Anybody ever do VCR to computer?

[Ar-Pharazon]

I've ordered one of these items (off eBay), it lets you connect any VCR to your computer via the USB port. It cost $10 including S&H from China. It comes with some sort of software as well and a USB extension cord.



There is also a VCR with USB cable built in, from ION. This can be had for about $70 +.

Have any of you done this kind of recording? And if so, what method did you use?

 

[scotthm]

Not with this equipment, but I have done some VCR to PC transfer using my Hauppauge WinTV card connected to a VCR via S-Video. It worked just fine.

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[Ar-Pharazon]

How did you connect the audio?

 

[farmkid]

I've done it the same way as scotthm, although with a different card. In fact, I've had three different video capture cards over the years, and I've done a lot of this sort of thing. Some work better than others. I don't know anything about the one you bought, but considering the price, I suspect it's not one of the better ones. It will probably work fine, but don't expect excellent video quality.

Here's a tip for you: I'm 99.9% sure this device does not have a hardware MPEG encoder built in (very few USB video-capture devices do), so the output stream will be uncompressed. Just capture that as an uncompressed avi, and then convert it to MPEG or Divx or whatever you want later. If you encode it while capturing, anything else your computer is doing (such as AV scan, automatic update, anything you're doing with it, etc.) will likely result in dropped frames.

If the software that comes with it sucks (such programs often do), come back here and I may be able to give you some better ideas. Also check out videohelp.com. You can find more information on the subject that you could ever want there.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Now, the thing that's making me feel stupid is that I have a Pinnacle capture device I tried for pulling TV onto the computer, and it's related software.

I haven't used it in about a year and a half, but it could do the same thing as this item I purchased.

I do remember there being a definite A/V sync problem after a while worth of recording.

 

[farmkid]

A/V sync is a common problem. The best way I've figured out to fix it is with a program called VirtualDub. It's a video editing program that can cut, join, transcode, change framerate, apply filters, among other things. It's fairly easy to resync the audio and video of .avi files with VirtualDub. Just adjust the framerate a little so that the audio and video framerates match, then save using the "direct stream copy" option for both audio and video. If the final product of your VHS capture project is some .avi file (Divx, Xvid, or something like that), I would recommend using VirtualDub for most of the work.

 

[Amaris]

I use DVDXpress DX2, that I bought a couple of years ago. Perfect transfers every time.
http://www.amazon.com/ADS-Tech-Xpress-Video-Converter/dp/B000DZDMB6

Of course, I got it at Walmart for $49. I don't know why it's higher on Amazon.
Anyway, perfect transfers, easy to use software, love the stuff.
I've transferred dozens of home movies from VHS to my PC to DVD and they look and sound great.

What's really nice about it is that the hardware does all the work, leaving your computer's CPU and video card relatively hassle free.

J.

 

[Shaw]

One of my main systems (a Power Macintosh 8600/300) is a dedicated video capture system with both a VCR and DVD player connected via the built-in AV ports. It is designed to go both ways, so I can print to video tape too. The system is also how I watch TV (when I watch TV) as it is connected to cable as well.

This is the general setup...

Click to enlarge​

The system has a number of video editing applications installed, including Strata VideoShop, Strata DVbase, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro and Strata MediaPaint. For a 12 year old system, it still pulls more than it's own weight!

Before I tinkered together the elements of my 8600 (to take full advantage of the systems abilities) I was using a 1993 Silicon Graphics Indy for video capture (and watching TV). I had been fortunate enough to find a rare set of expansion boards (Indy Video and Cosmo Compression boards) that gave the system awesome video capture abilities (far better than the built-in AV ports that came with the Indy).

I loved my Indy, but I didn't have very good video editing software on it and always had to transfer the captured video off the system to do anything with it.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The thing with the Pinnacle set-up was, the A-V sync problem became more pronounced as it went. OK at the beginning, way off at the 2 or 3 hour mark.

If I knew whether this was a hardware (capture device), hardware (computer) or software (Pinnacle Studio) issue, then I could decide what other way to do this to eliminate, or at least reduce this.

 

[Jadzia]

Ar-Pharazon, I mentioned this in a thread in Misc a couple of weeks ago.

It's partly due to older software that doesn't compensate for dropped frames. I've used the freeware VirtualDub to capture video, and it does compensate correctly.

The other part of the problem is that the audio and video are captured through separate streams, which use non alligning bitrates. This causes a small error in each block where the audio is a microsecond shorter than the video, and over the course of a couple of hours, this grows to 200ms, at which point it's noticable. You can get away with about 100ms lag comfortably but 200ms is noticeable.

One solution I've found is to add 100-150ms of silence to the beginning of the audio stream. So it starts off slightly ahead, drifts into sync after a couple of hours, and drifts ou of sync the next couple of hours. It's enough for most videos. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is lagging what, even though you know something is amiss

Stretching the audio it just doesn't seem to work for me for some reason. It ends up worse.

