VHS to mp4

JackW wrote on 12/4/2013, 5:19 PM

I have a client who wants me to put 50 hours of VHS and 8mm tapes onto a hard drive, he says " in either the mkv or mp4" format.

Any thoughts on the most expedient way to do this? I'm set up to capture from analog to digital so that's not a problem, but I typically capture as an avi file.

Jack

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 12/4/2013, 6:50 PM

1. Capture using the highest quality format possible. I use 720x480 DV AVI for all my VHS transfers. This is plenty enough resolution, and although the 4:1:1 colorspace does compromise the color somewhat, VHS color is so lousy it doesn't really matter. DV AVI is a joy to edit in Vegas.

Resist the temptation to capture directly to the final format (MP4 or MPEG-2) because the quality of real-time compression to any highly compressed format will be terrible compared to what Vegas can do.

2. Put the video on the timeline.

3. Apply some sort of noise reduction. People in this forum seem to like Neat Video. Make sure to use really small settings -- a little goes a long way.

4. If you have a lot of head switching noise (at the bottom of the frame) you can either zoom in slightly or just mask it. I prefer not to zoom because there is so little detail to begin with and instead just put a solid color on the top track and then move it so it masks the bottom of the frame.

5. Adjust the audio using the meters.

6. Open the scopes and use the Waveform display to adjust the levels. Use an external monitor as well. Adjust the color. Many VHS tapes tend to show green skin, and the reds tend to be too hot. Use the main color corrector to get the skin, shadows and highlights corrected, and use the Secondary Color corrector to adjust and desaturate slightly fully saturated red colors.

7. Put chapter stops at logical locations.

8. Render to MP4. Resist the temptation to render to a progressive format because you will lose temporal resolution that you will never get back. Render to the same exact format as the original (720x480 0.9091 PAR, lower field first, if you used NTSC DV as the capture format).

I would use the Sony AVC codec, and would use at least 4,000,000 bps. Here is a starting point, although I welcome advice and criticism as to what settings might be better for your application.

JackW wrote on 12/4/2013, 7:29 PM

Thanks John. Just what I needed. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jack

johnmeyer wrote on 12/4/2013, 7:39 PM

Here's a before/after clip, rendered using the settings shown, and uploaded to YouTube. This was from a tape given to me by a client that was recorded in 1987 from a very bad "public access" cable broadcast. It was also produced by the public access channel. The color on every camera was completely different, with dresses that were bright red when taken by one camera turning into muted purple when viewed on camera two, and almost B&W on camera three. There was tons of herring bone noise from the lousy analog cable system in addition to all the usual VHS garbage. As you will see, there is no detail in the original, and no trick to bring out detail, the way I can do with movie film. However, by reducing the noise, correcting the color, and adjusting the levels (a little), it is a little easier to watch.

youtube.com/watch?v=ObxIHyB2N5s

earthrisers wrote on 12/4/2013, 8:04 PM

nice job!

mdindestin wrote on 12/5/2013, 8:30 AM

Yes, good information John.

Thanks

richard-amirault wrote on 12/5/2013, 3:21 PM

This was from a tape given to me by a client that was recorded in 1987 from a very bad "public access" cable broadcast. It was also produced by the public access channel. The color on every camera was completely different, with dresses that were bright red when taken by one camera turning into muted purple when viewed on camera two, and almost B&W on camera three.

I volunteer at a public access station (one of the last bastions of SD in the world today) I do my best to keep the quality of whatever I am involved in up ... however ... I've heard that in many cases:

"The problem with "public access" is that the public has access!" ;-)