Converting Home Movies on VHS to DVD

[BMR]

I am sorry for yet again asking questions about this topic but I have yet to come up with something satisfactory in this area.

I am looking for a relatively simple way to convert my home movies that are on VHS tapes to DVD with of course the smallest loss of quality possible. However, I want this to be a relatively simple process without many steps in between to get at a final reasonable product. In other words, I want to be able to do this in a simple manner and although I do want a good job done, I am not fanatical about the absolute smallest details etc.

I have an Athlon 1800 with a gig of ram and an ATI All in wonder Radeon 7500. ATI provides its own software ( I have the latest 8.8 ) that will encode in various fomats( Mpeg 2 Mpeg 4 and ATI proprietary ), as well I have the latest NERO 6302 and Nero VisionExpress. I also have DR. DIVX, the Klcodec pack, and Windows media player 9 with the encoder and codecs.

Is there a simple way with what I have, or a simple program that I could download and use that would make this process work in a straightforeward manner and do a good job without having to use several different programs and spend hours and hours tweaking ???

Thank you for your help !!

BMR

[DVD_ADDICT]

Use ULEAD DVD MOVIE FACTORY to capture and convert to DVD. I ended up purchasing a CANOPUS ADVC-100 to convert my vhs tapes to dvd format. I don't have audio/sync problems using this device. Here's a link for help in capturing with ATI cards.
www.lordsmurf.com

[burninfool]

Yeah Ulead products are good,I use VideoStudio 6 and it works great with my AIW 7500.Sonic MyDVD 5 Deluxe and NeoDVD 5 are also very easy to use but are better suited for DV via firewire.
Go to www.dvdrhelp.com for guides.
BTW..lordsmurf has good guides for ATI products but he likes the ATI MMC and I don't.

[aristottle]

I have another option. If you happen to own a digital camcorder (min dv) you could record your VHS tapes from the VCR into your mini DV camcorder. Then once you have done that you could capture the video with the software that came with the camcorder!

I have not done it....but I plan on starting to next week. A friend of mine does it and it works well without having to buy any additional hardware.

[BMR]

Thankyou members:

I am downloading the trial version of Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3 Disc Creator now and will install and try it out. Should this program be able to handle the process in easy steps and produce a relatively good quality DVD from a VHS tape ??

Has anyone tried this particular program ?? How many hours of VHS should you put on one DVD ?? ( 1 , 2, 3 or 4 )


BMR

[DVD_ADDICT]

I have ULEAD MOVIE FACTORY VERSION 2 and it is a easy program to use. I just started transfering my vhs tapes to dvd and was told to use this program because it's the easiest to learn. You may want to post questions about capturing from this website: www.dvdrhelp.com
They have a forum site for just capturing. I have the ULEAD MOVIE FACTORY 3 DISC CREATOR but haven't tried it out yet. Been to busy capturing on other computer. You don't have to use ULEAD'S burning program. What I've found is you can have it create a ISO IMAGE and the VOB FILE STRUCTURE. Then use another burning program to burn to dvd. I found using their burning program will make the whole creation process such a long one. Hope this helps you out!

[BMR]

I have ULEAD MOVIE FACTORY VERSION 2 and it is a easy program to use. I just started transfering my vhs tapes to dvd and was told to use this program because it's the easiest to learn. You may want to post questions about capturing from this website: www.dvdrhelp.com
They have a forum site for just capturing. I have the ULEAD MOVIE FACTORY 3 DISC CREATOR but haven't tried it out yet. Been to busy capturing on other computer. You don't have to use ULEAD'S burning program. What I've found is you can have it create a ISO IMAGE and the VOB FILE STRUCTURE. Then use another burning program to burn to dvd. I found using their burning program will make the whole creation process such a long one. Hope this helps you out!

Thanks DVD_ADDICT

I will try the program out but probably use Nero 6302 as the burning program and try to report back once I have something.


BMR

[BMR]

I have been experimenting with ULEAD MOVIE FACTORY 3 DISC CREATOR and have the following question.

