How do I convert my Video Cassete into a VCD?

[slicksilver]

and do I need special hardware for this? Right now all i've got is a Asus v6600 32mb sdr geforce card with no inputs and outputs. I read somewhere that a capture card was required for this...What exactly is this and how does it work? I mean does the TV's outputs go into the card's inputs ? or is there some other work around.....BTW, I planning on upgrading my video card.....which video card should I go for? Gaming is really important .....but my budget is limited to 200 usd.......My current setup is 1.4 ghz athlon with 256 MB Ram and a 40 gig 7200 rpm. Are there cards with capture facility as well?

Looking forward to you humble replies

TIA

Raj

 

[MrPhelps]

Your question is a one hundred old question that I got all different responses to. I am told to go to pinnacle's website and the have what you need. I was asking to turn tapes into cd so I can view at full screen like a vhs would. I am still not convinced of how to do it.


To buy a capture card or not that is the question.
To buy a new video card?
To buy a DVD burner?


Sorry I have no good answer for you but at least it will bump it for you. This is link I was told to browse.
VCD help .com

 

[S13SilviaK]

The AIW 8500DV might be a good choice since you want a new vid card anyway. And ATI currently has it for $250 with a $50rebate if you trade in an old vid card...if you have a really crappy old vid card to trade in you'd be golden.

 

[soundforbjt]

The best way to convert video tape to VCD is with a good capture card. Save to .avi format, then convert to MPEG1 using TMPGEnc and burn to VCD. A great site for infomation is www.vcdhelp.com If done correctly you can get great results. I do alot of this and I've found it's the best way. ATI AIW cards are good jack of all trades cards, but not the video capture king by any means.

 

[NicColt]

>Save to .avi format, then convert to MPEG1 using TMPGEnc

You've got to be kidding me.

>ATI AIW cards are good jack of all trades cards, but not the video capture king by any means.

You've got to be kidding me again.

>BTW, I planning on upgrading my video card.....which video card should I go for? Gaming is really important .....but my budget is limited to 200 usd.

The rage theatre chips on the ATI cards have/are the best 'affordable' software MPEG2 encoding solutions out there now. If you want better than this you will need to go Hardware MPEG2. As of this time there are no Hardware MPEG2 cards built into a gaming card. But since you are on a budget and that you also want to get a Gaming card, you can't go wrong with either the AIW Radeon or the AIW 7500. If you don't want the Guide+ or interactive TV then just go with either the 7500 vivo or the 8500 vivo. This solution will definately be cheaper and better than going to a double nvidia/capture solution.

If you capture directly to MPEG2 at anything over 2/MBit second, will most definately be better than ANY avi format. The question then becomes what do you do with the MPEG2 file that you have captured. Questions like compression, quality and file size then needs to be answered. Also with an ATI card you can capture directly to MPEG1-VCD or MPEG2-SVCD formats, then just burn.

I will actually be doing that this weekend.

 

[soundforbjt]

<< >Save to .avi format, then convert to MPEG1 using TMPGEnc

You've got to be kidding me.

>ATI AIW cards are good jack of all trades cards, but not the video capture king by any means.

You've got to be kidding me again.

>BTW, I planning on upgrading my video card.....which video card should I go for? Gaming is really important .....but my budget is limited to 200 usd.

The rage theatre chips on the ATI cards have/are the best 'affordable' software MPEG2 encoding solutions out there now. If you want better than this you will need to go Hardware MPEG2. As of this time there are no Hardware MPEG2 cards built into a gaming card. But since you are on a budget and that you also want to get a Gaming card, you can't go wrong with either the AIW Radeon or the AIW 7500. If you don't want the Guide+ or interactive TV then just go with either the 7500 vivo or the 8500 vivo. This solution will definately be cheaper and better than going to a double nvidia/capture solution.

If you capture directly to MPEG2 at anything over 2/MBit second, will most definately be better than ANY avi format. The question then becomes what do you do with the MPEG2 file that you have captured. Questions like compression, quality and file size then needs to be answered. Also with an ATI card you can capture directly to MPEG1-VCD or MPEG2-SVCD formats, then just burn.

I will actually be doing that this weekend. >>



Thanks for the flame!

I've done over 200 vcd's and I've tried the Radeon AIW and my way, and on my progressive scan dvd player and Hi-Def TV I can tell a difference. If you want to see it for yourself go to vcdhelp.com, they have side by side captures showing the difference. Granted it's more than $200 but it's the best quality.

 

[MrPhelps]

<<

<< >Save to .avi format, then convert to MPEG1 using TMPGEnc

You've got to be kidding me.

>ATI AIW cards are good jack of all trades cards, but not the video capture king by any means.

