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VHS to Computer?

Discussion in 'Fan Films, Fan Audio & SciFi 3D' started by gameboyry, Jul 25, 2002.

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  1. gameboyry

    gameboyry Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 2002
    So if I shoot on VHS is there a reasonably cheap way to get it on my computer? And will it look decent?
     
  2. foxbatkllr

    foxbatkllr Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 27, 2001
    You'll need to buy a video capture card. I'm sure you can get an ATI card for the $50-$100 range.
     
  3. gameboyry

    gameboyry Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Jul 9, 2002
    I have an ATI All in Wonder Radeon, I got it from a friend for 10 bucks, But i dont know how it will work or if i need more softwear.
     
  4. PadawanNick

    PadawanNick Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 6, 2001
    .... or ....

    If you already have a miniDV cam that you're using to put your own video onto your computer ...

    Check to see if it has a feature to record from the video inputs. Most miniDV cameras have this ability.

    Then you can just play your VHS tape into your DV cam, and then firewire the video over to your computer.

    Have fun.
     
  5. steveskywalker

    steveskywalker Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2002
    The way I do it's not cheap, but if you wanna know. I have Dazzle DVC. It cost me $200, but it's WELL worth the price. You can capture/export standard AV and S-Video.
     
  6. foxbatkllr

    foxbatkllr Jedi Knight star 6

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    Jul 27, 2001
    Padawan Nick, I've tried recording analog footage on my miniDV camera and it works and looks fine...BUT when I transfer it through firewire to my computer, it's all choppy and you can see the interlaced frames.
     
  7. PadawanNick

    PadawanNick Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 6, 2001
    That's odd.

    You mean that it looks choppier and more interlaced than action you shoot with the camera?
     
  8. foxbatkllr

    foxbatkllr Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 27, 2001
    Okay, let me describe exactly the circumstance. I had some old footage of lightsaber duels that I wanted to rotoscope which was filmed on a Hi8 camera. I borrowed a Canon GL-1. I transferred the Hi8 footage from my Hi8 camera to the GL-1. I played it back on the GL-1 and it looked totally fine. I then plugged the firewire in and began to transfer the footage. When I viewed it on my computer, it looked as if though it was being captured at 15 fps and the interlaced frames were horrid. Obviously the footage was completely unusable for rotoscoping. Since I got my own miniDV camera which is the Canon ZR10 I haven't tried transferring footage yet, but I'd like to as I have a bunch of cool old videos that pre date the digital age. I have assumed that there is no way the ZR10 would be any different or better than the GL-1.
     
  9. PadawanNick

    PadawanNick Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 6, 2001
    The thing is that playback in the camera display will look clean because it plays back the interlaced video the same way a TV does.

    Interlacing will always show up, big time, on a computer, but you really don't see it with a TV or tranditional video display since they are designed to display interlaced video.

    I'm not sure of the frame rate issue though.

    I've digitized video using my Canon ZR25 and it comes out looking as expected. Frame rate is fine, but the interlacing does show up. You will get interlacing on video shot with ZR10 too, since it doesn't have a Movie Frame Mode like the GL1.

    Check your software editor documentation or help file for a "de-interlacing" function. Most programs have this. It should help.

    Good luck.

    Have fun.
     
  10. foxbatkllr

    foxbatkllr Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 27, 2001
    So I just need to de-interlace...well I can do that with FCP.
     
  11. VagrantChrisX

    VagrantChrisX Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2002
    All you need is a cool little software device hardware USB called Pinnacle Linx

    It's only 42 bucks, and u can import video from Camera or VCR through AVI IMPUTS
     
  12. Tedakin

    Tedakin Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    Pinnacle Studio DC10 Plus is great for only being around $100.
     
  13. Semaj Ovured

    Semaj Ovured Jedi Master star 4

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    May 8, 2000
    YOu will need the drivers, but you can download them.
     
  14. Semaj Ovured

    Semaj Ovured Jedi Master star 4

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    May 8, 2000
    How much memory do you have?
     
  15. gameboyry

    gameboyry Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 2002
    Thanks for all the input guys.
     
  16. nhaines

    nhaines Jedi Youngling star 1

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    May 12, 2002
    You absolutely can transfer from VHS to computer. But I'll warn you right now that VHS is a horrible, horrible lossy format.

    Bottom line is that you only want to do this transfer once. That is to say, once you transfer it to you computer, then transfer it back to VHS, don't ever transfer that footage back to your computer. The generation loss in VHS is absolutely unbelievable until you see it for yourself, and even then you won't believe it! :)

    So just make sure if you're working on your movie that you have enough disk space that you can keep the video on your computer until it's time to edit it and make a tape.
     
  17. BigRedDog

    BigRedDog Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 6, 2002
    Avoid USB 1.0 transfer at all costs. It just can't transfer enough data to create a good quality picture. When coupled with the crappy quality of VHS, this yields horrible video. Maybe if it was recorded in a studio situation with a great camera, this wouldn't be so bad, but a consumer cam, tape, and USB input will all equal bad quality.
     
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