Re: archiving VHS on DVD

On Wednesday 18 August 2004 10:37 am, gLaNDix (Jesse Kaufman) wrote:
> anyone have experience archiving VHS tapes onto DVDs?  i have a ton of =
old=20
> home movies from my mom (and soon my gf's mom) that she wants archived =
on=20
> DVD ... i have all the equipment (ATI AIW 9600 non-pro, Hauppage WinTV-=
Radio,=20
> DVD+/-RW, VCR :P) i need, but haven't been very satisfied with the resu=
lts so=20
> far ...
>=20
>=20

First of all, find out what input formats your DVD software supports.=20
Ideally you will record to MPEG2 directly... but that might not be possib=
le.=20
(MPEG2 seems to take lots more processor than mpeg4/divx variants)

If you can't use MPEG2, consider using a lossless codec...=20
It will take more space, but you won't have multiple quality losses. (as =
mpeg4->mpeg2)

Easiest way to record is using mencoder. I typically record to mpeg4.
You will have to replace some things (this is from memory, check things).=
 Good encoding is an art=20
(of knowing options & patience or having LOTS of money for cpu)

(this is a bit higher than default, and results in large files, which can=
 be compressed later,
as my cpu can barely caputure at that resolution)
mencoder -tv device=3D/dev/video/0:norm=3Dus-cable:width=3D640:height=3D4=
80 tv://4 -oac mp3lame=20
-ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=3Dmpeg4:vbitrate=3D1600 -o outputfile.avi
mencoder supports mpeg2 encoding, but I haven't tried it much, and not fr=
om tv, so you=20
will have to experement.

As for transfering files, a partition that is vfat should do fine, or any=
 other method.=20

Hope this helps.=20

James L
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