Converting VHS to VCD

fosko wrote on 9/23/2003, 5:09 PM
I have some shows I've recorded (CHICAGO, SANTANA LIVE BY REQUEST, SONG WRITERS HALL OF FAME, ect), on HiFi VHS. I recently brought a Hauppaguge USB Vdeo recorded to record my cable shows, but it only records in MPG formats. A decent quality, but I was told I'd get better quality if I recorded in AVI and converted to MPG1 to make my VCD (I don't have a DVD Recorder yet).

Any idea how to do this ???

I thought of using my DIgital Video cam..but theres no way to get a video onto tape except through the lens (at least I havn't found a way).

Of course I want to get the best quality (especially since they are music programs) but since this is more so a hobby and personal use. I don't want to spend a lot of $$ right now.

Thanks

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 9/23/2003, 5:33 PM
If you have a digital video camera that has "pass through," you can get VERY good results (especially compared to the USB capture approach) as follows:

1. Attach your VHS deck to your camera.
2. Attach your camera to the 1394 (Firewire) connection on your PC (if you don't have one, they can be purchased for about $25).
3. Take the tape out of your camera (you don't need to record to tape; the video will "pass through" the camcorder and into the computer as DV video).
4. Run the capture utility in Vegas.
5. Put the captured video on the Vegas timeline. Edit to your hearts content.
6. Click on File -> Render As. "Save As Type" should be set to "MainConcept MPEG-1" and the Template should be set to "VCD NTSC" (or "VCD PAL" if you're in Europe).

The results will be ten times better than what you'll get the other way. Once you've done it once, the only extra time needed will be the Vegas render time. While this may take several hours, you can do it over night, so it really doesn't require any more of your time.

Hope this helps!
randy-stewart wrote on 9/23/2003, 5:45 PM
Fosko,
To add alittle detail, make sure to disable Device Control in the options (or preferences) menu of Vidcap. Otherwise, Vidcap will tell you that there is no tape in the camera. Also, you may need to change a setting in your camera for DV out from yes to no (or vice versa) as my Sony Handicam requires. Start your tape pIayback manually on the VCR. It should show up on the Vidcap preview screen. I use this procedure alot to convert my VHS to digital. Quality is quite good. Hope it works for you.
Randy
fosko wrote on 9/24/2003, 9:43 AM
WOW... that's genius...wish I had thought of that :-)

but hey...when I attach my VCR to my DV Cam isn't it going OUT of the DV INTO the VCR ????
fosko wrote on 9/24/2003, 10:13 AM
OK.. I re-read the first reply. I see I missed the part where it says "pass through". I'll have to check the Panasonic website..but I dont think so :-(
TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/24/2003, 10:20 AM
What you can do (if you can't do it the passthrough way and do your mpeg capture way) is this:
1)capture your footage as high quality mpeg-2.
2) use TMPGenc (www.tmpgenc.com) to convert the video to STILL FRAMES. this is important.
3) Use the same program to extract the audio to a WAV
4) Using TMPGenc again, load the stills as an image sequence, and the audio.
5) Render to the VCD templte.

Why do you extract to still frames do you ask? You do that because if you re-compress the mpeg-2 into an mpeg-1, it looks like crap. If you extract the frames to stills, it retains the nice look of each picture.

Does this help?
johnmeyer wrote on 9/24/2003, 2:20 PM
TheHappyFriar:

Wow, I would have never thought of doing that. Sounds like a lot of grief, though. If he can capture as MPEG-2, I assume that means he has a capture card of some sort. If it offers the ability to use the Huffy codec or something similar, could he avoid all these steps and just import into Vegas and be off to the races?
TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/24/2003, 2:58 PM
Yeah, it IS a lot of grief, but I came up with it because I rendered my project to DVD Mpeg-2, deleted all the source files, then 2 months later realized i made a mistake, and i wanted to fix it. I tried re-rendering the mpeg in Vegas but it made it look horrible (and took forever). So, i came up with a lengthy, but good, workaround. :) Maybe that could appear in a Vegas Tip newsletter. :)
fosko wrote on 9/25/2003, 9:47 AM
There's a Vegas Tip Newsletter ?????????????????

Thanks a lot for the tip Friar...it does sound like a lot of work. but I'm going to try it. I'm also thinking about avoiding the middleman (sort of.. maybe it's just replacing him) and getting an Analogue to Digital converter box...like the ones I've read (Sony DVMC ).

Any thoughts ?
jetdv wrote on 9/25/2003, 10:14 AM
There's a Vegas Tip Newsletter ?????????????????

I have started a newsletter that can be found at www.jetdv.com/tts to provide tips, tricks, and scripts to the Vegas community. Unfortunately time has been really tight over the past few months and I have not been able to get them out as frequently as I would like. i.e. the next one is DUE but I haven't even started it yet :-(

Disclaimer: The newsletter is NOT sponsored or endorsed by Sonic Foundry or Sony.

TheHappyFriar, write the article and send it to me!

Edward
johnmeyer wrote on 9/25/2003, 11:19 AM
The newsletter is very good. Highly recommended.