Capturing from VHS

[plasma_video]

Want me to email you this other DVD recorder to try? :-)

[Adbear]

Just an update: I did what Plasma said to do - uncheck all the automatic settings in capture and lo and behold the first two VHS copies were fine. One final AVI. However, from thereon it went downhill. Other VHS copies resulted in one AVI but masses of dropped frames, glitches etc.

So, it did work, in part.

O

Well a TBC will help to a certain extent with some of those drop outs, but it depends on how bad the tape is, as it can only do so much. I'd try the TVOne TBC as I've had customers who've had good results with it, and as you're in the UK if you get it and are very careful when unpacking it, if it doesn't work you should be able to send it back within 7 days

[Olaf]

Plasma, yes, if you could email that it would be useful.

I have another question now: S-video. The VTR I was using with s-video has decided to give up. So I am now going to have to use a VTR that doesn't have s-video. Is there any point in using the scart with a scart plug that has s-video connector?

[plasma_video]

If I think I know what your reference to a scart connector is, I don't believe you would gain any advantage.

Are you referring to an adapter that has an RCA in and an S video connector on the other end? Usually they are used to combine the luminance and chrominance signals into composite.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you have.

This DVD recorder used as a "bridge" is working so eloquently I'm surprised I didn't think of trying it before. The Storm card sure likes it.

Do a search for the other thread I started about this Storm issue several years ago. If I get time, I'll recap it in this thread . . . . honey-dos are a-callin' me now.

[Olaf]

The scart plug I was referring to is pictured here:

http://www.keene.co.uk/electronic/un...d/KA127SG.html

What do you think?

[plasma_video]

I have to admit I've never seen one before. What do you have that the SCART side of it plugs into? I'm only vaguely familiar with the term and the fact that some international TVs had them. Does your VCR have one as the output?

[Adbear]

It depends on whether the scart socket supports s-video out. Many older scart sockets only supported composite out, so if you buy a scart convertor with S-Video and the player doesn't support S-Video out then it will come out black and white.

[GrassValley_BH]

Yes, IIRC (yup, Wikipedia confirms)on the SCART pinout S-Video Y (luma) is shared with the Composite (CVBS) so if the device doesn't output C (chroma) on the other pin, your S-Video device sees only a luma signal and you get black and white.

Oddly enough, I have an NTSC TV that seems to decipher CVBS over S-Video Y... so strange things can happen that perhaps shouldn't be in a standards-complying world...

[RayL]

Regarding the need for TBCs or similar stabilisers, the Canopus DV Storm came with four really excellent little applications. One of these was Storm Video, the model of what a capture utility should be - analogue and DV input, readout of DV timecode, readout of capture time as capture progresses, preview picture, audio level bargraph, etc.

Above all it was essentially bombproof when it came to input signals. DV? You could click on the record button then plug in the firewire and it would find the signal and start recording. No nonsense about identifying cameras first or having to be in play mode. Analogue? It would record quite happily from a grotty domestic VCR without hiccups.

Has the knowledge of good practice in capture hardware/software been lost?

Ray

[SoundFreak_HD]

Has the knowledge of good practice in capture hardware/software been lost?

Ray

It's not lost, you just have to learn it yourself :)

I totally agree, those apps were rock solid, reliable and easy to use, rocket science made easy.

Now (as Anton likes to put it) you'll need a broadcast degree to make input settings before you can use a simple source, not the way forward me thinks.

[Adbear]

Even with Storm Video if your analog VHS signal was poor you'd get dropped frames and glitches and would still need a TBC it's just back then you were more likely to be using newer tapes that hadn't been sat round for a decade or more slowly deteriorating.

[umdaman]

I know this is an OLD post, but anyone who is also interested in converting VHS tapes to DVD. I have had good success using the ADVC110 Converter. I used SCLive to capture. It's now free software. Worked great in Windows 7 x64 environment.

SCLive can be downloaded free from:

http://www.scenalyzer.com/