When I capture from the VCR and burn to disk using the DVD high quality mode ( about 1 hour of Video is possible ), the movies look good and are quite close in quality to the original VCR recording. However, if I try the same process using the DVD good quality mode ( about 2 hours of video is possible ), the resulting video is grainy, pixelated and choppy.

Since commercial DVD's are up to 2 hours in length, I thought that I could put 2 hours of vido onto a DVD as well in good quality. Am I in error about this, or is there something that I am missing ???

Side note: The Ulead program seems extremely similar to NERO VISION EXPRESS, which I have as well. Do any of you find that both are equally good, or is there something superior to the ULEAD program?

BMR

[burninfool]

"Since commercial DVD's are up to 2 hours in length, I thought that I could put 2 hours of vido onto a DVD as well in good quality. Am I in error about this, or is there something that I am missing ??? "

Commercial DVD's use DVD-5(4.7GB),DVD-9(8.7GB) and DVD-10(9.8GB).
It also depends on video bitrate:
1 hr=9000kbps
2 hr=4500kbps
Your audio type(MP2,LPCM,etc) and bitrate also factors in,use this calculator: www.dvdrhelp.com/tools?tool=3#comments

"Side note: The Ulead program seems extremely similar to NERO VISION EXPRESS, which I have as well. Do any of you find that both are equally good, or is there something superior to the ULEAD program?"

Nero re-encodes everything even if the MPEG is compliant and IMO the encoder is inferior.Ulead uses "Smart Rendering" and has a better encoder where you can set the parameters.

[BMR]

"Since commercial DVD's are up to 2 hours in length, I thought that I could put 2 hours of vido onto a DVD as well in good quality. Am I in error about this, or is there something that I am missing ??? "

Commercial DVD's use DVD-5(4.7GB),DVD-9(8.7GB) and DVD-10(9.8GB).
It also depends on video bitrate:
1 hr=9000kbps
2 hr=4500kbps
Your audio type(MP2,LPCM,etc) and bitrate also factors in,use this calculator: www.dvdrhelp.com/tools?tool=3#comments

"Side note: The Ulead program seems extremely similar to NERO VISION EXPRESS, which I have as well. Do any of you find that both are equally good, or is there something superior to the ULEAD program?"

Nero re-encodes everything even if the MPEG is compliant and IMO the encoder is inferior.Ulead uses "Smart Rendering" and has a better encoder where you can set the parameters.

Thanks burningfoool !!

So when you encoded your vhs home movies to dvd what length of time do you encode onto the dvd that produces a result that holds the original quality ( not that vhs has much quality ).

BMR

[TheWizard]

BTW..lordsmurf has good guides for ATI products but he likes the ATI MMC and I don't.

Ahh, ATI MMC! It isn't bad, I use it. It's get the job done...then again...there are a lot of programs that "get the job done."

[burninfool]

"So when you encoded your vhs home movies to dvd what length of time do you encode onto the dvd that produces a result that holds the original quality ( not that vhs has much quality ). "

VHS is roughly VCD quality(352x240,1150kbps) but I use 1500-1800kbps depending on how much action the movie has.If you have a S-VHS player I would use 352x480(576 PAL) and a video bitrate of >2000kbps.

[BMR]

"So when you encoded your vhs home movies to dvd what length of time do you encode onto the dvd that produces a result that holds the original quality ( not that vhs has much quality ). "

VHS is roughly VCD quality(352x240,1150kbps) but I use 1500-1800kbps depending on how much action the movie has.If you have a S-VHS player I would use 352x480(576 PAL) and a video bitrate of >2000kbps.

I understand that you can alter the capture perameters when you encode the vcr movie, but then when you burn it to dvd, doesnt it upconvert to the high quality and only give you 1 hour in total. Or, can you put more than one hour on a dvd and still maintain the original quality of the recording.

BMR

[fugitive]

Yes, DVD "source" material is much better in quality, but i guess those
pro's did also some optimizing.....
(i guess encoding "noise paterns" costs bandwith)
I like to encode using the edit appl. Studio8 (Pinnacle) you can "set"
all parameters manualy bit rates: video and audio, adjust picture color,
brirghtness contrast.
Opposed to "quality modes"....