Recording from a VCR.

[mccoyn]

My uncle wants me to help him convert some old family videos to digital, and possibly put them on DVDs. My computer has an EVGA Geforce 4 video card which has a video in. My question is how can I get the best possible recordings? I think he will have to original camcorder that took the videos. Is there any other hardware I should have?

I did a test run with my cheap VCR and a video (bought from a store) that my sister wants converted to a DVD. I used Windows Movie Maker, which came with Windows XP. The best option it had was 320x200 resolution. Is it possible to get better than this? Also, this software was buggy when dealing with a large video. Does anyone have experience with another program?

Finally, if it isn't possible to get better resolution video, is it possible to take better resolution still shots?

[Xenocide]

you will probabbly need a better capture card, if you looking for one, im selling an ATI TV Wonder in the classifieds :D

i don't think ANY of the nvidia cards get decent video in...

[OSUmaxx]

I highly recommend the Canopus ADVC-100 video capture box. I'm using it for similar things (camcorder capture, vcr, etc.) and the quality is excellent. Its an investment, but the results are noticably better than using a video card IMO.

[mccoyn]

That Canopus box looks pretty good. Is it much better than an ATI card? I've thought about getting an All-In-Wonder card in the past before just for tivoing stuff. If the difference is between say 99% and 97% I think I would go for the cheaper more versatile ATI card. If its noticable, however, I think I would be willing to spend the extra money.

[Veland]

Well, I'm guessing the recordings are from an analouge cam? Not a DV cam.. Then the native resolution is quite poor and the ATI All-in-wonder is enough. Just make sure you use the best bossible interface (svideo?) and have as clear a path as possible. Cam->pc as an example.

And maybe som post processing to get rid of some noise?

[KILLorBE]

Originally posted by mccoyn
I used Windows Movie Maker, which came with Windows XP. The best option it had was 320x200 resolution. Is it possible to get better than this?
You should be able to capture at 720x576 with a different program.

Before you go out and buy a capture/tv card, I'd suggest you try one of these (http://www.videohelp.com/capture) guides (especially this (http://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/160618.php) guide), the result may be satisfying.

[Sonny]

I agree, before you spend a lot of money on mid to high end capture cards you really should look into a better application. You will be able to record to raw AVI with VIRTUALDUB (http://www.virtualdub.org/) & also take a look at DOOM9 (http://www.doom9.org/). Don't forget to use the latest WDM driver ;)

[mccoyn]

I got Virtual VCR working and capturing at a nice looking 720 x 576. I'm following the guide linked by KILLorBE. I've just captured to an AVI. It looks a little grainy, but I expect that has as much to do with the source as anything. I havn't done any of the filtering stuff, so hopefully that will make things better.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[mccoyn]

I am having a problem with this I can't seem to fix. When I record something the audio and video streams arn't staying in sync. I think I understand why this happens, but I can't figure out how to fix it.

I tried using the resample audio option in Virtual VCR with no luck.

The best thing would be something that would let me adjust the streams so the match in the existing AVI file. Anyone know of any software that can do this?