Turn picture controller settings off to get best conversion?

[mason]

I have been transferring over some VHS football games through my advc 300 to final cut express. I am getting confused with all of the settings on picture controller and am starting to think that turning all of those settings off will get me the best picture. I noticed when using some of the settings there would be a slight motion blur with the blue pants in our uniforms. If I turn off all settings on Picture Controller, will the advc still do a decent clean up job upon conversion (even though most are not that bad quality). What I mean is, does the advc have its own settings separate from the Picture Controller that will still clean up or preserve the original quality without the Picture Controller?

I also turned off the TBC on my S-VHS Panasonic Desktop Editor. Should I leave it on if I am turning off picture controller or should I turn both off and just let the factory settings on the advc do its work?

I am just getting confused with all the possibilities regarding this and 2d 3 d separation etc. I just want to preserve the videos in the best state possible. Please help!!!

[kbosward]

Every setting in Picture Controller (and therefore the ADVC300, since all that Picture Controller does is remotely control the ADVC300 settings) can be turned off or set to neutral. The only thing that can't be turned off is the Line Time Base Controller but that shouldn't cause blurring or other motion artifacts.

Normally you would turn ON the TBC in your VCR as it should improve the stability of the signal and therefore the capture quality. Of course if your VCR also has noise filters you may want to experiment with turning them off.

Also make sure you are using a S-video cable to connect your S-VHS player to the ADVC300 as that will give highest quality even on recordings that are not S-VHS (I have found using a S-video cable reduces colour fringing on edges of VHS tapes which were originally recorded on a standard VHS player).

When comparing the quality of captures produced with various settings, make sure you burn them to DVD and play them on your TV, don't just watch them on your computer! Eraseable DVDs (like DVD+RW) are great for this if your DVD player supports them.

Ken.