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  #1  
08-26-2022, 03:41 PM
njoanni njoanni is offline
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Hello! Between youtube, reddit, and other searches I've fell down the rabbit hole of information with plenty of it being contradicting or scolded.

PC Specs:
CPU: i7-6700K
GPU: 1070
RAM: 16gb @ 2200
OS: win10

Background: My father has 100s of family VHS tapes recorded and I'd like to start digitizing them. He originally was working on converting them to dvd using a DVD/VCR combo. He works long hours so it's hard for him to find time for a project like that and he's only finished ~10 tapes in ~5 years. I work remote so I told him I could start working on digitizing everything for him. I'd like to record everything in a lossless format to an internal HDD because this is probably the only time(at least for a while) that they will be digitized and I'd like to keep the raw. After they're recorded I'll eventually convert them to a smaller sized format and set up a plex server with my rpi to give to my father. I understand what's needed for VCR/TBC/etc. but I'm just super disoriented on what capture device would be best for my situation.
  • My budget for the capture device would be under 150.
  • I'd like to keep with win10 and not worry about setting up a winXP device or virtual machine for it.
  • I don't care if it's USB or pcie
  • I don't mind messing around with drivers
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  #2  
08-28-2022, 06:33 AM
lollo2 lollo2 is offline
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If you have a high end S-VHS player with lineTBC and Y/C output, and wish to work in Windows 10 you can consider IOData GV-USB or Hauppauge USB-Live 2. A (limited) comparison of the two devices here: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...e3#post2660565

If your VCR has no lineTBC correction and/or Y/C output a (lower quality) workaround is to add a DVD-R recorder in pasthrough mode such as Panasonic ES-10 or ES-15.

A channel on S-VHS / VHS capture and AviSynth restoration https://bit.ly/3mHWbkN
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  #3  
08-28-2022, 08:09 AM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
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What is your ultimate objective: e.g., just capture as is for viewing on current platforms at about the same quality as your current VCR playback, or serious restoration, editing, and image color correction, etc.

How much time do you have to invest in learning curve?

Do you have a target completion time frame? Gave you prioritized the individual tape to identify which should be done first, and which may not matter?

Are the tapes generally in good condition or have they suffered from poor storage conditions and.or other abuse?

What gear do you currently have beyond the PC? Include make and model?

Is the $150 a hard upper limit or do you have some flexibility, including the ability to go appreciably higher if you could re-coop most if it when done?

Have you read the extensive threads on this general subject including discussions of workflows, good and bad gear, etc.

Be aware that most of the participants here are very serious about quality, have a high standard for the final product, and frequently would reject what many others might think is "good enough"
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  #4  
08-28-2022, 10:45 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by njoanni View Post
Hello! Between youtube, reddit, and other searches I've fell down the rabbit hole of information with plenty of it being contradicting or scolded.
Scolded? Yikes?

Yes, there is a lot of bad info out there. You'll read weasel phrases like "it works for me" or "good enough" or even "bang for the buck". In each case, that's an apathetic (and pathetic) response, the result of the person being confronted with actual data as to why their method is bad. So watch for those.

Quote:
PC Specs:
CPU: i7-6700K
GPU: 1070
RAM: 16gb @ 2200
OS: win10
Good specs, but the OS is very limited. Win10 was not an upgraded for video capture, but a downgraded. Successive OS updates have nuked various capture cards and softwares from running properly. Win10 is a tablet/Facebook type OS, and meaty tasks like video capture were cast aside.

Quote:
Background: My father has 100s of family VHS tapes recorded
With a large collection like that, it will be extremely important to have proper gear. The recommended JVC/Panasonic type S-VHS with line TBC, an actual frame TBC, and a quality capture card. If you assemble random gear, you'll get random (mostly bad) quality. Worse yet, you'll lose your sanity, as you'll be confronted by error and error. So good gear is the backbone of a project like this.

