VHS video capture and Hi8 video transfer myths debunked

There is some confusion about the Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle and the Canopus ADVC 110. This video should help separate fact from fiction when capture vhs tapes or transferring hi8 tapes using a firewire DV converter.
Link to part 2.
• part 2 of hi 8 video t...
VHS transfer and HI 8 video capture tutorial link below.
• VHS video capture card...
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[@toddpa-c3826]

Hello - I was wondering if you offer one on one help ? After watching and reading so much, from which VCRs to use (svhs-vhs) which one has TBCs which do not - as well as using certain camcorders that offer TBC and those that offer the feature as a Pass Through feature and many do not.. not to mention all of the capture cards - and on top of that upscaler’s . And then we have the programs to use- I have around 70 plus tapes that I need to convert. Many are reg VHS as well as VHS-C and DVDs …. I TRULY need help to get moving on this project - and without being very knowledgeable on Codec’s - compressions - and all these options are so confusing. Sounds like an alphabet in another language. I have limited time, since I recently diagnosed with cancer and really looking to do all of this for my daughter, just in case my time is more limited then I hope. I really don’t want to buy the wrong hardware (TBCs that i have seen pro stuff that can run $$$$ - ) to getting a useless VCR or a Camcorder that provides no benefit to get this project done !! I am running a Macbook Pro M2 with 32g of ram… would there b a way to reach out, and would you be able to assist me ? Thank You in advance… 🙏🏼 Todd

[@TechTVusa]

You should contact me through Facebook. I left a link in the description box.

[@azv343]

Thank you, I suspected that DVsoft is an intelligently designed codec, and your video finally convinced me of something I knew deep down to be true. I tried recently to get lossless capture from VHS through usb converters... Even if you can see a clear solid picture on the capture preview, it still drops frames regardless if you have a core i9 with an RTX 4090 and 64 GB RAM... I can't believe we're in 2023 and these monsters can't effin handle 720*480 video capture. I will be reverting back to DV converters as I have checked out DV conversions I made 10 and 20 years ago and they honestly hold up and can withstand intense color grading in DaVinci. This usb capture industry is a complete sham, it's maddening that such a simple task is purposely kept underpowered.

[@orihalcon8693]

Sounds like the USB capture card was the issue there, or possibly timebase errors. Even a 10 year old computer these days should be able to capture SD video, even losslessly if you've got an SSD anyway. I will say the ADVC110 does seem to be pretty good at tolerating timebase errors for sure and you don't have to worry about audio sync issues with that.

[@tbeat03]

Hello. I'm going to buy a Cannopus ADVC 110 to digitize some VHS tapes. Does it work on Windows 10 PRO? Do I have to buy a PAL-M to NTSC converter, as I'm from Brasil? I do collect high quality transfers of videos and audios shows on some trackers, so I'd like to get the BEST transfer result possible these people are doing recently (in mp4/mkv format; there's some codecs configurations about, which I don't know nothing). These people recommended using Virtualdub for transfering. Will it work with my system? My system: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz 3.60 GHz RAM instalada 16,0 GB (utilizável: 15,8 GB) Where should I start? I'd like to know the best softwares for Win10 for capturing, best codecs and formats that are being used nowadays to get the best results, without getting too much annoyed with drivers, codecs etc Also, for cleaning up the heads of VCRs and VHS tapes, what should I know? Thank you!

[@TechTVusa]

The video links below should be helpful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKKmmmx4lJygmrc kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHOyYXR9rZ1maJY

[@ewitles]

where does the Sony DVMC-DA2 (or DA1) Media Converter compare to what you are using? i use sclive to capture from a jvc s-vhs machine (no tbc). thanks :)

[@TechTVusa]

I would appear it is a Firewire DV converter. It should work OK.

[@mooncricket]

Will the AVDC capture firewire and still record the video when the timecode on the DV tape drops? When I go directly through final cut pro with firewire converter cables the recording capture on final cut always stops and creates a bunch of 1 second or 5 second clips of the longer video I'm trying to capture because of the timecode drops. I tried so many different capture devices and all do the same stopping the recording cause of a bad old tape glitch. But when playing on the camera it's clear perfect until it goes into timecode on capture then only on the computer blue glitch but camera still image and audio.

