DSR-11 Recorder to transfer my tapes or huffyuv for the manual mode?

[Carlos Menem]

Some guy on another galaxy said:
My recommendation is to take your VHS and Hi-8 tapes and transfer them through a Time-Base Corrector (such as the DataVideo TBC-1000) onto DV tape, using the DVCAM format on your Sony DSR-11 recorder. The Time-Base Corrector cleans up problems with your VHS video, such as chroma smear, drop-outs, tearing and other bad things.

Now I seem that these devices are very expensive. Which may compensate the effort and time. But I just realized another idea... If I just record these tapes and hi8 cassettes onto my computer using huffyuv and then I convert them to DV-CAM format would it be the same thing but more cheaper? and also get rid of the click and jerky noises my ADVC-110 produce on the DV when the tape has audio track issues?

[RFBurns]

Similar but not exactly what a true TBC does. As i pointed out in the other thread, a TBC removes incomming signal sync and replaces it with "house sync", that is it places new horizontal and vertical timing pulses and puts in a fresh new 4.575 color burst signal. The TBC also allows for correcting luminance saturation, color saturation and color timing (hue or tint). It can also get rid of macrovision in the vertical pulse which is where macrovision is placed, but if the TBC is not set up correctly on the vertical interval, and you need the closed caption data wich is on line 21 of the vertical pulse, it will remove that as well!!!

Yes, a true TBC is not cheap! Told ya!!

[Carlos Menem]

Similar but not exactly what a true TBC does. As i pointed out in the other thread, a TBC removes incomming signal sync and replaces it with "house sync", that is it places new horizontal and vertical timing pulses and puts in a fresh new 4.575 color burst signal. The TBC also allows for correcting luminance saturation, color saturation and color timing (hue or tint). It can also get rid of macrovision in the vertical pulse which is where macrovision is placed, but if the TBC is not set up correctly on the vertical interval, and you need the closed caption data wich is on line 21 of the vertical pulse, it will remove that as well!!!

So is the TBC-1000 a true TBC for this job then? or you meant the DSR? In any case if I use the TBC-1000 to get the video onto huffyuv will now be the same thing? I plan to store this onto DVCAM format which has more detail then DV and then onto DVCAM tapes which say not to cause any of the problems that VHS tapes have. And for the 2nd type, since the signal is clean I can encode directly to mpeg2 so only 1 encoding is done and I can then author it to DVD with minimal lose unlike using a DV bridge and then convert it to MPEG2 what other thing am I missing?

PS. Do I care about the CC? Can they show on the recorded MPEG2 permanently or optional?

Will the TBC-1000 also get rid of my click and spikes stereo noises?

[Carlos Menem]

@RFBurns What about using a tbc enabled vcr will that be better then using a TBC-1000 and they may cost the same?

Also some said monster cables can go up to 60$ for s-video + rca audio but here on ebay 130063305798 that combo goes for 28$ and no one buyed it! I don't get it!

[RFBurns]

The TBC-1000 unit is a good unit, but does not have the ability to generate the new sync pulses and color pulses from a stable "gen-lock" source or "house sync". True, professional TBC units have this feature as standard equipment. It also allows the unit to "time" to other video sources that also are syncronized to the "house sync" or "black".

This unit will do the job for what you are attempting. It generates these new pulses based on the pulses going into it via the video in jacks. It also uses delay circuits to compensate for the timing delay that occurs as it strips the old sync and inserts the new sync. Tho very fast in what it does, there may be some issues, like what if your source video has terrible sync or color pulse? Or what if those sync pulses are not very stable, the specs does not indicate that the synthesizer that generates the new sync based on input signal will have error correction and to what extent/time domain. If it doesnt and the source video has a glitch in the sync (video tearing), it just might throw off the internal generated sync and you might get a video roll on the output or momentary freeze during capture. Macrovision pulses embedded within the vertical timing pulse from the source may also cause new generated sync to be unstable, or worse than the source sync!

[Carlos Menem]

The TBC-1000 unit is a good unit, but does not have the ability to generate the new sync pulses and color pulses from a stable "gen-lock" source or "house sync". True, professional TBC units have this feature as standard equipment. It also allows the unit to "time" to other video sources that also are syncronized to the "house sync"

Does the AG-1980 has this feature? will it also get rid of the shakingo that occurs when transferring to DV?

