VHS to DVD

Hi, I am converting vhs to dvd and have used studio 9, not happy with results, wondering about the vhs/dvd recorders available on market, or is there an inexpensive software out there that is better than the studio 9 i am using

 

I think the dvd recorder route would be simplest also, unless your source files need a lot of editing and restoration.

That being said, I started out using Studio 9 and a Pinnacle usb device the DVC-90. But I wasn't too happy with the results I was getting from capturing to DV format and then encoding the DV-avi to dvd files.

I could never get Studio 9 to give me a reliable burn, so I always used "make disk, do not burn" setting, and saved the files to hard-drive, and then used ImgBurn freeware to burn the files to disk.

If your capture device is capping to MPEG2, that may be part of why you are not seeing happy results. MPEG is already compressed, and then when you edit and encode it to your final video, that encoding compresses it some more, and you start to see compression artifacts and playback problems.

I still use the DVC-90, but now I use freeware VirtualDubMod capture to avi using free Huffy Lossless codec, and then use Avisynth (freeware) scripts in VirtualDubMod to utilize Avisynth dll plugin filters, there are so many wonderful ones. VirtualDub(Mod) can also be used for editing just using filters designed for it, you don't *have to* use Avisynth scripts, and there are lots of great free VirtualDub filters out there.
Then Quenc encoder (freeware) to encode the edited avi to dvd-compliant m2v files, and the wonderfully simple DvdAuthorGui (freeware) to author those files into actual dvd files, ready to burn to disk.

Sounds complicated doesn't it..... I didn't realize till I typed it out just how intimidating all that must sound. But it really isn't that hard once you get a couple of good beginner's tutorials and step through them a couple of times.

I do hear lots of good things about Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere, both payware, and both might have somewhat of a learning curve, but reported to give excellent results.

 

Thanks, I've started looking at some of the vhs/dvd recorders. I assume, once dvd is made i can then put on pc and edit out bad footage, etc. i've got to replace an 8 yr old samsung dvd player that is not working, so i've been looking at the sony ($99.00) w/hdmi cable included, which would be ideal if my pc software worked for migrating vhs to dvd. i assume you had no significant reduction in quality going with the vhs/dvd combo? johnnyj

 

not really that complicated, just a bit intimidating. i'm using the digital video creator 80 to transfer from vhs to pc. i think it pops up on studio 9 as pinnacle 80 interface. i think i'm getting an avi format since about 30 minutes of vhs takes up about 8 gbytes on harddrive. the burn has worked fine, just takes a few hours for it to process. i'll have to dble check the jpeg comment and look into the freeware for burning also. hey, thanks. . . oops, one last thing, i'm wondering if the vhs/dvd recorder route would give me a better quality product to then edit with on pc vs using an old vhs player and the dvc 80 interface?

 

question(s):

the vhs tapes that you are trying to record to dvd, where they recorded on the vhs player you have now? basically, vhs tapes that were recorded (by yourself), typically play back better on the machine they were recorded on. alot of times you have tracking problems (lines, and/or distorted sound). however some of the higher end vcr's (back in the day), were alot better on that part. i'd say if you have the bulk of the tapes recorded on your current vcr, just get a dvd recorder (or one with the vcr built in), then play back on your current vcr and record on your dvd player. i currently have a liton dvd recorder, however i can't edit the dvd on my player (i use it to record tv shows, etc.). i use dvd rw's so that i can reuse the dvd, when i want to erase the dvd, i have to erase the whole thing, not just part of it. anyway, i record what i want, then if i really want it i use my computer to copy the disc and edit it, then record to another disc (i use dvd shrink), and nero to burn. anyway, g/l - sos

 

no such luck, the vcr strictly a player, not a recorder. tapes are family recordings, with one even dubbed from super 8 film. . .so i'm working with less than quality substance to begin with, and the goal is to not lose any more or be able to enhance via editing tools. thanks

 

@ JohnnyJ, your DVC-80 is baby brother to my DVC-90. Yup, you can use it to capture in Avi, and Studio is most likely automatically setting it to cap to DV-avi, but there are options in Studio to capture to MPEG or to MJPEG. (I don't think you would want to do that, though, that mpeg compression I mentioned earlier.)

if you are sure you want to go with the recorder, I do want to point out again that capturing or recording to MPEG is going to give you an already compressed format. If your source tapes need restoration filtering beyond what the recorder offers (often just simple brightness, contrast, basic color adjustment) then I would say you should try to find a dvd recorder with a hard-drive (getting scarce these days) so you can record to MPEG onto the hard-drive with the least possible amount of compression, then copy those files to dvd disks to transfer to your pc for further editing.

But, again, if you need lots of restoration filtering to reduce noise or flicker, heavy color-correction, or any other filtering that will pretty much affect the entire video, you will see your already-compressed mpeg recording get compressed some more after editing. Don't be surprised if you see macro-blocks, and possibly "posterization" where gradients lose their smooth look and appear in bands of color.
Remember, once your video has been compressed once, that information is thrown away and can never be regained.

This is why I capture to Lossless avi --- my source files have the least possible compression (other than using uncompressed RGB), and so I can even save interim clips during editing to Lossless again, with almost undetectable loss of quality, and then my final product is only compressed to MPEG one time. However, it does make huge files, my most recent 110 minute capture weighed in at about 30 gigabytes. I have a very roomy hard-drive, and I don't do much else on that pc except video projects.

 

My dad used a TiVo DVD recorder, it was extemely painless.

Myself, I use Roxio Easy CD/DVD Creator. Not so painless, but standard hardware (as long as you consider a digitizing video card standard).

 

just got back on. . .interesting approach. i assume once done with the divo, you could edit using roxio? i just upgraded my cable box to HD, could have gotten a tivo setup I believe for an additional $7 per month. might still be worth it to use for 2 months than return.

 

Roxio has a good editor, Pinnical's sucked.

TiVo was completely painless, labeled everything, inserted bookmarks, the works.

 

New Question, I have some super 8 that was converted to vhs, however, when they did it they got the audio messed up. everyone talks fast as if they were on helium, is there a freeware product that would sync these, that works with roxio or studio 9, etc?