No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

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Andria Morales

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No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostWed Jun 21, 2017 8:10 pm

Hello,

I'm a beginner with an Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0 and a JVC SR-V101US SVHS player with built in TBC, connected via S-Video cable. My goal is to use this setup to convert VHS tapes to digital Quicktime files so that the clips can be used in a feature length documentary.

I've got the S-Video cable plugged into the S-Video Out port on the back of the SVHS, going into the S-Video In port on the Shuttle. The Shuttle is plugged into a USB port on my 27-inch iMac (3.2 GHz Intel Core i5/ 16GB 1600 MHZ DDR3/ OS X 10.10.5).


Blackmagic Desktop Video Setup detects the Shuttle with S Video input. I selected NTSC for the Output Format (I could use some advice on this).
Screenshot 2017-06-21 15.41.20.png
Screenshot 2017-06-21 15.41.20.png (77.45 KiB) Viewed 3691 times


In Media Express I selected NTSC for Project Video Format and Quicktime Uncompressed 9-bit YUV for Capture File format. (I could also use some advice on this)
Screenshot 2017-06-21 15.41.00.png
Screenshot 2017-06-21 15.41.00.png (113.35 KiB) Viewed 3691 times


Media Express does not detect the Shuttle, and in the Log and Capture tab I see it says "No Remote."
Screenshot 2017-06-21 15.40.16.png
Screenshot 2017-06-21 15.40.16.png (120.37 KiB) Viewed 3691 times


What am I doing wrong? Is the TBC on this "prosumer" SVHS simply not good enough, or is there something wrong with my settings?

Any guidance would be much appreciated!
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Denny Smith

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostThu Jun 22, 2017 5:44 am

No, the SVHS deck does not have a true TBC, as such, that will allow you to capture video directly from the player to a computer video card, like the Intensity Shuttle. You will need a real separate broadcast type TBS. This has been discussed many times here:
Colin Barrett wrote:I use a Shuttle Thunderbolt - along with other devices that includes a Teranex 2D and H.264 Pro Recorder - all of which are used to capture from legacy tape-based video formats that include VHS and even Betamax (!) as well as pro formats like DigiBeta, Beta-SP, DVCPro, DVCAM and 3/4" U-Matic SP. The first device to be installed, about three years ago, was the Shuttle. I subsequently learned the hard way that all Blackmagic video capture devices such as these cannot accept an unstable analogue SD video signal without prior TBC (timebase correction). This is even the case with the Teranex 2D, which is a crazy shortcoming in my opinion!

The reason your input signal is dropping out at regular intervals is because the VHS off-tape SD signal is inherently unstable and the Shuttle simply can't handle a non-synchronous source.

Yes, it's frustrating. I now have five TBCs for the purpose!!!


And:
Colin :D Barrett wrote:It's a question that's asked often on here - copying old unstable composite and component video sources to digital will always - repeat always - require some form of timebase correction before the A-D conversion can occur reliably. And then there are proper timebase correctors (ones that are designed for use in broadcast environments and which are designed for heavy lifting) and those ProAmps which do little but allow adjustment of black, chroma and luminance and little to really stabilise the source.

I use four broadcast TBCs, the best of which is an ex-BBC Snell & Wilcox TBC11 which will stabilise just about anything you throw at it, and I fee the component outputs to various Blackmagic products for Mac - Shuttle, Teranex 2D and H.264 Pro Recorder - but without a TBC all captures will have a tendancy to fail as soon as there's a hole in syncs.


You need to get a real TBC that has SVideo inputs, and component output. The audio will also need to be connected directly p, or better yet, via a audio mixer to the Shuttle, as SVideo (through a TBC or otherwise) does not have embedded audio. I have a Snell and Wilcox TBC that includes a videomprocessor and digital converter to output directly to a SDI input. Wihout a good TBC, you are not going to be able to get a signal through as Colin outlined above. :mrgreen:
Cheers
Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Andria Morales

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostThu Jun 22, 2017 3:25 pm

Thanks for your reply. I had a feeling it was the TBC.

I found another thread on here that mentions using a consumer level TBC like the Datavideo TBC-1000 or AV Toolbox AVT-8710. I'm hoping one of those will do the trick.
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Denny Smith

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostFri Jun 23, 2017 1:20 am

Not likely with SVHS, which has terrible timecode continuity with old tapes. You need a TBC that will reclock the video signal with a stable continuous TC. You can get used commercial broadcast type TBC used from eBay at good prices, or look around at a local cable TV station for help.
Cheers
Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Colin Barrett

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostMon Jun 26, 2017 10:54 am

Andria Morales wrote:Thanks for your reply. I had a feeling it was the TBC.

