Vic's Multimedia Madness
~~Vic Ferri, WinTips and Tricks

Last month, we talked about creating video CDs from video files on your computer and mentioned that you can also convert video from outside your computer to video CDs or DVD as well. In this article, I will show you the basics of transferring your old VHS video tapes to CDs or DVDs. Of course, if you prefer, you can store the converted video on your hard drive, providing you have space to spare and just want to watch them on your PC monitor.

A main reason to convert your VHS tapes to CD or DVD is to put a halt to the degradation of your tapes. Tape is a magnetic medium that erodes with time and every time it plays. The result is the gradual loss of the original video quality. By burning your tapes to CDs or DVDs, you stop this erosion process. No matter how many times you play a CD/DVD, the quality will remain the same as when you first made and played it. Another reason to convert is convenience. CDs/DVDs are compact and easier to mail to family and friends than bulky VHS tapes are.

The actual conversion is usually a three step process - first you have to capture the video to your hard drive, then you edit it as needed or preferred,  and finally, you burn it to a VCD or DVD in the proper format needed.

Before even considering this process, it's important to know that video files require an enormous amount of disk space, so make sure you have about 5 gigs of free space to work with. This space is needed only temporarily - the files can be deleted once done. You should also have a fairly fast computer and hard drive but I can tell you that even with my old Pentium 425 and 256 mbs of RAM, it is possible to work with video like this, just not as fast, of course. Defragging your hard drive before beginning can help improve performance. If possible, I would recommend setting aside an entire hard drive partition of 20 gigs or more just for video work.

To get your video to your hard drive, your computer must have an analog video capture device or video card that includes a video input that captures analog signals (which is the norm if your video card has a video input).  If you don't have a video capture device, then you will have to invest in one - the price can range from about 50 dollars to well over 1000 dollars, depending on the type of device, its qualities, and features. We can break down the types of video capture devices into three categories, Video Capture Cards, USB devices and IE-1394 (Firewire) devices.

This is still  the most common method of capturing video by most professionals and video hobbyists, though Firewire devices are being used more too and are an excellent choice for fast, accurate digital video transfer.  A card, however,  gives you more features and is more like a complete video station in your computer. Most also include television tuners - this means you can plug your TV cable or antenna-based TV signal into the card and watch and record television on your desktop. The better ones also include dual monitor support (even triple) and more connectivity possibilities than the other capture devices do. The downside of cards is that they need to be installed in your computer and can cause conflicts and problems which can be a real headache if you are a newbie (this is especially true of high-end complex cards) You need to know what you are doing and read the manuals carefully when installing. The most popular cards are the ATI-ALL-IN-WONDER cards like the RADEON 8500DV and the 9700 PRO, which are both commonly included in many of today's top-of-the-line home computer systems. The 9700 PRO is the latest version but, disappointingly, it lacks a firewire port and dual monitor support - both of which were included in the older 8500DV. The digital TV tuner was also dropped in the new card. The nice thing about these ATI cards (besides being Canadian ~LOL) is that they are all-in-one cards -- video cards with video capture capabilities. You do not need a separate video card and video capture card.

If you are not heavy into games, have a top of the line computer,  and cost isn't an issue,  even better than these ATI cards for video capture, are some of the MATROX cards like the professional MATROX RT.X100, but this is a very expensive card requiring a powerful computer and used more in business, studios and educational facilities where 3D gaming features aren't needed. You should be aware that when you read reviews on video cards, they are primarily based on the gaming features of the card, not the video transfer quality needed by professional video and graphic artists.

All these top cards do best with a fast computer. A Pentium 4 at 2.2 GHZ or AMD Athlon XP 2000+ with 512 mbs of ram would be great.  Most also require that you have the latest version of DirectX installed.

For a less expensive, less complicated video capture card with lesser system requirements that would be good for basic video capture, you can get an entry level card like the ATI TV Wonder card which has a built-in television tuner and can capture video at MPEG-2, for about 50 dollars.  See my Experts Guides Page for more information.  The same card comes in a USB version but costs more and doesn't encode at MPEG-2

