Bad VHS Tape Help

[andywt]

I have a VHS tape that I am trying to capture on my Mac. I believe the tape maybe defective as every 5 seconds or so of playback there is an flicker and a horizontal line across the tape and the breakup flows to the bottom of the screen then all is ok until the next time. It is like sync is lost.

Are there any adjustments I can make on the AVC to compensate for this?

Are there any filters that could applied using Final Cut or other tool?

[SoundFreak]

I could be wrong, but if this is a commercially made video than it's most likely a Macro Vision "like" copy right protection.

Who made the original tape and was recorder on what device ?

Mostly VHS problems will not appear with a set interval that is very precise in time unless it's hardware related, then it could ..........But you describe a Flicker, maybe like a bright flash ?, this doesn't sound like tracking or anything else but a form of protection of content.

[antonsvideo]

remove the tape at the point where disturbance is seen and flip open the lid to inspect the tape, if you see damage to the tape such as creases, there is not much you can do

other than that, a Time base corrector will help

[andywt]

This is a video tape of a High School marching band so I would be surprised if it had macrovision. The tape does not look damaged so its likely that the initial recording was flubbed. Do you think a Time Based corrector would help? I'm new at this so not sure how I wouse use it.

[tuyle]

Can you adjust the "tracking" on the VHS player ?
Professional VHS (SVHS) player will have TBC, if not you can ask someone else to transfer to dvd for you - it's cheaper than rent a TBC.