To PC or not to PC?

[sawing14s]

For years I’ve been using DVD recorders to transfer VHS tapes, since that’s the best method I know of that keeps the quality of the tape intact, interlacing and all (plus it’s easier to demux and then author a DVD). But lately I’ve found that my Toshiba DR-570 (and/or the old DVD-RW discs I’ve used and reused) tends to be less reliable in making a good transfer all the way through (“cannot record on this disc”), and I think that needs to change.

My only intention is to capture tapes (VHS, Beta, Hi8, Digital8, sometimes U-Matic) in both NTSC and PAL, in MPEG-2/ac3, keep the interlacing and resolution in tact without upscaling, preferably without depending on finalizing a disc, and store it onto external WD hard drives. (I’m already covered in the TBC department thanks to lordsmurf.)

I’ve always been a Mac person, but I’ve found that Macs aren’t very useful when it comes to capturing MPEG-2 video. The only method I’ve tried using so far is with QuickTime, an RCA-to-HDMI converter I got at Best Buy, and a DigitNow USB 3.0 capture card (which I know now might be under the “Chinese junk” category, so to speak). And the HDMI output on my Toshiba DVD recorder actually reduces the quality, believe it or not.

However, I’ve seen some good VHS-to-MPEG2 transfers from someone who uses a white Pinnacle Dazzle DVC100 with Pinnacle Studio 12 (or 20, depending on the OS). I’ve also read that Windows 7 is better for capturing, and have found quite a few cleaned W7 PCs for less than $100 (like this one on Craigslist https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/sys...620887511.html).

So my questions are:
- Does this seem like the way to go (in terms of PC type), or has anyone found a better (but just as affordable) method for doing what I’m trying to do?
- What’s the best capture method for a laptop running on Mac OS 10.13?

[themaster1]

You got a few options imo.
A : sony dvd/hdd recorders (hxd 870-1070 gen). You can record onto hdd in HQPlus (~15 Mbit/s) as opposed to ~9.5 Mbit/s on dvd (HQ). Later on with a recovery software you can import/copy those videos. It's quite a work, take some time but it works (tried it myself).

B : use a good hdmi card (pcie only for me) + sony hdmi output especially if you're on Win 7 or later. Must support 480i/576i.

Capture avi lossless, then mpeg2 encoding for best results. You may have to deal with A/V desync or offset. Takes time aswell

[dpalomaki]

Reusing -R/W discs? Does using fresh -R discs give better results? (Blank quality DVD-r are cheap, cheaper than the time to erase a R/W.)

A DVD recorder can give you a quick dump-to-disc recording, and generally will look about as good (or bad) as the source tape when viewed on a TV. However, it is not the best approach if you plan to do any image correction or restoration. And the lossy compressed format will suffer noise that is often found in home recordings. For many people this quality level is sufficient, others (including most regulars people here) want a better end product.

Many other threads here discuss recommended work flows for best results as well as the virtues (and short falls) of the available platforms, operating systems, and hardware.

The Windows PC platform gives a much broader selection of hardware and software (not all of it good).

In general is is best to capture to a lossless format at the original image format (e.g., 480i for NTSC SD), perform restoration and cleanup on that lossless format, archive the lossless format, and reserve any compression, scaling, etc. to a lossy format for the final distribution media.

[latreche34]

Whether you want the digitizing process to be done inside the computer or outside the computer the acquisition of the final video stream is always better handled by a computer with enough storage, There isn't 100% computer-less capture methods that can do quality lossless capture, Most of them are compressed and overprocessed methodes and store on a SD card.

[sawing14s]

Quote:

Originally Posted by themaster1

You got a few options imo.
A : sony dvd/hdd recorders (hxd 870-1070 gen). You can record onto hdd in HQPlus (~15 Mbit/s) as opposed to ~9.5 Mbit/s on dvd (HQ). Later on with a recovery software you can import/copy those videos. It's quite a work, take some time but it works (tried it myself).

I’ve thought of doing that with the IDE drives in Panasonic HDD/DVD recorders, but one expert I know has advised against it. I’d like to see how you did it.

Isn’t AVI less compatible with most OS these days?

[themaster1]

You should get your money back after such a mild expertise.

I did use free recovery tools like photorec or payware like CW recovery i think; but apparently ISOBUSTER is the right tool by now, since it's been tweaked to do just that, see this thread: https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vid...ings-sony.html

[Hushpower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sawing14s

I’ve thought of doing that with the IDE drives in Panasonic HDD/DVD recorders, but one expert I know has advised against it.

I've done this, once, to recover some movies off a Pioneer DVR when it's HDD started dying and I couldn't play them out through the normal ports.

Pulling the machine apart, then removing (and returning) the HDD was, quite frankly, a nightmare and full of risk of damage if you intend to use the machine again.

I would strongly recommend not doing that.

I also struggle with the concept of using high-bitrate MPEG 2 in the light of the vociferous opposition to any method other than lossless AVI capture.

If you choose to go the PC route, as Latreche says, capturing lossless is the way to go (unless you have Video8/D8 tapes and play them on a D8 camcorder into Firewire). There are plenty of options for capture gear ranging from Win XP and the old-school digitisers to Win10/11 capturing using digitisers such as the IO Data GV-USB2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sawing14s

Isn’t AVI less compatible with most OS these days?

AVI is used only to capture your footage and process/restore it. You will then export/convert it to MP4 for final viewing by the masses on multitude of gadgets/screens.