The easiest, most uncomplicated way to capture your video is by bypassing a video capture card altogether and using a USB analog video capture device.  Typically, you  simply plug your VCR into the USB capture device using the standard composite RCA-type plugs and plug the capture device cable into a USB port on your computer.  No need to open up your computer. The device captures your video, digitizes it, and transfers it to your hard drive as a video file.  However, many of these USB devices cost more than a capture card like the ATI TV Wonder and capture video only at the lowest quality. I would advise to stay away from the ones that can only convert video to MPEG-1 resolution. Look for one that can encode at MPEG-2 resolution.  Most of these devices are USB 1.1 but there are  a few USB 2 ones out that I would recommend. Theoretically, USB 2  is  40X faster but in actual use, it rarely achieves that speed.  However, even just 2X faster  is significant -  double the speed - so definitely worth looking into.   And don't worry if your computer only has the older USB.1.1 as USB 2 is backward compatible and you can buy an add-on PCI card that will add several USB 2 ports to your computer, if you prefer.  A popular one that can capture at the higher MPEG-2 quality and also uses USB 2. is VideoOh!DVD by Adaptec.  It's very easy to use and comes bundled with the equally easy-to-use Sonic's MyDVD, which is the only currently-available video editing software that  transfers video to burner in one step (i.e.:  you start the capture and can walk away).  Another good one for basic video capture is the ADS USB Instant DVD which can capture at MPEG 2 at a full-screen resolution of  704 X 480. Also check out  Dazzle, who make both low-end and high-end video capture devices, and Hauppage, who make the popular WinTV-USB video capture devices which include TV tuners.  The WinTV-PVR-350 supports data rates up to 12Mbits/sec. A typical one hour TV show will take 2 gigabytes of hard disk space.  Of all the mentioned USB products here, my personal preference  would be the Adaptec VideoOh!DVD, if it is compatible with your computer.

IEEE 1394(Firewire)

Firewire is the real choice for speedy high-quality digital video (DV) transfers, and it should be no wonder, considering it's an Apple invention.  It has  transfer rates of up to 400 Mbs (mega bits per second) which, though rated slower than USB2, has proved itself as faster and more reliable in actual use.  It is the  standard used for high quality digital transfer and, besides, there are no USB2 camcorders currently (January, 2003) available. USB2 for video is still emerging and being tested, and it will probably be a few years before we can really know whether it will replace or be able to outperform Firewire.

Firewire has a fixed digital video compression rate of 3.6 megs per second which works out to 13 gigs per hour, with the transferred quality identical to the original. And you don't need as fast a computer as you would with a high-end video capture card to use a firewire capture device. However, you need to have Windows 98se or up to support Firewire.  Firewire is based on what's known as the 1394 standard and is an Apple trademark and standard feature on every G4 and iMac.  On non-Apple computers, the proper name is just IEEE 1394 but Firewire is the name that has caught on most.  On Sony computers, the name is  iLink.  Most new computers contain at least one Firewire port but, just like USB, if you don't have one, you can  add a Firewire port to your computer with an add-on PCI card that can give you several Firewire ports. You can also get combo cards that will give you both USB and Firewire ports.   As for video capture Firewire devices, for what we are talking about here, they are way more than what you need but a good choice if you plan to expand your video interest and get into digital later.  For VHS transfer, you would need one that can also capture analog signals, as opposed to digital only.  One of the better ones is the Hollywood DV-Bridge, which captures both digital and analog signals. The digital is transferred directly to the hard drive, no conversion, and thus the quality is just like the original.  Another excellent video capture device that uses Firewire is the Canopus ADVC-100, which can capture both analog and digital video, as well. A good, easy-to-use, more affordable Firewire digital and analog capturing device is Studio Version 7 or 8 by Pinnacle.
 

The format your video is converted to depends on the codecs that your capture device comes with.  The codec is the largest determining factor affecting the quality of your saved video file.  Because analog signals must be converted or rendered to digital, there is always some loss of quality in any conversion.  The cheaper devices typically only allow you to convert to MPEG-1 which is the lowest quality format or AVI which is uncompressed and huge in size, and which you  must then convert from your hard drive using an encoder to the desired format for burning.  If a cheap device is all you can afford and the choice is between AVI and MPEG-1 only, then I would go for AVI, providing you have sufficient disk space to work with.  At least with AVI, you have the choice to convert the AVI to various formats using encoders of your choice and you'd end up with better video quality than you would normally get from the hardware MPEG-1 encoder in your capture device. The disadvantage of AVI is mainly a convenience one. - You need to convert the AVI video yourself before burning. whereas most video capture devices encode the video for you to the proper format for burning on CD or DVD:  MPEG 2 for SVCD-DVD and MPEG 1 for VCD.