Quote:
He originally was working on converting them to dvd using a DVD/VCR combo.
That's essentially putting video in a blender, then pouring the results onto a plate. It's messy, ugly. The video digitize equivalent of modern art (aka, throwing paint at the wall, calling it art).

Quote:
He works long hours so it's hard for him to find time for a project like that and he's only finished ~10 tapes in ~5 years. I work remote so I told him I could start working on digitizing everything for him. I'd like to record everything in a lossless format to an internal HDD because this is probably the only time(at least for a while) that they will be digitized and I'd like to keep the raw. After they're recorded I'll eventually convert them to a smaller sized format and set up a plex server with my rpi to give to my father.
Good son, kudos.

Quote:
I understand what's needed for VCR/TBC/etc. but I'm just super disoriented on what capture device would be best for my situation.
My budget for the capture device would be under 150.
I'd like to keep with win10 and not worry about setting up a winXP device or virtual machine for it.
I don't care if it's USB or pcie
I don't mind messing around with drivers
- $150 range is proper.
- There are a few options for Win10, though mostly with workarounds, so be careful there.
- PCIe and USB are just the comms methods, the quality of the card is what matters. That said, there's essentially zero capture cards that are PCIe and Win10.
- Sometimes drivers have to be forced, so helpful to see you know what's what.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lollo2 View Post
If you have a high end S-VHS player with lineTBC and Y/C output, and wish to work in Windows 10 you can consider IOData GV-USB or Hauppauge USB-Live 2. A (limited) comparison of the two devices here: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...e3#post2660565
I've never been fond of capture cards that "must" have line TBC enabled to function. Why? Because line TBC will cause errors on a small % of tapes. When you're dealing with 100+ tapes, odds increase that you'll find such an instance. It depends on factors, but odds are odds. I still have reservation about GV-USB in North America NTSC, and the Live2 does have limitations. The Live2 is in my box of cards to never use, and I've had my GV-USB order cancelled a few times now (Japanese sellers can be flakes with AV gear, something I learned long ago with camera lenses).

I think this thread gives a good view of the issues (though newbies may not see it, lots of jargon there).
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...k-What-s-In-It

To me, it's a case of screwing around with hardware, trying to get it to work -- as opposed to buying it, plugging it in, and actually using it. Most people want to capture videos, not spend all their times playing with the hardware. Even I don't find fiddling overly fun anymore, time is a premium for me these days. (I do still fiddle, daily, but with far more important aspects that capture cards. Cards are really settled tech at this time, we all know what works, what sucks, and what is gray area.)

Quote:
workaround is to add a DVD-R recorder in pasthrough mode such as Panasonic ES-10 or ES-15.
This is misleading. Passthrough is a rare feature, do not give the impression that any random DVD recorder works. This is very false. In NTSC, you're essentially curtailed to ES10/15, and a pair of other Panasonics (always forget models off-hand, but those have downsides). In PAL, you have a few more, but all available PAL models can still be counted on fingers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dpalomaki View Post
What is your ultimate objective: e.g., just capture as is for viewing on current platforms at about the same quality as your current VCR playback, or serious restoration, editing, and image color correction, etc.
That was in his first post.
- capture lossless (as best as possible, since this will be the only time, so no room to screw it up),
- then later convert to streaming (hopefully QTGMC deinterlace copies for viewing, while retaining lossless masters, etc).

Quote:
Do you have a target completion time frame? Gave you prioritized the individual tape to identify which should be done first, and which may not matter?
Are the tapes generally in good condition or have they suffered from poor storage conditions and.or other abuse?
What gear do you currently have beyond the PC? Include make and model?
Is the $150 a hard upper limit or do you have some flexibility, including the ability to go appreciably higher if you could re-coop most if it when done?
Have you read the extensive threads on this general subject including discussions of workflows, good and bad gear, etc.
All excellent tips, advice, things to consider.

