Transfer digital to VHS?
 

Hi everyone,

I know my topic sound like a joke but it's not :) And I know the result will be crap and it's not a big deal.
Anyway, for a film project, I've been asked by a client if it was possible to transfer some clips from a timeline to VHS.

I did some tests with the gear I have (Mac/PC, Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle & Ultrastudio 3D, JVC HR-S7500 & 9911U / Sony SLV-N750, Premiere, BM Media Express...) and it's all working ok. But as I'm getting into this, I'm wondering if there was somehow a way to get the "best" of the "worst" scenario for that. Is there any VCR to avoid for this kind of job? Settings within the VCR to enable/disable, Tape brands to avoid (Fuji maybe?), is this better to downscale before or in this situation I can just let the capture card do the job (I would think downscale before...), things like that. What's your experience with this, I'm curious to see if other people here already tried that. I'm not expecting miracles, don't worry!

Thanks!

Not at all. Just uncommon now.

Not at all. VHS looks way better than most people realize. Bad VHS is user error, garbage equipment, bad VCRs, bad tapes. Not VHS itself..

Source matters. Without knowing more, no advice, no idea if you're doing good or bad here.

No, just use one of those JVCs. I used 3800s for recording in the late 90s, when I often digitally restored video back to VHS tapes. Back before DVD was an option, and VCD sucked.

On the JVC, disable calibration for sure. Actually, just disable everything, for recording.

Fuji is awful.
Best = TDK, JVC.

Before ... but you also need to properly interlace the content. But again, source matters.

Yep, but 25+ years ago. Not just "tried", but did. :cool:

Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle known to have issues with analog video tape sources.