Digitizing equipment for Hi8, VHS-C, VHS tapes?
 

Hey,

So first time posting here. I first came across the forums to possible sell my father's VCR player, but seeing as it might be decent to digitize home films - I thought I'd try to digitize some home films (to try to upscale with topaz and send to my parents).

However, I have three types of tapes (Hi8, VHS-C (HGX-GOLD 30) & VHS) - I thought maybe someone could weigh in on my game plan.

I have two options (for now). Use the ION VCR 2 PC or use my father's JVC HR-D630U (I checked the VCR buying guide but didn’t see this one mentioned) along with an external video capture USB (like from El Gato).

For the Hi8 tapes I don't have a direct way to play them, but I have the camera that shot them (Sony CCD-V110, but not sure if this would work as I didn’t see it on the Hi8 players thread) and was going to RCA out into the ION or External Video Capture

For the VHS-C tapes, I have the Cassette Adapter to VHS and VHS tapes (to either use the ION or JVC).

Will there be a difference between using the ION & JVC? Should I get a different VCR and/or different Hi8 player?

Am I overthinking this?

Is there a better way?

Welcome to the forums!

If a quality capture is your goal (and why shouldn't it be?), then avoid Ion and Elgato products.

Your logical first move might be to get a decent capture card. Shouldn't set you back more than $200.

But which card should you try to procure? The answer depends on what it's going to be connected to.

A Windows PC is recommended for capturing. If not Windows XP based, then ideally Windows 7.

If it has to be a newer version of Windows, W10 is better than W11. Generally speaking, the newer the Windows version, the harder it could be to get your capture card working. You can go the AGP route if you have an older WXP based system that can be repurposed for capturing.

If you'll transfer using a newer system, go the USB route.

Any of several ATI All-in-Wonder cards (getting hard to find) would work for an AGP setup, while ATI 600 USB (or Tevion clone) / Pinnacle 510 or 710 could be a good USB option.

Try the marketplace.

Get a good capture card first if you don't want to spend a lot of money upfront, and then try capturing with your existing VCR and camcorder.

Do your capturing with S-Video rather than RCA/composite video. Capture with VirtualDub version 1.9.x.

There are guides here you can follow if you get stuck setting your your workflow.

But first things first: get a good capture card out of the marketplace. You'll need it regardless of what source you're capturing from (VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, etc.)

OR as alternative, instead using old Windows OSs and out of production capture cards, you can use a modern OS like Windows 10 and a capture card in production like I-O Data GV-USB2 or Hauppauge USB-Live 2 and get the same quality in term of capture.

The key element for a good capture is the VCR, S-VHS with lineTBC and Y/C signal captured as lossless YUV 4:2:2 and then the capture card.

The ION VCR2PC doesn't have hi-fi audio, so you it won't get the full audio quality out of tapes that would have been recorded on e.g that HR-D630U. It's essentially just a simple late model VCR with a capture card bolted on.

The best approach FOR YOU will be driven by a number of factors including:
- how many tapes do you have
- what is their condition
- what is the intended delivery and viewing format/gear
- do you have a completion date in mind (may be important if aging parents are the intended consumer)
- do you intend to do any editing and/or restoration/sweetening of the video
- you mentioned film, but listed video tape formats. Is this project only video?
- do you have any gear and software on hand beyond the listed camcorder and VCR?
- what PC(s) and OS(s) do you have available
- what is you budget, both in money and time for doth doing the job and for learning curve (some initial expenditures can be recovered by reselling the gear after the project is completed)

The review I read says Topaz Video Enhance AI takes perhaps 20x real time or longer to upscale on a 24 core Threadripper PC. This time could be a factor. And the review implied it is not laptop friendly.

FWIW: many folks find it is well to capture and restore using a lossless SD format, save the final output in the distribution format, and let the viewing system do any upscaling when it is viewed.

Older post, but needed to make few adds..

ION has never made anything good, just cheap rebadges of Chinese goods. No, never buy that brand.

That VCR isn't great, but minimally passable. Pair it with ES10/15 type, and good capture card, and capture in VirtualDub (WinXP/7 best, 10 some paths to work). Capture is best done on dedicated system, not your daily system.

For Hi8, best to get Hi8 deck with line TBC, $100 range from eBay, often good when bought from (a) original owner, or (b) person that used it for digitizing. Never buy these from recyclers, "video sho" (video gear recyclers), etc.

Only use powered VHS-C adapters of JVC C-P7U type (Matsushita, many exist).

No, not overthinking it. Doing well, in fact. :congrats:

I am glad you made that update. I never ended up following through with the project until recently and tried to upgrade some things (within reason).

-JVC HR-s7800u (found very cheap)
- Vidbox NW07
- Sony TRV-730 (single owner snag cheaply of fb mp).

Was wondering if the Pinnacle 710 usb (Movie Studio black box thing) is worth getting (someone has pretty cheap unopened on fb mp near-ish)?

And is the powered JVC C-P7U on amazon (even though it looks knock-off ish) the one to get? I almost used the Sima unpowered one before coming across this (so thank you for clarifying before I started)?