2023 update:
Warning: this guide needs to be followed exactly into detail, capturing analog video is getting harder these days, with recent (new) computer hardware and operating systems, using new hardware it would be better, to use non consumer analog to digital converters like to SDI or HDMI, and use a SDI/HDMI PCIe card to record.
Equipment used:
Before buying any of the Intensity series devices, look for what interface you need on your PC or MAC computer, Thunderbolt 2, or USB 3, old MAC's have Thunderbolt 2, the newer have Thunderbold3/USB-C/USB-3
(Thunderbolt 2 is faster then USB-3)
(Thunderbolt 2 works only with Thunderbolt 2)
For any capture or converter device it should support PAL 625i or NTSC 525i this is the analog format,
that needs to be converted to digital > 720x576 (PAL) or 720x480 (NTSC)
Check your Apple hardware version for interface compatible devices < link
For Windows you need to have the corresponding interface also, PCI, or USB3,
List of computers that works with BMD USB3.0 products <link
The Intensity series capture devices have different resolution options, check this before buying,
it could be a deal breaker in your use case scenario.
Install the software that comes with the Intensity, in this case: the Desktop Video Setup utility and Media Express (BMD app) (the Desktop Video Setup utility will be installed in the System Settings of the Launch Pad with Mac OS)
Better... download the latest Desktop Video software (Media Express is included) on the BlackMagic Design website > Support tab > scroll page > left collum frame, Latest Downloads also scroll here, until Desktop Video, > choose your Operating System button, choose for registration or Download Only, when complete, start the file, and follow instructions.
(Due to stronger security features on latest MAC OS versions, you must be very alert)
(if you have added codecs from 3rd parties, you need to re-install Desktop Video Setup)
You only can set the capture input specs in these apps when the Intensity (Shuttle) is operational,
(check these settings before each startup of the device and the software, with me it was sometimes changed for no reason, in future versions this might have been solved)
Most important: know your hardware !, and it's limitations, depending where you live, or the tapes you want to capture, The (analog) tv sytem can be:
NTSC or PAL
SECAM is used sparingly around the world and can be found in France, parts of Greece, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Africa.
BMD software has no SECAM/MESECAM settings, the vcr needs to be compatible/convert SECAM/MESECAM
(most of the time only NTSC or PAL will be outputed, conversion is done within the VCR/DVR)
be sure the VHS tape is in the correct tv system standard as the playing VHS player/VCR, (or switch to it) adjust tracking for optimal video and sound quality, before capturing.
Important:
Your VCR needs to give a stable video signal , (the BMD products are "semi professional" products)
A Super VHS VCR with a feature called: TBC can give good results, but is no guarantee
The Panasonic DMR-ES35V has component (RCA red,green,blue) video output,which does a good job, if your vcr/combo has also component video out for the VHS part (in case of a VHS vcr or combo), check in the manual how to put it in progressive mode,
The ES35V (recorder combo) gives on the RCA, s-video, and component video output a stable video signal, setting the combo/dvd recorder to progressive will also give YUV output, not RGB, (YUV is what you need to capture)
Trying to capture from HDMI on consumer devices output will fail most of the time, (Copyright protection precaution) (HDCP) with exeption of video/photo camera's and DSLR's (with HDMI connection) ( but for video camera equipment... the Ultra Studio Mini Recorder will do also fine, which has a HDMI and a SDI input, but has only a Thunderbolt 2 interface mostly used on older Mac's, Mac's from make year of 2016 and onwards have Thunderbolt 3. Check for max resolution frame rate limit on the Intensity interlaced and progessive, with specs of camera in that case)
Capture will also fail due to build-in copy protection or encryption, (or Macrovision)(PAL60/NTSC50 will also not work) BMD hardware/software will not defeat any copyright protections, and should not be asked for on any BlackMagic forum, due to legal issues.
