M100 digitizing problems

[Kieran Matthew]

This sounds like a time-base issue. The video output of VHS machines is unstable and produces noisy syncs. Normally a TV or monitor ignores the extra noise and locks to where it expects the syncs to be so you get a stable picture. Media 100 however is trying to lock to the incoming feed and is very choosey about the grade of sync it gets. Normally it is just about OK, but in particulary noisey bits such as dropouts, breaks in recording, fast-forward/rewind, or sometimes just normal playback, the system gives up and crashes as you describe.

The only way to effectively (in my experience)use VHS as an input format is to first pass it through a TBC. Good ones are now coming up on the second hand market quite frequently and for reasonable prices.

Hope that helps!

[Marc Morel]

Hi,

I’ve run into similar problems and although not the best solution because of the added generation, I ended up dumping the VHS to Betacam SP an digitizing from that.

Marc

[Matt Short]

[Marc] “I ended up dumping the VHS to Betacam SP an digitizing from that.”

I’ve never had this problem with digitizing but, I always transfer any footage I get (vhs, DVD, etc.) to Beta just so I can archive it and redigitize or reload the project later.

[Cj]

When we were digitizing VHS tapes, we would simply go through a switcher. This elimiated the crashing.
Back in 2000 when we were digitizing a lot from VHS, we purchased a BVP-4 processor (no longer sold from Elite Video). This would clean up the footage while being digitized and at times was quite an improvement. If you still do a lot with VHS, you may want to look into one. We connected this directly to the BOB and it worked fine. They are available on Ebay. B&H has used for $399 (rather expensive). We have ours collecting dust in a closet as we haven’t touched VHS in 3 years.

[Scott56]

Thanks so much for the response.
I hooked up my TBC and that did the trick. Saves more time than transferring to BETA plus no generational loss. Improved picture if anything.
Strange however that I never had this problem with any prior versions of M100, and I’ve inputed some real garbage over the years.
Scott

[Scott56]

Thanks for the response.
I dumped to BETA for awhile, then tried running through a TBC as recommended by another reader, which worked as well. Strange however that I never had that problem on previous versions of M100 and I’ve transferred some real garbage over the years.
Scott

[Scott56]

Thanks for the response. I’m now running the footage through my TBC with satisfactory results but I don’t understand why I never had this problem with earlier versions of M100. I’ve digitized some real garbage over the years.
Scott