--- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do it

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Robert Khnanisho

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostFri May 08, 2020 10:41 pm

Eric-Jan wrote:btw @Robert Khnanisho: you can't set 625p50 in the BMD software ? (Video Setup & Media Express)


Hi Eric, please see my post above and also the link to my other thread. It appears the SD standards are different in the Intensity Pro 4K and the Shuttle models.

On another note, I’m posting replies instantly, however this forum moderation is taking days to approve and is really stifling conversation.
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Denny Smith

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat May 09, 2020 12:48 am

Robert, SD progressive is not a standard SD format, as SD is normally interlace, 625i50 for example. The CRT TVs used then do not support progressive video. I believe 625p50 was a PAL DVD format.
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat May 09, 2020 7:30 pm

Denny Smith wrote:Robert, SD progressive is not a standard SD format, as SD is normally interlace, 625i50 for example. The CRT TVs used then do not support progressive video. I believe 625p50 was a PAL DVD format.
Cheers

That's correct, depending on the device, first generation dvd players had maybe only composite and RCA RGB connections, later came SCART mostly Europe i guess... SCART would have RGB, CRT was still in fashion, but next to it also RCA component connections would appear for LCD or beamers, later on dvd recorders also HDMI came available, because digital came with the LCD tv screens which is also used for audio Dolby Digital, which i think is a great addition for watching video, and the use of only one cable. (SCART like)
concerning the available resolutions with capture devices of BMD, i do not see clearly the reasoning about the options.. for PAL i only see 625i50 and 625p50 available, in both Video Setup and Media Express, plus where NTSC has one analog input setting more, did the devolpment of the software for the Intensity series just stopped somewhere ?
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Ian Edmond

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat May 30, 2020 11:38 am

Hi all (and Eric in particular) - first post having just got an Intensity Pro 4K.

I see the same options as Robert in his post earlier in this thread (from May 2nd - I would link to it but the board software tells me I am not allowed to post URLs). Does anyone have a recomendation for the best Capture File Format to use with 625i50 PAL for VHS capture? Thank you!
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostMon Jun 01, 2020 7:53 pm

Ian Edmond wrote:Hi all (and Eric in particular) - first post having just got an Intensity Pro 4K.

I see the same options as Robert in his post earlier in this thread (from May 2nd - I would link to it but the board software tells me I am not allowed to post URLs). Does anyone have a recomendation for the best Capture File Format to use with 625i50 PAL for VHS capture? Thank you!

It depends... i guess you're on Windows 10, i'm on MAC OS, and then it's easy to use ProRes, ProRes422 LT to be exact, but i'm thinking about using ProRes422 it has less compression, although it's intra frame compression and not inter frame like h.264.
On Windows you can use the AVID codec, un-compressed will be heavy on your system during the capture, and might cause dropped frames.
But.. you did some tests already ? what do you use as player ? and does it need stabilisation of some sort ?
Tell about your setup, with as much of details, to avoid misunderstanding.
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Ian Edmond

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostTue Jun 02, 2020 11:57 am

Eric-Jan wrote:
Ian Edmond wrote:Hi all (and Eric in particular) - first post having just got an Intensity Pro 4K.

I see the same options as Robert in his post earlier in this thread (from May 2nd - I would link to it but the board software tells me I am not allowed to post URLs). Does anyone have a recomendation for the best Capture File Format to use with 625i50 PAL for VHS capture? Thank you!

It depends... i guess you're on Windows 10, i'm on MAC OS, and then it's easy to use ProRes, ProRes422 LT to be exact, but i'm thinking about using ProRes422 it has less compression, although it's intra frame compression and not inter frame like h.264.
On Windows you can use the AVID codec, un-compressed will be heavy on your system during the capture, and might cause dropped frames.
But.. you did some tests already ? what do you use as player ? and does it need stabilisation of some sort ?
Tell about your setup, with as much of details, to avoid misunderstanding.

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm actually waiting for a cable to turn up before I can start capturing, so I haven't done any tests yet. I'm going to be capturing VHS footage, so it seems unnecessary to use a high quality setting, and this is for personal rather than commercial use so I don't have to consider compatability with HD output, for example.

I've seen mention of ProRes442 as a good choice in this thread, but as with Robert earlier in the thread, I'm not sure where this option can be selected in the current version of Media Express. Like him, my list of options are:

AVI 8-bit YUV
AVI 10-bit YUV
AVI 10-bit RGB
AVI Motion JPEG
QuickTime Uncompressed 8-bit YUV
QuickTime Uncompressed 10-bit YUV
QuickTime Uncompressed 10-bit RGB
QuickTime DVCPRO 50
DPX 10-bit RGB

I think that any uncompressed options are overkill for my needs. I'm capturing via component, so I assume that a YUV option is best. Is there a great difference between 8-bit and 10-bit?
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostTue Jun 02, 2020 7:00 pm

For VHS 8 bit is enough, you should do some tests with:

DPX 10-bit RGB
QuickTime DVCPRO 50
AVI Motion JPEG

These codecs use intra frame compression, which means that each frame stands on it's own, which in turm means that this is an advantage for editing/post work, in this stage you edit or add some effects if wanted...
when done with that, you convert to stronger compression like h.264 for your end result.
using these codecs you can compare how they "act" by means of file size, and if you get dropped frames,
if you get dropped frames, it will mean that your system is not up to it, during capture it can not store the capture in time onto your HDD/SDD, to capture the "next load"
I guess AVI 8-bit YUV is uncompressed, and will leave you with very large files, and also dropped frames.
Just try 5 minutes of capture for each codec, and see what the result is.

Depending which capture device you use, and if you have the option for it on your VCR/DVD recorder,
you could also capture in progressive mode, which saves you de-interlacing in post, the Intensity Shuttle has the option to capture in progressive mode the Intensity Pro does not have this option, far as i know, it all depends on the hardware and options that are possible in these cases.

