Initial captures with VirtualDub; what else needed besides TBC?
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A few weeks ago I started watching some of our family's old VHS tapes using a JVC SR101US that I bought from lordsmurf (thanks, lordsmurf). I had not played any of these tapes in years; watching them brought back many memories. It also piqued my interest in capturing: by digitizing my VHS tapes, I can prevent the loss of irreplaceable/priceless footage and make clips accessible to relatives.
From my researches here on this forum, I concluded that a Windows XP system would be the best environment to capture in. I dusted off an old HP Pavilion desktop from 2003 that was going unused, ordered a new IDE/PATA 250 GB HDD for $16 and 2 GB of additional RAM for $13 for the two unused memory slots, and successfully installed Windows XP SP3 on it. So far, so good. I then went looking for a video card. On eBay I found an ATI All In Wonder 9600XT for sale. I was skeptical that it was really brand new, never used as the seller claimed -- how many unused ATI AIWs can there be? -- but I decided to take the risk as the seller was only asking for a little more than $100 and accepting returns. To my satisfaction, the card was as advertised. All the dongles were in the box, plus all the discs (including the one with the drivers and setup wizard) were there, and the other accessories, like the FM antenna, all sealed in plastic. The card installed fine and after some configuration, I was able to launch ATI Multimedia Center 8.8 and watch footage on the computer from tapes being played on the JVC. (I am using S-Video as my video connector.) Next I went looking for a dedicated sound card to avoid clock/sync issues. I found a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, again on eBay, and added that to the system. The Santa Cruz did not come with any drivers, but fortunately the manual and drivers are available on this forum, so I was able to get that working too. A sample VirtualDub capture is attached. I did not crop out what I understand is "head switching" noise at the bottom. I used the suggested settings from sanyln's guide to make the capture. (The tape is an old promotional video from the Alaska Visitors Association, funded by a grant from Exxon -- I believe as compensation for the horrific Valdez oil spill.) Aside from adding an external TBC (like the kind lordsmurf sometimes has for sale) to my workflow, is there anything else I ought to be doing to improve the quality of my captures? |
The AIW 9600 for $100 complete was fair price. :congrats:
Standard workflow = S-VHS VCR with line TBC (JVC best for 1st deck) > external frame TBC > good capture card that captured interlaced, either lossless or MPEG hardware/hybrid All connections via s-video. External TBC you already know is missing. Optional items are another VCR, either Panasonic or different JVC lineage. Proc amp. Detailer. Audio mixer. ES10 for anti-tearing. There's really not a lot of gear in a workflow, just that the right gear is being used. I'm on the wrong system to look at clips, but I can give it a preview tomorrow. |
Thanks :)
Appreciate the suggestions and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the sample clip. I'm new to capturing so feedback is valuable.
With respect to getting another deck: My relatives gave me a VCR last week that they no longer want or have any use for. It's a dual deck VCR made by GoVideo. I had never heard of GoVideo before I saw this VCR and hadn't come across it in my research. But apparently it's well regarded by some. I found a picture of the same unit I have on Anarchivism.org. Quote:
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A serious true SVHS deck with line TBC would be the better choice. |
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GoVideo (styled as "Go.Video") decks are probably the worst VCRs ever made. These crappy machines were probably single-handedly responsible for the low-quality VHS dubs making cartoon/TV collecting circles in the late 90s. I never saw a GoVideo-made tape that didn't add significant timing errors on playback, and thus to the dubs. Timing wasn't the only error, but significant color/chroma issues as well, including tint changes and bleeding.
Whoever designed that deck should be hit in the face with a shovel. :laugh: |
But are Funai VCRs even worse?
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My previous VCR was a Magnavox (Funai?) VR9062AT02. It really doesn't work anymore. Might be because the heads need to be cleaned, I'm not sure. Which VCR would you say is worse, LS: the GoVideo dual deck or the Magnavox? |
Magnavox was a branch of philips. I would think it's more likely a JVC/Philips made deck rather than Funai, considering it's from the late 80s, not late 2000s.
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Phillips has an arrangement with Funai
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Funai's Wikipedia article states: Quote:
Perhaps LS knows more of the history? |
Ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole. Looks like Panasonic actually made VCRs for Magnavox in the late 80s, so maybe that's what it is.
As for Funai, judging what I can gather from scattered sites, it seems they made decent decks in the early days, but they then started to make their own cheap mechanisms in china. EDIT: Listed here as having a panasonic mech. |
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I really don't understand the AIW 9600/9600XT love. :question:
These are essentially the same AGP cards for video capture: - $50 shipped: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...P/312048121250 - $35 shipped: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...P/312048121250 Buy a purple dongle for $10, and you're done. No special cables needed, DVI in right on the card. Add a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, needed audio cables (AUX or RCA>mini), and done again. |
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I looked on the back again. The Panasonic name isn't there, but of course if they were contracted by Philips to only use their brand, it wouldn't be there. The deck was manufactured in Japan. |
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