Quote:
Be aware that most of the participants here are very serious about quality, have a high standard for the final product, and frequently would reject what many others might think is "good enough"
As I read it, as I interpret it, this sort of comment is extremely dismissive of myself and others here, to the point where such comments irritate me. I don't think I am "very serious about quality" nor "have a high standard" that it is excessive.

All I expect from a capture card to
(1) not make quality worse, as the videotapes often aren't great to begin with, any loss is uslaly obvious to anybody, even grandmas
(2) not fight me to try and use it, require excess time, require workarounds that make you use lesser non-standard software

I don't think that's unreasonable, nor held to any kind of insane high standard.

What you describe here is the "audiophile" (or "videophile") mentality, the people that think certain colors or cables give better quality, etc. Those people are nuts.

Sadly, lots of cards fail at one or both or my basic requirements. You get far-flung quality changes to exposure/color/contrast/etc (and those values CANNOT be fixed later in software), or you get a stubborn card that needs to have it's bottom rubbed. This has always been true. Starting with WinVista, more and more cards just stopped working, with Win10 being the worst offender. Remember, capturing is a legacy task from the XP era.

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  #5  
08-28-2022, 11:38 AM
njoanni njoanni is offline
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Quote:
What gear do you currently have beyond the PC? Include make and model?
A crappy composite Panasonic VCR. I have that because I just have it, no other particular reason. I'm looking into grabbing one of the recommended VCRs that have a built in TBC or finding one local with s-video and grabbing an es10/15. The recommended VCRs are a bit steep in price but I figured at worst I could resell after I'm finished with the project and it won't be a big deal.

Quote:
Do you have a target completion time frame? Gave you prioritized the individual tape to identify which should be done first, and which may not matter?
No specific deadline. It's a passion project sort of but I'd like to get some test recordings done before Christmas but not a big deal.
No prioritization right now. The tapes are several states away (parents are in NY and I live in VA) so I'm going to grab them when I have stuff set up and do a few test runs. My dad will 0robably either give them to me in bulk or whichever ones he wants done first.

Quote:
Is the $150 a hard upper limit or do you have some flexibility, including the ability to go appreciably higher if you could re-coop most if it when done
it's a soft upper limit I suppose. I wouldn't be opposed to spending more but if the diminishing returns were extreme I wouldn't want to bump it up crazy.

Quote:
Are the tapes generally in good condition or have they suffered from poor storage conditions and.or other abuse?
Generally good condition. Majority are in the standard vhs paper cases and a decent amount in hard covers. Some are stored in boxes in the garage and others inside.

Quote:
Most people want to capture videos, not spend all their times playing with the hardware. Even I don't find fiddling overly fun anymore, time is a premium for me these days.
Im the same way. I know messing around with the workflow is going to be a part of it but I'd like to keep messing about as minimal after everything's situated. I do modular synthesis and it's super fun to mess around with the setup but some times it just takes away mental energy from the actual output of what you want to be done.

Quote:
- There are a few options for Win10, though mostly with workarounds, so be careful there.
- PCIe and USB are just the comms methods, the quality of the card is what matters. That said, there's essentially zero capture cards that are PCIe and Win10.
I'm not ENTIRELY opposed to partitioning a drive to winxp or setting up a dedicated internal to run off xp but the less links in the chain the nicer it'll be for me. BUT if you think in the long run that setting up something running on 7 or xp would be better than it's an option I can explore.
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  #6  
08-28-2022, 12:05 PM
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lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by njoanni View Post
A crappy composite Panasonic VCR. I have that because I just have it, no other particular reason.
Yuck. We all have old worthless (or near-worthless) VCRs. Nice for nostalgia, awful for transferring videos.

Quote:
I'm looking into grabbing one of the recommended VCRs that have a built in TBC
Wise.

Quote:
or finding one local with s-video
Unlikely.

Quote:
and grabbing an es10/15.
The recommended VCRs are a bit steep in price but I figured at worst I could resell after I'm finished with the project and it won't be a big deal.
You have a decision to make here.