You could also add codecs to Desktop Video Setup, but you should do the research for that, i have no experience with that, MAC comes with ProRes,AVID, and un-compressed codecs pre-installed.
You can install 3rd party codecs like Avid, you should install them onto your Window$ OS, after that you should re-install (BMD) Desktop Video Setup
(don't know if installing the QuickTime video player will help, but you could see if this makes a difference)

hope this helps, succes !
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostTue Nov 24, 2020 8:46 pm

Hi Eric. About 15 years ago I transferred all of my home movies on VHS to digital. I just loaded them in my old Panasonic VHS player and captured the composite signal somehow (I don't remember) into the PC.

I read your thread here today and am interested in maybe upgrading the quality of the digital copies by using a component VHS player. Do I need the Intensity Shuttle though for a Windows 10 PC? Isn't there some cheap dongle that will just take component input and send it to USB?

Are there any options for VHS players without DVR that will output component video? I looked on ebay for your Panasonic DMR-ES35V and the SONY RDR-VX410, but people want over $100 for these still. This is a one-time conversion, so I don't want to spend a lot on hardware I'll never use again.

Thanks!
Bryan
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Dec 20, 2020 1:17 am

Most of video capture has already been said here, you can go the easy way, and spend some money,
or the hard way buying cheap stuff, which is more miss than hit, there are lots of video capture dongles like the EasyCap ones, try to find the original one, the rest of them are EasyC(r)ap, try some of them, and hope for a good one, analog video isn't that steady anymore once put on VHS, this is why a combo recorder or dvd-recorder helps, TBC's are rare and costly.
(or be sure you can resell your used equipment)
Expect that home movie videos are more unstable, because of the handling of the camera, (rotation of head drum is disturbed during the recording)
The capture from the component video output is a big advantage, or a vcr with build in TBC are the most important things for a good capture.
Forget HDMI to capture from, the devices get mixed up communicating or the lack of it.
Composite and s-video are mostly on the same level, some vcr's will slightly give better performance through s-video, but with cheap vcr's there isn't.
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Dec 20, 2020 4:49 pm

Eric-Jan wrote:Most of video capture has already been said here, you can go the easy way, and spend some money,
or the hard way buying cheap stuff, which is more miss than hit, there are lots of video capture dongles like the EasyCap ones, try to find the original one, the rest of them are EasyC(r)ap, try some of them, and hope for a good one, analog video isn't that steady anymore once put on VHS, this is why a combo recorder or dvd-recorder helps, TBC's are rare and costly.
(or be sure you can resell your used equipment)
Expect that home movie videos are more unstable, because of the handling of the camera, (rotation of head drum is disturbed during the recording)
The capture from the component video output is a big advantage, or a vcr with build in TBC are the most important things for a good capture.
Forget HDMI to capture from, the devices get mixed up communicating or the lack of it.
Composite and s-video are mostly on the same level, some vcr's will slightly give better performance through s-video, but with cheap vcr's there isn't.


OK, thank you Eric - I appreciate all your help in this thread!

I am thinking maybe I should just put my VHS tapes and a USB drive in a box and send to someone who has the equipment to transfer them for me. It will likely cost as much as buying the hardware myself. I wonder if you know anyone who would do that?

Thanks again,
Bryan
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Dec 20, 2020 8:19 pm

Some photo shops have a service for this, maybe that's an option for you, and this can maybe be found near to your location, just ask around is my guess...
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Dec 20, 2020 8:41 pm

Thank you, Eric. I was hoping you might want to do it. lol
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostThu Dec 24, 2020 3:20 pm

Eric-Jan wrote:Some photo shops have a service for this, maybe that's an option for you, and this can maybe be found near to your location, just ask around is my guess...


Eric, if I can get a VCR with component output, I need to somehow get that signal into my PC to record it. Would something like this work OK for that?

https://www.amazon.com/Component-Converter-YPBPR-Support-Player/dp/B07TYBLFYM

or this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T29D4RY
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat Dec 26, 2020 1:20 am

Hi Eric,
appreciate your guide here and informative comments on other posts related to Intensity and capturing from pre-HDMI AV devices. I have worked in AV production before and was keen to try out a Blackmagic product. I purchased an Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt in 2019 for the purpose of capturing and editing quality outputs from a number of old sources - Hi8, VHS-C, S-VHS and VHS.

I have to say that it has been really disappointing experience. I was using well maintained cams and figured out pretty soon that the Intensity could not perform as advertised due to TBC. I had ongoing issues when running as AV input through a JVC HR-S5800AM player. I was only able to get a successful using S-Video or composite inputs when capturing from a DV cam.

"Capture and playback with any HDMI, component, s-video and NTSC/PAL video devices such as video recorders, game consoles, TVs and more!"
After spending nearly $500 on the essentials ($320 on the Intensity, $79 on a TB cable and $69 on a TB2-TB3 (USB-C) adapter), it is absurd that a pro TBC device, an elusive old VHS-DVD player or an analogue-HDMI converter are required in order to have the Intensity function. Even then, it still seems hit or miss as to if the outcome will be successful.

I have retried with a borrowed VHS-DVD player that 100% has TBC and still no luck. I will try and sell the Intensity and cables and just put it down to an expensive lesson. Am now getting quality upscaled capture of these old sources by running them through my Samsung 4K TV (which has solid onboard upscaling) and recording via my Samsung phone. Sure it's MPEG-4 AVC/H.265, but for the minimal amount of editing required - less headaches and expense than trying to get the Intensity to work.

"It's easy to add the world's highest quality, HDMI, analogue component, s-video composite and analog audio capture and playback to your Thunderbolt computer!"
Nah, it aint Blackmagic.
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostWed Dec 30, 2020 7:03 pm

No, HDMI is very unreliable, this is because of the "handshaking" within HDMI, any HDMI capture device must also comply to HDCP because of legal legislation, just like any consumer video recording device, only from video cameras you can record by HDMI, some converters can fail to comply to HDCP, but that's more mis than hit, and i can't help you with that, for me the Panasonic ES35V combo works perfect with the Intensity Shutle, but any video output from the ES35V works fine, my guess is that the VHS video signal is electronical processed, so any video capture device would have no problem with that, so the cheapest way would be to find such a combo or use a dvd-recorder as passthrough before your capture device, a thrift store would be the place to look for that.
An other cheap way is to have secondhand DV or Digital8 camera that can record from an external source via it's composite/s-video connection, your computer, and this camera should also have Firewire connections,
the computer should have software that will transfer from Firewire, quality will somehow less but should not make that much difference for VHS quality.

