At 1:52 PM -0400 6/13/02, G-Books wrote: >The long process is converting to VCD. An hour or so of footage will take >17 hours to encode on a 233MHz G3, and a 200MHz 604e is the minimum. A G4 >will take about 10 hours, give or take, depending on speed. Of course, >VHS is VHS, so don't expect DV quality.
Dear Michael and other Listers, This doesn't really belong on the g-book list... however, it is apparent that many of us have this same desire, so I'll add my 2c. As noted by others, you will spend from 10-25 minutes of time encoding EACH minute of DV. You need a fast, dedicated computer for the job. I tried the Hollywood Digital/Analog bridge (costs around $250), with negative results. This device has a problem with keeping the frame from rolling in any footage over a few minutes (sometimes it doesn't happen till 20 min into your capture). And there are sometimes sound synch problems. These are well documented issues in the newsgroups. I cannot recommend the Hollywood device--even the company website has a plethora of products with little to no distinction as to how they differ; similar claims are made for the cheapest and most expensive items. Horrible marketing, IMO. If you're lucky, in the end you get a giant file (bought an external firewire drive to store it--another $250) and then the real fun begins. You need to convert the DV file into an MPEG-1 fully VCD complaint file. This is no easy task. The one product that did this job cheap and easily got bought by Apple Computer and they killed it. The ONLY product available now is toast TITANIUM (not the OEM version). Even Toast 4 Deluxe won't do it, because although it can write the VCD format, it requires precisely defined MPEG files which are impossible to produce (unless you invest hundreds of hours of time learning it all, and even then it might not work.) I tried the MY VIDEO product, with mixed results. It attempts to compress real-time, and you end up with very very choppy footage. You can capture uncompressed MOV files, but you still need to convert to MPEG-1, as noted above, and it takes time. The product DOES come with a lite version of Strata Videoshop, which is easy to use, and makes nice quicktime files with a variety of options... but the problem is that the MY VIDEO can still not capture full frame video (it's a usb connection) even when uncompressed. The results are rarely satisfying. Yet, at $140 for the device, it beats the results of Hollywood DV Bridge. Still makes giant files, so you need a big hard drive and fast processor and a dedicated machine for the encoding. As noted by others, there are similar video capturing products, but you will still need additional equipment, and the results will be probably less than you want. The BEST thing to do is to get a digital video camera with firewire, and use IT to do the DV conversion from analog VHS. Then use iMovie to do your editing, and save the footage BACK to digital videotape. Yes, this is a pricey option because the videocameras aren't cheap, and you still don't have a VCD. However, you've got your video edited and onto a digital medium, and it will be somewhat more stable in storage than those rapidly degrading VHS analog tapes. THEN, at a later date, when prices fall, convert your digital videotapes to DVD. Right now, DVD blanks are about $5 each, but that will change, we hope, with time. However, if you really DO want a VCD, there is another option. It is called the Terapin (manufactured by TeraOptix). It is essentially a digital VCR. You plug the analog inputs in the back, begin play of your analog videotape, and press the record button on the Terapin, and it does a REAL TIME encoding to VCD and burns directly to a CD blank. [You need to use "consumer CD" blanks, not standard computer CD blanks, and the company explains this. However, they're relatively cheap.] You won't be able to edit your videos on the fly, but you WILL get a fast, inexpensive VCD out of it. Quality is as good as VCD gets. The Terapin retails new for about $400, but you can get a new one from Ebay dealers (real retailers that will include warranty) for about $250. You will be left with a nice VCD-maker as a side benefit, which you can use to capture tv shows for watching on your computer. Note that VCD quality is a hair LOWER than standard VHS, which is already somewhat lower than broadcast quality, and FAR less than DVD quality. However, your VHS tapes are already worn and ageing, and so the VCD quality will be just right--anything more would be overkill. In summary, converting VHS tapes to VCD or DVD is still not cheap. You will spend at least $250 (the Terapin way), and up to $1000 (for videocamera OR for other capture devices and hard drives and encoding software). If you can wait, just put the project on the back burner and wait for technology to catch up. --Jim. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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