[@TechTVusa]

It sounds like the tape has a break in the control track. That can cause problems.

[@WaxOnWheels]

Yes the Canopus ADVC will continue recording if there is dropped frames etc. I had the ADS Pyro Link Firewire Capture box. It would do the same thing and stop recording if there was any dropped frames or tracking issues. Not with the ADVC, it just keeps on recording.. I just picked up a ADVC 100 for $40CAD!

[@TechTVusa]

@@WaxOnWheels Dropped frames is a tad bit different than a damaged control track on the actual VHS tape. A damaged control track can cause problems. A TBC can usually compensate for control track issues.

[@WaxOnWheels]

Yeah but the main point is the Canopus ADVC will not stop the software recording regardless of the issue. Even if you press stop on your vhs deck the ADVC will keep the software recording..

[@TechTVusa]

@@WaxOnWheels I hear what you are saying but your comment is incorrect. The Firewire DV converters are broadcast compliant. They use data from the control track. If the control track is damaged it can cause issues. Even a Professional $30,000.00 Betacam (not Betamax) deck will have issues if the control track is damaged. I can hook up a VHS camcorder to a Firewire DV converter and it will record to the hard drive just fine because there would not be a damaged control track. Do you kind of see my point?

[@svetaspins]

Hi, what a timely upload for me! I’ve recently returned to my decade long quest on how to best digitise my extensive VHS collection as well as MiniDV etc. I have been digging into those forums yet again and each time, my brain explodes a little more. I have sourced so many different elements of the recommended work flows but don’t have a complete one. And as a lifelong Mac user, I have recently started the seemingly impossible task of trying to source a Windows XP machine and compatible capture cards. It really shouldn’t have to be this hard. I come from a film & TV background in the 90’s but haven’t stayed in the industry. So I have a brain that can mostly understand a lot of the references and can pick up a lot of editing software etc. But this project is just needs to be done before I die 😅 Thanks for this post. I needed to be reminded that the quality can stay almost identical using other methods. I’ve been watching a lot of KZbin videos on the subject & there are surprisingly few with info that can actually help the process and cross reference the Video Forum & Digitalfaq guides. I’m sure that I’m not the only one with this situation. I’d love to see more guides like this referencing other techniques. E.g I’m in Australia and use PAL. I have a Canopus 55 from many years ago that I still haven’t used. Can it be used to get the same results in Mac as the 110? What version of OSX will it function with? I have recently purchased IMovie HD. Should I try to install it on an old Mac Air (if so downgrade the OSX)? Will it give me better results? Or is there a better method with something newer on an M1 MacBook Pro? I have a good Panasonic VHS with TBC (HS960) and also a Panasonic DMR ES15. And a Sony MiniDV TRVE355E. I have all the Apple FireWire converters. I have a MacBook Air 2013 & a barely functioning MacBook Pro Mid 2012 non retina, a mid-2015 MacBook Pro 15inch retina and a newish M1 MacBook Pro 2021 16inch. I’m open to purchasing a 2nd hand Windows machine if needed to get an improved capture if recommended. I plan to restore the videos. I can get access to any Adobe products if needed via my subscription. Or can try to get FCP. I know that some of these devices can be used as ‘passthrough’ for VHS as well. I am about to upgrade all my cables too. I have already converted my Mini DV via FireWire in my M1 MacBook Pro on IMovie 10 but very confused as to whether it was captured properly on IMovie 10 as opposed to what I have read on the forums about capturing in IMovie HD being superior as it captured both fields (horizontal & diagonal) Is this correct? I had thought that all FireWire was 1:1. Any advice as to how to achieve best noticeable quality going forward would be much appreciated. Thank-you in advance.

