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Post new topic VHS to DVD
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Author Topic:  VHS to DVD
Gere Mullican


From:
LaVergne, Tennessee, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 24 Feb 2004 12:24 pm    
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I need help and info for getting video tapes on to DVD. I guess first going to hard drive. I have a Dell computer with 866 MHz processor, plenty of hard drive space and 256 RAM. I have a CD burner and a TDK DVD burner. I would like to know what else I need. Maybe a video capture card, Dazzle, what software and that kind of stuff. If anyone is near Nashville and could come by the house and help it would really be appreciated. Thanks for any help.
Gere

[This message was edited by Gere Mullican on 24 February 2004 at 12:25 PM.]

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Bill Llewellyn


From:
San Jose, CA
Post  Posted 25 Feb 2004 8:00 am    
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Gere,

I'm a Mac user so I can't give you an exact answer, but in my case I use a Sony miniDV camcorder as an analog to digital converter ("passthrough") to send video from my analog Hi-8 camcorder to my Mac:

Hi-8 -> S-video & stereo audio cables -> Sony camcorder -> Firewire cable -> Mac

Each hour of video produces roughly 20GB of data on the hard disc. I then use Apple's iMovie software to assemble and edit the video. Then I use either Roxio's "Toast" or Apple's iDVD software to compress (MPEG) the resulting video and burn DVDRs.

It was recommeded to me by a true video buff that I also back up the uncompressed hard disk video files (AVI format, I believe) onto DVDRs (it takes about 8 DVDRs to contain 2 hours of uncompressed video) for safe keeping.

Take care in the compression process. I have found that iDVD uses too low a resolution for my taste. It compresses files faster because of that, but I am in the process of buying more flexible compression/burning software so I can get as sharp a resolution on my DVDs as possible.

------------------
Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

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Bill Llewellyn


From:
San Jose, CA
Post  Posted 25 Feb 2004 8:06 am    
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Gere,

That video buff I mentioned uses a PC to do his transfer. Here is his setup:

* Digital 8 tapes, firewire to
* DV AVI files
* edit DV AVI files, backup to DVD discs; 4.7GB/disc=15min
* uses "Premiere" for production
* uses "Procorder" for MPEG2 compression 6Mbps CBR
* uses "DVDit" to author discs
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Ray Minich

 

From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
Post  Posted 25 Feb 2004 9:52 am    
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There are a number of issues that have to be looked at when you are doing this.

The classic VHS video camera outputs an NTSC signal for video with a separate audio channel, either mono or stereo. The new DV cameras will output what's called Firewire or DV (IEEE 1394) signal. May also output NTSC, and S-Video. My Samsung SCD80 DV camera has all three. You need a video capture card that is compatible with what your camera or source puts out.

Video capture cards can save the video as .AVI, .mp1, .mp2, or a number of other formats. Premier will not "edit" .mp2 files (at least Premiere 6.0 won't). Premiere wants .AVI files. Files of the .AVI format are large but compatible with most editing software.

You then edit the clips to create your output stream. From the finished edit timeline you may output the timeline (create movie) to an .mp2 (mpeg-2) file. You can create a number of .mp2 files to send to the authoring program.

The mpeg-2 file(s) is/are then used by your DVD "authoring" software to build the DVD image which you then burn to the DVD.

In the video production company that I "engineer" for we have 3 systems. System 1 (using 400 GB of SCSI drive space) is the Velocity-Q software system by DPS with their Reality capture card, then DVDit for DVD & VCD burn. System 2 is a Pinnacle Reel-Time card (300 GB SCSI drive space) with Premiere for editing. System 3 (160 GB Ultra-100 ATAPI drive space) is a Pinnacle RTDV card with Premiere 6.0 for editing, & Pinnacle Edition for DVD compilation & burn. The Reel-Time and DPS systems are both capable of from 1 to 1, thru 20 to 1 compression. The RTDV card is fixed at 5 to 1 compression and generates .AVI files that are reasonable in size but may not be "broadcast" quality video.

If you are just starting out may I recommend a read of the B&H Video website to look at video capture cards. They have come down in price and gone up in capabilities in the last year, usually bundled with some good software.

Regardless of what you buy, plan on having at least an 80 gig, or 120 gig 7200 rpm Ultra 100 drive for the video capture, and make it a "D" (or higher) drive, not the system drive. For older systems you may even want to buy a "Promise" IDE (ATA controller) interface card ($40)to add 4 additional IDE ports (master/slave primary & master/slave secondary) to your PC so that the video capture card is not feeding the disk on the same IDE channel as the system drive (C-drive, where the programs are) when you are doing video capture. This extra IDE card also helps if you want to add a DVD burner and keep your CD Burner on the system. I've had no luck at all many times trying to put both a CD Burner and a DVD burner as Master & Slave on the same Secondary IDE channel.
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Gere Mullican


From:
LaVergne, Tennessee, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 25 Feb 2004 2:40 pm    
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WOW guys. I really appreciate your replies. I don't understand that technical stuff but I appreciated it anyway. My cam corder and VHS are both just plain old analog. Not even a Hi 8. I may not have enough stuff to transfer home video to DVD. I do have a TDK DVD+ burner as well as a CD burner. I guess I should have paid more attention when I was younger. I am just an old coot now that is a steel player wannabee. But again, I want to thank your for you information.
Gere
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Everett Cox

 

From:
Marengo, OH, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 25 Feb 2004 6:12 pm    
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Gere-- If you're just wanting to put your taped video onto the computer, all you need is a video capture card. If you then want to go from computer to TV, the card must have a 'TV-out' capability. I use a few years old ATI All IN WONDER card which came bundled with basic editing software. If you want to convert the video files to CD or DVD discs, you'll need additional 'authoring' software.

So, if you just want basic 'standard' quality transfer/conversion stuff, repost or email me and I'll try to provide details.
--Everett
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Lem Smith

 

From:
Long Beach, MS
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2004 4:49 am    
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Gere,
I do video editing all the time on my computer, and here is a link to what I use.
http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=2050&Langue_ID=7

The only difference is that the link shows the newer version 9, and I use 8. It's easy to use, and for me, has provided good results.

Hope this helps.
Lem
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Ray Minich

 

From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2004 7:39 am    
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Well I'll be darned, Studio will edit .mp1 and .mp2 files. Neat. Thanks for the info.
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