-
The PAL/NTSC system specs (interlaced most of the time) should be set in the Desktop Video Setup utility, (also select the input you are going to use of the Intensity Shuttle) Media Express should be set with these also, (checkout the tabs) plus the codec you want to use: compressed, or uncompressed, uncompressed will need more storage space, and is overkill for the VHS quality, compressed will give slower data transfer rates, which is an advantage with "not so" fast storage devices.
This said, you can get dropped frames by using a too slow storage device during the capture, try to use a stronger compressing (ProRes?) codec
Fast storage like SSD/m.2 is preferred.
Connections:
Depending on the VCR, try to use the optimal quality output connection present, in this order: component > red,green,blue RCA plugs, S-Video > mini DIN plug, composite > yellow RCA plug, audio/sound (analog) > right channel > red RCA plug, left channel > white RCA plug.
when component video output is available.this will be the best option for VHS capture. component video output will sometimes also be available on DVD recorders, on combo devices this is sometimes only for dvd player output and not for the vhs "player" check this with the manual.
(s-video connection might also be available through a SCART connector (if this is an option) check the manual also for this)
also important:
Old equipment
Old equipment not used for a long time, should first be on room temperature, then checked with tapes you can spare: empty/no recordings on, to be sure the cassette/tape loading mechanism, and tracking still works correctly, if the player does not track correctly after adjusting, the tape can also be damaged, or the tape becomes "salad" in the player, and has to be cut out of, or the cassette can't be removed, and the player/vcr needs to be opened, to save some of rare recordings you made in the past, repair of this machine is in most cases not an option, and you have to search for a 2nd hand replacement player/vcr
Capturing:
If all has been correctly set, and you have Media Express running, select the red capture tab, and if the tape is running in the VCR you should now see the video capture, and see moving sound bars, (capture starts when you click on the red capture button) if the green audio bars are showing red tops, the sound is too loud, and you should un-check the HiFi option under the audio tab of the Desktop Video Setup app in the System Settings app from the Mac Launch Pad app. you also need to slide the linked audio sliders to the left, to decrease the sound volume, with me sound was way too loud with some tapes.
(Some VHS combo's/recorders you can set for a grey screen-output when there's no video input, this will help to see if the resolution is correctly set in the Shuttle software, with no video at all, the software will also create a blue screen)
Capture codec setting:
In Media Express you can choose for uncompressed, or ProRes422 codec (compressed format) as your capture file format for VHS, ProRes422 LT is good enough is my experience (ProRes422 might be slightly better, but gives larger files), it doesn't make too large files, and has a low transfer write speed to a (internal/external) storage drive, SSD or HDD (too fast data rate can cause dropped frames)
Uncompressed codecs will have have high data transfer rates, and will create (very) large files,
ProRes422... (compressed) codec(s) are designed (by Apple) for having smooth post edit work, and are used professionaly, checkout Apple's white paper about this for details, > file sizes & quality
Your digital capture (output) resolution format will be: (NTSC= 720x480, PAL=720x576 )
the frame rate in progressive of interlaced mode will be that from the source you are capturing from.
(These digital formats will show more of the "image" you used to see on a CRT tv > overscan)
Best results:
It's best to try with short captures, to see the results at once, and experiment with different settings,
(check if "tracking" is optimal, if this is not done automaticly, or you want to set this to "manual" if this causes the On Screen Display to appear, and adjust by hand before captures are made)
(sound drop outs could come from not optimizes tracking)
Keep in mind you will see much more detail now, then when you watched it on a regular Cathode Ray Tube Television, in "the olden days"
If you want to burn your video to a video DVD, you should compress the capture to MPEG2,
Check your edit prog. which input file formats it will accept, otherwise use Davinci Resolve, this free version does not de-interlace.
Tips:
Using Davinci Resolve you have some nice options, like Crop, and Transform, because you see much more of the image surface then on an analog CRT tv at the surrounding borders of the capture, and in the end you put a clean 720x480 or 720x576 (depending on NTSC or PAL) capture in your "render/deliver" list in Davinci Resolve.