note:
The Intensity Shuttle does exactly what BlackMagic Design says, the only problem is that the analog video signal from consumer analog recording equipment, is not a clean and steady one, so, the same troubles you have with the Intensity Shuttle, you also have wih cheap EZCAP devices or de best ATI capture devices, if such a device is more forgiving, quality will also be lost.
(My setup doesn't have any Time Base Corrector in it)
The best feature of the Intensity Shuttle is it's component (YUV) video input, in combination with the very populair Panasonic ES15 (as passthrough) would be a good combination.
Otherwise it is very hard to get good results on a low budget.
If people say BlackMagic Design is a bad product, it's because they want you to buy their used equipment, because they have no use for it anymore. There are a lot of "haters" in forums like Videohelp and Digitalfaq.
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat Feb 13, 2021 5:32 pm

Hi all! Eric-Jan, thank you for all your efforts and for providing this guide, this helps a lot new users. I followed many of your advices, but ran into several issues during the process.

I need to capture old family videos on several VHS tapes, most of them are MESECAM, so i bought all required equipment. My setup is the following: Sony VCR -> Sony RDR-HXD 870 DVD/HDD DVR used as passthrough -> Component I/O -> Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt -> Mid 2014 MacBook Pro 16 GB RAM running MacOs Catalina 10.15.7. Software: Video Desktop 11.7, Media Express 3.6.2, DaVinci Resolve 16.2.8.

The DVR, used as passthrough, allow to stream video signals in progressive, Intensity Shuttle is set to capture 625p50 PAL using ProRes 422 LT codec. The issues I meet are the following:

1. While capturing in Media Express I have no sound on the Mac, but the captured clip have audio embedded.
One minute clip gives me a file around 420 MB. Is that okay?

2.Tried to use DaVinci Resolve for encoding purposes. While I can add the captured media in library, play, edit, etc, when I click on Deliver thumbnail the file doesn't appear there, "Add to Rendes Queue" is greyed out. I'm aware that there are plenty of other good encoders, but I'm just trying BMD software to work as it's supposed to do. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thank you in advance for your answers and possible solutions,

Regards,

Ivan.
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostWed Feb 17, 2021 1:09 am

No sound on the MAC is with me too, monitor the VU "led bars" so they don't reach the red level.
best way is to set your project to the correct capture resolution before importing the media.
looks like MeSECAM is played out as normal PAL in your case if picture quality is okay...
First add to render queue before delivery, you can check in settings at the right if resolution is okay.
You first need to set codec before you set it in the render queue, you can use profiles like Youtube or custom ...etc I f you did these steps, all should be fine, otherwise take some screen shots of the steps of your workflow, maybe i can see some details of where things might go wrong that way...
LT codec should be fine for capture, with long captures, audio stays in sync ?
Looks like your you're on track with your workflow, and good hardware for the job...
Maybe somehow the codecs are not set in Davinci, or not installed ?
i hope i put my finger somewhere on where it went wrong, with my story above..
This is my "quick answer" sofar, in the weekend i have more time to look into it.
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostThu Feb 18, 2021 3:35 pm

Eric-Jan, thank you for your answer, this helped a lot. While capturing process with Intensity Shuttle is clear now for me, I have several questions about encoding in DaVinci.
Eric-Jan wrote:LT codec should be fine for capture, with long captures, audio stays in sync ?

For now I just tried to capture small one minute clips for testing purposes in order to understand how all the hardware works together and to organise future workflow.
Eric-Jan wrote:Maybe somehow the codecs are not set in Davinci, or not installed ?
i hope i put my finger somewhere on where it went wrong, with my story above..

After your post, went for some further testing in DaVinci and found what exactly I was doing wrong: I did not drag the imported media in the timeline, so it was not showing in the deliver tab... My fault, should have learned the basics, I guess this happens when you start to discover a new complex software...

So capturing a one minute clip with Intensity Shuttle in PAL using ProRes LT gives me a 430 MB file.
Encoding in DaVinci using H.264 gives a 55 MB file, job is done in 20 seconds.
Encoding using H.265 gives a 25 MB file, rendering is very slow, about 10 minutes for this one minute clip. I also (re)discovered that my Mac have cooling fans)) maybe this 2014 MacBook Pro is too old for this kind of task?

I wonder if you have any favourite presets that you are using for this kind of job in DaVinci? I' not working with some pro media but some old family videos and of course trying to optimise storage. Or maybe you are using and can advise other encoders, they are plenty of them in your signature?
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat Feb 20, 2021 2:36 am

Okay, you are learning ! i guess i made the same mistakes when i started, but you learn from your mistakes, and it only gets better, with Davinci Resolve once you "Deliver" you're in the Custom preset or H264, (I use Custom)
And set "Quality "from"Quicktime" to "MP4" so you get the MP4 extension instead of the MOV extension, codec to H264" and change the "automatic" option to "restrict to" and set the value to 1500 this is a good value for VHS, which leaves quality intact, and does good compression (makes the file smaller) you can change that value depending the result you get, a bigger value makes quality better, and the file larger, and visa versa...(try keep the original source frame rate, a lower frame rate will make the file smaller, but can have side effects you don't want)
(check also the settings [in the lower right corner cogwheel], if the resolution settings are the same that you have set in the previous left section)

(btw. i don't use H265 because it degrades the VHS quality too much i think, it's a stronger compression, H265 is mostly designed for 4K footage, to make smaller files, and for better streaming performance, with the same bandwith/datastream)

The other software i also use and like, MacX Video Converter Pro, which is easy to use if you just want to convert and change/edit minor things, like cut parts, or change aspect ratio by cutting parts of the image or mask, or change sound codecs, Uniconverter is also like that, but has more codec options, is also easy to use, both these programs you have to pay some money for, not much, i think it's worth the money you spend, some updates to these programs cost money, but if your happy with it, you don't have to do these updates, i stopped updating, and am happy with it's use.
Resolve is a fine editor, it's free, while others with same options are not, there are lots ot youtube tutorials by users, for the different features of Resolve, and while it's professional software, it's still easy to use, is my opinion.
Try to discover the transform and crop options, these are handy if you want to remove the typical VHS tape "dirt" you see in the lower portion of the screen (video head switching signals).

