VHS Digitisation through MAC

I have a lot of VHS with very important videos. they are from 1980s onwards. I have A G5 with FCP and I am using Aurora pipestudio. please advise me what is the best procidure. Do I directly capture from the VHS through the aurora or first I have to do something about the tapes. The Video quality is very down. So please advise the right ways to do this properly. thank you in advance

Unfortunately there is not much you can do to improve the quality of your tapes, however you have the equipment necessary to digitize the VHS straight into FCP. My only suggestion would be to get the highest quality VHS deck you can and dont use the composite output. Use at least an S-video or component output if possible. Then pick a codec in the aurora drop down menu that will suit your needs. 8 bit uncompressed would be about the best but it will use up a lot of drive space.

If they are S-VHS videotapes, you will need to find an S-VHS machine to play them. S-VHS uses different recording characteristics than regular VHS. The cassett itself has special indexing holes to tell the machine what to do.

On the other hand, if your tapes date back that far, most of them are probably non-S or regular VHS. In that case, an S-VHS machine may actually deliver degraded performance at the composite connections because the rotating video heads are optimised for the S type tapes. S-VHS machines will be the only ones that will provide the S component connections. This round connector with four gold pins will give you better performance than the composite connections (the yellow RCA connector) if your digitizer supports them.

S-VHS machines and tapes usually say so in big letters because it was a major marketing effort at the time and they charged more for them. They could also say "Super VHS."

Because it was a consumer standard, the digitized shows could appear slightly "swimmy" in the captured form over and above odd colors, fuzzy pictures, and noise which were just how VHS videotapes worked.

There are other variations, too. If you have all Extended Play tapes, the pictures will look pretty terrible and there isn't much you can do about it. This is the "6-hour mode" and they made some serious compromises to the picture and sound to get there--fuzzy images and cartoony color that looks like it was sprayed on from three feet away.

Koz

If you can, get a "Noise reduction/ drop out compensator" to run the signal through before the aurora. That will help clean up the signal visually.

I've had to use one to clean up old 3/4" tapes and VHS tapes and it helps considerably. However, it puts the audio and video out of sync at times. Easy enough to fix inside FCP, but an issue with using the "Noise reduction/ drop out compensator".

good luck!

Kevin



Post Edited (05-24-06 12:26)

"A problem can never be solved by the same consciousness that created it"
Einstein

Kevin, you mention "Noise reduction/ drop out compensator", what is this? Hardware or software.

The reason I ask, is that I do a lot of VHS to DVD conversions, and many of the tapes are EP or very degraded SP recordings. Because of the poor quality, the video signal is often not adequate enough and the video blanks out on my DV recorder and DA Converter. Would having a "drop out compensator" allow me te better record the video; particularly where there is bad rinkling or scratching of the tape. I can view the footage on a standard TV, but the DV Recorder and DA converter blackout the video as, I assume, the sync pulse is not detectable.

Basically, I would like to be able to capture footage no matter how degraded it is, just a if I had a camcorder pointed at a TV. I would like to be able to even capture the audio speed up that occurs when the VHS deck can't properly detect the timing markers on the tape.

TIA for any advice you may have.



Thanks
Gary Sumlak
thumbprints Multimedia Inc.
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
[www.thumbprints.ca]

*** Superior Film Transfers at a Reasonable Price ***

Yes, it is hardware. I'll get back here with a brand I've used in the next day or so. It will help you alot and will keep the blackout of video from happening, to a degree. Sometimes the footage I've worked from is so bad it will hold a frame until the bad stuff is gone then moves forward. Added to that is a time base corrector trhat allows me to adjust the whites and blacks before it gets into the computer.

Kevin



"A problem can never be solved by the same consciousness that created it"
Einstein

My old Panasonic SVHS edit system has a Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) which I don't use because it freezes the "noise" in the forground. It looks like you're looking through a dirty window... really annoying. I think that a TBC would definitely be a necessity for stablizing the image. Barry

Thanks Mr. Kevin and Mr. Barry.
could you advice any particular VHS machine. Because the ones I am getting are either the Sony/Panasonic 6 head VCRs and they do not have a S-video out. I tried to look for ones with S-video but could not find. Also please let me know about the Noise reduction/dropout compensator and the TBC that came up in the responses.
Also another problem with the VCRs I am using is these tapes sometimes play properly sometimes shakes. Any method or any idea what to do in case. Is it because the head is dirty or the tapes are too old and spoilt. It is very difficult to figure out and wastes a lot of time to figure out.

The same happens with some of the Hi 8 tapes. When I play them on my camera, some times they play nice when I check. After checking when I connect the camera to capture, the same camera and the same tape starts jumping. Both VHS and Hi8 this problem is similar.
If you have any idea about solving this please advice. Thank you in advance. It will be a great help.

and if there is anything that I can do for you guys please write to me at yatidharmananda@yahoo.com. and check our website www.sivanandaonline.org. we are a spiritual organisation spreading the ancient Indian teachings on Yoga and Spiritualility.
Thanks
yatidharmananda

Dear Mr. Koz and Mr. Frank,
Please advice on some good VHS decks. fortunately I have all the VHS SP recording. some of them Have Fungus. I do not know how to clean those fungus.
Thanks in Advance for your help
and if there is anything that I can do for you guys please write to me at yatidharmananda@yahoo.com. and check our website www.sivanandaonline.org. we are a spiritual organisation spreading the ancient Indian teachings on Yoga and Spiritualility.
Thanks
yatidharmananda

Namaste.

A lot of equipment used to clean up videotape playback is going to be hard to locate because the market has vanished.

A Drop Out Compensator (Hardware) is a box that passes the video signal through one frame late and it keeps the current frame "in the air" in memory. If a particularly bad bit of video is produced from the tape, the DOC covers up the damage by shifting undamaged video between the two frames. Most video is reduntant frame to frame and this process can be almost invisible.

DOC machines work very very much better if they are included inside the tape machine and not added on.

A Noise Reducer (Hardware or Software) also produces "late" video because it, too, works by comparing two television frames. Most televison frames are very similar to each other except for the noise which is very different and can be tagged for deletion.

Noise Reduction was never popular because it tends to damage rapid theatrical motion. Most times it's best to leave the noise in.


You can (and must) remove mildew from the tapes.

I would be unscrewing the cases, lifting the tape reels out and then wash the empty cassett thoroughly with alcohol.

While the tape is outside the cassett, pull a bit if it into a big loop--say 6 feet (2M) gently wash it first in alcohol and then distilled water. Use cotton balls or small linen or cotton rags. Do not crease or bend the tape. Dry thoroughly. roll up, and go on to the next length of dirty tape.

Reassemble the tape reels into the clean cassett and go on to the next cassett.

Do all this with a factory fresh tape first to become accustomed to the process. If the brown oxide layer starts peeling from the clear or brown backing with the alcohol, you have a permanently damaged tape. I don't think the distilled water will take off mildew by itself. That's the final rinse.

You might also try a mild detergent and distilled water with a final rinse of clear distilled water.

Some tapes have a lubricant as part of the tape structure. This will be permanently damaged by any of these processes and may in fact already be gone from age and mildew.

This isn't going to be fun. It might be someone's life work.

Koz

On the item of cleaning fluid, I recommend a product called PEC-12, Archival Photographic Emulsion Cleaner. You can pick it up (or something very similar) and any Camera shop that caters to Pro photographers.

It is fairly stinky, but does not leave any residue and is much safer than alcohol.

Ta



Thanks
Gary Sumlak
thumbprints Multimedia Inc.
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
[www.thumbprints.ca]

*** Superior Film Transfers at a Reasonable Price ***