You may prefer to "mask" the "dirty" borders, or you might want to remove them, by removing them, you will slightly enlarge the video image, which gives a lower resolution, which might not be prefered.
(You can't capture from within Davinci Resolve, or it should be corrected in later versions, but not that i know of)
final notes
Recently i also did some tests with the JVC HR-S8960 which has aslo some sort of TBC, but this recorder gives some more noticeable "video-dirt" artifacts, (using composite/s-video output) if you have a choice, test with different playback recorders, depending on the video material this will matter.
Long play VHS recordings will best be played on multiple heads vcr's (4 or 6) since these extra heads were designed for that purpose,(if you still get dropped frames, try transfering through a DV box or a DV/Digital8 camera)
(DV/iLink/Firewire is not well supported on the MAC OS, Window$ does a better job at that)
A professional TBC can make a analog video signal steady, this is something i don't have any experience with, these devices are hard to get and can be expensive, a suitable "consumer" VHS/DVD recorder combo or DVD-recorder as passthrough device might be easier to find 2nd hand, and will be cheaper.
(Try your local thrift store for that.
I only changed the sound settings in the Desktop Video Setup app. so no color corrections during the capture.
You might want to set the video settings if you are using a different video in/output, and watch for skin tones, or use a recorded (color) test pattern, once set, leave these so, and only correct in post if needed.
You can convert to MP4 depending the usage: storage, Youtube, Vimeo, iPhone iPad, Smartdevice, (BMD Davinci Resolve) h.265 will make even smaller files but is mainly used for compressing 4K resolution footage.
Davinci Resolve has also options for easy color correcting, a white and a black pipet, to set and pick the colors, between the white and black levels from there, you can do some final fine adjustments.
I hope i covered some "needs" this way for starting in video capturing, otherwise, let me know... and feel free to comment.
Warning: this guide needs to be followed exactly into detail, capturing analog video is getting harder these days, with recent (new) computer hardware and operating systems, using new hardware it would be better, to use non consumer analog to digital converters like to SDI or HDMI, and use a SDI/HDMI PCIe card to record.
Equipment used:
- 1. VCR-DVR combo Panasonic DMR-ES35V (SCART version) (USA NTSC version has also TBC functionality)
2.Intensity Shuttle (Thunderbolt2)
3.MacBook Pro 13" (early2015) MacOS Sierra 10.12.6 8GB RAM 256GB SSD
Before buying any of the Intensity series devices, look for what interface you need on your PC or MAC computer, Thunderbolt 2, or USB 3, old MAC's have Thunderbolt 2, the newer have Thunderbold3/USB-C/USB-3
(Thunderbolt 2 is faster then USB-3)
(Thunderbolt 2 works only with Thunderbolt 2)
For any capture or converter device it should support PAL 625i or NTSC 525i this is the analog format,
that needs to be converted to digital > 720x576 (PAL) or 720x480 (NTSC)
Check your Apple hardware version for interface compatible devices < link
For Windows you need to have the corresponding interface also, PCI, or USB3,
List of computers that works with BMD USB3.0 products <link
The Intensity series capture devices have different resolution options, check this before buying,
it could be a deal breaker in your use case scenario.
Install the software that comes with the Intensity, in this case: the Desktop Video Setup utility and Media Express (BMD app) (the Desktop Video Setup utility will be installed in the System Settings of the Launch Pad with Mac OS)
Better... download the latest Desktop Video software (Media Express is included) on the BlackMagic Design website > Support tab > scroll page > left collum frame, Latest Downloads also scroll here, until Desktop Video, > choose your Operating System button, choose for registration or Download Only, when complete, start the file, and follow instructions.
(Due to stronger security features on latest MAC OS versions, you must be very alert)
(if you have added codecs from 3rd parties, you need to re-install Desktop Video Setup)
You only can set the capture input specs in these apps when the Intensity (Shuttle) is operational,
(check these settings before each startup of the device and the software, with me it was sometimes changed for no reason, in future versions this might have been solved)
Most important: know your hardware !, and it's limitations, depending where you live, or the tapes you want to capture, The (analog) tv sytem can be:
NTSC or PAL
SECAM is used sparingly around the world and can be found in France, parts of Greece, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Africa.
