• Compression Techniques

  VHS to DVD – DVD maker 2

  Posted by Olly Lawer on October 30, 2010 at 1:52 pm

  Hi,

  Got 10, 3 hour VHS tapes that I need to burn to DVD without quality loss and not taking forever to compress.

  Aiming to use MacBook and just let run at night using DVD maker 2 then burn it to dual layer DVD using DVD pro (so I can set the remote functions)

  Is this a sensible way of doing it without losing quality.

  DVD maker 2 is only £28 so seems the cheapest way

  Olly Lawer

  Chris Blair replied 15 years, 10 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Chris Blair

  October 30, 2010 at 7:09 pm

  By definition compression reduces quality, so you’re going to certainly lose some quality considering you’re starting with VHS as your source. Whoever invented VHS should’ve had their arse kicked years ago…mainly for its positively awful quality. I’d venture to say that 720×486 web video is better visual quality today than VHS.

  So all you can really hope for is a relatively clean transcode to your MPEG2 format in preparation for burning to DVD. The software you use isn’t going to seriously impact that quality as long as you meet the DVD video specs and keep your video data rates at about 4-5MB/sec.

  I’ve seen people run VHS through mid-range video processing tools that reduce noice, restore sync and adjust color values as they’re digitizing the footage to MPEG2 in real-time…and that slightly improves quality…but it’s not possible to take 240 line resolution VHS and add back much in the way of quality otherwise.

  Chris Blair
  Magnetic Image, Inc.
  Evansville, IN
  http://www.videomi.com
  Read our blog http://www.videomi.com/blog
• 

  Olly Lawer

  October 31, 2010 at 11:42 am

  Hi,

  Thanks for your reply. Heard DVD maker isn’t very good.

  Never done this before, so in laymans terms, what do I need to do?

  Got MacBook with dual layer burner
  Final Cut Pro (full edition)
  VHS player

  Thanks

  Olly Lawer
• 

  Chris Blair

  November 1, 2010 at 11:25 pm

  I’d start with a Google search. If it were me, I’d play the VHS tapes straight out to a set-top DVD Recorder and that’s it. I’d record at the medium or low-quality setting (most DVD-recorders have settings that will record at different quality and hence fit different amounts on disc), and be done with it.

  Chris Blair
  Magnetic Image, Inc.
  Evansville, IN
  http://www.videomi.com
  Read our blog http://www.videomi.com/blog

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