Analog Video Capture Quality

[J-Bird]

I am trying to capture some old home movies that we have on VHS and put them on my PC (for burning on to a DVD later). I am new to digital video editing and capturing and am having some trouble with the video capture process.

I have a Canopus ADVC-100 for the analog capture from the VCR via a composite cable, and it seems to be working just fine. The video captures without any problems (Pinnacle Studio 8 for capturing). The issue I am having is that there is a small, thin line of colored "fuzz" along the bottom of the captured video. It looks similar to a tracking line on a VCR before the tracking has resolved the picture. I am not sure what it is and am at a loss at how to fix it/remove it. I thought after rendering the raw capture that it would maybe eliminate it but I also see it after I render the file to all of the formats that I have tried (mpg, avi, etc).

I get the same result when trying to extract the same VHS home movies via my sony digital camcorder and a VCR together and then transfering the result via the firewire port on the digital camera.
Note: The pure digital video content that I have recently recorded on my digital camera transfers flawlessly with no imperfections directly from the camcorder to my PC and via the ADVC-100 to my PC.

I am sure this is a simple thing to fix, I am a novice at this and am probably just missing something simple - please help. Thanks in advance!!!

[atifsh]

yes seen those before but only happend to me when i captured at vcd mpeg1. my old vivo card with comosite or svideo to vcd mpeg1. and even after burning to vcd same plays on computer, but goes away on tv.

now i hardly make vcd's, but i just tried a mpeg2 to vcd and no problem like this. so i guess problem was capture card, maybe cant be sure.

if ur capturinng at mpeg1, vcd, try mpeg2 or dvd complient mpeg2 and see if same happens. also cause u will make dvd's later dont capture at mpeg1/vcd format.

[megamachine]

I've noticed this, too, when capturing in either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. While it is visible on PC playback, it is usually not on TV. But if you do want to remove, there are ways. Try using TMPGEnc and load the MPEG-2, then under Setting, go to Advanced and Clip Frame. Then you can adjust the bottom of the frame to remove the fuzz, and also the black bar that sometimes appears on the left hand side. But beware, sometimes I have noticed that when using this feature, the audio track gets thrown out of sync. Anyway, if you want to use this, give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.

[rsquirell]

The thin line at the bottom comes from the way the VCR heads are angled...somtimes, when capturing a TV show, you'll see a small band running across the very top...this comes from TV closed captioning...and sometimes there will be black bars on the sides. All of this marginal clutter will disappear if you make a DVD and view it on the TV, because the TV overscans it. But it will be present if viewed on PC ( or a TV connected to the PC.) TMPGenc "clip frame" takes care of it...but if you're making DVD's, don't bother.

[J-Bird]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. Most of what I will be doing will be for DVD's and playback on a TV so it sounds like it should be no problem to just proceed forward, although I am going to try the clipping in TMPGenc. I'd like to get a feel for how it works because some of the stuff I would like to do in the future will be for playback on a PC. Again, thanks for the information - you guys are great.

[rsquirell]

As our demigod says, "our pleasure".

[atifsh]

Originally posted by rsquirell
As our demigod says, "our pleasure".

hehe our demigod usually never forgets to add My too.... thats "My our pleasure"