Converting Porn VHS Tapes to digital - Page 3

**NeonKnite** · March 31st, 2018, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicago

I have been told that using a pre-flat screen ( a tv that was around when these tapes were made) would create the best picture. Any thoughts would be appreciated.Also I have heard the bigger screen you use, the better end result, would like to know if these 2 things matter before I decide to try to convert anything.

The screen has nothing to do with the end result. Remember, when you're converting you're running the output from the VCR into some sort of capture device usually inside or connected to a PC. A screen has nothing to do with the end result

To get the best quality, you're going to have to make adjustments to the initial capture in software (i.e. VirtualDub or Avisynth, etc). I've been spending a lot of time on my recently learning to use filters in VirtualDub and making adjustments to the resulting capture. It makes a *big* difference.

My two most recent captures were made using my newly acquired JVC VCR along with an ATI 600 USB capture device from Virtual Dub.

http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/sho...80#post4384480

http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/sho...73#post4380973

VHS tape quality is all over the board. Some tapes are better quality and need less help. Others take a lot of work to get them looking good.

I have two VCRs and I've run into tapes that won't play in one but play in the other. It's the nature of the beast.

alohaanime · December 21st, 2018, 10:37 PM

I just bought the Elgato Video Capture device so that I can start transferring my old VHS tapes of cable shows from the 80's and 90's. It seems pretty straight forward on the default settings, but I was wondering if anyone here had used the device and could offer any advice as to what the best preferences / settings I should use? Thank you!

Gordon3 · December 21st, 2018, 11:49 PM

If you can still find them, I've found that the DVD recorders worked extremely well with this process on my tapes, although the oldest of my tapes only went back into the late 1980's. It took some fiddling, but recording to the DVD with the best quality, given the length of what you're digitizing, made a big difference (this is the biggest complaint about the DVD recorders, the video quality, but I saw no discernible difference, in comparison to the original VHS picture).

There is a second step for the movies that I wanted an .mp4 file out of, and that was the use of Handbrake to rip the movie off of my own recording. This occurs with no loss of quality, and Handbrake does a good job of cutting down the file size without loss of quality. However, a solid PC, mine being a borderline gaming PC, helps speed the process and helps to avoid the loss of quality normally associated with direct VHS to PC transfers.

In some cases, like the HBO Video Playboy tapes that I had, a copy protection blocking device was required. There was a slight loss of quality, but those were 25-30+ year old tapes anyway.

**kogi** · December 22nd, 2018, 02:39 AM

Good points here. And that is why you should always use the highest quality settings in any capture device. Setup and terminology may vary (e.g raw steam, uncompressed stream, max bitrate) and a 1h.30 movie could easily amount to 6-7GB or more uncompressed. Run it through an encoding program like Handbrake or Megui and get a nice mp4/mkv file in the end.

alohaanime · March 4th, 2021, 11:07 PM

So I still haven't got around to figuring out which is the best way to transfer my old VHS tapes. I do have an older DVD recorder - which I'm partial to use since it's easier for me. I also purchased a Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 Analog Video Digitizer and Video Capture Device to use with my PC. I'm still learning to use that card and figuring out the best settings.

My question is, looking at Gordon3's post, it seems to indicate that if I do recordings in SP mode on the recorder, that picture quality of the DVD file would be as good, if not better than what I could achieve with an entry level USB device like the Hauppauge?

I'm not really a techie at all, so I was looking for the easiest way to transfer. I am familiar with handbrake, so that's an option if I want to convert to MKV later on. I just want to know if using the DVD recorder is good enough so I can just trash my old tapes once and for all, or if I should just use the Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 Analog Video Digitizer and Video Capture Device?

timberjp · March 5th, 2021, 04:25 AM

I use a Panasonic AG-1980P VCR SVHS editing deck with TBC built in.
(For Laserdiscs, I use a Pioneer CLD-V2800, still looking for a decent Beta format VCR as well as perhaps a PAL region VCR but don't really have a reason to get one yet).

I then feed the video signal out from S-Video out into Elite Video PROC amp (BVP+).
This allows adjustment to the original ANALOG signal and adjust things like color level, flesh tone, fine/course color adjustment, black level, luminance, IRE adjustment as well some resolution boost (sharpness). You can perform real time split screen view by turning a knob which draws a line to split the screen in half (one way to left or right depending on how far you turn the the knob) to see the difference between original video feed and processed video feed. After setting your desired picture adjustments, turn the knob back to remove the split view.

To capture I then send the signal from the PROC amp to a Canopus ADVC-100 Firewire capture device. (It's an earlier model that had the hidden ability to remove Macrovision which was corrected - removed from later revisions). The analog signal is converted to digital over Firewire cable to a PC where I use Adobe Premiere to capture, edit and further post process digitally (deinterlace, frame adjustment, further image process) if needed for final video render using your desired container file of your choice.

I tried other solutions like Blackmagic Intensity/Decklink capture card but for these old school NTSC interlaced analog videos, the Canopus capture solution over Firewire seems to perform better.

My AG-1980 is currently sent out for repairs. Finding a decent (working) VCR are becoming more rare (as well as expensive) as we approach the middle half of the 21st Century. Good parts, especially replacement video heads are becoming hard to find too if not next to impossible. Finding a skilled VCR repair technician is also becoming harder to find. Analog consumer electronics has all but become a lost art since the world's switch over to digital decades ago.

