Best hardware/setup for capturing VHS to MPEG?
First, thanks for the great site and all the free information.
I've "upgraded" to premium, you guys certainly deserve it. Some background info, I run a computer services company in Cascais, Portugal, and have in the past worked with video with less than satisfying results, but I'm not a complete novice. We work mostly with photography and film. But I do have a large collection of VHS, VHS-C and betamax tapes that I would like to convert to digital, and I'd also like to resume providing this as a paid service assuming I can do it with quality. 99.9% would be PAL system. I do already own some equipment (all PAL): Panasonic NV-HS1000 SVHS (owned from new, but longtime in storage, probably very clogged with dust) JVC HR-DD857MS PAL/NTSC (also owned from new, also probably "dusted") based on information from this site, I bought: JVC HR S9600 S-VHS (supposedly in good condition, still waiting for it to arrive) Sony SL-HF950 super Betamax (same as above). I also own a CYP-CDM800 video system converter which supposedly has an internal TBC. As for capturing hardware, I have a Blackmagic Intensity Pro (never used ) and an Hauppauge WinTV HVR-2200 which I use regularly. I also have an hauppauge HD PVR. I currently edit with VideoRedo TV suite. I would be interested in trying to capture directly to MPEG2 with as much quality as humanly possible, as human resources to capture to uncompressed AVI and then recompress would make the cost/benefit less interesting. That would be available as a premium if I could justify the extra cost. Am I on the right track? What do I absolutely need / should get? I'm in the process of cleaning the VCRs I already own, all local repair shops are no longer working so it'll have to be a d-i-y project, but I should have the first results soon. Thanks again for any help. Luis |
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But how old is it? Hopefully you've had it for a while, and it predates (pre-2011) the bad chips now used by Cypress. Quote:
I prefer Womble MPEG Video Wizard, and some others here prefer TMPGEnc Smart Renderer. Quote:
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For high bitrate MPEG recording from VHS/Video8/Beta, you'd really be better off with an ATI All In Wonder AGP card with a Windows XP capture-only computer. You already have all the expensive toys, so we're only taking a few hundred more here. (Note that "NTSC" cards are fine with ATI; only the tuner was NTSC, not the composite/s-video input. So if you find a deal on one, it's safe to get.) A proc amp would probably be a wise investment, though I'm not overly familiar with PAL here. Pretty much every proc amp maker is defunct, so info has always been rare. The Elite Video BVP-4 is the best one, but I'm not sure if it's NTSC only. I wish I could help more here. Search the forum for this: I may have forgotten details on PAL proc amps. Quote:
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I am attaching some photos of the unit motherboard, maybe that will help in comparison though all ICs have their marking erased. Should I be looking into a new TBC? Quote:
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Thanks again, Luis |
Also, any specific reason I should get an ATI AGP all-in-wonder instead of the PCI-E version?
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Because the AGP versions are much easier to find. Don't forget that a few models need the A/V breakout dongle in the back in order to capture video.
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XP is not the issue, my main problem is that I no longer have any AGP motherboard. There are a number of pci-express ati all-in-wonder on ebay right now. For a pci-e card I have 6 computers available I can easily format one with XP. But for AGP I'd have to get an entirely new setup. And I'm guessing I'd be limited to what, a pentium 4? I don't even remember anymore.
Is there any good reason (other than availability) to get an AGP card instead of one of the PCI-e ones? Out of all the ATI AIWs which is the "best" that supports mpeg2 recording ? I'm a bit confused! Thanks again, Luis |
Any card in ebay being sold without the dongle (which is 98% of them) is useless for capture.
I would grab one of the "cheap" card only PCIe AIWs like this: www.ebay.com/itm/390922132703 and this cable kit while you can: www.ebay.com/itm/141605312342 |
The main issue is that PCI express cards have too many install issues. The card is not cooperative like the AGP cards. It's not simply a matter of changing AGP to PCIe. The card has some fundamental difference that make it less appealing. Yes, you can use it. You're welcome to try. I have a near-100% success rate for the AGP (and PCI), but it hovers around 75% for the PCIe cards.
I'll reply to your other points later. |
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Luis |
There are some great boards out there, with AGP and SATA. I need to pull the specs on mine sometime soon. Any 7000 or 9000 series card is fine. Some 9600 cards have a known interference issues (poor shielding), but it's rare. I have a 9600 Pro, and do not experience this. There other AGP cards are pretty much flawless.
You'll capture the MPEG with ATI MMC. |
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You wouldn't want to capture to MPEG if you expect to do any processing other than simple cut and join with a smart rendering editor. Tape-to-DVD is a considerable quality hit from the start. With bad or noisy tape, the MPEG would look worse than the tape. Any filtering, re-encoding or similar processing means piling a lot more damage onto an already inferior capture. Quote:
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A DVD recorder doesn't have the better Blu-ray spec video.
I guess it depends on the workflow. Will the output be DVD only? |
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For work done for third parties, I suppose I'm looking for a method to do it as close to real time as possible, ie, directly to mpeg 2, then from there to DVD (or pen, or blu-ray, or hard drive, or whatever the person chooses). Spending multiple hours on a single tape for €20 is just not doable. At least this is the way I work with other formats. I do basic photo and film scanning for €0.25 (its almost fully automated) but I also do it for €3 a pop at full resolution with color correction... So the answer is, I'll MOSTLY want to do direct-to-MPEG2 conversion, while also having the option of recording on lossless AVI for further editing... ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 PRO (128 MB) AGP - is this a good choice? -- merged -- UPDATE I've already received the JVC S-9600 VCR, which is apparently in good working order. The betamax unit is still incoming. I would like opinions on this PC configuration for a dedicated capturing unit: ATI Rage Theater All-in-Wonder 7500 64M DDR AGP TV Tuner Card (based on recomendations from another thread) Also available: ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 PRO (128 MB) (100-713100) Graphics Card (both based on availability in the UK, at a decent price, and apparently complete / working) Gigabyte GA-K8VM800MNF Motherboard, AMD Sempron 3100+ CPU 2 GB RAM (this appears to be the "best" one available on ebayUK at the moment that supports AGP, but still has SATA connectors) - will it work well? 1 x Booting + software disc, SATA, 1x Recording disc, SATA (do I need to go RAID 0 to capture SD video uncompressed?) Video equipment: ProcAMP - This one: Kramer SP-11 ProcAmp Composite Video, S-Video & Audio Processor is available for around $300. Is it a good choice? I couldn't find any more available for less than $1000 that support PAL... TBC: I was looking at this unit for price and availability as "new" from the UK. Any opinions? http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/tv_one_1t-tbc-gl Quote:
Luis |
You seem to be on the right track. :)
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