- Capture S-VHS HiFi to DVD
- Posted by TrevorS on July 13th, 2003
Hi,
I want to copy S-VHS video with nice quality HiFi stereo to DVD with
fairly high video bit rate and LPCM audio (prefer to avoid audio
compression -- too audible) (also prefer to avoid sync problems).
I have an Athlon 2000+, NEC USB 2.0 with Win98SE and would like to use
the USB interface to read externally captured data from an S-Video
VCR. I have not yet purchased any hardware or software for this task
(including DVD drive).
Assuming this is a realistic prospect(?), the only external capture
devices I'm currently aware of are the Dazzle DVC150 USB2.0 and the
ADS USB Instant DVD 2.0. I'm under the impression the ADS only
generates MPEG 1 audio, in which case it won't work (anbody know for
sure?). The Dazzle supposedly generates LPCM and therefore might work
(?). Am I overlooking any other viable hardware?
Once the MPEG-2 and LPCM are on the PC, the next problem is finding
software to support recording them to DVD (MPEG-1 seems like no
problem, but LPCM seems less common).
The DVD drives I'm considering are the Sony DRV510A and the TDK AID+
440(BX/N). Both these drives support both + and - R/RW formats.
Has anybody done this? Are there any problems with my thinking? Any
suggestions or alternatives I should consider? Are there better
solutions I should consider for capturing decent quality LPCM audio?
Thanks in advance for your time and advice.
-- Trevor
- Posted by Mike T on July 13th, 2003
"TrevorS" <malczeck@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3e59b4af.0307122030.1c80314@posting.google.co m...
I would highly reccomend the Canopus ADVC-100, it is firewire not USB, which
is much more supported for high quality video than is USB. Also you should
upgrade to Win 2000 or XP and use the NTFS file system to make it easier to
capture large files. The ADVC-100 captures analog video AND audio, the
video is lightly compressed about 5 to 1 and the audio is uncompressed 48
KHz 16 bit PCM. Since the video is captured at the same resolution as is
used for DVD disks, it is easy to encode into DVD format mpeg2 files. You
will get much better video quality by NOT capturing directly to mpeg, and
then use TMPGenc or CCE to encode the DV video into mpeg2.
More info here-- http://www.dvdrhelp.com
See above, and carefully read the news groups, I have read many complaints
about Dazzle equipment and software.
LPCM is a valid audio format for DVD disks, as is Dolby AC3 for NTSC disks
(USA). You can save much space on the disk for video if you use Dolby AC3
compression, and at the higher bitrates, it can sound very good, probably
better than VHS HIFI.
I have the Sony DRU-500A since Oct 2002 and it works fine and being able to
burn + or- disks is a real help for DVD player compatibility. Also I always
do a test burn using a RW disk, and the +RW is far superior to the -RW
format, much faster
Mike T.
- Posted by Cliff on July 14th, 2003
Hi,
I've a solution, but it doesn't use the USB interface.
Install a Leadtek Winfast TV2000XP Deluxe capture card (probably around
$US50). This will let you capture from s-video jack. You can record direct
to mpeg2 format with the software provided. It works well on my machine (P4
2.4C). It has various templated available for setting the quality
parameters. Other software (e.g. Tmpgenc) may do a better job, but this way
is dead simple and the results are very good.
The only problem is you will need some mpeg2 cutting software to chop out
any ads. I'm currently looking into this. www.vcdhelp.com has a list of
recommended cutters.
I also just bought the Sony DRU510A. It comes with MyDVD for DVD authoring.
Only had a quick play, but it seems to do the job.
Just another idea for the mix! Hopefully a cheap one to get you started 
HTH, Cliff
"TrevorS" <malczeck@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3e59b4af.0307122030.1c80314@posting.google.co m...
- Posted by Pond Scum on July 14th, 2003
jhue@sonic.net (Pond Scum) writes:
That's supposed to be "audio" of course. The MPEG-2 encoded video comes
in over USB.
-Jonathan jhue@sonic.net
- Posted by David Chien on July 14th, 2003
Better way:
1) if you have a digital camcorder with DV passthrough, simply buy a $30
firewire card for the PC, then hook up SVHS deck to DV camcorder to
passthrough into PC. There, done for transfering video into PC.
Cheap, works great, no problems.
2) Can't say anything about USB capture devices because never tried, but
firewire card + Canopus ADVC-100 for ~$250 is the best way I and many
others have found to conveniently, quickly, reliably capture video from
any source into the PC.
www.deja.com for posts on this baby.
highly recommended if you can't do #1 above.
3) MPEG-2 encoding is easy. Usually, you have the included DVD
software with the DVD recorder drive. Try this and see if the quality
is sufficient.
Else, Cinema Craft Encoder is one fast, good encoder to consider.
4) www.vcdhelp.com for lots and lots of info on what you're trying to
do. Please read first.