Capturing by Component video will show more detail, which also mean that you see more noise paterns that a normal CRT did not make visible, this noise will be less visible once compressed with a MP4 codec.
Also the orginal recording will make a difference, a broadcasted movie or a video studio recording will result in different quality due to interlace artifacts interlaced "footage" will be made progressive once it's digital,
a movie frame may view better because the two fields are the same in one progressive frame while a video source frame can have two different "fields" because the time it took to make one "field" takes time and the second field is different because of the fast movement of the image between those fields, i hope you can follow this,
it comes down to that you try to make the best of it, with the source material you've got.
Capturing from composite makes the image slightly softer, which makes the image more washed out, (less resotion) which some people think is nicer to see, but color seperation is worse, red colors will fan out into the other part of the image, and gives a kind of prism halo on sharp edges, this effect is less with s-video, but still there, I think capturing through component video is the best way to do it, but component video made it's introduction very late into professional analog video, it came with the rise of digtal video also with MPEG encoding and decoding, hence ... DVD :)
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Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostFri Mar 18, 2022 10:39 pm

Hello, it seems there is a way to output progressive over component while playing VHS tapes in Panasonic DRM ES-35V
Can you help me with that. Where is the settings to accomplish this?
Thanks
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostMon Mar 21, 2022 7:46 pm

I must say that i have the EU/PAL version of the Panasonic DMR-ES35V which you can identify by the SCART connectors at the back, which the US/NTSC doesn't have.
To setup for progressive video over the YUV component (red green blue) output, you should setup AV1 under the SETUP menu CONNECTION > AV1 "VIDEO with component", only then, you can switch PROGRESSIVE to > ON
(When AV1 is switch to VIDEO RGB1/RGB2 you cant switch PROGRESSIVE to ON)
Progressive video over component video gives best results for capturing i use the Intensity Shuttle (TB2), but the other outputs > composite >s-video will also give a rocksteady signal for capturing, this is just how the DMR-ES35V works, other settings are just for fine-tuning, be sure to have all of your resolution settings correct > in your capture software/driver, also the progressive frame rate !
(btw. you can use any other video output to monitor the video signal, the video quality from the SCART will not be optimal, (don't capture from that) but good enough for checking, component is perfect , RCA (composite will be better than SCART i guess) i guess you should switch off the OSD ….
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostTue Mar 22, 2022 4:22 pm

Hi Eric and all,

First of all, many tanks for your time and the help you provide publicly in this thread.

I am starting to get interested in transferring tapes to my computer.
I know I have a lot to learn and do not want to rush head first in the process, as I know I can thankfully benefit from you guys priors experiences and defeats…

Do you still recommend the Intensity Shuttle (Thunderbolt2) in 2022
Does any of you have discovered or tried out a newer solution ? The Intensity Shuttle is not available anymore in stores.
I know it can be purchased second hand but it seems to be pretty hard to locate in my country.

I have seen a Canopus ADVC-700 for sale here. With a couple of adapters I could connect it to my current computer. If you think that it is pretty much comparable to the Intensity Shuttle, I'll give it a go. Do you consider the Intensity Shuttle to be a safer bet ?
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostThu Mar 24, 2022 8:45 pm

I will start with the most important thing: a stable video signal is mandatory.
otherwise it has no use at all, or you will get dropped frames what results also > video and audio out of sync.
The ADVC-700 will transfer/decode video in very large files over a Firewire/iLink connection, not ideal.
What do you mean with "With a couple of adapters" ? I hope you only mean for 400/800 firewire adaption ?
because cheap converters, that "adapt" one standard to the otherone, don't work most of the time, because of the "dirt" from the cheap electronics
Everything depends also on your PC/Laptop setup, Windows or MAC ?
I went for the Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt 2, because Thunderbold 2 is faster then USB on my Mac laptop.
And my Panasonic ES35V allready makes a rocksteady video signal of a VHS tape on the (RCA) composite, s-video (miniDIN) and (RCA red green blue) component video output connections.
With a "regular" VHS VCR you need a TBC or a "passthrough" DVD recorder like a Panasonic ES10 or ES15, to get a clean video signal from an analog VHS recording.
TBC's are hard to get, or are expensive, because the only ones that are good are the (old) professional ones,
Most consumer TBC's aren't any good.
So once you have a good stable video signal, you are halve way accross, you even can have acceptable results with cheap capture devices, the better ones are from Elgato or Evermedia, or ofcourse the Intensity Shuttle, On the Mac operating system you have the advantage of using ProRes codec at the time of capture, i use the LT version, which leaves enough space for capturing the VHS resolution, ProRes is a compression codec, but compreses each frame while a codec like MP4 h264 compreses over several frames, because it leaves parts in the frame that are not moving, alone, and uses these parts in the next frame, that's why you have quality loss, but the compression is stronger that way, that's the difference between interframe and intraframe compression.
I hope this all doesn't scare you off, converting analog to digital is a serious business, and should not been taken too lightly, it will only get harder with time, because it's a dead format (Betamax/VHS/Video8/Hi8)
No new devices are made for transfering analog video tapes, what you see, are most of the time converters to convert video signals from old game consoles, where the signal is much more stable than that of analog tape players.

The least expensive way to transfer your analog video tapes, would be a dvd-recorder from the thriftstore, then you record your tapes onto DVD, and you can still play these discs in any DVD or Bluray player, or use the files, which are on the disc, and go from there, the dvd resolution will not harm the analog video resolution :)
plus…… the dvd-recorder/digital video recorder can be used as passthrough, also an advantage using it between vcr and capture devices

(When buying the Thunderbolt version of the Intensity Shuttle be aware this is Thunderbolt 2 !!! check your MAC computer if this correct ! because Mini Display port looks the same, but isn't, or just buy the USB version.)
Last edited by Eric-Jan on Sat Oct 15, 2022 11:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat May 21, 2022 4:28 pm

Recently bought the Hyperdeck Shuttle HD, i was amazed that i also could use it with a cheap scaler and a regular VHS VCR to transfer VHS (composite> HDMI) to MP4 or ProRes, only problem is the aspect ratio, which stretches the 4:3 into 16:9 ratio….
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostFri Dec 30, 2022 5:56 pm

Hi Eric,

First of all, I wanted to thank you for the quality of your advice on this forum. I am a beginner in this field and I must say that your comments help me a lot in my project.