You can survive on non-TBC JVC S-VHS (3800, 5900, etc, post 1998 models until EOL), paired with ES10/15 for strong+crippled line TBC with non-TBC frame sync. But resale will be reduced, and you may run into capture issues. It will surely work for some % of the project, but almost certainly NOT all of the tapes. That will leave you with tapes you'll have to outsource, or just not capture (probably a terrible option). And that ES10/15 has downsides for image quality.

You can use the recommended JVC S-VHS with line TBC, but the ES10/15 TBC will be negated (first line TBC in chain wins), be a mere non-TBC frame sync, and still have some of the quality reducing issues. Resale will be okay.

You can use the recommended JVC S-VHS with line TBC, and an actual DataVideo/Cypress type frame TBC made for analog consumer sources (good unit with no flawed chips, NOT a random TBC, no rackmounts!), and get best quality, best resale. Quality gear holds value, lesser gears hold less/no value.

Quote:
or whichever ones he wants done first.
Your first few tapes should be with whatever matters least. Cut your teeth on a dozen tapes, get settled in with the hear. Then prioritize capture, do most important. It's too easy to make catastrophic mistakes when you run the most important tapes first (aka, ruin the tape, then you're screwed).

Quote:
Some are stored in boxes in the garage
Not good. Mold must be carefully looked for, and those cannot be run. If you try, you'll just infect all tapes and the VCR, ruin everything. Mold is toxic and pervasive.

Quote:
Im the same way. I know messing around with the workflow is going to be a part of it but I'd like to keep messing about as minimal after everything's situated. I do modular synthesis and it's super fun to mess around with the setup but some times it just takes away mental energy from the actual output of what you want to be done.
100% my point. It's fun until it's not. You eventually realize you're not working, you're just screwing around, accomplishing nothing.

Quote:
I'm not ENTIRELY opposed to partitioning a drive to winxp or setting up a dedicated internal to run off xp but the less links in the chain the nicer it'll be for me. BUT if you think in the long run that setting up something running on 7 or xp would be better than it's an option I can explore.
If you have an open bay in your case, buy this: https://amzn.to/3CyKBAJ
Use it as a hardware swap between boot drives.
Keep primary as Win10. Add a small $20 SSD for Win7. Your sanity will thank me.

Then you'll have a clean OS, software disable networking, and only have a few capture tools. Win10 is a PITA for interruptions, and that causes all sorts of capture issues, especially dropped frames.

XP will not install on that exact hardware. z170 boards tend to get rejected, as is the case with my Asrock Extreme 7+. Your system closely mimics my editing rig. I have a slightly lesser variant for AIW capture in XP, and it cannot use stock XP, Integral with patching required. Not a fun setup to make, but nice to use.

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  #7  
08-28-2022, 12:15 PM
lollo2 lollo2 is offline
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Quote:
Win10 was not an upgraded for video capture
Win 10 works flawless for capturing video for many of us.

Quote:
I've never been fond of capture cards that "must" have line TBC enabled to function. Why? Because line TBC will cause errors on a small % of tapes. When you're dealing with 100+ tapes, odds increase that you'll find such an instance. It depends on factors, but odds are odds.
A special case must be treated as special case. Most of the cards, even ATI 600 USB and Pinnacle 710 that you suggest and sell, require a lineTBC correction. Only the Canopus NX has an internal lineTBC correction.

Quote:
I still have reservation about GV-USB in North America NTSC, and the Live2 does have limitations. The Live2 is in my box of cards to never use, and I've had my GV-USB order cancelled a few times now
I know your preconceptions, and aware of the fact that you never showed any evidence of any defects of these two cards; on the other hands, there are many happy users of them here and on videohelp, and most of them are "very serious about quality, have a high standard for the final product". Myself included.

Quote:
I think this thread gives a good view of the issues (though newbies may not see it, lots of jargon there).
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...k-What-s-In-It
Are you serious ? I was the main contributor to that thread, what should I be looking for?

