Welcome. :)

That's a lot of tapes to do, so you want to do the correctly the first time. Plan carefully, don't just buy the first item you see.

That recorder was lousy, and just amplified whatever MPEG compression issues existed. Certain DVD recorders are known for quality, coming from analog tapes (specific LSI decks, mostly JVC).

#1 problem = no TBCs in your workflow. So quality issues, and capturing issues.

The camera is fine for playback of V8/Hi8/D8, but not for passthrough if you want better quality as stated.

Correct.

In NTSC, there is drastic 50% obvious color loss, especially viewed on modern 50" HDTV sets.
In PAL, it's just slightly fuzzy. Color is like DVD, but clarity is slightly less, due to how the 4:2:0 is cosited.

Both PAL and NTSC have macroblocks.

Some sort of external TBC is required, not optional. Whether you go down the TBC(ish) route with ES10/15, or otherwise. Just realize that the more tapes you have, and more varied the origins, the more likely you'll run into issues lacking full/actual TBC. The D8 camcorder should have line TBC for the V8/Hi8 tapes, but that still does nothing from dropped frames.

I have several in the marketplace, for $150 USD or less. Then you can put that extra $500 or so towards TBC. There are some great TBC(ish) combo of ES10/15+DVK that can be built in that $450 range (sometimes less, depends on supply). Then you'll have everything needed.

Also remember to buy it, use it, resell it. These are not forever purchases, but project purchases. You don't stick it in a drawer or closet when done. Recoup funds, these items hold value. So perhaps knowing that, budget can be increased?

False and false.

Component is not at all suggested, nor are the devicdes from Blackmagic, Magewell, or Canopus / Grass Valley. In fact, those are literally the worst suggestions, with only Easycap/EZcap (Easycrap) cards being worse.

Rarely.
It's an exception to the rule, but everybody thinks they'll be the exception. You'll have better odds gambling in Vegas/wherever.

This is because Blackmagic cards were designed for NON-HOMEMADE sources, such as BetacamSP in studios. Not VHS, or whatever you shot in camcorders.

Not just bad, but the DVD version WILL look worse than the original tape. The goal of quality hardware is to not "make it better" as much as "not lose" anything. Consumer VCRs lost quality, compared to what existed on the tape. The ES10/15 can compensate some for this, but it's why better S-VHS VCRs are generally recommended. (Since this OP has only 15 tapes, I'd suggested the ES10/15 + current VCR, though I do so reluctantly.)

I'm neutral on MX02 right now, still testing. It is needlessly expensive compared to some of the other options, especially if watching the budget.

Otherwise the plan sounds fine so far.

Don't buy capture software. Use VirtualDub.

ATI AIW doesn't have hanover bars. It can happen to any card, electrical interference noise.
MX02 doesn't have TBC.

Never capture directly to H.264 if quality matters (or even if it doesn't). H.264 is a highly compressed format, and needs pre-processing to look decent. It also handles SD interlace poorly, which is what all tapes are.

Huffyuv best.
Lagarith has too much overhead, causes dropped frames. (It captures in single thread/core, so overall computer CPU power doesn't matter.)

No. That's not accurate. It's not a simple matter of making smaller files. Each has drastically different needs to encode, and different pitfalls to watch for. For example, MPEG has blocks, H.264 just smears it.

Don't capture uncompressed. Capture lossless.

Yep. And for most things. I rarely do anything outside of ProRes422, when using Mac.

Until the next update. Good luck. :unsure:

about the MXO2 tbc here you can read that it has some kind of tbc or maybe matrox support forum admin is wrong

http://forum.matrox.com/mxo/viewtopi...1acfa32e97972b

and about the hanover bars i have seen that many times on my Ati all in wonder cards i think it´s called hanover bars and if i pump up the saturation then it´s visible on all captures but this error is only on Pal Signals of course
maybe i do something wrong with ati all in wonder cards or do not understand
all my ati all in wonder cards are Pal or i mean they have Pal tv tuner except the usb´s i have does are Ntsc but that does not matter of course

but on mxo2 and aja io hd captures i can not see hanover bars even if i pump the saturation to max

You must remember that "TBC" is a wide term, often used loosely, and can mean anything. Remember, the ADVC-300 had a TBC that did absolutely nothing (99%+ worthless TBC, pathetic).