I want to start saving old VHS tapes belonging to my father as well as videos from mini-dv cassettes on a digital medium, ideally on a PC, while maintaining the best possible quality. This is why the acquisition card you have (Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt 2) seems perfect to me, it remains to check the compatibility of my MacBook Pro (2019) running Ventura OS.
For my VHS/mini-DV digitization project, here are the options I identified from your advice:

- Purchase a Panasonic ES35V for digitizing VHS to PC
Connection ES35V —> SVIDEO —> Shuttle Intensity (ProRes LT) —> Macbook/PC
- Purchase of a second-hand Sony HandyCam type camcorder —> AV/Firewire output —> Macbook/PC

Either:
- Purchase of a JVC HR-DVS3 which has the advantage of playing mini-dv and VHS
But I don't know if the connectors are sufficient (like on the ES35V) to be able to save both VHS and mini-DV videos on a PC. I imagine that via i-link, we can recover the videos on PC
And for the VHS part, it seems that there is only S-VIDEO
Could you guide me? Is a JCV HR-DVS3 able to produce a stable signal?

Thank you very much for your contribution on this forum and for your advice.

Regards,

Samuel
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostFri Dec 30, 2022 9:40 pm

Okay, i did some research, according the manual i found out, the JVC HR-DVS3 has a Time Base Corrector function,
to be honnest, i'm not that impressed by this function of JVC in general i have some VCR's that say that have this function, but doesn't work for my Intensity Shuttle, if you have to gamble and hope for the best, and pay hunderds of dollars or euro's for it secondhand, i would not go that direction, on the other hand, you can dub VHS to DV, on the JVC HR-DVS3 and when you have a Firewire interface on your computer, you could try that, because what's on the miniDV cassette you get a one on one copy from as file, only….DV files are very big maybe you can also use the DV/Firewire output "live" when playing a VHS tape without recording ? i do not know that…**
What i see on the back, is that miniDV and VHS have seperate analog video outputs.
In this time, i would stay away from (recent) computers, for the capture process, a lot is just not compatible anymore, like you already noticed, most important thing is to first get a stable video signal, like with a Panasonic recorder combo, or a Panasonic DVD/HDD video recorder as passthrough.
I don't know if the JVC HR-DVS3 will provide in that, maybe a Google search (user expiriences) about the JVC HR-DVS3 will be more conclusive, are you in a NTSC or PAL region ? there areU en EU models, > EU is with SCART connections… >U not https://www.manualslib.com/download/830 ... Dvs3u.html
You don't have any video equipment already ? If i where you, i would not go for the Intensity Shuttle for now…
Because i have the ES35V (PAL) i now have a setup with a converter and a (SDI)/HDMI recorder all from the BlackMagicDesing brand, it also depends if you have lots of tapes to do, and how much money you want to spend. there are more options available, converter and recorder wise, but the consumer ones transfer PAL 4:3 into 16:9 = widescreen, so you have a stretched or pillar-boxed 4:3 , but with the correct software on MAC or PC you can correct a streched image directly into 4:3.

But if you really want to go for the JVC HR-DVS3, and dubbing VHS onto miniDV, and gives good results you don't need a capture device just the use of Firewire on a computer, in this way you transfer/convert VHS to a digital (mini)DV format to the computer.

There are as good as no good capture devices anymore, there are some pro ones but cost some money, and they still need a stable video signal, and on the new MAC's some cards/devices are not compatible with the M1 or M2 chips…
So that's why i think the analog video capture process should not be done on any computer these days,
and converting to SDI or HDMI gives also better quality by means of "levels" are real video levels, not those of computers, that can make a difference in the process.
If you could get hold of a DMR-ES35V (PAL version) that would help getting a stable video signal, the ES35V also has a DV input but no DV output.
** You can also output the VHS deck of the JVC HR-DVS3 through the DV output of it, don't know if the TBC can be used/set for this option… which depends how you can set the options in the HR-DVS3 also do check if you have, or can have, the JVC HR-DVS3EU or the JVC HR-DVS3U, there could be some differences between these models, EU is with SCART connectors and only one s-video output, what i see is, is that both models can play SuperVHS. Be sure the the camcorder cassettes are really miniDV, not Video8, Hi8, VHS-C or Digital8.
It's for you to decide which path you want to go, then i can give you a more detailed advise.

btw. using Firewire on a MAC, i would not advise, there's not much video software that will support that, the older Window$ OS's will better support that, and there's lot's of info about that on the internet.

but….. beware of the Videohelp and DigitalFaq web Forums, they're mostly focused on you buying there stuff like very expensive TBC's or "professional" VCR's, those TBC are very old "professional" ones, which are refurbished to great extend, which makes them very expensive, and still could fail again, due to their age, these TBC's where also used with genlock equipment, used in those days, prices go from $1000 and higher… :(
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostMon Jan 02, 2023 6:49 pm

Hi,

Thank you for this very complete answer !

"I don't know if the JVC HR-DVS3 will provide in that, maybe a Google search (user experiences) about the JVC HR-DVS3 will be more conclusive"
Precisely, I have very few user feedbacks on this HR-DVS3 VCR which is quite little commented. Not wanting to invest a lot of money in a dedicated DV/mini DV player like the Sony DSR-11 / DHR-1000, I thought that this HR-DVS3 could be an alternative to be able to capture on PC both my videos from my mini-DV tapes via the DV output (i-Link) but also VHS.

"But if you really want to go for the JVC HR-DVS3, and dubbing VHS onto miniDV, and gives good results you don't need a capture device just the use of Firewire on a computer, in this way you transfer/convert VHS to a digital (mini)DV format to the computer."
What you mean (if I understand correctly) is that thanks to the built-in digital converter, I can directly insert my VHS tape and perform the conversion to mini-DV from the JVC, then transfer via Firewire, my videos? It's probably a good solution, which will require to have also some blank mini-DV for the VHS/mini-DV dubbing. I have a firewire capture card on a PC I've been keeping aside, running Windows 10.
Or, I get a ES35V VCR dedicated to digitize my VHS and mini-DV: I'll have to find a second-hand camcorder to do the transfer.
The problem is that I also have a lot of mini-dv to export, almost as much as VHS to digitize.

