My "ultimate" VHS tape restoration recipe

I find that my Canopus ADVC-100 ends up being the star of the show whenever I have to work with digital to analog. It may be my imagination but it really seems to clean up the signal more than just a camcorder. Remember that VHS is only going to look so good. If you're working with SVHS remember to use S-video in, whenever possible.

Bigoj,
I've found that if I burn a DVD and then copy from my DVD player to my VHS tape, the quality is better than copying from my Camcorder to VHS. Maybe that is because I use RCA cables from the camera to VHS. The DVD player is a combo DVD/VHS deck so maybe the transfer connection is better somehow. Anyway, works for me.
Randy

I use this:

http://www.signvideo.com/single_dual_proc-amp_video-processor.htm

works great.

John

OTT. craftech, that stock footage offering on the SignVideo site looks pretty interesting. Have you ever seen / used any of it?

VHS is VHS, it's old technology. It is what it is, apart from the suggestions listed above there isn't a whole lot you can bestides spending a lot of money on TBC's and professional decks.

I generally also burn a DVD to use as a source for CHS recording. But I do this more to save wear and tear on my digital deck than anything else. The REAL key to making a good VHS tape is to use a good VHS recording deck. I have bought several used Panasonic VHS "duplicators" off of eBay. These decks print a bit wider stripe on the VHS tape and it looks a LOT better than a simple home VHS deck.

I find that the best way to get quality to a vhs is to use a GOOD vhs deck (not a consumer cheap one). Better electronics equal better encoding to tape. We have a Panasonic AG-DS550 SVHS machine and it does quite well.
(About 2000 bucks give or take).

John,

I checked out the SignVideo processing amplifier. Looks interesting. Before I dish out more money on another piece of hardware, would you tell me how it rates on restoring dropuots on old/stored VHS tapes - or am I looking at the wrong equipment? Have quite a few VHS tapes of my daughter that I would like to put on DVD and have been reading the posts on how to restore these. John Meyer et al have all good suggestions - software, but I have held off in hopes of finding the "magic box" that would lessen the software tasks. Would this gadged do the trick or at least help?

Thanks
Steve

"restoring dropuots on old/stored VHS tapes "

You will never be able to "fix" imperfections on old VHS tapes, the best you can hope for is to get similar quality to the original, but unless you have thousands of dollars to spend to send your tapes to a restoration house you won't be able to make your VHS tapes look better than they already do.

The Proc Amp is best at taking DV footage or SVHS footage and maintaining the proper IRE levels when going back to VHS, It also allows you to color correct on the fly without processing. I have been able to get some near DVD quality VHS tapes that way.
If you are capturing VHS the Proc Amp will allow you to vay the IRE and/or the saturation level of the captured tape making it easier to process in your NLE. If there is video noise for example the Proc Amp can help restore the darker areas.
Sign Video does have a fairly good return policy if you don't like the product. It has been around for quite some time and used to be sold by Studio 1 Productions in Florida as the PA-1 Proc Amp for considerably more money. Ater a falling out Sign Video decided to market it themselves.
As far as the stock video footage Sign Video sells, I haven't seen it. I have three of their products:
1. The Proc Amp
2. The XLR-Pro microphone adapter (mixer-like device)
3. The DA-16 distribution amp for my VHS duplication rack

All three work very well.

John