Quote:
This is misleading. Passthrough is a rare feature,
I was just giving an example. There are many reports provided by esperienced users (oln and brad here and on videohelp, just to mention a few) about dvd-r recorder features and defects, for both PAL and NTSC.

A channel on S-VHS / VHS capture and AviSynth restoration https://bit.ly/3mHWbkN
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  #8  
08-28-2022, 12:38 PM
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lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lollo2 View Post
Win 10 works flawless for capturing video for many of us.
Flawlessly? Didn't you have to abandon the standard VirtualDub for AmaRecTV, which does have some limitations and stability issues. It also fails to work with many cards. It's a touchy as Win10 is, in terms of capture.

I've only managed to get AmaRecTV to behave once, which was one of the few times I also got Win10 to behave. I now maintain multiple Win10 systems here, 1 for dev, and 1 for production capture. Those things can be screwy. I'm resisting Win11 for now, but have the upgrade option.

I'm glad we all started to use pure Linux here, for non-video tasks, when Win8 came out. Our post-Windows computer life has been much saner. (I also have Mac. I'm platform agnostic. Each are tools, and some tools suck at certain tasks.)

Quote:
Most of the cards, even ATI 600 USB and Pinnacle 710 that you suggest and sell, require a lineTBC correction.
Require? No. ATI 600 USB will balk easier of the two, but Pinnacle is surprisingly much more resilient than most cards. But don't mistake that for meaning a TBC is not desired, all capture cards will choke under certain conditions. One of my primary tests for TBCs and capture cards is finding the choke point. That Live2 stumbles early. What you also have to understand is that, even with TBC, or because of TBCs, cards can choke. The more easy to choke to card, the more problems you'll face over longer term (aka more tapes in a project). I've captured 10s of thousands of tapes easily, but even 100s of tapes will start to accrue "set aside" tapes. The worse the card, the larger the "set aside" pile.

Quote:
you never showed any evidence of any defects of these two cards;
I"m just too busy.

Health, family, work. If I had more time for my video hobby, I could easily share clips from that. But I don't. What little hobby time I have is just run on JVC LSI DVD recorders. I can't share work very easily.

Quote:
I was just giving an example.
I know.

But newbies are too often easily misled. We sometimes don't realize how easy it is to do. I try to monitor non-video sites (Reddit. Youtube, etc), and see what's being discussed. What I sometimes observe is that info from this site (or VH, or Doom9) is badly mangled when shared. The telephone game. So I set it straight there, and I set it straight here at the source.

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  #9  
08-28-2022, 01:01 PM
lollo2 lollo2 is offline
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Quote:
Flawlessly? Didn't you have to abandon the standard VirtualDub for AmaRecTV, which does have some limitations and stability issues. It also fails to work with many cards. It's a touchy as Win10 is, in terms of capture.
Win 10 has nothing to do with that. VirtualDub was designed when audio and video was captured with 2 different cards. It simply fails with some card as the USB Live-2 and its driver, whatever OS you use.

Quote:
Require? No. ATI 600 USB will balk easier of the two, but Pinnacle is surprisingly much more resilient than most cards.
Your opinion.

Quote:
But don't mistake that for meaning a TBC is not desired, all capture cards will choke under certain conditions. One of my primary tests for TBCs and capture cards is finding the choke point. That Live2 stumbles early.
I am not mistaken anything. Some tapes are difficult to capture. I have some on my side as well. Playing with different combination of hardware (VCR mainly, TBCs, DVD-R passthrough, capture cards) is required. The cards that we all use are not performing better compared each other by default for the special cases.

Quote:
What you also have to understand is that, even with TBC, or because of TBCs, cards can choke.
I perfectly understand, and experienced that. The OP wanted a budget card for Win 10. With what I suggested he can have excellent results, but as usual, if depends mainly on the condition of the tapes and then on the quality of the player.