[@TechTVusa]

Sveta Spins, I am glad my video could help. As I stated in the video you are not seeing a rendered file. I was simply screen recording the realtime playback of Premiere Pro. Most people are going to look at the quality and say that works for me : ) You might want to watch the video link below. It is a tutorial. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y57daGCamtGKgKM

[@TechTVusa]

Sveta Spins, The Firewire DV converters are for transferring VHS tapes and Hi8 tapes to the computer. Firewire Mini DV cams can do the same thing. If you are transferring MINI DV tapes you simply connected the MINI DV cam into the Firewire port. I stated in the video some software will let you capture uncompressed from a Firewire DV converter or even a Firewire Mini DV cam but the video is already in the Mini DV codec (compressed). You don't need to worry about the quality of the DV 25 codec. It is approved by the FCC as broadcast compliant. If it is good enough for broadcast it should be good enough for you. The video link below might help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y57daGCamtGKgKM

[@svetaspins]

@@TechTVusa I appreciate your reply. I have actually watched all your tutorials in the past (and present again!) They’re awesome! My problem was that I had tried to acquire complete workflows to start on but was never able to own everything in the chain. I’m also working on transferring all kinds of tapes from across 25 years of documenting and all in PAL. A lot of advice comes from the US where things are in NTSC and not everyone clearly explains the differences in one solution between the two standards. And on top of that, I am located in Australia - where we are the same size physically as the US but our ENTIRE population is the same as one of your big cities. So finding old equipment is much scarcer and pricier. And every time over the years that I’ve jumped into the forums, I start finding a solution for one thing, but very quickly the topic changes and descends into disagreement. I have never personally posted on these forums and have gotten a lot of good advice on there too - and don’t wish to contribute to more disagreements. I was writing to you because I think that you’ve identified the problem for people like myself in finding a way forward. In the last two days I have miraculously been able to source a cheap 2nd hand Intensity Shuttle which I will pick up in the next week or so and also managed to revive my old MacBook Pro mid 2012. I’m vaguely tech savvy from years of dealing with Macs. I have ZERO knowledge about Windows. My aim is to get the tapes in best VISIBLE quality - and possibly being able to play with settings that will improve it…and ready for upscaling along with the earliest video 8 /Hi 8 footage / VHS footage. I’m even open to trying Topaz or similar to improve the quality later. I’m hoping to avoid as much generational loss with the products and flow. 90% of the numerous VHS tapes I own won’t need to be upscaled or improved on too much - so just getting best quality I can get in the first instance with what I have is fine. The Hi8/ video 8/ DV8 and a handful of VHS will need to be best possible quality to work on later. I have already imposted the video 8/ Hi 8 /DV8 mm tapes have already been imported in via Sony TRV3355E in IMovie 10. something on my M1. From what I understand, IMovie 8 onwards only scanned one field of lines via FireWire. But I’ve also read that that they actually all IMovies import 1:1 DV codec over FireWire but can’t export at that quantity. I have a copy of a iMovie 6 HD which I was thinking of trying to install on my old 2012 MacBook Pro / Mojave to see if I can see the difference. Or maybe it’s possible to just import the DV Codec recordings from IMovie 10 into another more modern program and try to bounce a full quality file from them instead of IMovie. I’m happy to also re-do all the capturing if there is a superior way of doing it. Maybe I need to do it via S-Video? And if so, where to? What devices? Intensity Shuffle? And which MacOS? It’s all so confusing 🥲

[@TechTVusa]

I don't really recommend the Intensity Shuttle for VHS or Hi8 transfers. Your VCR or Camcorder must must have a TBC in order for the Intensity Shuttle to work. It also require drivers. It is a bit of a risk considering it is discontinued. I sated all of this in the video. The Intensity Shuttle does work OK for some people. I only use it for realtime playback to broadcast complainant hardware. It works great for that. You should checkout the video link below. kzbin.info/www/bejne/moevhquIoLWAmqM The Intensity Shuttle can upscale during capture but I would not recommend it. Premiere Pro and most NLE can do that with ease with great results. You can try Topaz. Maybe you will get good results. You do realize some of my video clips were up-scaled over 300% and you were simply watching the real-time playback of Premiere Pro. None of the files were rendered. Did you see difference between the uncompressed 10 bit 4:2:2 video Vs the DV 25 video clip? Are you satisfied with the quality of the DV 25 video clips. As far as I know iMovie and FCPX can import from Firewire but not export. FCPX can export using the Intensity Shuttle but not import. On your Mac you would need to use Premiere Pro to capture video using the Intensity Shuttle. It can work just fine for some people. You have to make sure your camcorder or VCR has a TBC. I will have a follow up video soon. Having said that I would not listen to anyone in the discussion forums unless they can do a video tutorial to demonstrate how well their method works.

