-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Tranfer of VHS to CD
- From: "andy" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 14:13:29 +0100
----- Original Message -----
From: "temi" <temi@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> Dear All,
> I have a VHS video cassette I treasure, its beginning to show signs of
aging
> now. I would like to transfer the contents of this VHS cassette to CD ROM
I
> have a CD Writer. I know I need more that a CD Writer to accomplish this
> what else do I need and how do I go about the transfer?
It's not 'Rocket Science, but there are lots of things you need to do to
make sure you do it succesfully. Here's something I [ut tonether for a group
I'm on..note all of this can be found in more depth on www.vcdhelp.com , but
if you follow this through, you should be ok
>>>>>>>
WHAT YOU NEED
A reasonably fast PC(P800 though lower can be used)
LOTS of free, de-fragmented hard drive space
A TV/Capture card
Various connectors to hook up you VCR to your PC.
Several pieces of software.
An open line to www.vcdhelp.com
An ability to NOT CUT CORNERS ;-))
YOU SAY POTATO....
In Europe, we use something called 'Scart' connectors-the Scart connector
has about 20 connections (For video and audio-in and out) in one plug. I
don't think these are as widely used in other areas, where the standard
'RCA' or 'Phono' type plug/socket is used.so some of the terminology here
may not refer directly to your application..
WHERE TO START
Basically you have to find both video and audio output from your source
(VCR), then run the leads to your PC-A Hi Fi stereo will have a video output
socket and left and right audio.The audio is simple, attach a the pair of
phono plugs to a mini jack adaptor to allow you to input the video sound
into the 'line in' socket on your PC's sound card.
The video input goes into the capture card on your PC-All capture cards will
have a single phono socket (usually coloured yellow) and you simply run a
lead from the video output on your source to this socket.
DOWNLOAD THESE
Next you need to get the capturing software..Some cards come with their own
capture software...Use them if you want, but it might be worth following
this through first, then adapting some of the techniques to your own
software. vcd help does carry instruction on many types of capture software
The operation of getting your video onto a disc is split into 3 distinct
parts.
The capture-for which you use a piece of software called Virtualdub
The conversion-for which you use TMPGEnc
The burn-A program like Nero or Easy CD Creator create VCD's with ease
Virtualdub can be got from here http://www186.pair.com/vdub/ It is
shareware-not time bombed at all.
TMPGEnc can be found here http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html Again-this
shareware which is fully functional and not time bombed.
You will also need some compression software. When you save the raw video
footage (in .avi format) a minute of uncompressed video would take over a
gigabyte of hard drive space, so you have to compress it at the same time as
you are saving it..There are many different compression agents (called
'Codecs'). What you are looking for is a compromise between keeping
as much quality as possible, but getting good compression so you can record
more footage at one go.
The two which are generally taken as the best options are the HUFFYLUV codec
or the MJPEG one. I've tried and used both.
HUFFYLUV
Advantages-'Lossless' compression so it goves you a better output
Disadvantages-File sizes it creates are large, limiting the amount of
footage per session you can save
MJPEG
Advantages-Highly configurable, allows you to control the level of
compression
Disadvantages-It's a 'lossy' form of compression, so you supposedly lose
quality
One thing to bear in mind is that the .avi file system only allows you to
save 4 gb in one session. With the Huffyluv codec-that can be as little as
20-30 minutes of footage..MJPEG using a very high quality setting will let
you save around 60-70 minutes in this same space. Bear this in mind when
choosing your compression method...PERSONALLY, I find there is very little
difference in quality when saving from videotape. You have to bear in mind
the source-if it's a dusty old VHS tape you are only going to get the same
quality out. I tend to use MJPEG because it gives me 'good enough' results,
and it gives me fewer problems when capturing.
HUFFYLUV can be found http://www.math.berkeley.edu/%7Ebenrg/huffyuv.html
MJPEG can be found http://www.jpg.com/video/mjpeg.htm They ask for a
registration fee ($10), but it works without
Install all these programs/codecs before we go any further.
CAPTURE
Have you defragged your hard drive? if not..do it now...it is THE most vital
thing to do on a regular basis when you are dealing with video..if you
don't, you video will drop frames during capture..and dropping as few frames
as possible is the holy grail when it comes to creating good video files!!
Turn the video recorder on-set the video that you eventually want to record
playing too. You probably have a capture card viewer/TV viewer application
for your card-run that-choose the 'composite video' input so you are seeing
the picture of your video playback. Once you do see it, close down the
application
Now start up Virtualdub...and choose 'Capture .avi'..the capture cards video
drivers should now kick in and the picture from your video should appear in
the main window. . If not click on 'Video/Source' and make sure you have
selected the correct source. Still under the video heading select format-
you need 352x288 for PAL or 352x240 for NTSC. If this is not given under
the 'standard' settings, go to 'set custom format' and select those
dimensions-while you are there, set it to 24 bit RGB too!
Still under the video settings..hit 'compression'..a list should now open up
of all the compression codecs on your machine...you should see both the
HUFFLUV and MJPEG ones in amongst them..choose the Pic Video MJPEG one and
click 'configure'. There is a slider for MJPEG Settings from 0 to 20..set
ths around 18 and click ok.
