Hardware Workflow Update

[Kenneth M]

Heya fellas!

I have a huge collection of ex-rentals from around the world that I will eventually transfer from VHS to Archive (flash drives and dvd) and plan on doing a bit of restoration between the two. I have been diligently working off of your Hardware Workflow on your mainpage and before I go on much further, I would very much like for you to update the list for restoring ex rentals in mind.

Let me go ahead an list what I have got, so we can go from there, please.

VCRs

JVC HR-S6970 (PAL/NTSC)
Blaupunkt RTV-950EGC (PAL & same as Panny 1980)
Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U (NTSC)
JVC HR-S9700 (PAL)
JVC SR-W5U (NTSC)

Sony SL-800ME (PAL/NTSC Beta)

Other Hardware

Panasonic DMR-ES10
Elite Video BVP-4 PLUS
DataVideo TBC-4000


Besides the SignVideo DR-1000, I believe I have the Playback side of things covered, unless you feel otherwise. Please let me know on this.

Before I went any further on this list, I would very much appreciate if you could tell me how you would modify this list now that it is '09.

As I'm sure you can tell by my playback purchases, I want to get about the best out there so I can squeeze the most out of these transfers as possible. In short, I'd rather not half-ass anything on this project.

Here's what you have on your purchase list:

Quote:

For playback:
- JVC HR-S9000 series S-VHS VCR (9911 is current model) with DNR/TBC $350
- Sharp VHS VCR $50 (for tapes the JVC rejects)
- DataVideo TBC-1000 $300
- SignVideo DR-1000 Image Enhancer $300
- Elite Video BVP-4 Plus Proc Amp $590
- Panasonic ES10 DVD recorder, for sync filter passthrough only $200
- Monster cables (composite/s-video), RG6 coax, all related filters/amps $200
- PAL/SECAM/NTSC multisystem VCR $500

For digital recording:
- Pentium 4 PC with Intel/Asus motherboard and 1GB RAM $600
- At least two hard drives, second one 200GB 7200rpm $200
- Good soundcard (Turtle Beach, SoundBlaster) $50
- Pioneer or LiteOn DVD burner, any speed/model is fine $75
- ATI All In Wonder card for video restoration $100
- Matrox RTX100 or Canopus DVstorm for realtime video editing $1000
- JVC DR-M10 DVD recorder for transferring high quality source $300
- 13" television for preview $100

For video software:
- ATI MultiMedia Center comes free with the ATI card
- Adobe Premiere is included with the NLE card
- TMPGEnc DVD Author (TDA) for stubborn or quickie authoring $50
- TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters $50
- Procoder (not Express) for high quality MPEG encoding/NLE export $600
- Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring $300
- SoundForge for audio editing $400
- Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing $70

For final output:
- Konica-Minolta 2300W color laser printer (for DVD cases) $400
- Epson R200 disc printer (for printing on discs) $100
- Ink/toner one-cycle replacements $450
- Starter 100-pack of 4x inkjet MXL media $100
- Starter 100-pack of double or single disc cases $30

[admin]

Good post.

That's a great set of hardware there, especially the JVC HR-S9700 (PAL) and JVC SR-W5U (NTSC) for the VCRs. I imagine those will be your main two decks, the others only as needed. The DR-1000 detailer would definitely increase edge sharpness on a good SP mode tape, close to that of DVD (by psychovisual standards).

You do have the playback side covered quite well.

For recording in 2009, the 2006 suggestions do still apply, but there might be another couple of options.

Did you want to go the computer route, or the DVD recorder route?

• Both have great options, both will look excellent -- I use both methods myself, and you'd be hard pressed to guess which is which. Mine is mostly for a workflow. Tapes that look pretty much perfect after playback hardware get run into recorders, tapes that will still need more work after playback filtering get put through capture cards.

What kind of computer do you have, or were you planning to get?

1. Most importantly, do you have an AGP or PCIe graphics slit in it?
2. Have you considered using two computer? One for capturing, with older motherboard (supports AGP slots, not PCIe), and one new dual-core or quad-core for advanced filtering and editing.
3. Better yet, leave video computers "offline", use another computer for web surfing, e-mail, etc -- don't complicated a good hobby or business machines with web-based junk. No anti-virus, no firewall, none of that stuff. Would that be an option? I use a KVM, so I have four machines per desk, but only one monitor, one keybaord, one mouse, one set of speakers.

What kind of work do you want to do? (Software)

• This will largely determine the software you need. I can provide direct links to currently suggested software, perfect for your tasks.
• Any editing, any advanced restoration projected (if so, audio and video, just audio, just video -- what errors do you see/hear on some sample tapes)?

Storage? Would you be putting any of these in DVD cases, is artwork needed, any initial storage ideas for archiving the discs?

