Transferring miniDV copy of VHS Tape to PC
 

Hi,

Long time reader here, but never posted.

This may seem like a silly question, and I think I know the answer, but just want to make sure (or find out if I am wrong), so apologies.

I have a video that was recorded on a VHS-C camcorder, which was then recorded to miniDV tape. I no longer have access to the original VHS-C tape, so any transfer I do will have to be from the miniDV tape.

Is the best way to do this:

a) just a straightforward miniDV transfer to PC via firewire into WinDV?

or

b) as the original tape was VHS-C, do an analogue transfer from the miniDV tape using a TBC to fix picture issues from the VHS recording?

I'm assuming that it will be pointless doing the analogue/TBC type transfer, and that any of the picture issues in the image are essentially part of it now, so a TBC won't fix them? But, just looking for clarification.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks
Sean

Any issues were baked into the MiniDV copy. Not likely a TBC would do anything here. It can work on analog>analog, but VHS-C to DV is analog>digital.

Yeah, that's what I assumed. Thanks for the confirmation!

About the only time way an analog capture of the miniDV recording would be indicated is if the tape has tape read errors that your digital transfer cannot deal with but the players analog system's build-in error correction is able to render a smooth playback.

The sort of good news is that miniDV has ample bandwidth to retain both the B&W and color resolution of the original tape. The primary issues are if the video is noisy the DV compression quality suffers, Once the DV transfer is completed a lossless intermediate codec should be used for any restoration you plan.