S-VHS transfer workflow vs. Elgato?

[Hushpower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aya_rei

Using a proper workflow purchased from Lordsmurf of course,

Too embarrassed to tell us what he sold you, or are you under orders so that LS gets another sale? Why is it so hard to tell us what digitiser you're using?

[lordsmurf]

I'm putting my conclusion at the top of this reply, before the quote...

Hushpower/Alwyn, I'm vastly more interested in your attenuator for ES10/15 type, to address the PAL luma/exposure problem. Or your guides for OBS/etc -- even if don't agree with using the software (as a guide is a guide, if well written and BS-free). Not these endless posts trying to pick fights over capture cards. Perhaps let's move in that direction?

I'm happy you found something that works for you, for your occasional airplane hobby videos, down under in the PAL world. But this OP is a business, NTSC, and other posters in other threads have other needs as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hushpower

Too embarrassed to tell us what he sold you, or are you under orders so that LS gets another sale? Why is it so hard to tell us what digitiser you're using?

Stop being so confrontational.

Aya_Rei has a couple of cards, but that's because capture cards are extremely reliant on OS.

That's why
- Linux is mostly worthless for capture,
- Mac has only a few not-ideal narrow paths using old OS X versions with Intel CPUs,
- Windows is best for capture.

But, again, analog videotape capture is considered a 2000s task by hardware makers (ie, no new quality items), and you only have "new" cheap Chinese USB junk now. To access the best capture cards, you have to use the OS of that era, namely WinXP and Win7. Any newer OS is very problematic, as older hardware only "works" with patched (often poorly patched) drivers. People can whine and cry about "it needs to be new!" but them's the facts. Ancient VCRs, into legacy/older computer hardware, to be process/watched on the latest hardware. Trying to go ancient > new is a problem, with anything (not just video). Steps needed.

The clear winners for "best", that straddles the ancient/new barrier, is the "legacy" hardware (not ancient, but also not new), mostly being certain ATI 600 USB (or clones) and certain Pinnacle type (NOT Dazzles!).

I'm sure you'll inject a comment about how you broke your Pinnacle card in Win11 (never leave in removable USB peripherals during system updates), and how the video console gamer card GV-USB2 is "bestest ever" (and using the at-least-as-old-as-VirtualDub pre-OBS analog streaming software AmaRecTV). And that's fine. But you're also a wee too vocal about this, to the point where it's almost trolling and hostile. It's a cheap Japanese card, mediocre quality (not ATI/Pinnacle best, not Easycap/Elgato worst), the end. You maintain a super-budget setup, but it has flaws compared to better workflows.

The truly "best" capture cards are also not just about image quality, but audio, and general usability.

The wrong/bad capture card is why many people:
- hate the capturing process
- wrongly think that "VHS looks bad", when in fact what they see is the signal/image butchered by their junk VCRs, junk capture cards, and lack of TBCs

I've been doing this for about 25 years now. I can see some of these conversations from a mile away. I know all the arguments (cheap, defending purchase, "good enough" excuse, etc).

I can't keep taking time for long replies like this.

You used to be so pleasant to converse with. What happened? Are you okay?

I miss the old you.

[Aya_Rei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hushpower

Too embarrassed to tell us what he sold you, or are you under orders so that LS gets another sale? Why is it so hard to tell us what digitiser you're using?

My fault for not telling specifics, they are as follows

1. JVC SR-MV45U S-VHS VCR
2. JVC SR-VS30U S-VHS VCR (used as a backup/last resort if the above VCR fails in the future)
3. Cypress CDM-640 Digital Multi-Scan Converter
4. Pinnacle 510 USB

Already talked to LS about this but I do plan on getting an ATI 600 clone as a means of troubleshooting the cause of my recent captures having a few frame inserts in them, it's been happen since the past couple of weeks, but I never had an issue with inserts nor drops before then. Still never dealt with dropped frames, only inserts now..

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aya_Rei

4. Pinnacle 510 USB

And just to add, there are versions of this card, both good and bad, like many other VCRs, capture cards, and TBCs.

Devices are designed, produced. Then popular devices have more produced, but uh-oh, the components needed may no longer be available. So a new version can exist, and due to SKU, it' not given a new model number.

The same is true of computer components, and some years ago Linus Tech Tips dedicated an episode to this bait-and-switch issue.

This is why model number alone can be quaint, not overly useful. Some items have tell-tale signs of "what's in the box", some do not.

[Gary34]

Quote:

Any YouTube examples of lossless capture compared to something off a compressed Elgato capture? Before spending hundreds or thousands of dollars in an XP system, it would be nice to see the difference. So many people on this board swear by the XP/TBC/All-In-One vintage route, yet I have yet to see any comparisons.

You can look up something about compression but it might not make sense and be confusing to you right now. It’s not just the bitrate but the way h.264 compresses. https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vid...ompressed.html
https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vid...-lossless.html
https://www.archivalworks.com/blog/l...eo-compression

It would be cool to see what your tapes are going to look like before you buy gear. I know that at least for me the examples I see using cheaper gear aren’t how my tapes would actually come out. Not my 80s full size cassettes. That’s because of storage, the camera that was used, the way they were shot, age of the tape and the fact that magnetic tape isn’t a good way of storing data. There’re a lot of factors with this. It can make some tapes different from others. That’s important to think about when you see a visual example. This method deals with some of those issues. Given the age of tapes now i would think a lot of tapes have problems. Dpalomaki mentions that and some other really good questions. Once you see your sources with bad gear then see what happens as you upgrade gear things start to make more sense. I have seen digitalfaq examples on there Facebook page. The examples I saw were actually VHS-C.

Quote:

completely getting rid of the crappy Elgato mp4s and instead keeping the higher quality restored mp4 copies from the recaptured raw avi files.

Topic of Thread...
Recaptured with what? And what OS? Help the OP out here.

He is on topic. Here’s the topic. SVHS transfer workflow vs Elgato. Everything he said has been about that. He has personal experience with the Elgato. He can relate to the OP. He knows what good tested gear looks like. You haven’t used the card but you are giving advise on it anyways. What really gets everything off topic is the weekly hissy fit from you in your next comment. He even takes the high road and says my bad afterwards and lists his workflow to try to get things back on topic and ignore your temper tantrum.

Quote:

Then send me the tape. I'll give it my once-over. Feel free to run your worst tape, and also explain what you consider "worst" about it (if not obvious). No mold, no physically damaged tapes.

That’s a good idea.