Capturing directly from old VHS machine

[Graham Bernard]

VP only captures via FireWire, not USB.

Grazie

Video Content Creator and Potter
PC 7 64-bit 16gb * Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core 3.40GHz * 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti
Cameras: Canon XF300 + PowerShot SX50HS Bridge

[Russ Froze]

I’m afraid that Grazie is correct, the only absolute certain way for Vegas to capture video is via firewire. I have had fluke success with products such as Black Magic Intensity Pro or Deck link devices but they are hit and miss for me.

Arming the audio track is not the way to capture video, the way to capture video is through it’s own window which can be found under

File,
Capture Video

a new popup window will appear. From there you can choose from a limited selection. If you can get something to work in the popup window then you have a chance to capture with the Vegas Capture utility.

Vegas capture program can also be found in your Vegas installation folder usually named vidcap60.
Russ Froze

[John Rofrano]

As Graham and Russ have pointed out, Vegas Pro has a Firewire capture program which doesn’t work with USB.

The recommendation for all USB analog capture cards is that you use the software that came with them to capture your video. Therefore I suggest you go to the Kaiser Baas web site and download the Magix Video Easy SE Software that they recommend, and use it.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Kevin Mccarthy]

I simply use a firewire camera or deck with a pass-through feature and use the capture window in Vegas to capture my VHS videos

[Russ Froze]

[Kevin McCarthy] “I simply use a firewire camera or deck with a pass-through feature”
In that case your best bet, believe it or not is Windows Movie Maker. Choose the avi / DV setting. Vegas does not do well without time code from a tape. So yes Windows Movie Maker will do the job.
Russ Froze

[Paul Gregory]

Doesn’t Windows Movie Maker require input from FIREWIRE?

Thanks in advance

[Russ Froze]

Yes windows Movie Maker does support fire wire, I have also has success with some usb capture devices. Now this begs the question. I’m under the impression that a Camera or Deck with Video Pass through is feeding a firewire output. Am I mistaken in that assessment? If so please clarify or paraphrase the question for that might lead to a different answers.
Russ Froze

[Mike Kujbida]

Russ, you are correct about a pass through device going to firewire.
I disagree about your Vegas not liking non time coded tapes. I’ve captured hundreds of hours of VHS tape and never had any problems using Vegas. Just remember to disable tape control in the capture prefs.

[Russ Froze]

[Mike Kujbida] ” Just remember to disable tape control in the capture prefs”

Yes I have done that, but for me it’s been hit and miss that’s all.

Also I was not paying attention to who was posting, sorry my bad. I thought I was replying to Paul Gregory hence my confusion.

But still the old camera pass through trick works the best. I have found the lower end USB capture devices introduce audio noise so I steer away from them. You can still pick up Sony DV Cameras with fire wire pass through for somewhere between $20-$150 and as you alluded to they are great for video transfer.
Russ Froze

[Paul Gregory]

I finally have it working. It seems that the USB comes with its own software which I wasn’t given. I now have it all installed.

I have no ideas as to what will be found on these old tapes. I just intend to let the machine just run with all of its output onto a HDD which is on a caddy. I have only recorded 2 minutes just as a test.

I had expected the original was old analogue footage supposedly recorded in PAL 720×576. I reality I feel certain that its resolution much lower. I had the devise set to record PAL-B. Mediainfo tool tells me that its 352×240 at 29.97fps. I have no idea as to how it got to be an NTSC file,since it was all recorded in OZ on a PAL camera.

It appears to have come from a camcorder that had a very early attempt at a stabilizer which consists of it having drawn black box around the video. To fill the screen I would need to use track motion to eliminate

I suppose that I can play with the sound a bit. But the biggest change that might give the original a bit of a boost might be to add a dash from the sharpen tool as well as brightness & contrast.

Some options don’t appear under rendering options are the other Pal options. From what I recall was to render at 360×288 & still have a compliant file for either a DVD or I suppose even a Blu-ray.

Is this correct? If I specify a smaller frame size I think the program is just putting the same amount of data into a smaller container which would then not play full screen?

Thanks in advance