Hello to all,
I recently purchased Pinnacle Movie Box Studio Usb 9.0.
I wanr to use this primarality for getting the VHS tapes to VCD (good quality).
The problem is : I am not geting the desired quality when i use the Studio 9 software. The VCD looks pixelled and not as the same quality as the VHS (which is shoot using a sony handy cam-analogue tape). What should I do to get good quality VCDs using the same system.
My system configuration is as follows
Pentium 4; 1.4 GHz Processor
384 MB SDRAM,
32 MB AGP
Windows XP Home -SP2 installed
You are not really going to be able to get "Good" Quality VCD"s because there really is no Such Thing especially from a VHS Source...
The VCD Format uses a Very Low resolution and a Very Low bitrate so it will produce very Low Quality especially from a VHS capture and the Fact you are useing the Pinnacle Movie Box doesn"t help either as I hear it is a Pretty Low Quality Capture device even though it is not Priced that way....
The Movie Box uses Hardware Compression so the Capture software has no effect on the Quality so the Quality you get is as good as it is going to get.....I suggest that you either attempt to make DVD"s instead and you then you Might achieve Close to VHS quality(You will never achieve the save Quality as your video source (VHS) because Video Capture and Compression is a Very Lossy Process)...
So If you want to make "Good" Quality VCD"s from VHS Captures then you are allways going to be Dissapointed as VCD is a Low Quality format and that is when Made from DVD"s....I suggest you either attempt to make DVD"s or get a Different Capture device but even then you are going to be Hard Pressed to get "Good" quality from a VHS capture......
Thank you friend for your valuable reply.
OK,
(1)If i decide to make DVD, will it be as the same quality as the VHS?
(2) is the system, which I am having now (specs. mentioned in my thread opening )is enough for this purpose of converting VHS to Digital.? If not what spec would you recommnet for this?
(3) Is it possible for me to capture video from my VCR & Pinnacle movie Box USb and then use a third party Mpeg Encorder to get a better quality VCDs? which encorder to use?
Yes if You Made a DVD the Quality would be Much Closer to the Original VHS Tape than if you were to make a VCD From the same Tape but the Quality will never Be as Good as the Original but that is the Nature of Analogue Videio Capture....
You could expect better VCD quality if you were to Capture your VHS Tape to AVI useing a Low Compression codec Like HuffYUV and then after Captureing to HuffYUV AVI at 720+480 (Which will use up about 30gb per hour of Video) You can use a Good Quality standalone Encoder to encode the AVI file to VCD Format useing an encoder like TMPGEnc...This was would Take much Longer but you should expect a great Improvement in Quality...You could even Capture to Mpeg-2 at 720+480 with the highest Quality and bitrate settings and then encode that File to VCD useing TMPGEnc which should also Produce better quality than Just Captureing directly to VCD....
You could also get some advantages if you were to Upgrade your CPU to about 2.5ghz or Higher which you might be able to do on your System if your P-4 Motherboard uses the Socket 478 Configuration....
For Probably about $150 or less you can Pick up a 2.5ghz P-4 CPU that should Fit in your Motherboard and then you can sell your Current CPU for Probably about $75 so you will be ablr to basicly Double your Computers speed for only about $75....
Thanks Minion, Let me try the above mentioned ways... If I fail to get the results, I will seriously consider upgrading the system.
As I am located in India, i dont think i can sell my old cpu after upgrading to a new one. So I will go for a brand new system.
Hope you can reccoment a good spec to me. Anyway tell me which is better for video capturing & editing purpose AMD 64 Bit or P-4 HT ?..
They are Both good But for Performance I would go got an Athlon 64 as Long as it is in the Socket 939 configuration...
I"m actually thinking of selling my Killer Machine and getting an Athlon 64 System...I should Hopefully be able to get $1500 for mine which should be enough for me to Build myself a good Athlon 64 system.....
Hello friend,
thanks for your comments.
I decided to build a PC with the following config.
Give me your thoughts on this.
Intel Pentium 4 - 3 Ghz with HT
Intel D 865 G Motherboard
Corsair 1 GB Ram
120 Gb Sata Maxtor Diamond Max plus Hard disk
256 MB Geforce Graphics card Fx5200
Sony Dual side DVD writer
Logitech Optical Mouse & Key Board
LG 17" CRT Monitor
Cabinet with front usb
UPS
Windows XP Home Licensed
--------------------------------------
altogether here in Indai it cost appx: 45,000/ rupees to build
(US $ 1= 43 Rupees)
That Looks like a Good System...Very Simular to the System I have accept mine is More Loaded with Hardware....
It seems that Computer Parts are Pretty expensive in India??
Seems Like it will run you close to $1100 US to Build which is Pretty Expensive as you can get the same system In the US for about $800...
Do you have a 64bit system Right now?? Because If I were you I would probably keep the 64bit System over the P-4 3.2ghz.....