Now click on Audio/compression-choose 'CD Quality'.. Do you hear your
video's sound? If not you are going to need to play around with your
recording settings..You get to them by double clicking the sound icon in
your system tray, choose the 'Recording' option and look for the 'line in'
slider..make sure this is selected and move the slider up to the middle. You
should now be hearing the sound from your video-if not, make sure the cables
are connected and make sure you have them coming from the audio out
connectors on the video recorder and are going into the right input on the
soundcard. It's easy to get this bit wrong.
Now rewind your video to the point you want to start recording from and put
it on pause.
Next go to CAPTURE/Settings and set Frame rate: to 25 (PAL) or 29,97(NTSC).
Select Wait for OK to Capture, Capture Audio and Lock video stream to
audio(and the audio will get synched if you drop some frames).
Nearly there now...Select File/Set Capture File and choose where you want
to save your capture too Then Select Capture/Capture video. Hit Begin when
you want to capture and start the video playing (If it's possible, it a good
idea to start the video playing ,say 10 seconds before the point you want to
record from-count it down and hit 'begin' as you hit the spot-you lose that
'jerky' start if you can do that).
Now you are capturing..KEEP AN EYE ON THE DROPPED FRAME RATE....if your disc
is defragged and all your settings are ok, you should see very few...I aim
for single number dropped frames for every hour of footage on decent quality
video grabbing (The saga VCD I grabbed directly off air that is doing the
rounds dropped only 1 frame in 45 minutes). Be sure that you have selected
DMA on the hard drive that you capture to
Don't try and grab a full show first time..record a couple of minutes..stop
the grab (Usually on a right or left mouse click) and play it back in
windows media player..see how both picture and sound quality is and make
the adjustments necessary. If you have dropped a lot of frames, the picture
may look jerky and the sound will probably have dropped out of synch.
Get used to doing all of this before trying to record a full show
first...The settings you make should be the same every time..get used to
them..if you forget or miss one part out, you won't get a successful grab.
CONVERTING
OK, you've got your 70 minuite show all saved with no dropped frames and it
looks great....but it's nearly 4 gb in size...how do I fit that onto a 74
minute CD-r??? Easy....Read on!!
Open up TMPGEnc....see ''Video Source'? navigate there to the .avi file you
just saved..the video and audio source will change to that file...select a
filename you want to save the conversion to mpeg to (It will probably offer
to save it as the same name for you, but you can change it if you want). The
picture will now open in the program at the start of the .avi
Hit the load button, and choose the template format you want to save
into..you are looking for the VCD PAL or VCD NTSC format-there will be
others in there for S-VCD or Div X etc...etc..ignore them..when you select
which format you want to save in, you will see it appear along the bottom of
the program window..Now click 'Setting' Under the Video tab and under
Motion search precision select High Quality or normal...The higher the
setting, the longer it will take..On my Athlon 1ghz processor with 360mb
ram, it takes about 90 minutes to convert an hours footage at 'normal'
mode-up to 5 or 6 hours on 'High Quality'..and you know...their isn't much
difference on a crappy old VHS grab!! The choice is yours..If you want to
leave it running overnight, choose the high quality and give it a try!!
Click on start and you will see the picture moving slowly and the blue bar
at the top start to move up..you get a read out of where the conversion is
up to, and roughly how long it will take to complete it..It's probably a
good idea to have a few 'test runs' by stopping the conversion after a few
seconds and watching it back in Windows Media Player.
BURNING
Now you have captured to avi, converted to mpeg, you want to burn it to disc
as a VCD so you can view it on a DVD player..Here you will need a program
capable of doing this...Both Nero and Easy CD Creator 5 have this facility
and there a wizards that walk you through it easily enough...You MUST burn
it
as a VCD if you want to view it on a DVD player..if you just want to view
the files on your computer, you can just burn the discs as normal data
files.
EDITING AND FAULT CORRECTING
You may find you want to chop out adverts or somethnig from your
recording...it can get a bit tricky, but the easiest piece of software I've
found for ding this is called MyFlix (Not free, but demo downloadable see
the 'Tools section on vcd help) You can do it in TMPGEnc, but I've had only
variable amounts of success with it!!
You may find you need to 'repair' an mpeg file before burning it as a VCD
(You will know if Nero or EZCDC5 kicks up a fuss about the file you try to
load.. In which case you need something like MPEG corrector .(
http://www.vcdhelp.com/download/MPEG-Corrector.zip) .DEAD easy to use, you
point it at your mpeg file, create a destination for the fixed file...a few
seconds later, your mpeg file is repaired.
OTHER METHODS
Some capture card (such as Dazzle) have their own methods of
capturing...some of the really naff ones that connect to a USB port won't
allow you to compress your file when you are capturing, which really limits
you unless you have a monster hard drive. There are also programs on the
market that will capture and convert to mpeg in one pass...they do, but the
quality they give you is nowhere near what the method I've outlined above
will.
Remember the old Jewish tailors motto-
measure twice....cut once....
don't try cutting corners-if you do, it won't work!!!
All of this--and more--can be found at www.vcdhelp.com ..the bible for video
capturing!!
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