We'll hash this out, and get you started in a good direction.

[Kenneth M]

Great to wake up and see this reply! Thank you.

Yes, the 9700 and W5U will be the main decks used. I can imagine that most of my NTSC tapes that are of good quality (i.e. Japanese ex-rentals) would most likely just go from deck to burner. However, I own quite a few NTSC tapes that use original workprints/theatrical prints that are beat up, faded, scratched etc, and the tapes themselves are pretty worn out. I can imagine that I would probably use the proc amp, image enhancer and/or software to try to help these. With the PAL tapes, I will probably need everything I can throw at them. (The tapes from Greece, especially.) These will be the most labor intensive.

Quote:

Did you want to go the computer route, or the DVD recorder route?

Whichever (or both) you think is best. I do know that the computer is an absolute must for the majority of my collection. From restoring the horrid audio with pops, hisses, low audio etc, alone in most of these films, I will need to run it through a computer. Really, the only films that will go through hardware straight to burner will be the Japanese tapes. I only own about 70 of these and the rest (about 800) will need to go through a capture card.

Quote:

What kind of computer do you have, or were you planning to get?

At least two. Both to remain offline. I have a laptop to be my virus fly-trap. I'd have them online long enough to download the software that I couldn't buy disc versions of (i.e. neatvideo, dvdshrink, etc) and then never connect to the internet again with them. But I've been waiting to make any computer purchases until I consult y'all.

Quote:

What kind of work do you want to do?

I want to:

1) Restore the audio.
2) Dub foreign language prints with English versions. (Rip a English language from an ugly print and put it on a beautiful foreign language print)
3) Subtitle.
4) On the video stuff I want to tinker, play around and have fun.

You ask what kind of errors I see. Have you ever watched a Greek VHS of a movie before? Hahahahaha... Oh man, it needs so much work it looks overwhelming.

On "Come cani arrabbiati", for example, the projectionist that's doing the transfer constantly has to keep the film in the center. You'll be watching it and all of a sudden it's way to the right. Then you can tell someone is moving it back to the center. I would want to keep it in the center at all times.

Also, it is squeezed in on the sides to make it fullscreen. i.e.



I would want to expand it, making it look like:



Here is another grab for you to see the imperfections:




I did not grab any of these myself, but they are exactly what i know I am going to face. Come cani arribbiati, especially, since I own it.

The last grab I am going to post is just of one that I saw the other day. It is a perfect example of the signal I am going to have face with the majority of the tapes I own. This, is an SP ex-rental from the 80's:



I really hope this helps you understand what I need to tackle. (I know a picture is worth a 1,000 words, right?)

Quote:

Storage?

Flash drives & dvd. I know LordSmurf is not going to like seeing this, but I'm highly considering BD just so I don't have to lose any data for playback.

I own a HP 4-in-one (printer, photo, fax and scanner) that will do a good job for the inserts.

If you can think of anything better than flash drives for long-term storage I'd like to hear it.


Thank you, kindly.

[admin]

Just for clarification, are you in North America or Europe? (If Europe, UK or elsewhere?)

It will help with the answers I give.

[Kenneth M]

Bloody hell. North America, mate!

[admin]

It's going to take several days to respond to this one -- and I might make several posts in the restoration forum to address some of the above errors one by one. That will help, too.

Back with an answer soon.

[Kenneth M]

Cool beans, mah man. Take your time.

[Kenneth M]

[admin]

The John Wayne image has an unstable timebase. You need to use a S-VHS VCR with a built-in timebase corrector. I'd suggest the Panasonic AG-1970P or 1980P, or the JVC SR-series S-VHS decks. Any of your current VCRs should work fine, just play around, test the tapes in each deck to see how it cooperates.

Quote:

On "Come cani arrabbiati", for example, the projectionist that's doing the transfer constantly has to keep the film in the center. You'll be watching it and all of a sudden it's way to the right. Then you can tell someone is moving it back to the center. I would want to keep it in the center at all times.

This is probably a lost cause. Feel free to play around with the VirtualDub filter Deshaker. It's complex, and results vary wildly from worthless to helpful. You'll just need to read the documentation that came with it, and get your hands dirty testing all the various settings. There's really nothing I can teach here, it's impossibly complex and highly dependent on your source video.

When this post was first written, some number of weeks ago, it appears that I had something in mind -- but I don't really recall what that is anymore.

How much do you already know? Tell me your plans on how to attack this project, both hardware and software. That way I can build on that, instead of spending time typing out something you may already know or have grasp of.

So far, Goldwave (current version) and SoundForge (any version from 6-9) are probably on your "must buy" list. Other software (like authorware) really depends on your experience, skill level, etc (and going back to the example, in the case of authoring, how complex you want DVD menus to be).