I had a very learning experience weekend. I decided to do some conversion of VHS movie video to DVD format. All perfectly legal as the tapes were very old wedding tapes in need of preservation in a more stable digital format. A client asked me to do these so they were not done just for personal satisfaction.
As it turned out it was a great how-to and equipment selection learning experience.
I trans-coded three tapes. Two were in the 1 hour 20 minute range and the third was a full 2 hours. The process requires (at least in my method) to run the tapes at viewing speed and capture the video and audio format to a computer hard drive. Those three videos are about 5 hours there for just a single pass. Fifty percent more time each tape is required to convert to DVD format. Then twenty percent more time to burn the disk and label it. It is a long process.
The old capture card I own is totally obsolete as it is designed for a 16 bit bus. Newer devices now use the high speed USB 2.0 port. My new interface device is quite small and portable. That’s nice because it can be used on a laptop when desired. I purchased one of these devices (~$50) about six months ago but never used it much.
I tried to capture using my Vista 64 bit OS. The result was totally unacceptable amount of drop out and just bad video. I thought it was bad tapes at first and completely copied the first two smaller tapes. The results were so upsetting; I set out to see what the real problem was. The tapes looked great on a regular TV and tape player. SOOooo, it is not bad tapes! What then, my VHS player or my little converter device?
I spent an hour or so swapping things around until the only device left was the converter. I went on line and discovered the real maker of the device and downloaded both the newest drivers (32 and 64 bit) and the latest VISTA version of the software. Guess what, still no fix.
Finally I decided it needed to be tested in the 32 bit version of the Vista OS. Lucky have both installed.
I installed everything in the 32 bit Vista partition and started over. This is very late in day one by now. Wow! It is working as advertised. I am getting clean conversions with zero dropouts. It’s about 1:00 AM Sunday by now.
I have discovered the interface to the USB ports is a P.O.S. in 64 bit Vista when running a 32 bit application. The Application said it would run in 64 bit but I discovered it was really running in the 32 bit WOW. I have to do some more research (later) for a real 64 bit install if available. Sometimes both versions are there in the files but the user has to force the 64 bit install.
All that is left is dealing with the less than perfect color (white) balance and highlight blowout of the original tapes. Some videographers are better than others. The client asked for little or no time spent on fine tuning but I do have some personal desire to make the output as presentable as possible.
As I said above, even after the conversion (to digital on the hard drive) there is still considerable time to convert to DVD format and to burn the DVD. All tapes are now finished and the time spent was constructive if not frustrating. The next one will run like I know what I am doing!