VHS to DVD question

[Eric H]

this is what a firewire connector looks like.

[Eric H]

To date the only good results I've had transferring VHS tape to Digital format have been had by copying the VHS to a Digital 8mm Camcorder via the Composite jacks and then transferring it to the Computer via the Firewire.

This has left me with a beautiful 1 gig mpeg file that looks as good as the original but I still haven't figured out how to convert it to DVD easily.

I tried using Roxio EZ Creator but it took two hours to produce a badly pixilated DVD copy of this 8 minute video I think I will see what Nero can do, it's what I usually use to convert the Prelinger files to Video CD when needed and they look great!

Also, the video I dubbed was probably NOT macrovision protected so I still don't know if the 8mm will copy something that is. I'll have to try a tape that is know to have MV and see what happens.
I'll try a Disney video, if anything has Macro that will. If it works I'll make copies and sell them out of the trunk of my car for $5.00

Just kidding

Bought a snazzy video capture card that came with editing software. This is a Pinnacle Studio AV/DV version 9 (supposedly their latest). It plugs into a PCI slot and has S-Video input and output (also composite).

I figured that seeing as how my VCR/DVD machine also has S-Video then this may be the way to fly. No need to worry about USB or Firewire as this is plugged directly into the motherboard of the machine and will just be "watching" the video and audio signal as it enters directly.

May not get to messing with it till the weekend, but can't wait!

Anthony

[Eric H]

OK, I have been experimenting some more and I think I've got it!

I transferred a couple 30 minute VHS tapes to DVD this weekend using this process and they look great!

Step one: dub the VHS to an 8mm DV Camcorder. This gives you a digital dub that's pretty much as good as the source.

Step two: transfer the video from the DV camcorder to the computer using firewire (or USB?) and Roxio's DVD Builder capture software.

Step Three: Use roxio to encode the video to the DVD format and save it as an ISO image on the hard drive.
This takes a lot of time, 30 min videos took more than an hour to encode on an AMD Athlon XP1100 machine.

Step four: Use Nero 6.0 to burn the image to a DVD.

Note: I only used Nero to do this because Roxio for some reason doesn't recognize my DVD burner. If it did I could probably just go right to burning it and skip the ISO file, though it's nice to have if you want to make more than one copy.

Eric

[Adam]

I've been reading old threads late at night again. Anyway, I came across this in here:

"Betamax machines always inserted new sync pulses on it's recording, effectively stripping MacroVision right off."

and tried it on my 2 betamax VCRs, (Sears SR 1000, and Sanyo VCR 6400), and it didn't take out the macrovision at all. Anyone tried this and had it work, or know which model Beta VCRs insert new sync pulses when they record?

[kx250rider]

I have copied copyrighted DVDs and VHS onto Betamax. I wanted to then go from Betamax back to DVD, but it wouldn't work. But at least I have Beta copies which is better than having none.

A friend of mine did a reasonably good copy of a new release DVD by playing it on the computer with LCD monitor, and putting his Panasonic DVC camcorder on a tripod, minimum background lighting in the room, and recorded off the monitor!

Just another footnote: I just installed a new off-brand DVD recorder-VHS combination unit for a fellow, and the RF modulator WILL NOT OUTPUT the signal! I thought it was a failed new unit, but I read the book and it says that the signal is ONLY output via the RCA plugs, and the RF modulator is not a modulator at all. It's just pass-through for recording material from air & cable signal. after looking into why, I learned that they had to do that in order to get the units to pass copyright laws. Big Brother is creeping in on us swiftly and silently. One day, your toilet may send a signal to Washington to let the feds know what kind of food you ate so they can somehow tax you on it. Watch out!

Charles

[dtuomi]

If you really want to strip the macrovision off you use a time base corrector. They're devices that broadcasters use to make helical scan vcr's (like VHS) be usable in a studio. You need a full frame corrector, and they can sometimes be purchased on eBay inexpensively. Be sure to get a full frame (sometimes called a frame sync). Other kinds of TBC's only correct a few lines of video, which is good enought for 1" machines, but won't work for VHS and won't strip macrovision. I use a Panasonic DS-555 SVHS deck to transfer VHS & SVHS material over for DVD's. The deck has a built in time base corrector and is a fully pro style deck. To get it into the computer I usually use a analog video to firewire converter. But in a pinch I've also just copied to DV tape to put it in the computer. Roxio does work for DVD's, but I've never been completly pleased with the quality. It takes a lot of fooling around to get it right. Good luck.

David

[andy]

Originally Posted by Adam

I've been reading old threads late at night again. Anyway, I came across this in here:

"Betamax machines always inserted new sync pulses on it's recording, effectively stripping MacroVision right off."

and tried it on my 2 betamax VCRs, (Sears SR 1000, and Sanyo VCR 6400), and it didn't take out the macrovision at all. Anyone tried this and had it work, or know which model Beta VCRs insert new sync pulses when they record?

Sanyo Betas weren't the best for ignoring macrovision. I've had the best luck with Sony Beta VCRs. They don't remove macrovision, but they do ignore it. The copy will still have macrovision on it,

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by andy

The copy will still have macrovision on it,

That explains it! I was wondering how the Beta copy I made is fine, but still won't transfer to DVD or back to VHS...

Charles

Another solution is to get a TV tuner card for your PC to copy. At least that's what I've been doing on my Beta/VHS restoration to DVD. I just have a Hauppauge stereo TV tuner card with an S-Video in and some other goodies. It uses a BT-878 chipset. It ignores all macrovision.

The downside is you'd have to convert the AVI or whatever file you saved to MPEG-2 for DVD and such. There's some work involved. But I use filters to clean up the videos to make it look way better than the original.

And like others have said, a time base corrector will do the trick as well

The only Beta VCR that I have that I know of that will copy macrovision protected copies is my SL-5000, but it's from 1981. My 1985 SL-100 won't. I can't remember off of the top of my head which year they came out with macrovision.

[Adam]

I undertand now. Actually my copies wern't affected by the macrovision they just still contained it. (the same was true with one of my VHS VCRs: RCA VCT 400X, 1979) I didn't even notice it at the time, because what I'm really looking for is just a way to watch the DVDs on a roundie without the retrace lines the macrovision puts at the top. I remember the time base corrector was suggested the last time this subject was brought up, I was just hoping for a cheaper alternative.