What I am looking to do is this :

Put all of my VHS tapes to VCD so I can view them through a DVD player and be able to view them full screen without a problem. I am just looking to get VHS equivalent (I am not expecting unrealistic results) so I can (in turn) get rid of all of my VHS tapes and just have VCD's.

I have heard that capturing big and then rendering down will not make (if any) much difference. Can I achieve this by capturing directly to MPEG 1? If so do I capture at 352 x 240 or 640 x 480? If I need to capture an AVI do I need to capture in 352 x 240 or 640 x 480 and do I need to then render it down to MPEG 1 352 x 240?

-- Cale Ferguson (5150@onramp.net), April 13, 2000

Answers

If you find the answer then let me know.

-- Khalid (DVP420@netzero.net), April 20, 2000.

I got into this "hobby" for the same reason, to copy all of my VHS to VCD and be able to watch them on my DVD player. I am still working on that quest. My first try was using the Dazzle DVC USB. I could not get the results I wanted,way too much blockiness and took too much time doing the encoding that way. I returned the Dazzle and bought the Broadway 4.0 over the internet. The reuslts were way better and the encoding of an avi file is done in near real time with a pentium III or a 2:1 ratio with a pentium II. Here's the problem....If you use the standard bit rate settings for a Video CD you will still get some blockiness in your videos that have motion, like a basketball game. It's not horrible but it will make you not want to trash those old VHS tapes. I have spent months trying to get rid of the blockiness and the only way I have found to do this is to use a higher bit rate. I have achieved VHS quality doing this but you won't get 60 minutes on a CD. Depending on the bit rate you use you will get 30-45 minutes. My Pioneer 525 will play these higher bit rates but EZ CD Creator will not accept them. You will have to buy a software package such as Nero or NTI. I bought NTI on sale for $39. The DVD player plays them with no problem but if I fast forward and resume watching there is no sound. I have to fast forward then hit stop and then play for the sound to work but the difference in the quality is worth it. I am thinking about trying the m-filter to help get rid of the blockiness but they cost $500 and I want to make sure they will make a big enough difference to justify the cost. I have tried everything else to get rid if the artifacts(blockiness) but the higher bit rates are the only thing that has worked

-- Al McCraw (amccraw@ix.netcom.com), April 20, 2000.

I have been frustrated as well with the "blockiness" . I use a dazzle DVC and the quality is unacceptable. Only when I capture using Movie quality then it is ok but then how do I view it on my DVD/VCD player?. You are saying this Nero software can burn this higher bit rate to VCD and it will play ?

-- Toronto Trader (torontotrader@hotmail.com), April 21, 2000.

There is a discussion on here about the Dazzle DVC. I used to have one and returned it because of the poor quality. The only way to get great quality with it is to re-encode it using another encoder such as the Panasonic software encoder. I bought a Broadway 4.0 software/hardware encoder. Once you have the mpg file created you some type of authoring software such as Adaptec's EZ CD Creator(full version with video cd capabilities)- around $69, NERO is another one that is pretty cheap, and then there is one called NTI that I bought for $39 online. At the high end you have Video Pack which is very expensive. Nero,NTI and Video Pack will allow high bit rate cd's, EZ CD Creator does not but has some great menu features. I have EZ CD Creator and NTI

-- Al McCraw (amccraw@ix.netcom.com), April 21, 2000.

Well I came up with a pretty good setup for doing just this. I bought an ATI Radeon with VIVO (Video In/Video Out). The ATI software can capture any source coming in in VCD format.

You can bump up the data rate a bit, and you get rid of all the artifacts, and you can still fit about 45-55 minutes of video on a CD. I'm hoping someday I can buy myself a DVD burner (When the technology is better, and a hell of a lot cheaper), so that I can fit 4-5 HOURS of high quality VCD format video on one CD. (and hopefully be readable on my DVD player).

Hope this helps!

-- Andy A. (fragrom@hotmail.com), January 19, 2002.