BMD software has no SECAM/MESECAM settings, the vcr needs to be compatible/convert SECAM/MESECAM
(most of the time only NTSC or PAL will be outputed, conversion is done within the VCR/DVR)
be sure the VHS tape is in the correct tv system standard as the playing VHS player/VCR, (or switch to it) adjust tracking for optimal video and sound quality, before capturing.
Important:
Your VCR needs to give a stable video signal , (the BMD products are "semi professional" products)
A Super VHS VCR with a feature called: TBC can give good results, but is no guarantee
The Panasonic DMR-ES35V has component (RCA red,green,blue) video output,which does a good job, if your vcr/combo has also component video out for the VHS part (in case of a VHS vcr or combo), check in the manual how to put it in progressive mode,
The ES35V (recorder combo) gives on the RCA, s-video, and component video output a stable video signal, setting the combo/dvd recorder to progressive will also give YUV output, not RGB, (YUV is what you need to capture)
Trying to capture from HDMI on consumer devices output will fail most of the time, (Copyright protection precaution) (HDCP) with exeption of video/photo camera's and DSLR's (with HDMI connection) ( but for video camera equipment... the Ultra Studio Mini Recorder will do also fine, which has a HDMI and a SDI input, but has only a Thunderbolt 2 interface mostly used on older Mac's, Mac's from make year of 2016 and onwards have Thunderbolt 3. Check for max resolution frame rate limit on the Intensity interlaced and progessive, with specs of camera in that case)
Capture will also fail due to build-in copy protection or encryption, (or Macrovision)(PAL60/NTSC50 will also not work) BMD hardware/software will not defeat any copyright protections, and should not be asked for on any BlackMagic forum, due to legal issues.
-
The PAL/NTSC system specs (interlaced most of the time) should be set in the Desktop Video Setup utility, (also select the input you are going to use of the Intensity Shuttle) Media Express should be set with these also, (checkout the tabs) plus the codec you want to use: compressed, or uncompressed, uncompressed will need more storage space, and is overkill for the VHS quality, compressed will give slower data transfer rates, which is an advantage with "not so" fast storage devices.
This said, you can get dropped frames by using a too slow storage device during the capture, try to use a stronger compressing (ProRes?) codec
Fast storage like SSD/m.2 is preferred.
Connections:
Depending on the VCR, try to use the optimal quality output connection present, in this order: component > red,green,blue RCA plugs, S-Video > mini DIN plug, composite > yellow RCA plug, audio/sound (analog) > right channel > red RCA plug, left channel > white RCA plug.
when component video output is available.this will be the best option for VHS capture. component video output will sometimes also be available on DVD recorders, on combo devices this is sometimes only for dvd player output and not for the vhs "player" check this with the manual.
(s-video connection might also be available through a SCART connector (if this is an option) check the manual also for this)
also important:
Old equipment
Old equipment not used for a long time, should first be on room temperature, then checked with tapes you can spare: empty/no recordings on, to be sure the cassette/tape loading mechanism, and tracking still works correctly, if the player does not track correctly after adjusting, the tape can also be damaged, or the tape becomes "salad" in the player, and has to be cut out of, or the cassette can't be removed, and the player/vcr needs to be opened, to save some of rare recordings you made in the past, repair of this machine is in most cases not an option, and you have to search for a 2nd hand replacement player/vcr
Capturing:
If all has been correctly set, and you have Media Express running, select the red capture tab, and if the tape is running in the VCR you should now see the video capture, and see moving sound bars, (capture starts when you click on the red capture button) if the green audio bars are showing red tops, the sound is too loud, and you should un-check the HiFi option under the audio tab of the Desktop Video Setup app in the System Settings app from the Mac Launch Pad app. you also need to slide the linked audio sliders to the left, to decrease the sound volume, with me sound was way too loud with some tapes.