"You can also output the VHS deck of the JVC HR-DVS3 through the DV output of it, don't know if the TBC can be used/set for this option… which depends how you can set the options in the HR-DVS3"
Precisely, if it was possible via the DV output to record my VHS on PC, it would be great. That would save me the trouble of using the dedicated analog jacks.
But all this seems to me quite technical, I'm really starting. I think I'll give up this JVC HR-DVS3 that you can find for not very expensive in second hand but that can also, maybe, be a problem in terms of compatibility.

"also do check if you have, or can have, the JVC HR-DVS3EU or the JVC HR-DVS3U, there could be some differences between these models, EU is with SCART connectors and only one s-video output, what i see is, is that both models can play SuperVHS."
Because, indeed, I am in France and probably some of my VHS tapes are in SECAM. I would need a VCR that can transcode PAL and SECAM. Thank you for the clarification on the differences between the U and EU models. Is this VCR capable of transcoding PAL and SECAM? The only mention I saw on the manual is "MESECAM", I don't know what it is.

"In this time, i would stay away from (recent) computers, for the capture process, a lot is just not compatible anymore, like you already noticed, most important thing is to first get a stable video signal, like with a Panasonic recorder combo, or a Panasonic DVD/HDD video recorder as passthrough."
Fortunately, I still have a spare PC that will probably come in handy.
Being unsure of making the right choice with the JVC, I'm thinking of following your advice to find a VCR like the ES35V (PAL). Can it read SECAM?

"there are more options available, converter and recorder wise, but the consumer ones transfer PAL 4:3 into 16:9 = widescreen, so you have a stretched or pillar-boxed 4:3 , but with the correct software on MAC or PC you can correct a streched image directly into 4:3."
Looking around the Blackmagic website to see what converters and recorders are available, I spotted the Analog to SDI Mini Converter and the UltraStudio Recorder 3G. Is this the type of "consumer" equipment you are referring to?
So if I understand correctly, your workflow is :
ES35V --> mini analog/SDI converter --> SDI / HDMI recorder
In fact, via the HDMI socket of the computer, you can capture your VHS with a better quality, is that right? Are you using Da Vinci for the capture?
Excuse me, I hope I'm not talking too much nonsense, I'm trying to understand :geek:

"It's for you to decide which path you want to go, then i can give you a more detailed advise."
Your experience with the ES35V pushes me to see following this way + a mini-DV camcorder for capture via firewire.
I'm looking for an ideal way, not too expensive, to export my VHS and mini-DV as "cleanly" as possible, so that I can then edit the videos in Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.

"You don't have any video equipment already ? If i where you, i would not go for the Intensity Shuttle for now…"
I almost bought the Intensity Shuttle for ProRes capture. But your message convinced me to abandon this idea. I have an Elgao Video Capture card, but not convinced. The recorded capture is in H264: this is fine if there is no post-processing afterwards, but in the case of post-processing where the image will have to be compressed again, the image may end up being strongly degraded.
In fact, your Analog/SDI/HDMI capture solution seems to me to be interesting, even if it will require an additional cost. But I have a lot of tapes to digitize, so this is probably the best way to go.

I've noted your directions to the Videohelp and DigitalFaq forums.
For the purchase of a VCR, I was thinking of looking either at a vendor in my area, or possibly on ebay, but that seems a bit risky. Do you know of any good addresses online? I don't have a big budget to spend on this purchase either. I do have a VCR at home, it's an LG MG-64 but very few possibilities in terms of output connections.

Thank you for your help in any case and all that you bring to this forum.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostThu Jan 05, 2023 11:33 am

It's good you ask things, don't be afraid to do that, first some hints for you, to start with, HDMI is mostly a output, so a HDMI connection on any laptop is an output for a monitor, to put a HDMI recorder, or directly capture from a consumer device with HDMI, will not work because of a protection sceme called HDCP.
The JVC miniDV/VHS would be an instant solution, but is unsertain and a little bit to expensive,(700 euros?)
The DMR-ES35V (PAL model) is somewhat less expensive (@ vcrshop.com) but would be a good start,
This combo has the "VHS fresh" feature, it digitizes the analog video signal makes it stable and converts it back to analog on the outputs.(not all LCD or Oled tv's can make something good from what's connected to their composite input, so don't be fooled with that, and just look what you really capture)
A HDMI recorder will cost you also what, but the workflow is easy because of that, and ProRes files will be used, which are good for editing first.
An analog video signal can also be made stable, by the use of a passthrough device, which could be a cheap dvd -recorder from the trift store.
How much would be your budget, if you do want to spend some money ? spending more money would make your workflow easier, the devices you mention, you already seen somewhere, for you to buy ? if it's possible for you to get hold of the Intensity Shuttle thunderbolt 2, and your MAC laptop is also Thunderbold 2, this could be also still a cheap option,(or an secondhand MAC that has, i have 2 MBP, sometimes that's a cheaper option) The MAC OS is just much better than the Windows OS, plus Thunderbolt 2 is faster than USB 3, which is a big advantage, My setup now is: DMR-ES35V (PAL version) Mini Analog to SDI converter and then the Video Assist monitor/recorder this works without any updating of firmwares,
The Ultrastudio Recorder 3G instead of the "recorder" gave for me a strange noise pattern in the video image, why…. i don't know, so i did not look further into this, the SDI to HDMI 3G converter did not work at all, and needed updates, which went wrong with me, so you see … i stay away from any computer for the capture process, the devices i talk about are all from BlackMagic Design.
Did you have any luck with the Elgato ? most of the time you need to optimize the windows pc, to get no dropped frames which causes the audio go out of sync, if that should be your only problem with that setup, most of the time vertical lines…… are not vertical or straight at all, if that's the only problem a vcr with TBC could be a solution, but will not work in all cases.

btw. no, i do not count the BlackMagicDesign device to be consumer devices in this case, but more the "livingroom" that are.
The China products, like converters, can sometimes also be a solution, but quality is less, and you need to have info on that, by user(s) expiriences, i have also expirience with some of that, if that should be your "path" to go.

