OK, so in part II we covered a high level overview of what kinds of equipment you can use to achieve the goal of capturing video into a digital format. You are probably starting to realise that you either have to spend a lot of money, time or suffer quality losses.
Continuing on from Part II of this article, we will break this down into three main use cases for the Impatient, the Libran and the Perfectionist.
If you are interested in capturing video from a Digital Format such as MiniDV or Digital8 (or Hi8 with RCTC) tapes, please see the related page on the topic here.
The Impatient Option
Equipment Needed
VHS Player - The best way to get this done if you don't care about quality too much, is to get a combo VHS deck that records VHS to DVD. You will need to RIP the DVD to a file afterwards (or ask a friend who knows how to do it), but it's an adequate method that does not usually suffer from the geometric output issues present in other cheap capture methods. Unless your model has a save to USB option built in, you will also need to obtain some appropriate blank DVD's. If possible get the DVD+R disks or DVD+RW disks as these have a better error correction mechanism built in. The downside with this approach is that especially for long play VHS tapes, you may find the tape does not fit on a standard DVD, therefore try to get a dual layer disc if your tapes have content over two hours long. Also, bear in mind that DVD's have a limited lifespan, actually more limited than VHS, so make sure you make copies onto something else. For more info on this, see our article on Preserving your masters.
As you will definitely need a second hand VHS player, see our global list of online second hand stores for some options in your country. Note for PAL countries, the Netherlands tends to have more S-VHS players than some of our smaller countries.
There is also vcrshop, this is where I purchased mine from. These units are supposedly refurbished, though I initially had quite a bad experience, the positive was every issue I had, they shipped a replacement part for. So on one hand I'm not convinced these were refurbished (or their testing wasn't up to par for my unit), but on the other hand, they clearly care about their brand and sorted the issues out, which for me consisted of a new pinch roller (the old one was split) and a new remote (the one with it didn't work). This did triple the already long delivery time though. For a standard VHS player, I wouldn't worry about vcrshop, I'd just get one from a local seller and clean the heads.
Capture Hardware
Buying options to get you started:
- Combo VHS Player
- Blank DVD+R / DVD+RW
- MakeMKV software (free) to convert DVD into MKV file with a PC
The Libran Option
For someone trying to find that balanced sweet spot of price vs quality, you're probably going to be disappointed. I find myself needing to recommend three options, both for the Libran and for the perfectionist, that overlap for differing reasons, see below.
1 - If you're an electronics engineer or capable of wielding a basic soldering iron and have the time to solder the required components yourself, then the obvious choice is to use the FM RF Archival workflow. One of the nice aspects of RF capture is using said captures with VHS-Decode you don't need to purchase an expensive S-VHS player. All the time base correction circuitry and conversion circuitry, frame sync and proc amp circuitry and comb-filtering is made redundent and replicated to a much higher degree of accuracy in software.
Because you're tapping straight into the RF stream from the heads (Video RF and HiFi RF are seprate!), you can use virtually any good working standard VHS player and achieve the same kind of quality you do in an S-VHS player (with added perks such as SVHS and NTSC 3.58 capture/output from any later 90s PAL deck). Once operational you only need one cable to connect it and this limits signal loss. Therefore this is my first recommendation. It is however the most complicated solution, not only in the soldering aspect, but in getting to learn a workflow a little more effort then just click record get video file, it requires processing time. But these aspects make it easy to recommend for the perfectionist given the right skills or time to learn new ones.
2 - If you are not capable with a soldering iron then other options are hard to recommend for the Libran. A hard to recommend option is to use a Canopus ADVC capture box along with a firewire adapter and appropriate capture software. There are many who would scoff at this. But this will give you a semi-reasonable result you can see for yourself as per the article Comparing various analog capture methods and devices in a consistent environment which includes this comparison. If you can find a Canopus that is. (Note these devices use 4:1:1 NTSC / 4:2:0 PAL Chroma Subsampling). See our article on chroma subsampling here.
3 - If you must buy new, the only available new equipment I'm aware of, is the Ensemble Designs BrightEye 75. It has both an external Frame sync and some form of line based TBC that helps for a situation where you don't have one built into the player. It has a built in SDI output which avoids purchasing an additional box that you would otherwise need with one of the harder to obtain units like the Big Voodoo 10. Thus, this remains a very viable solution if you can afford it, and as a bonus this workflow works on Mac, Windows and Linux - something I spent a long time working out. If you do have one of the rarer units (I also have a Big Voodoo 10), you can simply add an analog to SDI device into the mix and you're away. Again see the article Comparing various analog capture methods and devices in a consistent environment to understand what works for you.
Buying recommendations to get you started:
Option 1: Recommended if time and effort is no option
- Good quality VHS Player (see the 'Tap List' for some ideas - Panasonic is typically a good buy but any 1990s to 2000s HiFi grade deck will work well enough for most tapes)
- RF Capture device such as the CX Card Clockgen Mod or MISRC or whatever is the latest suggestions from Harry Munday.
- Computer running Windows 10, Linux Mint (Windows/Linux have better hardware support, but the M chip Apple products should not be ignored as they have some of the best decoding/processing speeds)
Option 2: Not Recommended
- S-VHS Player
- Canopus ADVC 100/110
- Capture Software
Option 3: Recommended if money is no option
- S-VHS Player
- Ensemble Designs Bright Eye 75
- Black Magic SDI to thunderbolt adapter
- Vrecord (or Blackmagic Media Express as a fallback)
- Thunderbolt Card if using Windows or Linux
- Optional: Blackmagic Mini Converter Analog to SDI (If you are using an analog Frame Sync device such as the BigVoodoo 10
Tip: It has been said purchasing TBC equipment secondhand is risky and only 'certain' units work or work well. Your mileage may vary. There are sellers online that will offer to sell you these that have been vetted by them. Depending on what you're looking for this may or may not be a good idea. Have a look at the samples on the Comparing various analog capture methods and devices in a consistent environment page to aid your decision. If the price is similar to a new Brighteye 75, then the choice is easy, get the new Brighteye 75.
Computer - Most computers will capture video in any of these scenarios well. A computer with an SSD and more memory will be better. I am aware there are people online whom will tell you you must use Windows XP (or Windows 10 if you're lucky) because of the drivers required for the capture hardware that they are recommending. I have taken a different view in finding solutions that work on modern computers without requiring old, outdated hardware that then requires old outdated software and drivers , making our lives difficult. As such, for each of these guides, we specify whether you can use Windows, Mac or Linux.
The perfectionist option
Option 1 - Without a doubt, if you're a perfectionist, you will want to spend the time to use FM RF Archival and subsequently VHS-Decode as per option 1 in the Libran section. It will give you the best quality output because of reduced signal loss due to less components in the chain. It is time consuming, more complicated and requires the most disk space, but it is well worth it.
Option 2 - Nearly as good, is to purchase a good quality S-VHS player with in built TBC and either a BrightEye 75 Frame Sync or acquire a good quality old school Frame Sync online. Pipe that through to a modern capture device such as the Blackmagic design devices and you're golden. There are those that say Blackmagic are no good, though I am yet to find evidence of this. What I have seen is that potentially the USB versions of these devices are prone to issues. I have seen no quality issues in the Thunderbolt devices I have used when connected to a Mac.
Coming soon: Part IV