[@svetaspins]

@@TechTVusa I’m happy to say that after many years of collecting the various recommended equipment, both the vcr & camcorder I sourced have great TBC! My camcorder also digitizes my analog video. I also understand that I now own a hodgepodge of relevant equipment & just keen to use it in the best way possible. I was more than happy with your results with a smaller file size. I personally don’t know much about upscaling & suggested settings. I am confident that I can teach myself a recommended program very quickly - whether it’s FCP or Premiere - based on my Mac knowledge and previous experience with editing with other Mac video programs and music programs. I’m also aware that buying Intensity has risks but I just managed to secure it for only $100 on Marketplace so it would be good to add to the fray. The rest of them are upwards of $400 2nd hand in Australia. I just want to know the workflow that is best recommended with my various items and I’ll teach myself the rest. For example it would be great to know how to hook up some of these devices to get best quality for V8/ VHS etc as there are always multiple options. Also- if you are able to make a video a video about how best to upscale for vhs & 8mm & recommended colour settings to clean them up on a Mac And highlight any differences for PAL? You are not obliged to do this for me or anyone else of course 🙂 I’m just highlighting the challenges I’ve faced & there’s certainly a gap in practical knowledge on KZbin & forums. PAL was used by a huge majority of the world outside the US. I’ve found that on most of those forums, questions specifically about PAL conversions almost immediately get changed to advice dumping on the Mac and back to NTSC & XP. I’ve even tried to do this but realised that I know nothing about Windows & special video cards, drivers etc and got even more depressed after weeks of trying. Your videos are a glimmer of hope 🙂

[@donpalomaki5136]

[Quote]Analog video by nature has a very low chroma resolution horizontally (barely the equivalent of 40 samples), the last thing you would do to it is halve it further horizontally in case of NTSC, [/Quote] This is misleading. NTSC DV at 4:1:1 c takes 720 luma samples per scan line, and 180 chroma samples per scan line. The issue is lossy compression implementations and data rate limitations, especially with typical noisy consumer home video.

[@TechTVusa]

I will make a follow up video. I will randomly use 10 bit uncompressed 4:2:2 files and DV 25 files. I will see if people can tell which is which.

[@xavierzander4201]

Those are the techical terms, VHS is not HD its even lower than SD you don't have to worry losing any color, you can always color correct with resolve, many people don't color correct at all, capturing in ProRes422LT also makes easy editing, color faults is mostly because of signal mismatches which is baked into the consumer hardware,

[@CantankerousDave]

7:55 - the DVstorm, DigiSuite, and Targa realtime cards (by Canopus, Matrox, and Pinnacle respectively) *did* cost that much. I’ve had a Matrox DigiSuite since the late 90s.

[@TechTVusa]

The Matrox DigiSuite and Pinnacle Targa 2000 and 3000 cards were professional video capture cards. Those have BNC connectors and XLR connectors as well as deck control. The Canopus DV Storm, Matrox RTX 100 and RT 2000 capture cards were for consumers as opposed to professionals. Same can be said about the Pinnacle Pro One and Pinnacle DV 500.

[@NeilDnb]

I've managed to capture with my Shuttle after using a DVD recorder as a TBC, but the audio is out of sync after about 3 minutes of playback. I'm considering getting a cheap simple one now, but I dont want to sacrifice loss of quality - whilst I do need to audio to be timed accurately. I've spoken with various people about it, but so far had no joy

[@TechTVusa]

I don't recommend the Intensity Shuttle for VHS capture. It can be problematic. Especially now that it is discontinued. BMD doesn't care about it anymore. The Firewire DV converters are your best bet.