You've got to be kidding me again.

>BTW, I planning on upgrading my video card.....which video card should I go for? Gaming is really important .....but my budget is limited to 200 usd.

The rage theatre chips on the ATI cards have/are the best 'affordable' software MPEG2 encoding solutions out there now. If you want better than this you will need to go Hardware MPEG2. As of this time there are no Hardware MPEG2 cards built into a gaming card. But since you are on a budget and that you also want to get a Gaming card, you can't go wrong with either the AIW Radeon or the AIW 7500. If you don't want the Guide+ or interactive TV then just go with either the 7500 vivo or the 8500 vivo. This solution will definately be cheaper and better than going to a double nvidia/capture solution.

If you capture directly to MPEG2 at anything over 2/MBit second, will most definately be better than ANY avi format. The question then becomes what do you do with the MPEG2 file that you have captured. Questions like compression, quality and file size then needs to be answered. Also with an ATI card you can capture directly to MPEG1-VCD or MPEG2-SVCD formats, then just burn.

I will actually be doing that this weekend. >>



Thanks for the flame!

I've done over 200 vcd's and I've tried the Radeon AIW and my way, and on my progressive scan dvd player and Hi-Def TV I can tell a difference. If you want to see it for yourself go to vcdhelp.com, they have side by side captures showing the difference. Granted it's more than $200 but it's the best quality. >>




These vcd's you made do they play at full screen at a vhs type of quality??? I am very new at this.

 

[soundforbjt]

I've made both full screen and widescreen videos using this method and the quality is as good as the original tape. If you copy a dvd to SVCD the quality will be even better than vhs.

 

[alexruiz]

Soundforbjt is right. Even though the rage theather chip is the best for software mpeg capture, a good MPEG encoder gives better quality (Can use BP frames to optimize the bitrate). Also, for a VCD the MPEG has to be MPEG1 at 1150 kbps video, 224 kbps audio. XVCD can have higher bitrate, but it depends on the DVD player if it can handle the addtional bitrate.

 

[NicColt]

>ATI AIW cards are good jack of all trades cards, but not the video capture king by any means.
>Granted it's more than $200 but it's the best quality.
>Thanks for the flame!

Sorry I didn't mean to have it come out as a flame my bad.... But

>but my budget is limited to 200 usd

I though you were refering to an AVI-2-MPEG1 capture from game/capture for under 200. I do admit that there are Hardware Capture cards that can capture AVI far better than the AIW but not from a game/capture card for under 200USD, for that the Radeon IS king.

>These vcd's you made do they play at full screen at a vhs type of quality???

It all depends on the Quality of Capture. I've captured 4 vhs tapes over the weekend at MPEG2 with 4/MBit second and converted them to VCD with Vegas Video (you can use VideoFactory) and they were quite nice.

Again I agree you can get better quality but you eventually get what you pay for. Put more money in and you'll get better quality. But for the normal hobbyist and for the most bang for the buck my AIW Radeon is quite good.

 

[soundforbjt]

No offense taken NicColt, I was just explaining the best way to do it. Some people have priceless ( to them) videos that they want to save on a more permanent basis than video tape allows. It hard to put a price on how much is too much to spend in cases like that. On a limited budget the AIW is a great compromise.

 

[oslama]

what about using dazzle dm50 for capturing vhs.

 

[NicColt]

>what about using dazzle dm50 for capturing vhs

you must mean the dvc-50, if so it's not that bad all in one package for $50 but it's limited to MPEG1 and 352x240. I'd recommend that for those starting out in video editing to get a hang of it. It will be frustrating though trust me.

Here's what I recommend.

For the intermidiate video editing/gamer hobbyist go with AIW Radeon or AIW7500 which can capture software MPEG1 or MPEG2 and get Video Factory from sonic Foundry for $60 which comes with the MPEG1 codec, purchase the Main Concept MPEG2 codec which is sold seperate for a small fee and your set. But if you just want todo VCD's then capture at MPEG1 and that codec is included in Video Factory. and if you want to upgrade Video Factory to edit mpeg2 then you can upgrade at a later time, you then have that option.

For the intermidiate/advance user who requires more quality I'd go for the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-pci card but it has a retail price of $249 or the Dazzle DVCII for $299 both have Hardware MPEG2 capture, these two are known as the 'Poor mans hardware MPEG2 encoders'. However consider this, for $249 you can get the AIW7500 that does software MPEG2 and the quality is near Hardware MPEG2. but the decision is upto you, like I say, you get what you pay for.

There will always be better for the $$$ but that's not for me.

 

[oslama]

i want to archive some home movies and to port my laserdisc (pioneer) collection to vcds that i can run on a dvd player(apex 1500)