A channel on S-VHS / VHS capture and AviSynth restoration https://bit.ly/3mHWbkN
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  #10  
08-28-2022, 01:06 PM
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lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lollo2 View Post
VirtualDub was designed when audio and video was captured with 2 different cards.
Actually, no. That's why certain timing conditions are there. The default was, but the option otherwise is there.

Quote:
Your opinion.
I perfectly understand, and experienced that. The OP wanted a budget card for Win 10. With what I suggested he can have excellent results, but as usual, if depends mainly on the condition of the tapes and then on the quality of the player.
In the interest of time, and friendliness, I'll agree with you on this.

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  #11  
08-28-2022, 01:19 PM
lollo2 lollo2 is offline
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Quote:
Actually, no. That's why certain timing conditions are there. The default was, but the option otherwise is there.
No, the main timing options are there to fix the skew of the clocks in the audio and video cards, because the 2 clocks cannot be exactly the same.

Avery Lee added the option "Automatically disable resync when integrated audio/video capture is detected" when the A/V integrated cards became available, which sometimes does not work very well, but that's another story.
It is sad that Avery stopped VirtualDub developement long time ago, it was, and it is (in its original releases), a wonderful piece of software.

Quote:
friendliness.
Same here
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  #12  
08-28-2022, 01:39 PM
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Originally Posted by lollo2 View Post
It is sad that Avery stopped VirtualDub developement long time ago, it was, and it is (in its original releases), a wonderful piece of software.
The last version 1.10.x actually added some capture issues.

That was continued to the VirtualDub FilterMod fork, which was 1.10.x with some more embedded codecs and encoders.

It irks me how the VirtualDub2 update (FM renamed to 2) actually introduced dropped frames now. There are also major issues with the filtering. I told the dev about it, he asked for details. I took the time to send a report. Then nothing. Anybody that wastes my time is an ass.

VirtualDub2 hasn't been updated in 2 years now either. So it may be abandonware. We'll never get bug fixes. I think the source is available for anybody that has coding skills.

I was actually in talks with a dev to gut VirtualDub for a pure capture tool, but talks broke down during the pandemic. I need to clean my inbox, find who that was again.

With a few exceptions, only use VirtualDub 1.9.x for capture and filtering.

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  #13  
08-28-2022, 02:19 PM
lingyi lingyi is offline
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I absolutely love you blue guy, but you're way too humble! The ultimate answer is always get only lordsmurf approved equipment and get it from here in the marketplace, ideally from the blue guy himself. Yes, it's not cheap, but you'll know it's Grade A or B equipment that you can "Buy it, use it, resell it" as he says.

I've been out of the capture and VCR game for a long time, but I've followed the blue guy for over 15 years, here and at videohelp.com (and used to disagree with him in the beginning) and have found that 99% of the time he's absolutely right. And the 99% of the remaining 1% is he's still right, just with a slight variation of what the other learned and experienced members here and at videohelp.com say.

Awww...there I go again!

Gotta correct myself! You old grouch! There, better!

Inside joke. I used to think he was just a stubborn, opinionated, know it all. Now, I know he's all three, but he's still right!!!
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  #14  
08-28-2022, 04:34 PM
lollo2 lollo2 is offline
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Another non sense. We all respect and appreciate lordsmurf and his expertize, but he was proved to be wrong on some topics here and in videohelp forums, just as anybody else. I won’t report any of them.

Your dedication in his regards is very nice, but somehow strange, as it has been remarked by others in the past . However is nice to see this friendship
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  #15  
08-28-2022, 04:44 PM
lingyi lingyi is offline
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Okay, okay, you caught me! He pays me to talk nice. Only problem is it's all in smurfbucks! LOL
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  #16  
08-28-2022, 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
always get only lordsmurf approved equipment and get it from here in the marketplace, ideally from the blue guy himself. Yes, it's not cheap, but you'll know it's Grade A or B equipment that you can "Buy it, use it, resell it" as he says.
Thanks! A lot of work goes into my refurb'd gear, and restoring it to proper condition. Too many people think it's just a matter of finding a like model on eBay, buy it, and good to go. But it's so false. It's now the 2020s, and this 90s and 00s gear needs work/maintenance. The forum is littered with stories of bad gear buys from eBay/Craigslist/etc.

