Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

I want to convert my VHS tapes to DVD and get rid of the tapes once and for  
all.  With such a wide choice of accessories to capture/convert from analog  
to digital (Pinnacle, Canopus, Plextor, etc.,etc....) I am finding really  
hard to decide what works and what doesn't.   Some of the reviews I see on  
specific models are totally contradictory from "works perfect" to "the worst  
product ever made".  Any prevailing opinions on this subject? or other  
recommended newsgroups to post on?
Thanks,
Frank

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

There are 3 aspects to this job, video capture, video editing and DVD  
authorship.
 
The key to good quality in converting your VHS tapes to DVD is getting a  
highest-possible quality capture from the analog tape to a digital  
format on the PC.
 
With regard to video capture, one solution that is so far above every  
other solution that it's not even a close call.  That is to record from  
or through a Camcorder with A-to-D conversion capability into the  
computer through a "Firewire" port.  This type of A-to-D capability is  
present in most, but not all, Sony Digital-8 camcorders, it's also  
present in some other models and brands, but by no means all of them.  
With this capability, you feed video (S-Video or just composite, with  
stereo audio) into the Camcorder's input jacks as if you were going to  
make a dub (copy), and it comes out as AVI digital in real time (there  
does not need to be any tape in the camcorder and the camcorder is not  
"running" in a mechanical sense).  The computer, obviously, doesn't have  
transport control of the VHS source, which you have to start and stop  
manually.
 
If you don't have and are unwilling to acquire a camcorder with this  
capability, there are external devices (both USB and Firewire) that will  
do the same thing, but I've never seen one that does it as well or as  
straightforwardly as a camcorder with this capability.  Be sure to get a  
Firewire or "High Speed" USB 2.0 device if you go the separate device  
route, because while some USB 1.1 devices exist, their bandwidth isn't  
high enough to even allow a maximum quality transfer.  The quality of  
these varies greatly, and from what I've seen, the best are still not as  
good as a digital camcorder.
 
To do the conversion of the VHS tapes, I bought a JVC HR-S9800U S-VHS  
VCR.  I got it used (factory reconditioned) on E-Bay for about $250  
(that was 2 years ago, they are much cheaper today).  This is an Ultra  
high-end VCR with a 4 MB digital frame buffer and digital signal  
processing.  This VCR has digital time base correction, digital noise  
reduction and digital signal processing, and it's by far the best VCR  
I've ever used,   I have NEVER seen this kind of picture quality from  
even an S-VHS VCR before.  You can find these and other similar high-end  
VCRs with digital TBC and signal processing on E-Bay, do a search for  
"digipure", which is JVC's trademark for this feature (you have to  
search the body of the auctions, not just the title).  By the way, I've  
not come across any VHS VCRs by anyone other than JVC that are this  
high-end or that have these digital features.
 
After the capture is done and you have the video on the PC, there are  
two further distinct aspects to "creating video", they are video editing  
and DVD authoring.
 
Video editing is the editing and assembly of the captured clips into  
what you really want to see as the final product.  This includes  
trimming the start and end points, deleting boring segments, ordering  
the clips in the sequence that you want, transitions between the clips,  
possibly video adjustments (color, brightness, contrast, etc.), and  
correspondingly, anything that you want to do with the audio (including  
background music).
 
DVD authorship is the creation of a DVD, and that means primarily the  
menu structure, the division of the total video project into "chapters",  
etc.  This includes things like background music, menu "buttons", menu  
"backgrounds", etc.  Warning:  Don't create a DVD without chapters and  
menus.  They can become unmanageable when you go to play them back, some  
players cannot do anything with such a DVD other than to let you watch  
it straight through at normal speed.  Take the time to create a "scene  
menu" and try to have a menu scenes (chapter) at least every ten or 15  
minutes.
 
There are some other considerations, things that impact the quality of  
the project, for example the encoding rate when the material is finally  
encoded into MPEG2 for the burn.  If you use the full DVD encoding rate,  
you get one hour of video on a single layer 4 gig DVD, but if you cut  
the rate - which cuts the quality - you can get 2 hours; I found about  
80 to 90 minutes on a DVD was as much as I was willing to tolerate in  
terms of quality degradation.
 
Video editing and authoring is a very complex subject, and there are  
literally hundreds of programs out there.  I converted about 50 2-hours  
VHS tapes to DVD, and it was about a 60 day project (I could only do  
about one DVD per day).  I also "produced" several DVDs that were not  
from camcorder tapes at all.
 
I tried about a dozen products, and the bottom line was that I don't  
really, totally like any of them, and I ended up using a combination of  
them.
 
I have to say, the bulk of the work ended up being done in Pinnacle  
Expression, a low-end program that is often available "free after  
rebate" (it's part of the Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD product, also, which  
you can pick up on E-Bay for $10 or so).  I have a love-hate  
relationship with this product.  It's buggy and flakey, and it doesn't  
do much compared to most of the other products that I tried.  But it  
does everything that you need for most routine videos, and it does it  
quickly, easily and efficiently with the shortest learning curve of any  
of the products that I tried.  That makes it a good product if you can  
successfully get all of the updates installed, and if you don't try to  
go outside of it's "envelope".  As I said, I ended up using it for more  
than 80% of what I did, all of it's many warts not withstanding.
 
Moving up, Pinnacle Studio is probably the best consumer level product.  
  It's much more capable than Expression, and much more stable.  HOWEVER  
it has a tremendous learning curve, much like Corel Draw or Photoshop --  
you can spend a LONG time (weeks) learning to use it effectively.
 
One program that worked very well for certain specific editing tasks was  
Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker 2.  In many ways, for many users and  
many typical tasks, it's the best video editing program, where you are  
not trying to get too fancy and easy of use and short learning curve are  
as high on your priority list as capabilities.  AND IT'S FREE, the basic  
program is part of WinXP and the upgrade to version 2 is a free  
Microsoft download.  Unfortunately, however, it's ONLY a video editing  
program.  It doesn't do DVD authoring or burning AT ALL.
 
The latest version of the Roxio software (Easy Media Creator 7) now has  
full-version video-wave 7 in it, and it may be a good choice for a  
mid-to-high range product that can do "everything".
 
Finally, with regard to the DVD burner, there is no quesiton about it,  
the Pioneer burner are so far above all other brands, and so inexpensive  
(about $80 to $90) that nothing else should even be considered.
 
 
 
Frank Bayuk wrote:
 
> I want to convert my VHS tapes to DVD and get rid of the tapes once and for  
> all.  With such a wide choice of accessories to capture/convert from analog  
> to digital (Pinnacle, Canopus, Plextor, etc.,etc....) I am finding really  
> hard to decide what works and what doesn't.   Some of the reviews I see on  
> specific models are totally contradictory from "works perfect" to "the worst  
> product ever made".  Any prevailing opinions on this subject? or other  
> recommended newsgroups to post on?
> Thanks,
> Frank  
>  
>