(Some VHS combo's/recorders you can set for a grey screen-output when there's no video input, this will help to see if the resolution is correctly set in the Shuttle software, with no video at all, the software will also create a blue screen)
Capture codec setting:
In Media Express you can choose for uncompressed, or ProRes422 codec (compressed format) as your capture file format for VHS, ProRes422 LT is good enough is my experience (ProRes422 might be slightly better, but gives larger files), it doesn't make too large files, and has a low transfer write speed to a (internal/external) storage drive, SSD or HDD (too fast data rate can cause dropped frames)
Uncompressed codecs will have have high data transfer rates, and will create (very) large files,
ProRes422... (compressed) codec(s) are designed (by Apple) for having smooth post edit work, and are used professionaly, checkout Apple's white paper about this for details, > file sizes & quality
Your digital capture (output) resolution format will be: (NTSC= 720x480, PAL=720x576 )
the frame rate in progressive of interlaced mode will be that from the source you are capturing from.
(These digital formats will show more of the "image" you used to see on a CRT tv > overscan)
Best results:
It's best to try with short captures, to see the results at once, and experiment with different settings,
(check if "tracking" is optimal, if this is not done automaticly, or you want to set this to "manual" if this causes the On Screen Display to appear, and adjust by hand before captures are made)
(sound drop outs could come from not optimizes tracking)
Keep in mind you will see much more detail now, then when you watched it on a regular Cathode Ray Tube Television, in "the olden days"
If you want to burn your video to a video DVD, you should compress the capture to MPEG2,
Check your edit prog. which input file formats it will accept, otherwise use Davinci Resolve, this free version does not de-interlace.
Tips:
Using Davinci Resolve you have some nice options, like Crop, and Transform, because you see much more of the image surface then on an analog CRT tv at the surrounding borders of the capture, and in the end you put a clean 720x480 or 720x576 (depending on NTSC or PAL) capture in your "render/deliver" list in Davinci Resolve.
You may prefer to "mask" the "dirty" borders, or you might want to remove them, by removing them, you will slightly enlarge the video image, which gives a lower resolution, which might not be prefered.
(You can't capture from within Davinci Resolve, or it should be corrected in later versions, but not that i know of)
final notes
Recently i also did some tests with the JVC HR-S8960 which has aslo some sort of TBC, but this recorder gives some more noticeable "video-dirt" artifacts, (using composite/s-video output) if you have a choice, test with different playback recorders, depending on the video material this will matter.
Long play VHS recordings will best be played on multiple heads vcr's (4 or 6) since these extra heads were designed for that purpose,(if you still get dropped frames, try transfering through a DV box or a DV/Digital8 camera)
(DV/iLink/Firewire is not well supported on the MAC OS, Window$ does a better job at that)
A professional TBC can make a analog video signal steady, this is something i don't have any experience with, these devices are hard to get and can be expensive, a suitable "consumer" VHS/DVD recorder combo or DVD-recorder as passthrough device might be easier to find 2nd hand, and will be cheaper.
(Try your local thrift store for that.
I only changed the sound settings in the Desktop Video Setup app. so no color corrections during the capture.
You might want to set the video settings if you are using a different video in/output, and watch for skin tones, or use a recorded (color) test pattern, once set, leave these so, and only correct in post if needed.
You can convert to MP4 depending the usage: storage, Youtube, Vimeo, iPhone iPad, Smartdevice, (BMD Davinci Resolve) h.265 will make even smaller files but is mainly used for compressing 4K resolution footage.
Davinci Resolve has also options for easy color correcting, a white and a black pipet, to set and pick the colors, between the white and black levels from there, you can do some final fine adjustments.
I hope i covered some "needs" this way for starting in video capturing, otherwise, let me know... and feel free to comment.
Last edited by Eric-Jan on Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:47 am, edited 50 times in total.
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