The entire reason I started to restore gear for others is to help the video transfer community, newcomers and old-timers alike. Both that, and because I didn't want to be accused of bad advice, when bad gear didn't work as discussed. If they get gear from me, it's guaranteed to work as stated, and with my personal support on their projects. At first, I took in gear, but it was too often irreparable junk. So I had to dragnet my contacts, to locate what I refer to as "refurb candidates". That worked pretty well, and I even bought out closing facility gear more than once. (Fronting the costs is not something most people would be willing or able to do. Do you want to buy 17 VCRs, and 17 TBCs?)

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I've been out of the capture and VCR game for a long time, but I've followed the blue guy for over 15 years, here and at videohelp.com (and used to disagree with him in the beginning) and have found that 99% of the time he's absolutely right. And the 99% of the remaining 1% is he's still right, just with a slight variation of what the other learned and experienced members here and at videohelp.com say.
What always irks me is when I doubt myself, usually due to a forum clique forming. These are cyclical in forums, sometimes hard to see forming, topics rotate, always some new "in" thing. A good recent example is that VC500 card. It was praised and praised, and I resisted that. My resistance was chastised, ridiculed. Was I wrong? So I ran more tests, still saw issues. Clique members claimed to see nothing wrong. But then something happened. My continued postings about flaws apparently let others not be afraid of the clique, and so they began to post. Within a short few months, an avalanche of complaints and samples showed that I wasn't wrong. The card was a POS! I knew it! The next time I ran into the clique, my fangs were out, SOBs. The clique users suddenly vanished, never to be heard from again. Lots of newbies wasted money on that crappy card, specifically due to clique praise. Now the VC500 is rarely mentioned, except to state it has issues and should be avoided. However, old posts from the clique are still out there, still being found and read by newbies that don't read enough before running to Amazon/eBay.

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Inside joke. I used to think he was just a stubborn, opinionated, know it all. Now, I know he's all three, but he's still right!!!
Sometimes being the smartest person in the room sucks. Everybody asks you for help, and if you're nice (like I am), you give it. But when you have problems, you turn to ... who? You must figure it out on your own, and it can take years. With complex topics like Avisynth, I have others to ask (jagabo, poison, even lollo2 here probably knows some things I don't). But when it comes to (for example) TBCs, I'm mostly alone. When somebody else does come along, with some demonstrated deep knowledge, I try to not lose contact, but it too often still happens. Some people will surely read that the wrong way, not seeing it as the lament that it is. The classic "lonely at the top" situation.

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Originally Posted by lollo2 View Post
but he was proved to be wrong on some topics here and in videohelp forums,
When I'm wrong, I say so. But it doesn't happen often. The reason is because I don't write/speak unless I have actual knowledge (research, vetting, etc). The world would be so much better off if people would just shut up when they have no knowledge in the matter. But if a person simply "proves" something, without my concession, I'm not convinced that I am wrong. As per above, the scenarios where I (wrongly) doubted myself.

Sometimes people also falsely assume I'm wrong, against the topic, etc, when I merely have doubts as to the validity of the information. For example, somebody I know always tells me random things, some of which sounds "off". If I state my hesitance to simply accept what he says, he gets all defensive. I, however, prefer to vet information from reliable sources, or by conducting sound experiments and original research.

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Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
Okay, okay, you caught me! He pays me to talk nice. Only problem is it's all in smurfbucks! LOL
I actually have Papa Smurf bucks in my box of random Smurfs items.

