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quality questions with VHS archiving…
yes, i know, the subject heading itself is an oxymoron as “VHS” and “quality” should probably never appear in the same sentence, but since work is slow i’m digging into my old family videos and transferring VHS and mini-DV tapes to DVD via a slight bit of editing in FCP then onto DVD SP. i’m assuming there is no need to capture at any higher quality than DV, but when it comes to Compressing for DVD SP, should i still go for the highest quality default setting (2-pass 6.2 Mbps) or could i get by with 1-pass 3.7 Mbps? my initial thinking is that these settings will matter more than the capture setting, as an 8-bit capture vs. the DV capture shouldn’t matter at all with VHS and mini-DV originals, but when it comes to the compressing, it seems i should still try for the best quality i can get. true? also, with Compressor, it seems we are all seeing that 1-pass vs. 2-pass makes no visible difference (at least i haven’t seen any diff).
i guess i’m mostly just thinking out loud, but wonder if i am on-track with what the rest of you guys are doing…
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9 Replies
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1-pass and 2-pass shouldn’t look any different. The point of 2-pass is to look the same as 1-pass but take up less space on the disc.
How much video (time-wise) are you trying to put on each disc? That’s what makes the most difference when trying to pick a setting.
Also, you might get a slight difference capturing in some kind of format other than DV since you’d be avoiding the DV compression. BUT I don’t think it would be a heck of a big difference. If you have the ability to capture 8-bit SD then go for it, but if you can’t do that it’s certainly not worth buying more hardware or anything. I doubt it’s a really big deal for this kind of thing.
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hey thanks, i had never heard that about 1-pass vs. 2-pass. i thought 2-pass was actually supposed to be cleaner. thanks for the confirmation on the rest, i think i’ll just keep it at DV capture-quality, and probably Compress at 6.2 Mbps. hey, it’s my family memories! : )
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Got my terminology messed up…
I MEANT that VBR is supposed to be just like CBR but take up less space and look the same. For some reason I was thinking 1-pass = CBR and 2-pass = VBR but that’s not always the case.
My mistake, you are totally correct about 2-pass VBR being a better image than a 1-pass VBR. For some reason I was just thinking 1-pass means CBR when I said that.
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no problem! but thanks for the clarification…
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[mortimer heathcliff] “the subject heading itself is an oxymoron as “VHS” and “quality” should probably never appear in the same sentence”
Hollywood releases from film and tv programing originating on 1″ composite video were recorded on 58 micron track pitch vhs decks for release to the public and they look pretty good. Likewise the early amiga computers output composite video that was very nice looking video. I just watched a copy of Romancing the Stone a few days ago which was recorded off satilite onto an S-VHS deck (7-8 years ago or so) and I ran it off a JVC BR-S622DXU deck with component out to a BVM monitor. I had to ask myself “has video really gotten that much better”? It looked great! A lot of the reputation of vhs is gotten from consumer equipment and consumers who record on SLP modes onto cheap stock from cheap decks and store their tapes over the heat register. If you’ve ever picked up a reel from the local tv station you’ve probably noticed how nice it looked.
.[mortimer heathcliff] “as an 8-bit capture vs. the DV capture shouldn’t matter at all with VHS and mini-DV originals”
If you are going to mix vhs with mini dv on the time line I wouldn’t worry about it, otherwise I’d try to keep vhs seperate and bring it in sd 8bit. A pro deck with a tbc will help get cleaner video from old vhs. We have a mediapress hardware encoder that makes encoded vhs look amazing. DV is not a great codec for dvd encoding. If you have a lot of vhs you might consider renting a good deck with tbc for capturing. You will be able to restore the video, chroma, and black levels and adjust phase. If it has a DNR circiut it will eliminate most the drop outs too. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Why not make it as good as it can be?
…and Now the Pitch…
(I really didn’t plan this part from the get go) but I have several JVC BR-S622DXU decks with under 500 original hours on them for sale if you or anyone is interested. Maybe I should post them in the classified. -
[Rennie] “I have several JVC BR-S622DXU decks with under 500 original hours on them for sale if you or anyone is interested. Maybe I should post them in the classified.”
Or they make terrific BOAT ANCHORS along with all of my Reel-to-Reel pro decks.
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I still have one reel to reel and it doesn’t get much use for shure but I use the jvc’s quite a bit still mainly for dumping onto dvd and some ingesting and of coarse watching all my old s-vhs collection. I had a transfer from mini dv to vhs yesterday and I have another to do today so joe public are still using vhs too. I’m in a small city so I have legacy 1″ ,3/4; beta and the SP versions, MII etc etc. I find people are willing to pay just about anything to get what’s on those tapes off them. If I were down town NY I couldn’t afford the floor space to keep them but for now I can still squeeze a buck out of em once in a while. I’m just waiting for ther DVW 500’s to drop below $1000.00 as we all go tapeless!
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thanks for the info, how much for one of your JVC BR-S622DXU decks?
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Hi Mortimer, I would need to get $400.00 for one and I’ll include a manual. If you are interested I’ll get the exact hours. I can tell you now the drum, capstan and reel hours are under 500 but the operation will be up there because they are often left powered on. The power on doesn’t hurt anything it just means the power was left on. The deck works like new and looks like new too although there may be a few slight scuffs. I’d rate it 9 out of 10. These use the same load mechanism as JVC’s Digital-S decks and physically they are about the same size (big). They run super smooth and quite too. The component option is included. It will cost about $75.00 to ship to Canada or USA. My email is rennieklymyk@telus.net. I can send some photos if you are interested.
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