VCR to DVD Problems!!

[Bruce101]

Hi all,
I have some old family VCR's which I would like to preserve by converting them to DVD's.

I have tried both Pinnacle & PowerProducer software, both very good to use with my personal digital camera for editing, but the recorded image from the VCR when replayed on the burnt DVD shows an annoying amount of pixellation?? (I think that may be the term).

I think it may be the conversion from analogue to digital signals.
Can anyone suggest an answer to this problem??
Bruce101

[Stuart]

You do need a better A-D converter. Also comes down to the computer receiving the digital signal to be fast enough to process the incoming signal, but the primary issue will be the speed of the conversion itself.

A dedicated external converter is much better than the basic analogue inputs available with some packages which rely on software and the computer itself to perform the conversion.

[tameriska]

Hi, not sure, but do you have your video capture options as high resolution/ dvd quality? I personally use Ulead DVD movie factory, but havnt had much problem with pixellation

[Gumby]

I use a DVD recorder (on the TV). Not the computer. It gives excellent results.

[lesmeyer]

I'm with Gumby on this one. The DVD recorder used with TVs are dedicated to the task of recording from tape(and TV tuner) to hard drive and then burning to DVD.
Les

[rtfarty]

I have copied tapes with a scart lead from the VCR to the DVD recorder with really good results.

[Gumby]

Scart leads are good but if you don't have one, the RCA plugs work fine. Don't forget, VCR quality isn't DVD quality. ;)

[Bruce101]

Thank you all for your input. I agree that the use of a DVD recorder would be ideal, however (1) I don't have one, and (2) I want the ability to fully edit the VCR's, however thanks for the input.

I appreciate all your comments. Thanks Stuart I will investigate a A - D signal converter prior to input to the converter if it doesn't cost heaps $$$$$$$$.

Bruce101

[Gumby]

Thank you all for your input. I agree that the use of a DVD recorder would be ideal, however (1) I don't have one, and (2) I want the ability to fully edit the VCR's, however thanks for the input.

I appreciate all your comments. Thanks Stuart I will investigate a A - D signal converter prior to input to the converter if it doesn't cost heaps $$$$$$$$.

Bruce101

See if you can use a friend's recorder maybe. You can do a lot of editing with a good recorder which has a decent menu system. Some of the cheaper recorders are difficult to work out.

I then do the final editing on the computer but at least the conversion from analogue to digital has been done.

[bsrlee]

Ask around the bods at work & see if any of them have a DVD recorder of some sort they can lend you for a weekend.

Here in Sydney they are under $400 for a basic unit - either with or without a hard drive, some units have their own VCR and DVD units in one box.

[Big Shed]

I was looking for a solution to the VCR to DVD dilemma as well, and initially wanted to go the PC way. But I soon found out that my desktop PC wasn't powerful enough and I didn't want to upgrade it, hardly ever use it these days. My notebook would handle it but wasn't keen on tying that up for hours at the time.
A couple of weeks ago Aldi had a DVD recorder in their brochure for $149, I bought one and it does a marvellous job of converting VCR tapes to DVDs.
One thing I fail to understand though, like most other DVD recorders it has an analog tuner. We are supposedly changing to digital, but 80% of DVD recorders on the market have analog tuners. Most manufacturers are very ambiguous about describing their tuners as well, giving the impression that they are digital.
In my case I purely bought this for VCR to DVD work, will get a twin digital tuner DVD recorder with a HDD later, and most of those don't have analog inputs, so go figure!

[oges]

I have a DVD recorder VCR combo machine, copies them either way at a push of the button. Not sure why you would want to go from dvd to vcr tho.
Managed to move most over to DVD fine, although some of the VHS are copy protected :mad:

[Tankstand]

My Sony DVD recorder lets me edit by dividing and rejoining accurately by the frame! Great for cutting out commercials etc.

[Gumby]

My Sony DVD recorder lets me edit by dividing and rejoining accurately by the frame! Great for cutting out commercials etc.

Yep, all the good models do it easily. I have a Pioneer (160MB HD) and it's so far ahead of the DSE cheapy I bought for the second TV, it's a joke.

[Ashore]

I know that the origional post wanted to copy Home VCR's to DVD, and the dvd recorders do a great job of this , but for those interested Jaycar's christmas catalogue page 3 have a " Video Enhancer & Stabiliser" for $99 that Quote - Removes additional hidden signals from commercial videos and DVD's ( such as copy protection ) which can interfere with picture quality",............ not that I condone video piracy in any form , but for back-up copies there may be a use :rolleyes:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The copy protection that Ashore's talking about is Macrovision.

It'll always result in a pixellated copy, even from VCR to VCR, regardless of the quality of the equipment unless you also have a Macrovision decoder in line... which is basically what the unit he's talking about is. My last decoder cost in the 4 figure range, now they're less than $100!? :eek:

When copying to DVD, most good DVD/Video SW has a "Remove Macrovision" setting, although not always so obviously labelled, ;) to work around this.

eg. Adobe Premiere, TMPGEnc, or for DVD copiers: DVDShrink, Kingdia DVD Ripper.

Disclaimer: This info is only to assist those making archival copies for themselves, of course. Not that I'd accuse anyone in these forums of being a Pirate... except on the appropriate day, of course. Arrrr, me maties! (Just practising for next year! :rolleyes: )