I found another thread on here that mentions using a consumer level TBC like the Datavideo TBC-1000 or AV Toolbox AVT-8710. I'm hoping one of those will do the trick.


I doubt whether they'll be robust enough, to be honest. I've worked my way through a load of so-called TBCs over the last 10-12 years and nothing works as well as a "proper" broadcast-grade TBC. The cheaper ones are little more than Genlocking ProcAmps really. Trouble is that Genlock is only good if the sync it's locking to (and using as its reference source) is rock-solid to start with. Even then, they tend to drop out when there's a big hole is syncs, such as where a recording segment ends and there's a gap between it and the next recording (i.e.: full loss of BBS - Black Burst & Sync). At this point the cheaper "TBC" will just fall over flat, whereas a proper TBC will simply continue to generate a constant new BBS.
Blackmagic Teranex 2D, Ultrastudio Express, Intensity Shuttle (Thunderbolt), Two H.264 Pro Recorders (Mac OSX) & lots of old VTRs used for digital archiving of legacy video formats for major libraries, broadcasters, universities and public archives.
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Andria Morales

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostMon Jun 26, 2017 1:52 pm

Thank you for your reply, Colin. Last week I had a chance to read through some of the many threads that lament the misleading product advertising which does not make it clear what is required for the Intensity Shuttle to work properly. I'm in the USA, working at an artist's studio, tasked with digitizing over a hundred archival VHS tapes from the artist's career. We wanted to do this in-house due to the sensitivity of the archival materials, and to do this economically.

After reading some other threads, I decided to purchase a used Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD recorder to use as a passthrough.
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Colin Barrett

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostWed Jun 28, 2017 1:13 pm

That's probably your most cost-effective option because the DVD recorder will re-write the timebase on the way through. Two things to look out for, though: DVD recorders have a tendency to bump up the video levels via its "auto" circuits to a point where the peak white levels can be close to or even over the legal limit. The end result is a bleaching-out of white peaks in the frame. The second potential problem is that audio levels are often compressed down (again, because of the effect of the "auto" circuits) to quite low levels.

I recently did a comparison for a friend where I took an MPEG-4/H.264 file that I created from a DVD Recorder pass-through that was made using this technique compared to a real-time timebase-corrected and audio balanced signal encoded using the Blackmagic H.264 Pro Recorder and there was a noticeable difference in quality.

However, for the purposes of a reference archive from VHS I'm sure you'll find your workflow to be OK providing that you keep en eye on things.
Blackmagic Teranex 2D, Ultrastudio Express, Intensity Shuttle (Thunderbolt), Two H.264 Pro Recorders (Mac OSX) & lots of old VTRs used for digital archiving of legacy video formats for major libraries, broadcasters, universities and public archives.
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Andria Morales

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostTue Jul 04, 2017 8:18 pm

Thanks so much for your insights, Colin. I got my hands on a Panasonic DMR-ES10 and am successfully capturing video using Media Express!

My JVC SR-V101US is connected to the Panasonic DMR-ES10 via S-Video cable and RCA audio, and the Panasonic DMR-ES10 is connected to the Blackmagic shuttle via Component and RCA audio.

As you might expect, the audio is not great. I can hear a high pitched buzz throughout the capture, though the audio is listenable despite that.

My main question has to do with capture settings. I'm using NTSC. As you also might expect, I see a lot of interlacing throughout the capture. Is there a different setting that might diminish this? I'm guessing I will need some professional software like Final Cut or Premier to put some filters on the image so that the interlacing effect is not so obvious, and to capture video as MPEG-4. Right now I'm capturing to Quicktime uncompressed 10 bit YUV and my file size for a 10 minute video is over 10 GB. What are the recommended software and settings for better image quality and file size?
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Colin Barrett

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Re: No Remote- Intensity Shuttle with SVHS

PostSat Jul 08, 2017 3:26 pm

Uncompressed 10-bit file sizes will be big but if you're planning on doing any picture adjustments (eg: grading work) later then you'll benefit from working in the 10-bit colour space. However, an alternative could be capturing from VHS at either 8-bit uncompressed or ProRes422. I would recommend always using the highest quality capture setting you can unless you're short on space.
Blackmagic Teranex 2D, Ultrastudio Express, Intensity Shuttle (Thunderbolt), Two H.264 Pro Recorders (Mac OSX) & lots of old VTRs used for digital archiving of legacy video formats for major libraries, broadcasters, universities and public archives.

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