btw2 i see that the vcrshop.com has 4 DMR-ES35V in stock this shop is located in the Netherlands, what i can see all 4 are PAL (EU) models 400 euro is a lot of money, for a secondhand device, it's the retail price i paid for it ! but it is a great device if it's in good working order, and from there you have a good start for digitizing VHS, or use it as passthrough for other video sources, SECAM should also be no problem, most of the time SECAM broadcasts were put (recorded) on tape as MESECAM, and an EU player would output is as PAL, this would be a problem for an US VHS player.
The ES35V makes also good transfers to DVD, some other Panasonic recorder combo models could have the same features, and can be found at thrift stores….
Samsam wrote:Your experience with the ES35V pushes me to see following this way + a mini-DV camcorder for capture via firewire.
yes correct, the ES35V has also DV input at it's front

Also… PAL or MESECAM might be no problem at all, when using s-video or component, (everywhere) because signals are seperate, and are mixed again outside the vcr when digitizing/capturing..

Davinci Resolve can't be used for capturing, at least not with the Intensity Shuttle.
Try to avoid HDMI for capturing, HDCP and the "handshake" will prevent making a "connection" this is the case with most living room equipment, which most of the time will have a tuner or decoder with them, this is so you won't be able to copy copyrighted material.
Video equipment that is made for creating your own content does not have this problem.

The Video Assist monitor/recorder makes ProRes422 files in different compression sizes, even the highest compression will allow you to have good quality, after some generations of copies from copy, i use the LT version that's the one before the one that has the highest compression, for VHS this is just fine, you can edit that footage on any normal computer, without that the process slows down, in fact that's the reason ProRes422 is designed, once you're finished with editing you compress it with h.264, Which Shutter Encoder is fine for, easy to use, Davinci Resolve is good also, but the free version does not de-interlace,
The Studio version does, but at a price of 300 euro's, but that's a one time expense, while other editors need a subscription, i still use the free version, but i'm very tempted to buy the Studio version, many users from editors switch over to Davinci Resolve…

btw. I have the LG LV4981 in my collection that looks very much like yours, found it at the thrift store for a few euro's and vcrshop sells it for 500 euro's !!! seems like a good investment :D :D :D :o
Your LG MG-64 puts SECAM as MESECAM on VHS i found out, this should be no problem with EU equipment, maybe capturing from this vcr, through composite is not optimal.
Your LG vcr has a nice option i saw in it's manual: quote: "OPR (Optimum Picture Response)
This enhances the picture from the video tape by adjusting to the condition of the video tape. If you feel
that the picture needs adjusting you can manually change the OPR setting.You can only set OPR when a tape is playing in the Video.
1. Press to enter the main menu.
2. Use 1 or 2 to select OPR then press OK.
3. Use the 3 or 4 buttons to select OFF, SOFT or SHARP.
4. Press to exit the menus.

You can also set the OPR by pressing OPR on the front of your Video."

Colour standards can also be set with "SYSTEM" but "AUTO" should be okay for PAL and MESECAM.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Jan 29, 2023 10:58 pm

I have both the Intensity 4k pcie card and the USB 3.0 Procoder and would like to capture my old family vhs tapes.
I also have a DVDO upscaler that my old projection tv used to have all devices output to HDMI.
It has a TBC in it.
I was gonna go from a VHS deck to the DVDO and then output to the intensity.
Or should I use the shuttle? What would be the best way?
The DVDO can output to different resolutions.
Any thoughts one my mess?
THanks in advance.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostMon Jan 30, 2023 11:07 pm

Riker0007 wrote:I have both the Intensity 4k pcie card and the USB 3.0 Procoder and would like to capture my old family vhs tapes.
I also have a DVDO upscaler that my old projection tv used to have all devices output to HDMI.
It has a TBC in it.
I was gonna go from a VHS deck to the DVDO and then output to the intensity.
Or should I use the shuttle? What would be the best way?
The DVDO can output to different resolutions.
Any thoughts one my mess?
THanks in advance.


You should avoid using scalers or change resolution/aspect ratio, you should keep resolution original, (because it doesn't improve quality, (upscaling only helps if you should upload it to Youtube) converting to progressive could be a good thing, if you get no artifacts, from de-interlacing. (Yadif is best)
scalers make from 4:3 a 16:9 image so you get wasted space in your file from the "pillars" at the sides of 4:3.
if the scaling keeps the aspect ratio 4:3 (not widescreen) than there's no problem with that, the scaling function is the TBC feature….

Using the Intensity or Shuttle depends mostly on the choice of resolutions you can choose from on these devices, the shuttle can capture also a progresive source, the Intensity might not, capturing a progressive source, saves you re-encoding in post, but de-interlacing with with a software encoder can give better results.
You should try this out with sample captures, with scenes which have fast movements in it.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostTue Jan 31, 2023 12:11 am

Eric-Jan wrote:
Riker0007 wrote:I have both the Intensity 4k pcie card and the USB 3.0 Procoder and would like to capture my old family vhs tapes.
I also have a DVDO upscaler that my old projection tv used to have all devices output to HDMI.
It has a TBC in it.
I was gonna go from a VHS deck to the DVDO and then output to the intensity.
Or should I use the shuttle? What would be the best way?
The DVDO can output to different resolutions.
Any thoughts one my mess?
THanks in advance.


You should avoid using scalers or change resolution/aspect ratio, you should keep resolution original, (because it doesn't improve quality, (upscaling only helps if you should upload it to Youtube) converting to progressive could be a good thing, if you get no artifacts, from de-interlacing. (Yadif is best)
scalers make from 4:3 a 16:9 image so you get wasted space in your file from the "pillars" at the sides of 4:3.
if the scaling keeps the aspect ratio 4:3 (not widescreen) than there's no problem with that, the scaling function is the TBC feature….

Using the Intensity or Shuttle depends mostly on the choice of resolutions you can choose from on these devices, the shuttle can capture also a progresive source, the Intensity might not, capturing a progressive source, saves you re-encoding in post, but de-interlacing with with a software encoder can give better results.
You should try this out with sample captures, with scenes which have fast movements in it.



