Best method to capture video for DVD conversion

[Sandan]

Is the best way to capture video, VHS in my case, to use a stand alone capture card or an ATI All-in-Wonder card. I then would burn it onto DVD. I am considering the AIW 9600pro which I can buy for $212 on line. If a capture card would be better I wonder what is a good one. My system is Windows XP, AMD XP2400+, 512 pc2700 ram. Thanks....

 

[mikeford]

The VIVO is the same on a wide range of ATi cards, so I would suggest a MUCH cheaper one, especially since VHS is generally going to SUCK regardless. A much better place to put your money is in a high quality VHS deck to play the tape in.

I bought a cheap Toshiba at Fry's for something like $68 on sale, and was amazed at how much better it made my old tapes look compared to a much more expensive, but much older deck. That made me curious so I shopped until I found a good deal on a JVC SuperVHS deck and its even better. Things like the auto tracking and tape calibration make it a good choice for anybody with a lot of tapes they don't want to buy again on DVD.

 

[oldfart]

I would get a device that converts analog video into DV with a Firewire output and a decent software package.

Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV would be a good example of this. It comes with Studio 8 which is a very nice package. It goes for $170 @ Newegg.com.

 

[Sandan]

So Mikeford mentions that vhs quality converted will suck. Oldfart will the quality also suck with moviebox DV. Any other opinions on the quality of vhs to dvd would be appreciated. One of the main reasons I want to do this is to prolong the life of the format. Thanks.

 

[oldfart]

It can never be any better than the original. You will lose no quality doing it this way. Believe me, you dont want to mess with analog capture. DV firewire transfer is so much better.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Originally posted by: oldfart
It can never be any better than the original. You will lose no quality doing it this way. Believe me, you dont want to mess with analog capture. DV firewire transfer is so much better.

Since his input is analog, would it really make any difference if he used the $170 Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV you mentioned vs. something like the $46 LeadTek TV2000XP? I can see if he had digital video input. Can you explain what the DV solution would be doing different? Where does firewire come into play in this VCR->DVD process?
Isn't the Mpeg 2 format on the analog card the same as the "DV" format?

I have the same questions as Sandan.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[oldfart]

The Pinnacle device converts analog video and audio to DV in hardware and streams it as an AVI file with DV compression. The other card uses your PC CPU as a host processor to convert analog to MPEG in real time. Real time MPEG conversion is hard to with good quality unless you have a powerful expensive dedicated MPEG hardware encoder. A $50 card wont do that. It is better to capture first, then convert to MPEG2 in non real time for best quality. The DV hardware codec gives you a very good level of capture compression. 720 x 480 DV capture in full quality is only 13 Gig/Hr.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I suggest this: ADS USB Instant DVD 2.0

You can do whatever you want with it, and encode directly to MPEG1/2, allowing you to burn directly to disc.

It has the same chip used by consumer DVD set-top recorders, it will record at VERY high rates (10 MBps, higher than most pressed DVDs).

As you can see, people love it or hate it - and I suspect most who hate it don't know how to set it up to begin with.

 

[oldfart]

That looks pretty good. It seems I'm a bit out of touch with the consumer real time MPEG HW encoders. If you can get a good card that will encode to MPEG2 realtime at a decent resolution and quality, it would be a good way to go.

 

[beserkfury15]

go to www.dvdrhelp.com for more info...it's better to capture to hdd, then convert the movies using software like virtualdub that has a bunch of filter's that can make the video look better.