And sadly, the huge volumes of vintage erotica (aka porn) is still on this fragile media, probably more fragile than even film (8mm reels or otherwise). So just to re-iterate what others have said and re-said, convert to digital now if you can.

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December 21st, 2018, 10:37 PM	#22
alohaanime Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 115 Thanks: 2,358 Thanked 325 Times in 105 Posts	I just bought the Elgato Video Capture device so that I can start transferring my old VHS tapes of cable shows from the 80's and 90's. It seems pretty straight forward on the default settings, but I was wondering if anyone here had used the device and could offer any advice as to what the best preferences / settings I should use? Thank you!

December 21st, 2018, 11:49 PM	#23
Gordon3 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 458 Thanks: 2,479 Thanked 5,237 Times in 446 Posts	If you can still find them, I've found that the DVD recorders worked extremely well with this process on my tapes, although the oldest of my tapes only went back into the late 1980's. It took some fiddling, but recording to the DVD with the best quality, given the length of what you're digitizing, made a big difference (this is the biggest complaint about the DVD recorders, the video quality, but I saw no discernible difference, in comparison to the original VHS picture). There is a second step for the movies that I wanted an .mp4 file out of, and that was the use of Handbrake to rip the movie off of my own recording. This occurs with no loss of quality, and Handbrake does a good job of cutting down the file size without loss of quality. However, a solid PC, mine being a borderline gaming PC, helps speed the process and helps to avoid the loss of quality normally associated with direct VHS to PC transfers. In some cases, like the HBO Video Playboy tapes that I had, a copy protection blocking device was required. There was a slight loss of quality, but those were 25-30+ year old tapes anyway.

December 22nd, 2018, 02:39 AM	#24
kogi Cash Whore Poster Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Unfortunately, without the cash & the whoring Posts: 7,985 Thanks: 16,665 Thanked 268,720 Times in 7,809 Posts	Good points here. And that is why you should always use the highest quality settings in any capture device. Setup and terminology may vary (e.g raw steam, uncompressed stream, max bitrate) and a 1h.30 movie could easily amount to 6-7GB or more uncompressed. Run it through an encoding program like Handbrake or Megui and get a nice mp4/mkv file in the end.

March 4th, 2021, 11:07 PM	#25
alohaanime Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 115 Thanks: 2,358 Thanked 325 Times in 105 Posts	So I still haven't got around to figuring out which is the best way to transfer my old VHS tapes. I do have an older DVD recorder - which I'm partial to use since it's easier for me. I also purchased a Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 Analog Video Digitizer and Video Capture Device to use with my PC. I'm still learning to use that card and figuring out the best settings. My question is, looking at Gordon3's post, it seems to indicate that if I do recordings in SP mode on the recorder, that picture quality of the DVD file would be as good, if not better than what I could achieve with an entry level USB device like the Hauppauge? I'm not really a techie at all, so I was looking for the easiest way to transfer. I am familiar with handbrake, so that's an option if I want to convert to MKV later on. I just want to know if using the DVD recorder is good enough so I can just trash my old tapes once and for all, or if I should just use the Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 Analog Video Digitizer and Video Capture Device?

March 5th, 2021, 04:25 AM	#26
timberjp Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 98 Thanks: 131 Thanked 3,243 Times in 98 Posts	I use a Panasonic AG-1980P VCR SVHS editing deck with TBC built in. (For Laserdiscs, I use a Pioneer CLD-V2800, still looking for a decent Beta format VCR as well as perhaps a PAL region VCR but don't really have a reason to get one yet). I then feed the video signal out from S-Video out into Elite Video PROC amp (BVP+). This allows adjustment to the original ANALOG signal and adjust things like color level, flesh tone, fine/course color adjustment, black level, luminance, IRE adjustment as well some resolution boost (sharpness). You can perform real time split screen view by turning a knob which draws a line to split the screen in half (one way to left or right depending on how far you turn the the knob) to see the difference between original video feed and processed video feed. After setting your desired picture adjustments, turn the knob back to remove the split view. To capture I then send the signal from the PROC amp to a Canopus ADVC-100 Firewire capture device. (It's an earlier model that had the hidden ability to remove Macrovision which was corrected - removed from later revisions). The analog signal is converted to digital over Firewire cable to a PC where I use Adobe Premiere to capture, edit and further post process digitally (deinterlace, frame adjustment, further image process) if needed for final video render using your desired container file of your choice. I tried other solutions like Blackmagic Intensity/Decklink capture card but for these old school NTSC interlaced analog videos, the Canopus capture solution over Firewire seems to perform better. My AG-1980 is currently sent out for repairs. Finding a decent (working) VCR are becoming more rare (as well as expensive) as we approach the middle half of the 21st Century. Good parts, especially replacement video heads are becoming hard to find too if not next to impossible. Finding a skilled VCR repair technician is also becoming harder to find. Analog consumer electronics has all but become a lost art since the world's switch over to digital decades ago. And sadly, the huge volumes of vintage erotica (aka porn) is still on this fragile media, probably more fragile than even film (8mm reels or otherwise). So just to re-iterate what others have said and re-said, convert to digital now if you can.