 

[farmkid]

Ar-Pharazon, I mentioned this in a thread in Misc a couple of weeks ago.

It's partly due to older software that doesn't compensate for dropped frames. I've used the freeware VirtualDub to capture video, and it does compensate correctly.

The other part of the problem is that the audio and video are captured through separate streams, which use non alligning bitrates. This causes a small error in each block where the audio is a microsecond shorter than the video, and over the course of a couple of hours, this grows to 200ms, at which point it's noticable. You can get away with about 100ms lag comfortably but 200ms is noticeable.

One solution I've found is to add 100-150ms of silence to the beginning of the audio stream. So it starts off slightly ahead, drifts into sync after a couple of hours, and drifts ou of sync the next couple of hours. It's enough for most videos. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is lagging what, even though you know something is amiss

Stretching the audio it just doesn't seem to work for me for some reason. It ends up worse.

I've tried that too, but I've found I have the best results by slightly adjusting the video framerates with VirtuaDub. Choosing the "Change so video and audio durations match" option in the "Video frame rate control" window usually does it. If not, I manually set the frame rate and adjust it a little at a time until everything matches.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Pinnacle Studio 11, Windows Movie Maker 2 and Cyberlink PowerDirector ALL lock up as soon as I try to capture or detect a capture device.

They all "see" the Pinnacle device since I installed the driver for it.

Hopefully the new device won't do this, but the Pinnacle device worked in the past when it was coming off the satellite receiver.

Virtual Dub is the only one that doesn't lock up, and it shows the Pinnacle device as an option, but won't show a preview, so still not seeing anything.

 

[Jadzia]

Windows' methods of handling video streams have changed over the years because the original design was never intended for the video bitrates we use now.

This affects what the video capture device's drivers employ: VFW (old) vs WDM (new). This may be the problem.

You could look for either an official or a third party WDM driver for video capture cards. They all use similar protocols, regardless of the manufacturer.

I expect that's the problem, but no guarantees

 

[Alpha_Geek]

To connect the audio, you'll need a pretty standard set of 3 RCA connector cables, 1 for video out on the VCR to the yellow jack on the dongle, 2 for audio out to the red & white on the dongle.

Note that most recodring software will create AVI files which are massive for the recorded time. There is a freeware software package called virtualdub that will allow you to transcode these avi files to mpg and save yourself some drive space.

Oops, you found all that out all ready. Should have read to the end of the thread.

FWIW, Avid used to make a free digital editor. You might check their site and see if Avid Free DV is still available.

Is the device USB 2.0? Are your USB ports 2.0?

I've never had good luck with USB Video devices and wind up buying a pci card for capture and tv viewing. Anyone want a Hauppauge HVR-950?


AG

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I've uninstalled & reinstalled the driver a few times. Got Studio & PowerDirector to not lock up, but preview shows a scrambled video stream (audio OK). Tried changing settings around, no difference. Doesn't seem to be a tracking problem, it looked to be adjusted right when I tested in on the TV earlier.

I figure eventually I'm going to have to get a capture card, this project is a couple hours old and Ar-Pharazon's gettin' upset.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Is this a tape you created yourself or a purchased video? It sounds like you may be running afoul of Macrovision, a copy protection technique that messes with the video synch signal.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Both tapes I tested are purchased ones.

How old/recent is this protection?

Mainly I want to create a better version of Curse Of Fatal Death compared to what's been on youtube and such. Which is why I'm a little hesitant to go with more expensive set-ups, I only really want to do this kind of thing once or twice ever.

 

[farmkid]

Yeah, it sounds like Macrovision might be getting in the way. Macrovision has been around for a long time, and most commercial VHS tapes and DVDs (DVDs are usually protected digitally by CSS as well) produced over the last couple of decades are protected by it. Some devices ignore Macrovision and others don't. For example, my first card was an old ATI TV wonder PCI. It would record anything, Macrovision or not. My second one was a Sapphire Theatrix, which is basically a ATI TV Wonder Elite. That card, while a much better card overall, won't record anything protected by Macrovision. If I try to record something from a commercial DVDs or VHS tapes, it will record for about 1 second then go to a black screen and then refuse the signal. I recently got a Hauppauge HVR-1600 and, although I haven't confirmed it yet, I understand the the Hauppauge cards ignore Macrovision and will record anything.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I don't want to start a verboten discussion, but I can rip any DVD I own with software, but an "older" thing like a VHS tape is giving me fits.

I'll probably get look at a card in the next week or so.

Looking at that very card, I have to ask again about the audio. Is there a single audio connection on the HVR-1600, or do I have to input the audio somewhere else?

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

I believe under fair use laws, you are entitled to make a backup copy of media that you've legally purchased.

You'll need a hardware solution for this. Do a little googling for macrovision removal and you'll see some stuff out there.