Thank you for your advice. The only reason I was using the DVDO unit was for the built in TBC it has but would require the output to be hdmi.


And I apologize. It was a H.264 Pro Recorder that I also have, not the shuttle. (I have the 4k intensity unit too)
Given this what would you suggest? VHS to DVDO -output at 480p or?--to intensity 4k capture at?? or pro-recorder captured at what?
Thanks for your help. I really only want to do this once and the tapes I fear have been deteriorating.
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostWed Feb 01, 2023 11:09 pm

Riker0007 wrote:
Eric-Jan wrote:
Riker0007 wrote:I have both the Intensity 4k pcie card and the USB 3.0 Procoder and would like to capture my old family vhs tapes.
I also have a DVDO upscaler that my old projection tv used to have all devices output to HDMI.
It has a TBC in it.
I was gonna go from a VHS deck to the DVDO and then output to the intensity.
Or should I use the shuttle? What would be the best way?
The DVDO can output to different resolutions.
Any thoughts one my mess?
THanks in advance.


You should avoid using scalers or change resolution/aspect ratio, you should keep resolution original, (because it doesn't improve quality, (upscaling only helps if you should upload it to Youtube) converting to progressive could be a good thing, if you get no artifacts, from de-interlacing. (Yadif is best)
scalers make from 4:3 a 16:9 image so you get wasted space in your file from the "pillars" at the sides of 4:3.
if the scaling keeps the aspect ratio 4:3 (not widescreen) than there's no problem with that, the scaling function is the TBC feature….

Using the Intensity or Shuttle depends mostly on the choice of resolutions you can choose from on these devices, the shuttle can capture also a progresive source, the Intensity might not, capturing a progressive source, saves you re-encoding in post, but de-interlacing with with a software encoder can give better results.
You should try this out with sample captures, with scenes which have fast movements in it.



Thank you for your advice. The only reason I was using the DVDO unit was for the built in TBC it has but would require the output to be hdmi.


And I apologize. It was a H.264 Pro Recorder that I also have, not the shuttle. (I have the 4k intensity unit too)
Given this what would you suggest? VHS to DVDO -output at 480p or?--to intensity 4k capture at?? or pro-recorder captured at what?
Thanks for your help. I really only want to do this once and the tapes I fear have been deteriorating.


You should not capture directly into h.264 because it's a lossy format, and you get with each copy from that, image degradetion, if the DVDO (HDMI?) gives you a steady video signal, you should put that into your Intensity card, (which is in your window$ PC ?) a lossless codec.
Forget about the DVHS (DV) or JVC vcr with TBC, these devices are overrated, Panasonic devices with "VHS fresh" are much better, but i guess DVDO does a good job for you, in that area, stablizing any analog video…
Don't change any resolution, progressive would be nice , so you don't have to do that in post.
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Feb 05, 2023 8:31 pm

Please forgive my newbieness. Please advise on the Media express settings. What's the difference between 59.94 vs 60p and what should I set this to including the capture file format?
I did some testing with the dvdo unit and when I set the output format to 480p and it has worse interlacing lines (I think that's what it's called) and 720p seems the best but I can't determine if 1080i is the same or better; looks relatively the same.
Thanks again.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Feb 05, 2023 8:48 pm

Side note update: I see when I change the format in the DVDO that it also changes the project format in the media express settings except the file format. What should this be and it seems that some tapes are the same from my old eye on the 480p vs. 720p except that first tape I tried. Not sure why.
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostTue Feb 07, 2023 6:00 pm

The difference is where you want to view your video on most of the time this will be a LCD/Oled flatscreen (digital) if you do not de-interlace you will see that line artifact, where movement is in the picture.
with NTSC you have lines, with digital you have pixels.
720p/i 1080p/i is most of the time a widescreen(16:9) image, you want to avoid that with VHS (4:3)

it's different when it's called 720x480p/i this is 4:3 this is Standard Definition (SD) 4:3(VHS digitized)
1280x720 is High Definition, 1920x1080 is Full High Definition (FullHD) both Widesreen (16:9)

NTSC is 525 lines 60 frames = 2 fields of 30 lines wel not exact…. 59.xxx vor NTSC those 2 fields are "interlaced" your eyes are to slow to see this… but for digitizing this is extreemly difficult to make one frame of those two fields, so in the end you should have one frame from two fields, you have to see which device makes the cleanest image the converter or the software, better is to have your capture not compressed, but should be still interlaced,
you then edit unwanted parts out, or make transitions between scene's and have the result compressed and de-interlaced in something like h.264 at a bitrate of aprox. 2000Kb. (VBR) to have a reasonable quality and filesize ratio (US residence)
Check your VCR manual what it outputs for resolution, this is what your converter receives, you decide what the converter outputs, upscaling to HD has no effect on the quality, it could even have a negative effect in some cases, not positive, output should be 720x480i/p not > 1280x720 or 1920x1080
My guess the converter bakes interlaced into the progressive format, which can't be corrected afterwards,
Check the manuals of the devices in question for specs, and use the final output to set both VideoSetup and Media Express of the BlackMagic Design software.
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostThu Mar 16, 2023 1:26 am

Eric-Van,

I purchased the Intensity Shuttle about 6 years ago and wondering what you are recommending for the best VHS Video Capture at this time?
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostThu Mar 16, 2023 10:50 pm

What is the last Mac OS that still supported the Intensity Shuttle TB2?
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Eric-Jan

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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSat Dec 16, 2023 11:39 am

Check out the very first post in this topic thread… (page 1)
Intensity Shuttle, ATEM Mini, Video Assist 5"(mini USB), Hyperdeck ShuttleHD,Analog to SDI mini-converter, software: Davinci Resolve 15 on Sierra, Resolve 18 on Catalina. (Using Apple OS 32 & 64 bit on different MacBook Pro's
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Dec 17, 2023 3:41 am

It’s not a question of OS, it’s the system architecture. I was running an Ultrastudio Express on an Intel Mac all the way up to Ventura.

Good Luck
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Re: --- My (VHS) Video Capture Guide --- The best way to do

PostSun Dec 17, 2023 10:59 am

Excellent! I will bookmark this for my assignment to convert a 1990's VHS video to digital.

Many thanks for sharing.
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