As I often joke, sometimes I wonder if my toaster has a TBC. :laugh:

Yes, hanover bars happen, on any card.

With ATI, it's often a matter of components in the computer, shielding (or lack thereof) on the specific card model, and just external power related noises seeping into the electrical. USA/NTSC may not have hanover bars, but there are others nuisances to deal with. It can even vary from exact card to card, same model/brand/etc. It's never fun to trroubleshoot. But power is almost always the issue. Sometimes it can be as simple as replacing the computer power cord. Interference issues can be pervasive.

I'm glad you found a capture solution that is working.

I tested the MX02 about 10 years ago, but am in the midst of re-testing it again. At the time, I did like the card, but need to put it through my current more-stringent testing procedures. Hence having a neutral opinion on it, at the moment.

ok now i know :)

you should explain this one ? uncompressed isn't lossless ? LordSmurf ?

That's BS ! Just have a good PC/Mac ! component works all the time for me ! no visible degradation.

Uncompressed are huge files with high data rates. There are lossless video compression systems. Consider file compression for example; ZIP files are compressed, and they are lossless, work well for ascii-based documents and spreadsheets, and generally much smaller than the uncompressed files.

What counts is that you are satisfied with the results you get with your system.

The recommendations from this heavy hitters here are based on their experience with what is legacy at best; i.e., a wide variety of source material recorded on consumer gear (e.g., VHS, video8. etc.) , available equipment (much of which is 20+ years beyond manufacturer's support), and materials aging often under less than ideal conditions. It also reflacts their experience in restoring old analog video to look the way it should have when new.

The gear they recommend is that which they have found works well for them across the wide spectrum of analog media out there, especially the consumer/home use formats. The gear they downgrade may be for a variety of reasons such as:
- using DV (or other) compression which is lossy and does not perform well with noisy video,
- suitability of the output file for extensive image correction processing
- difficulty with video signals that are not precisely within spec with respect to timing, waveform, and amplitudes
- internal over- or poorly-processing the video signal read from tape
- added internal distortion and/or noise
- sloppy/jittery output
- use of unnecessary signal conversion steps that can add distortion, phase shifts, and noise
- limited ability to"future proof" the capture for possible revisiting in the future.

As to use of high end professonal broadcast gear for home formats; most of that gear is designed to work optimally with a high end professional signal. Results with home grown VHS can be problematic. Its kind of like Formula one race cars run best on that level fuel, and would not like being fed the low octane swill from the local cut rate generic gas station. It is a matter of matching the tool to the job.

It becomes a question of how good is good enough. The bottom line is; "you pays your money and takes your choices."

BTW I received the Digital8 Camera and played some tapes connected with composite to my Samsung 43" 4K (haven't received the MXO2 and ES15 yet). Seems it's working properly and it doesn't have big tracking issues (horizontal lines) even if most of the tapes have been recorded in LP, but especially on high contrast scenes (IE people with dark ski suit on the snow) and/or when people are moving quickly I see some small lines around the objects.
Unfortunately it's quite difficult to record it with a phone in front of the TV but up to me looks to be some de-interlacing + upscaling issue of the TV (probably not optimized for video composite in) and maybe caused by LP sources, what do you think?

@Gabri: You are correct Gabri, I have a fairly new Sony Bravia (LCD) tv, but it does a lousy job displaying a component video signal, on my retina screen i see much better detail even when enlarged... the Sony displays weird artefacts, the tapes recorded in LP mode, will probably not transfer that good into a file... some artefacts from your Video8 tapes can also come the low quality sensor chip of that camera, noise you have always in the dark black areas, slightly darker contrast then normal will help to disguise that.


@dpalomaki: Thankyou dpalomaki, yes, you're right, that's the reason, so most of the time it's a balance between options to consider, and also try other things, and these don't have to be exact the same things that are happening in the lordsmurf universum :)

btw .. the good recommended TBC's are also of broadcast quality/background, consumer TBC's are not recommended, only a "green version" with different firmware seems to be of quality in the consumer range of TBC devices.
Transfering DV through Firewire is just not easy on a Mac while this no problem on a windows PC... :(