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  #17  
08-29-2022, 03:52 PM
njoanni njoanni is offline
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Not good. Mold must be carefully looked for, and those cannot be run. If you try, you'll just infect all tapes and the VCR, ruin everything. Mold is toxic and pervasive.
Talked to him for a little bit on the phone today and he said all his tapes are inside the house in a cabinet, nothing in the garage luckily.

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Unlikely.
Was just talking to a guy that had an s-vhs listed for a couple weeks on FB marketplace. Day after messaging him he said he sold it. Oh well, ebay it is.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225030754395 this seemed like the best deal just quickly searching this morning.
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  #18  
08-29-2022, 08:23 PM
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lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
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Originally Posted by njoanni View Post
Was just talking to a guy that had an s-vhs listed for a couple weeks on FB marketplace. Day after messaging him he said he sold it. Oh well, ebay it is.
this seemed like the best deal just quickly searching this morning.
You're making a newbie mistake!

Biggest red flag here is you're assuming the seller isn't lying, or an idiot, which is extremely likely.

That person is simply a recycler, not a video person of any kind, not the previous owner. It surely came from a lot bought somewhere (example: storage units that wasn't paid, aka Storage Wars; estate sale; etc). You have no idea where the units has been. I doubt this seller even opened it up, to see if it didn't have a pile of oxide that had been shed, mold, dead spiders or roaches, etc.

The terms "tested" and "working" are nonsense. This almost always means it was plugged in, and the person saw lights. At best, they put in a ratty old copy of Home Alone (or TMNT, etc), saw any kind of picture, and deemed it "tested". This is insane and ridiculous.

The deck surely isn't clean, hasn't had maintenance, etc. You could be ruining your source tapes every time once is inserted. The tapes may not have mold now, but soon might, if the deck wasn't cleaned.

Bad eBay buys happen all the time, and the pace of bad buys has become so lopsided now that more bad gear exists than good. Again, that includes "tested" and "working".

As a newbie, you'll never know if it truly works correctly. You can open the lid, poke around, but you won't know what you're looking at. It may seem "fine", or it may have some serious issues. You'll surely be able to see the obvious issues, but not all. Heads must be carefully cleaned properly (NO Q-TIPS!), etc, before using.

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  #19  
08-29-2022, 08:29 PM
Hushpower Hushpower is offline
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I'll vouch for the IOData GV-USB2. I'm in PAL land. The GV-USB2 is as good as my Startech USB3HDCAP, Pinnacle 710USB and the VGB100. See my test with the Hauppauge Live 2 at the link Lollo posted above on Videohelp. Without a line TBC (eg ES-15), the GV-USB2 is superior. With an ES-15 in the flow, they even up.

The GV-USB2 has Japanese instructions but there are English instructions here. I don't use any of the software, only the drivers. The GV-USB 2 is absolutely bulletproof with Windows 10. It just works.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lordsmurf
I've had my GV-USB order cancelled a few times now
There are multiple suppliers on the Internet. I suggest you try another.
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  #20  
08-29-2022, 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Hushpower View Post
There are multiple suppliers on the Internet. I suggest you try another.
Like a lot of Chinese sellers, I think a lot of "Japanese" sellers have multiple accounts. (And yes, at different price points, which is done to try and control market pricing with fake "competition".)

As mentioned, this is also true with camera gear from "Japan".

Most "Japanese" sellers don't sell on eBay, aside from AV/photo gear. A main reason is that bad gear is cast off to "stupid Americans", while the good gear is sold in-country.

Why am I quoting "Japan", you ask?

You often find Chinese sellers lying about location, and it doesn't actually come from Japan. Again, "stupid Americans" think all Asian languages are the same anyway.

So, for this reason, I'm always extremely wary of Japan/"Japan" buying.

It'd actually extremely difficult (and pricey!) to get stuff out of Japan, such as toys, action figures, Blu-ray, comics, etc. There are often specific importers stateside that specialize in these items, export in bulk. Transformers, Gundams, etc.

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