VHS to DVD solution

[Aaron Mayberry]

What's the best way to capture VHS tape to MPEG-2?

I use PC. I got Adobe Premiere, a VHS player, a Canon XL2, and a WinTV-PVR-USB2 box.

I'm willing to spend some money for any easy solution. Both software and hardware.

I've had zero luck using that WinTV box with Adobe Premiere.


I want to use Adobe Encore to create my dvds however.


Thanks...

[Josh Chesarek]

Originally Posted by Aaron Mayberry

What's the best way to capture VHS tape to MPEG-2?

I use PC. I got Adobe Premiere, a VHS player, a Canon XL2, and a WinTV-PVR-USB2 box.

I'm willing to spend some money for any easy solution. Both software and hardware.

I've had zero luck using that WinTV box with Adobe Premiere.


I want to use Adobe Encore to create my dvds however.


Thanks...

If it is just footage that clients are giving you then you might be able to do a pass through from the VCR to XL2. Then premiere will just capture footage like normal. I cannot say this will work as I never did it with an XL2 but I have done it with my GL2 and the XH-A1 and XL-H1A. In the menu when in VCR mode there should be AV->DV option to turn on.

If it is protected you would to look into a capture box like the Conopus ADVC-110 which can ignore macrovision.

[Noel Lising]

Hi there, I don't know if there's a short cut to doing it. Normally it get's captured as an AVI file then you have to convert it to MPEG 2.

[Josh Chesarek]

Indeed Premiere will capture as an AVI. I have used other editing programs such as Ulead which would allow you to capture directly to MPEG2 if you really wanted. I would suggest Premiere and then use its encoder to goto AVI or allow Encore to convert it.

[Peter Manojlovic]

Aaron...

Your scenario and equipment are all out of whack....
You've got several options, none of which will be any good if the first link (or any other link) in the chain is weak..That is usually your VCR...

You need to invest in a JVC 9xxx series or Panasonic 1970/80 SVHS player. These help filter video, and clean up any jitter...
I don't know about forum rules linking you to some helpful sights..

That being said, your second step is converting to digital.
Personally, since you're using Adobe Premiere, i'd suggest a box such as the already mentioned Canopus to convert to DV..Of course, your camera can do the same.

If your video needs editing, you're off to the races. If not, drop the DV-AVI into your encore timeline, and let Encore do the rest..

Either way, i'm not a fan of capturing straight to MPEG 2.. If i needed that option, i'd simply by a settop DVD recorder...Capturing straight to MPEG 2 inhibits you to have control of the process...

[Björn Rehder]

Don’t know about premiere, but it should work just as well. I use VEGAS to do this kind of conversion.
Three options:
1) Connect VHS recorder to XL2 and set AV->DV option on. (if I remember correctly, the XL2 must be in VCR mode)
Record to miniDV and then later capture miniDV as you would normally do. (this is the long route)

2) Same as above but open your capture application and set XL2 to VCR as well. In your capture application disable DV device control and capture as you would normally do. The XL2 doesn’t seem to worry about macrovision encoding.

3) If you want to spend some bucks and eliminate the XL2 here’s another solution. (I mostly use this one): Get yourself a DATAVIDEO DAC-200 (Datavideo | DAC-200 Bi-directional Converter | DAC-200 | B&H)

Simply connect VHS Recorder and use firewire output to capture to your app. (remember to disable DV device control)

All video will the obviously (?) captured in .AVI format. And from there you can go mad and render to any format you want.