad contrast, bad oversharpening, etc. That all looks bad in a tiny preview window, and unacceptable on a large modern HDTVs where you may wish to enjoy these.
Bad capture cards further damage, with unacceptable flicker and motion noise, ruined colors and over/underexposure of the image that was fine on the tape.
I hate the term "good enough" because it's generally used as an excuse to dismiss awful quality.
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I'm just very scared of doing something very wrong, I suppose.
We'll get set on the right path here, you're at the right site to learn.
Sorry about not posting for a while. Life got in the way, and I wasn't able to take pictures of the moldy tapes. I just got the chance to, though! They are attached to this post. These are personal recordings with names on them, so I blacked those out.
Also attached is a video capture sample out of my current set-up. The one with the HDMI upscaler and OBS.
I am aware that this is not a good capture system. I am also aware that this is not a good capture.
I guess I'm just curious as to how bad it truly is, being a bit of a newbie and all. This set-up might be good for those "v h s _ a e s t h e t i c"-type art videos, but not for something of good quality.
If I made a mistake in posting, I will be willing to delete this. I am sort of "necro-ing" this thread...
Sorry about that...
- Video is resized wrong, has aspect problems and aliasing issues (badly deinterlaced).
- The colors are screwed with. Values are over/underexposed.
- Any lack-of-TBC flaws are baked in.
- The entire video has all sorts of issues: contrast, bright, color issues, alias jaggies, etc. The video is raped, butchered.
It's not some nuance like "good" vs. "excellent". No, this is like dog food vs. hamburger or steak. So which would you prefer to eat? (For the vegans out there, sewer algae vs. leafy lettuce.) Yes, the method is nice and cheap. So is a can of Alpo ($1), or sewer sludge ($FREE).
I don't know how to make this any clearer to folks.
OBS is streaming recording software. Using it for analog capture is like whacking a screw with a hammer, or banging a nail with a screwdriver. Wrong tool for the task.
The thread isn't that old. You're not necroposting.
No, this is like dog food vs. hamburger or steak. So which would you prefer to eat?
I'm pretty sure the dog would want dog food, But this is like poop vs food, Who would want to eat poop. And why in the hell one wants to digitize a VHS copy of that movie that exists in the glory of Blu-ray quality.
Funnily enough, that tape I used for that "video sample" came with a different VCR, a $4 thrift store Hitachi (which is probably okay to make it FUBAR for cleaning purposes). I only really use it to test stuff out; never really intended to transfer it in high quality . I didn't want to use a tape that I actually cared about, so... (Besides, I can get a beautiful high-quality version of Fellowship of the Ring through other means.)
Basically what I currently have is a glorified "analog-looking" video filter/crapifier (I have it hooked up to my PC as a sort-of "second monitor", so...). Okay for making silly video projects/livestream gags, terrible for actually getting quality captures.
So... I'm guessing that the tapes with what looked like mould can still be cleaned carefully? I could probably look into a hand-operated contraption that I can make to spin the reels slowly. Helping me with cleaning the tape meticulously. Outside, of course.
Also, I had an idea for that cheap Hitachi VCR. Admittedly this is a bit of me, but...
Is it possible to make a system that introduces air into the VCR? Something like a couple of computer fans that sucks up mold and other crud from the inside and blows them out?
I'm certain that there is a lot of problems with this idea; I'm just making sure that I don't waste $30 on computer fans and solder .
Mold cannot be sucked out by fans, it needs to be physically removed from the tape, Just get a crappy VCR and open the top cover, put a tape in, use surgical gussets wet with alcohol wrapped around two pencils, Touch the two sides of the tape with the gusset wraps and fast forward and rewind, boom you're done. It's good to cleanup the cassette shell before you do this.
What you should be worried about is the capture part.
What you should REALLY be worried about it the mold spores. You never want to deal with mold indoors, nor without PPE (face mask, gloves).
I once had an anaphylactic shock to mold I'd never been exposed to, from a state I've rarely been to. Mold spores were spewed from the fans of a device when first plugged in, bought from eBay used ("working" and "tested", which was BS, hadn't be plugged in for ages). I had to be rushed to the nearest emergency facility with extreme breathing issues. So that kind of situation happens. Learn from my experience, don't do something stupid.
Mold must be cleaned, and controlled. In recent years, members here were looking at certain UV lights to kill the spores (if alive), then ways to carefully clean and remove. NEVER BLOW IT AROUND WITH A FAN!
The cassette should probably be outright tossed in some situations, donor clamshell for cleaned tape in reels. Sometimes the reels even have to be replaced, tape spooled onto new good reels during the cleaning process.
Lots of people on Youtube do dumb stuff with mold. They're morons. So beware. You're risking your health here.
I had been doing some research on capturing video cassette tape footage. Mostly for transferring old family recordings. To be honest, I hesitated for a while to post a question on any forum. I caved, though, when I saw a post from [lordsmurf] on one of the forums I was looking at.
Which is why I'm here. So far, there are four videos that I have looked at which seemed to be a bit trustworthy. I am having second thoughts about them, though.
My current "good" VCR is a Sony SLV-775HF (without its original remote). I have AV to HDMI converters, as well as two capture devices. One is a knock-off EasyCAP, the other a cheap HDMI capture card. Also currently have both VirtualDub2 and OBS installed.
Some tapes have white spots on the edges. I assumed that they were moldy, but one comment somewhere said that it could potentially be lubricant. I don't know if those tapes can still be saved.
Some sources say to not clean the tape before capture, some do. Some say to use specific concentrations of isopropanol, others say to not use any at all, or to use a different thing. For cleaning, some use expensive chamois sticks, others use microfibre cloths or foam pieces. Some use the VCR's rewind function, others use a VHS rewinder, still others do it by hand...
The list goes on and on.
All that I want are a good set of tips for capturing VHS tape footage at a decent quality. Something that is of a good enough quality.
I'm just hoping that doing this isn't as confusing as I've seen thus far.
What a sh*tty method about that this little weird guy
From the face you can recognize that he is dumb and dont know anything about conversion
The card that he is using as already lordsmurf mentioned is the classic chinese easycrap video usb card
These tutorial should be banned from existence
of me, but...
.
