Image quality question

dan4dvd wrote on 12/16/2004, 7:03 AM
I have Vegas Movie Studio+DVD and am working converting home videos on VHS to DVD.

I have two questions. First, I am planning on making extra copies for safe keeping - one with the movie and one with the files so that I can edit at a later date, if need be. Does this seem to be sufficient backup for my projects, or is there something else I should do?

Second, I am wondering how much it matters the quality of VCR I am using. I have a JVC 4-head HiFi 19 Micron Deck that seems to do well. I am using good quality Monster cable. And I am only using this deck for playback to input into my computer.

Would a superior VCR deck give superior video and audio on playback?

Also, any other suggestions you may have would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Dan

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 12/16/2004, 10:31 AM
To your first point, Dan, always assume that DVD (or any MPEG) is the end of the road. Never expect to be able to re-open it and edit it later. Some people have been able to do it with a lot of workaround, bu the fact is that it's designed to be a delivery format, not an editing format, so you're bucking the odds.

The best format for storage is Digital Video tape. It maintains the integrity of the video, it's cheap and there's plenty of room for storage. It looks like you're not working with DV, however, so it's a tougher call. If you can output back to your video, that's an option preferable to MPEG/DVD, but that's dependent on how much breakdown there is going back and forth from digital to analog.

The quality of your VHS player is, of course, a factor in how your video will look when it's digitized, but in my opinion it's probably the least important element in the mix. The bigger factor is how you're digitizing the video -- how you're getting your analog video into a digital file in your computer.

There are a number of "bridges" out there (the Dazzle bridge is a popular example) and, if you can save your file as an MJPEG-AVI, there should be minimal loss of quality. Unlike DV-AVI, however, there is loss. How much is hard to say.

Another option is to pass-through a DV camcorder. This produces a fake DV-AVI, and it's not a bad option. You can also record from your VHS player onto a DV camcorder but, as I'm sure you know, every time you move a generation in the analog world, you lose a little bit of quality.

In other words, don't spend too much money on that VCR. Rather, use the money to get a nice DV cam (They're starting now at about $350) and use it as a pass-through. (This will have the added advantage of giving you a means for storing your files on DV tape, the best overall medium for doing so, as mentioned above!)
dan4dvd wrote on 12/16/2004, 12:06 PM
By DV Tape do you mean the DV tapes used on DV camcorders? I had heard that this was a good medium for storage but the problem is that tapes holding 1 hr cost around $5 while a DVD+R costs 40 cents.

What I was intending to do was save the individual MPEG files onto a DVD and not the finished movie. I can reopen these files, so how is it that they are basically the end of the road?

Also, as far as a bridge is concerned, I have an HP Media Center PC that has built-in VCR (video-audio) plugs. This will work well, right?

Finally, how can I save importing video to different types of files, such as MJPEG-AVI or DV-AVI? The only option that I am given is MPEG. I am using WinDVD Creator to capture the video from my VCR.

Thank you for your help.
Steve Grisetti wrote on 12/16/2004, 12:24 PM
As you can see all over this forum, Dan, MPEGs really don't edit well. They used a method of compression that uses one key frame followed by several frames based on that key. It looks great -- but once you cut a frame, it screws up the whole compression system and you end up with a flickering mess.

Whether that will be the case and how much of an issue it will be with your Media Center PC I can only speculate. It may not be. But, if these problems occur, that's why.

Anyway, this compression method is the very reason MPEGs are so small compared to AVIs. So, for putting an hour's worth of movie on one disk, good. But, for storing files for later editing, not so much.

Perhaps someone with more experience using those Media Center AV inputs can advise you on how best to configure them for capturing video for editing.