[RFBurns]

If the unit has an input for external sync or "black" then yes. You can use a signal source like from a color bar generator, the unit will use that signal as a reference and apply that reference sync to the video that passes through it.

The neat advantage to using a reference sync pulse is that you always are assured that the video signal at the output has rock solid sync no matter what the input video signal is. As long as that reference is stable and applied to the unit's external reference jack, you got a broadcast/production quality sync pulse within your video signal

Some TBC's can also insert data signals into the vertical pulse. Things like test signals, sweep signals and data signals such as closed caption. Even with these signals applied, the sync is rock solid as well as the color burst signal.

[Carlos Menem]

If the unit has an input for external sync or "black" then yes. You can use a signal source like from a color bar generator, the unit will use that signal as a reference and apply that reference sync to the video that passes through it.

The neat advantage to using a reference sync pulse is that you always are assured that the video signal at the output has rock solid sync no matter what the input video signal is. As long as that reference is stable and applied to the unit's external reference jack, you got a broadcast/production quality sync pulse within your video signal

Some TBC's can also insert data signals into the vertical pulse. Things like test signals, sweep signals and data signals such as closed caption. Even with these signals applied, the sync is rock solid as well as the color burst signal.

But you just said this feature only machines 8k or up! how can my ag-1980 can have this feature? I still haven't received it from shipping.

[RFBurns]

But you just said this feature only machines 8k or up! how can my ag-1980 can have this feature? I still haven't received it from shipping.

I was refering to the broadcast/professional stuff.

There are consumer level TBC's (high end) units that can accept an external gen-lock signal. But you will find that they are very limited in their functionality vs the professional TBC's. For your project the AG will work just fine. However if you want to produce extreme high end results the professional units are the way to go. If I caused some confusion there I apologize. My bad.

For example, the AG unit might be able to have external vertical blanking signals such as CC or other data. But it might not let you select which vertical blanking line the signal will be put on. Or it might not let you adjust the blanking width and color burst timing.

A professional or broadcast unit allows such things. Those units have to be versitle in order to meet certian requirements for a given installation. It also allows the engineers to maintain adjustments of the blanking and burst timing to match other gen-locked sources. Its critical for smooth video transitions to have the timing signals within a certian spec, usually within a 1 percent tolorance. The color burst signal has to be even tighter in spec, about .2 percent. If these are not held within spec, every time a master control operator or news director switches sources, you would see shifting of the video signal from left to right, or the color of the picture would "rainbow" for a split second during the transition.

Most of the pro and broadcast units these days are microprocessor controlled and use digital frequency synths to generate the various pulses. The older pro and broadcast units were very touchy, those things had to constantly be adjusted on almost an hourly basis as they would drift due to temperature changes or even power supply voltage changes.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

[Carlos Menem]

You're Dumb

Ok Mister I understood my limitations... can you post a video with TBC and shaking problems threated first with consumer equipment and other at Paramount Studios to sort see what I'm missing.

[RFBurns]

Interesting my friend, that the quote you have posted in your last post does not reflect any of the posts I have made. The last thing I would do is call someone dumb. No one is dumb, just un-aware or un-familiar with something.

In any case, as I have repeated more than once, the differences between your TBC unit and a professional/broadcast type is the ability of the professional/broadcast unit to be adjustable and configurable with the VBI pulse and H pulse, as well as the ability to adjust the H blanking width, color burst frequency, V blanking width, and other configurations that for all intents and purposes....have no bearing on what you are doing.

I was trying to explain the different types of TBC equipment that exsist. It is not meant to say that your project cannot be completed with the AG unit you purchased or that your project absolutely must have an 8 grand TBC unit along with a 2 grand svhs-c machine.

If you want to see how the professional/broadcast TBC's work and what they are capable of, drop by your nearest broadcast station and ask to see how their Time Base Correctors work and a preview of what it can do for video signals applied to it. Its much better to see it in action than to see posted pictures, plus the station engineer can explain to you the same thing I have in the posts.