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Activity Forums VEGAS Pro VHS importing

  • VHS importing

    Posted by Chuck Manly on March 21, 2008 at 3:45 am

    What are the differences, if any, when importing VHS the following ways?

    1) VHS to DVD standalone recorder > burned DVD > Vegas 8 using the import DVD Camcorder Disc.
    I believe some of these VHS to DVD recorders have built-in TBC.
    Are there any VHS to DVD recorders that have firewire out so I can capture without burning a DVD?
    What is the quality of the mpeg2 information on the burned DVD.
    At least this way I can copy alot of VHS tapes without the computer.

    2) VHS player composite or s-video > converter > firewire > vegas capture.
    Will the quality be better or worse going this route?
    What kind of file will it be imported as in Vegas?
    My 2 VHS machines are 6 and 8 years old btw.
    I know if I have a Canopus ADVC110 it has a TBC and I can hook up a NTSC monitor for preview.
    I use my Sony HDR-HC7 camera to pass preview to a TV.
    It does not have analog pass thru I believe.

    What other ways are there to digitize VHS?

    Sorry this is so long but I want to spend my time and limited budget on quality and productivity.

    Thanks.

    Mike Kujbida replied 18 years, 4 months ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • Allen Zagel

    March 21, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Uh, I don’t think the Canopus (Grass Valley) ADVC 110 has a TBC built in. I have the 100 and it doesn’t. You’ll need the AVDC-300 or above to get a built in TBC.

    Without a TBC your quality will depend on the quality of the VHS tape. I captured some 10 year old VHS tapes and the quality wasn’t all that great.

    Allen

    ASX Media Group, Inc.
    https://www.asxvideo.com

  • Mike Kujbida

    March 21, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    Allen is right about the 110 not having a TBC. It’s strictly a bi-directional A to D converter.

    The “right” answer for your questions depends on what you want to do with the videos.
    If it’s a straight conversion to DVD with no need for future editing, stick with option #1 as it’s much easier.

    If you plan to do any editing, you’ll get better quality with option #2.
    Files end up in DV-AVI format on your computer which are much easier for Vegas to deal with, especially if you want to do any noise reduction.

    With option #1, files are converted (compressed) to MPEG-2 as part of the DVD creation process. While not impossible to deal with, MPEG-2 is harder for Vegas to edit, especially on an older computer.
    In addition, you suffer a quality hit doing it this way.
    DV-AVI is roughly 13.5 GB/hr. while a DVD (let’s assume max quality of 1 hr.) is only 4.3 GB.
    That works out to about a 3:1 compression. Something has to give here and it’s the picture quality that will take the biggest hit.

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