Many of the popular video capture devices include a variety of encoders allowing you to save your video files in not only MPEG-1 and MPEG 2 formats, but also in formats like Real Audio, QuickTime, Windows Media, etc. There is a big difference in disk space used based on the compression, resolution and format used.  For example, an hour of video encoded using MPEG-2 with a 740x480 resolution and 16 bit stereo sound can require over 2 GIGS of disk space.  The same one hour encoded in a format like Windows Media with a  resolution of 320x200 would probably use up less than 150 Mbs of disk space. That's an extreme difference not only in compression but video quality too.  The MPEG-2 conversion results in DVD-like quality at full screen, whereas the Windows Media conversion is jerky and fuzzy at full screen, only viewable in a tiny window.  However, the lower quality can be suitable for sharing with family and friends over the internet or by email or messaging services.  The best quality with the most compression is MPEG-4 format  using a DivX codec, where you can fit a feature-length movie with near DVD quality on a regular CD.  But that's another story!
 

The Connection

Almost all video capture cards have composite video inputs to allow you to connect your VCR or camcorder. Composite cables are the typical RCA-type cables you use to connect your VCR to your stereo. There are three colored inputs - the yellow is for the video signal, the red is usually for the right audio signal, and the white is usually for the left audio signal.  If your capture or video card has only a single video input and no audio inputs, connect the yellow to the video input and use an adaptor cable to connect the two audio plugs to your sound card's Line-In.  The adaptor cable needed is the same as was discussed in January's article for connecting stereo to computer -  a 3.5mm (1/8") plug on one end and two standard RCA connectors at the other end.  USB and Firewire connections are a snap to set up - just plug one end to your USB or Firewire port, and your VCR cables to the device.  When you buy your device, install instructions will be included and you will see how easy it is.

Once all your connections are made, you will need to install - if not already installed - video  software that can recognize and record the video and audio entering your computer from the video and audio inputs.  Almost all video capture devices come bundled with video editing software that can both record your video and edit it after it is recorded.  For transferring VHS to your burner, the one I would recommend based on ease of use is MyDVD, which comes bundled with Adaptec's VideoOh!DVD or you can buy it separately.  When you first open your video editing program, make sure your capture device and sound card are recognized and spend some time getting to know your program and setting your preferences. Also, do a sound check and make sure the volume is not muted for your sound card.  You will have to choose the output format of the video you capture.  With MyDVD the format used is MPEG-2 and you're offered three compression settings of Good, Better, and Best.  This makes it easy for beginners to choose, but for VHS tape don't choose Good if you have this program. The video quality is poor at this high compression. Choose Better. Best is overkill for VHS tape quality.  With the Better setting, you can fit about two hours of video on a DVD  disk or maybe up to 45 minutes on a regular 700 mb CD..  Once you've made your settings, you're ready to start recording. With MyDVD,  you simply turn on your VCR with your tape in it and hit  the "Start Recording" button.  You will see your video as it records in a preview window and hear the sound through your speakers.  Your video will now begin its transfer to your hard drive.  This is the longest part of the process.  Depending on the speed of your computer, it can take hours.

Once done, you may want to try to improve and, perhaps trim, the finished movie file by removing blank or boring frames, adding a title screen with your own image, placing fades between scenes, adding various effects, creating menus for each scene, etc.  Most of the video editor programs that ship with the capture cards allow you to do basic editing like this and make it easy for beginners, but for more advanced editing possibilities, video editors like Adobe Premiere,  Ulead Media Studio Pro, Pinnacle Studio and DVDit! are on top.  You can also use free utilities like Tmpgen - which was mentioned in last month's article - to help improve your video and sound. VirtualDub is another popular free one.  The video editing part is the most challenging  and where you can show your creativity and skill, and shine as a video editor.  In Hollywood movies, it's the video editor who is largely responsible for the way the movie looks.

This is the easiest part.  Your video editing software usually takes care of this for you too. In other words, you do not need to use a separate burning program.  With MyDvd you simply click the Burn button when you're ready.  Depending on the options in your package, you may be able to burn a regular CD to VCD (for MPEG-1) and/or SVCD (for MPEG-2).  The resulting disc should be playable in any PC with a CD or DVD ROM drive and in most home DVD players.  You may also have the option to burn a disc playable on your PC only.  If that's all you require, this is a great option as it gives you much higher quality since no conversion to VCD or SVCD format is needed.

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Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks and Registry Answers. Subscribe to either and receive free Windows and Registry Tips. He is also in charge of the Printing Tips pages at Linda's Computer Stop. Vic has also created a program which allows you to Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME. Read more and get the free demo here. And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.