Dropped frames from VHS Xfer??

vicmilt wrote on 11/28/2003, 11:28 AM
I have been using essentially the same equipment setup for a year or two (did just upgrade to VV 4d) without problems. But I ususally source from original DV tape. P4 -1.6mhz ,512Meg RAM, separate 1394 HD (new, empty 120 Gig Seagate), everything off, defragged both drives (C and E(media).

Today I am working on a job from a clients nasty VHS tapes for source material. I did a composite transfer to DV and then encoded the ususal way from the DV master.
VV is complaining about a (to me) huge number of dropped frames. 347 dropped frames in 7 minutes. Could this be from VHS transfer dropout (which I am sure exist in profusion)?
Any ideas, here?
v.

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 11/28/2003, 6:51 PM
Once it is on DV tape, Vegas doesn't know whether it was shot on your camcorder or whether it came from VHS tape. It is just bits. However, if there are gaps on the VHS tape, or if the signal is really bad going into the camcorder (especially at edit points) you might get problems.

When you look at the video in Vegas, do the dropouts occur at scene transitions?
vicmilt wrote on 11/29/2003, 12:58 PM
There was blank footage on the VHS which led to a dropped frames on the DV and then, on the Xfer..
Thanks for input.
farss wrote on 11/29/2003, 2:01 PM
Without a TBC trying to go VHS to DV on dodgy footage is very dodgy.
I did 4.5 hours of VHS to DVD a few days ago, the VHS was recorded in LP on a 4 hour tape and that was copied from Hi8. Needless to say the results were far from spectacular but the DVD ended up looking much better than the VHS it came off.
Spot|DSE wrote on 11/29/2003, 3:45 PM
Another caution, oversaturated colors in a scene that then go to dark images can 'fool' your DV cam or converter into thinking it's seeing a new scene, and will sometimes cause dropped frames. I run into this occasionally even with the Laird.
johnmeyer wrote on 11/29/2003, 11:28 PM
One thing I have started doing with EP footage, which tends to bloom the reds, is to use the Secondary Color Corrector to look for anything near red, and then reduce the saturation. Makes a huge difference, getting rid of that annoying "glow" around red objects.