MPEG/AVI to VHS ?

[LongStar]

Hi,

I want to take movie clips from my VHS and capture it to my computer...

Then I will make the movie, put a soundtrack, etc...

And finally, I want to put it back to a VHS...

My questions are :
1) What is the best capture format ?
2) What is the best basic editor, should I try Adobe Premiere or stay with basic stuff like Windows Movie Maker and Ulead Video Studio 6 ?
3) How can I put back my movie on VHS ???? I have a Tv-out on my video card...

4) Someone propose me to put my movie on VCD, and then, play it in a DVD player and record it with my VCR... But I don't know if it's a good idea and if my DVD player support VCD...

Any hints please ?
--------------------------------
LongStar
"If everything seems to be going
well, you obviously don't know what
the hell is going on !" (Murphy)

 

[LongStar]

Well, sorry I just find that it's not really a "video hardware issue"... but any help is still welcome --------------------------------
LongStar
"If everything seems to be going
well, you obviously don't know what
the hell is going on !" (Murphy)

 

[Kocky]

There are many good capture cards out there. It depends on what system you have. So please specify your pc's spec.

If you want to capture the movie from vhs to the computer then you'll need a capture card that has analog connectors.
The best is to buy a card that supports analog and digital capture. If you ever buy a digital camera then you can capture the movie digtialy which is a way better quality than VHS.

A good card is the Pinnacle DV500+. It comes with a break out box that you can place on your desk. It has
1 x analog in/out, 1 x svhs in/out, 2x firewire in and 1x firewire out. It is bundeld with Adobe Premiere 6.0. This is to my opinion the best editing program on the market for home users. Take a good look at the minimum specifications. You need a pretty fast processor (min. Pentium 3 800) a lot of ram 256mb minimum but 512 mb is advised, two hard-disks, one for the OS and one big capture hard-disk (minimum 40 gb/7200 rpm)

If you need more info please ask.

 

[Kocky]

By the way,
First capturing the vhs to the pc and then making a video cd and then go from the dvd-playter to the vhs is not a good idea. When making a video cd you limited to 45 min max on a cd-rom and you loose a lot of quality.

 

[LongStar]

Thanks for your answer !

I already have a capture card : Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP.

This card have a analog input (like cable) and an S-Video & RCA input.

My video card is a PowerColor GeForce 4 Ti4200 and I have a S-Video TV-out on it (BTW, I can't figure out how to make it work, nut I think it's my S-Video adapter to RCA that is buggy...).

So if the VCD is not a good idea, do you think that the best way is to plug my VCR in my S-Video output, put my movie in full screen and record it on my VCR ?

And now, what are the best resolution to be used ? For capture and playback (recording) ?

I have read that the VHS have a max resolution of : 300x360 pixels ? So should I use this resolution for my movie ?

Thanks

--------------------------------
LongStar
"If everything seems to be going
well, you obviously don't know what
the hell is going on !" (Murphy)

 

[Kocky]

You should connect your vcr to the capture card after you edited the video ! You cannot only capture video with a capture card but also output it to an external device after editing. Don't use the tv-out for this. It is not so good quality.

 

[LongStar]

REALLY !?!

I can output with my capture card ? Because in the spec of the card it says :

Connectors
2 F-connectors for RF TV and FM signal inputs
1 MiniDIN 8-pin connector for S-Video, stereo audio input or Philips camera
1 RCA yellow jack for composite video input
1 Stereo phone jack for audio output 1 phone jack for I/R sensor

http://www.leadtek.com.tw/www/Web_Leadtek/multimedia/TV2000_XP/TV2000-XP.asp

And if it work, how can I use it ? The same way that my video card tv-out ? Like playing the video in full screen mode and recording it on my VCR ? --------------------------------
LongStar
"If everything seems to be going
well, you obviously don't know what
the hell is going on !" (Murphy)

 

[Kocky]

Ok, now where messing things up here. The card you describe is not really a capture card. It is a TV-card with a capture ability. You can watch tv on your pc and capture video comming from an external device. In that case you can not output the video through the tv card. It's not a dedicated capture card. Don't expect to high quality from these sort of cards. I own the Pinnacle PCTV-Rave. It has also a capture ability but the end result is not that great.

In your case you have to capture the video using the software that is provided with the card. You will probably not be able to capture from within Adobe Premiere or Windows Movie Maker because they don't support the card.
After you captured the video you can edit it, propably, using Premiere if it can find the codec.

To get it back to the vcr you have to use the tv-out of the video card and play the video full-screen. I'm not sure about the quality. You can also try making a Super Video CD and then use it in a stand-alone dvd player connected to the VCR. Don't use Video CD it has bad quality. A Super Video CD is better.

Hope this helps.