Adobe Premier & VHS question

lance1086 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 05:36 PM

What is the best way to capture VHS tapes to a pc (so it is available for editing in premier), without losing quality? Is there another format, aside from .avi, that is "editable" by Premier??

I haven't bought Premier yet, but will if I can retain quality when capturing my VHS tapes into the editing program.

Thanks for the help guys...

Chapman Photography · #2 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 06:17 PM

AVI is the prefered method for editing, I have found that VHS causes a lot droped frames. The best way to get around this is to copy to a dvd recorder. if you need to do editing just import to your NLE of choice.

Alan Mills · #3 (**permalink**) 08-17-2007, 06:24 PM

However, to capture video from an analogue source (i.e. a VHS tape) you will need a video capture card of some sort. Do you have one?

Nikosony · #4 (**permalink**) 08-19-2007, 03:25 PM

Do you have a digital camcorder with AV in sockets and a Firewire socket? You can use a digital camcorder as an analogue to digital convertor, but it needs the above mentioned sockets.

Cuffo · #5 (**permalink**) 08-21-2007, 07:45 PM

Alan Mills responded

However, to capture video from an analogue source (i.e. a VHS tape) you will need a video capture card of some sort. Do you have one?

I've often wondered what's a good video capture card to get: brand, spec etc.. I'm new to all of this and would be interested to receive some recommendations.

Cuffo.

obiwan · #6 (**permalink**) 08-25-2007, 10:04 AM

I ran into this problem a while ago, went out and paid £80 or so for a pinnacle super dooper capture device, when i got it home i found that the quality just wasnt what i expected.
However, after taking a moment and had stopped stamping my feet in a tantrum, i found that my sony handycam could do the job far better. All you need is a av lead from your vhs player to your camcorder, then a firewire lead from your camcorder to your pc. Using this method i can capture straight into premier pro without having to record onto dv tape and the quality is superb.

Certainly worth investigating....

MStrutt · #7 (**permalink**) 08-26-2007, 06:59 AM

I use a Matrox capture card for VHS and DVD capture if I need to.

MarkOneMusic · #8 (**permalink**) 08-31-2007, 10:18 AM

I tried using a Dazzle video capture dongle, but suffered dropped frames and a nasty case of audio sync loss (And this was using it on a pretty good machine too) I finally decided that USB2 is not good for this kind of real-time application

Eventually I figured out my Sony MiniDV Camcorder (DCR PC100E) has video in, so I recorded the VHS to mini-dv and then used firewire to import the video as uncompressed AVIs.

I also found a noise reduction plug which was designed for VHS footage that was pretty good (I'll try to dig out the name if I have time before my holiday)

Obviously the resolution of VHS ain't great... But at least now I have the stuff archived on DV tape and on DVD.

Nikosony · #9 (**permalink**) 08-31-2007, 11:01 AM

MarkOneMusic, you don't need to record onto a Mini DV tape first and then transfer it to the computer unless you want a Mini DV version of your VHS tape. Just follow the procedure I have described above, as you say you have Video In on your camcorder and DV Out, just use the camcorder as an analogue to digital convertor.

obiwan · #10 (**permalink**) 08-31-2007, 06:23 PM

Yup, exactly the way i described it too, no need to use up dv tape, just capture straight to hard drive.