How to add that final touch?

eddydde wrote on 1/29/2004, 6:20 PM
I have recently returned from 2 weeks holiday in Canada and 2 weeks in the USA and have just completed a 2 hour record of my travels.

I am a bit disapointed in the resulting quality of the VHS video tape I have made.

Camera was VX2000
Edited with vegas 4
Firewire write final project back to DV tape.
Copy made on good quality Sony VHS recorder from VX2000.
Viewed on good quality Sony TV

It looks like it needs to be 'sharpened' or something. It is not a focus problem.

Should the default Vegas 4 settings be OK or should I be adding/removing some 'effect' to improve the final VHS tape's quality?

IThe quality I view during editing is supurb, the resulting VHS copy only looks 'fair'.

Appreciate some advice regarding this.

Any tricks you experts use that I could try?

Eddydde

Comments

frogmugsy wrote on 1/29/2004, 6:28 PM
I think vhs only shows in the area of 240 lines of resolution, which is probably half of digital. So when you do your transfer from digital to vhs, it's quite possible your losing half the detail.
GaryKleiner wrote on 1/29/2004, 6:41 PM
The question is : How does it look as you are recording it and you monitor the output of the VHS deck as you record? If that's fine, then it's the deck or the fact that you just can't expect VHS to look like DV.

TimmyD wrote on 1/30/2004, 9:07 AM
Do a test: Dub some raw footage straight from the Camera to VHS. You will see the same results showing that it is not Vegas.

Why not make a DVD instead?

td
cyanide149 wrote on 1/30/2004, 9:25 AM
If all you want is a VHS tape, you might as well use a cheapie VHS cam. To really see the effect, burn to DVD
eddydde wrote on 1/30/2004, 3:38 PM
Thanks for input.

I am not expecting DV quality and will eventually burn to DVD, but, I am using as my present base-line free to air transmissions and I am not approaching that quality.

I have been monitoring the transfer from the firewire on the camera's LCD screen, but will try to monitor from output of VHS recorder while recording as this was a good suggestion.

Problem is Sony TV is a long way distant from editing suite!
Zulqar-Cheema wrote on 1/30/2004, 4:31 PM
Ha therein lies your problem Eddydde, you can not use off air transmissions as a baseline, they are in the 700 odd lines (in the UK) and not the 240 lines from VHS, most domestic TV;s are about 400 lines. I have done many prints to VHS and they are, well VHS.

It is no good monitoring the output of the VCR during the record process as you will see the full output of the DV and not the actual quality being recorded.
GaryKleiner wrote on 1/30/2004, 6:05 PM
>It is no good monitoring the output of the VCR during the record process as you will see the full output of the DV and not the actual quality being recorded.<

Monitoring the VCR output will serve the purpose of verifying the integrety of the signal being run through the deck and eliminate that as being the source of the problem.

Gary