Best way to capture S-Video to 1080p?

[x77x]

im trying to capture old VHS tapes...

i bought a Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0 and its JUNK!
it will not capture in 1080p
the software is garbage, if the settings are wrong for what your doing, it blacks out the input signal and you cant even tell if its working...
anyway, hate it, sent it back...

so my questions is...
is there a GOOD capture card, ( internal or external dont matter), that will capture S-Video to 1080p? (around $200)

OR...

do you need to buy an upscale converter then capture via HDMI ?

obviously the less gadgets the better right?

[sanlyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

im trying to capture old VHS tapes...

i bought a Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0 and its JUNK!

Not exactly junk, but anyone here could have told you a long time ago that BM is a poor choice for VHS.

What do want for final output? 1080p from 25fps or 29.97fps VHS is not BluRay compliant, and neither is 50 or 60fps. I guess you just want a "generic" 1080p? VHS is interlaced.

Even if you do it, VHS doesn't have the resolution for clean 1920x1080. You'll have a blurry image, even if you cap to standard def and upscale. HD isn't based on frame size. It's based on source resolution.

[x77x]

its a 1 time deal, so i figured capture the highest possible...

final output would be dual layer DVD im thinking
(sure would be nice to put hours of footage on Bluray though)

theres a million 1080 capture cards out there
("gamer" bullshit)
but not many with S-Video inputs

itd be nice to find a card that would upscale for you...

what do you suggest? id like to get the highest quality possible even if the originals look like shit, thats my memories were talking about here =)

i was thinking capture 1080 and burn dvd 720

[sanlyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

id like to get the highest quality possible even if the originals look like shit, thats my memories were talking about here =)

It'll look the same way when you're finished, too. It'll just be bigger shit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

i was thinking capture 1080 and burn dvd 720

Then you're obviously not talking about DVD, BluRay, or AVCHD in any standard HD format. You must mean you want to encode to a generic container like mp4, mkv, or a .ts file, then burn the video to a disc as "data". Some players will accept it on disc, some won't. Your chances are better burning to an external hard drive or USB drive.

Get yourself an a/v receiver that accepts s-video input and outputs it to 1080 or 720 via HDMI. The output will be interlaced. Hook up the a/v receiver's to your BM card or whatever you have for HDMI capture, and fire away. There are other ways to get HDMI out, like feeding your VCR into a legacy DVD recorder that has s-video input and HDMI output, but the output will still be standard def.

In any case, the results won't look like DVD, BluRay, AVCHD, or even digital video. It will look like blown-up VHS.

If you're really interested in the highest quality, although I have my doubts about that, why don't you try the capture guide here?

[x77x]

what about a internal Hauppauge capture card?


do you think trying to capture s-video in 1080p is a waste of time?
(i have lots of tapes)

i have a diamond VC500 that will capture 720,
i just assumed the higher the capture the more output options you have...
because someday, id like to take the captures and make an edited movie


they make s-video to hdmi converters, tons on ebay and whatnot $40-$60
http://www.amazon.com/Panlong-Compos.../dp/B00V7X642C

so should i go the hdmi route, or capture in 720 and let adobe premiere stretch to 1080?
(if need be)

i want to capture once, not once now and once more in 10 years...

[sanlyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

what about a internal Hauppauge capture card?

They don't upscale VHS. They don't capture to lossless media, either. If your VHS looks as bad as you say it does, you'll get garbage. You should capture bad video to lossless media and clean it up before doing anything else. You'll need Avisynth and Virtualdub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

do you think trying to capture s-video in 1080p is a waste of time?
(i have lots of tapes)

Yes. And I think you'd better consider that one hour of 1080 lossy compressed h.264 video is about 4 to 5GB. IF you captured to lossless media, each would be 10 times that size.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

i have a diamond VC500 that will capture 720,

No it doesn't. It captures 720x576 PAL/720x480 NTSC, all standard definition, interlaced. But you can use it for lossles capture with VirtualDub and huffyuv or Lagarith. Haven't you looked at any of our capture guides? You can do better than the VC500.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

i just assumed the higher the capture the more output options you have...
because someday, id like to take the captures and make an edited movie

Then you'll have to capture to lossless media. You can debate big capture sizes forever, but 480i is the best way to start unless you want to get into really big bucks. And I mean really big.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

they make s-video to hdmi converters, tons on ebay and whatnot $40-$60
http://www.amazon.com/Panlong-Compos.../dp/B00V7X642C

Garbage. Get a real scaler: http://www.hdtvsupply.com/hdmi-scaler.html.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

so should i go the hdmi route, or capture in 720 and let adobe premiere stretch to 1080?
(if need be)

VHS is interlaced. To resize you have to deinterlace first. Adobe Premiere is not a good choice for either. You'll blur the hell out of your video. A decent HD resize from 480i would be to deinterlace and upscale to 960x720. But that's not BluRay compliant. The BluRay/AVCHD HD spec for 29.97/25fps 4:3 video is 1440x1080 interlaced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by x77x

i want to capture once, not once now and once more in 10 years...

Better do it now. And better get a good VCR to start or you'll get nowhere.