[@TTVEaGMXde]

If you turn on stop at dropped frames for Intensity, the capturing also stops after about 3 minutes for PAL. I have the suspicion that Intensity (I tested PRO and Shuttle) ignores and overflows the frame rate of the playback device (Panasonic NV-HS900EG S-VHS Recorder = 24,998-25,002 fps and Panasonic DMR-E55EG DVD Play). I originally thought this was the tape dropout setting. If you switch off stop at dropped frames, the sound at the end of the tape is often delayed by 30 seconds and there are probably too few frames on the HDD. The solution I'm working on is Panasonic NV-HS900EG, S-Video, Pioneer DVR-560H (TBC only), HDMI, Blackmagic Design DeckLink Mini Recorder HD, OBS Studio, uncompressed 4:2:2 because PAL (Settings) doesn't have 4:1:1 (including TBC Audio Delay). 4:2:0 is nonsense with PAL, since the line pairing always slides down ONE line and there are NO permanently connected lines.

[@NeilDnb]

@@TechTVusa Thanks for your thoughts. I have an ADVC 110, although I tested it 15 years ago with a computer of which wasn't good enough for the task. I've since, lost the power supply but I might give it another go some day. Hopefully it will match the audio better & have the added bonus of having a built in TBC.

[@NeilDnb]

@@TTVEaGMXde Thanks for letting me know how you've progressed. It has been a very long journey for me, I might try a different device to the shuttle. My best move was using the Panasonic DVD recorder as a TBC, but the audio sync issues are a newly discovered issue, although it took a lot of research to get this far over the course of 15 years, coming back to it as & when I could dedicate time. I think I might try my ADVC 110 again if I can locate the power supply, but yes, the shuttle has sent me on a huge wild goose chase with good results, other than the audio being completely out of sync. I was considering rendering the audio in ableton by warping it slightly to fit the exact length of the video, then pasting the audio back into a video editor in the hope it might fix the sync issue. But there are a lot of tapes I wish to record. I hope your method works well, I understand most of what you'r saying but as I've discovered, there is a lot of science and countless ways of setting this up when it comes to using a shuttle. So I tend to come back to this task in chunks when I have time to dedicate, which makes me wonder if a better capture device is available now since it was 10 years ago roughly when I bought by shuttle

[@TTVEaGMXde]

@@NeilDnb You did not write which output can be used by the DVD recorder. With HDMI, Blackmagic has to take over the picture frequency (also with Intensity) and with YUV I have tested the two consumer solutions (Terratec Grabby PRO + Reflecta USB2 Grabber) without success. Intensity analogue obviously doesn't work, and with AJA you're in a different price range. So with YUV you should consider a used AJA PCIe card without a breakout box. The canopus ADVC-110 can be fed remotely via a 6-pin Firewire. But then the power plug must be connected to the Firewire card.

[@TTVEaGMXde]

As far as I know, the canopus ADVC-110 has no TBC, but a PHILIPS SAA 7115 (9 bit) video ADC (for televisions) that is optimized for bad video signals, in contrast to the SAA 7114 (8 bit) that is only optimized for bad color carriers, and was not good enough (for VHS without TBC) in my canopus ADVC-100. With Blackmagic Intensity, the frame rate of the video recorder (24,998-25,002 fps PAL) or DVD recorder (playback) was not forwarded to the HDD. Video compression should only be used after software denoising.

[@TechTVusa]

The video link below should be helpful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKKmmmx4lJygmrc The Firewire DV converters do have a chip to maintian correct timing. The video link below demonstrates that at 9:00. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHOyYXR9rZ1maJY

[@TTVEaGMXde]

@@TechTVusa At 9:00 only the photo from the ADVC-110 can be seen. With me the top lines are also in the right place. Head switching point was turned down to PAL line 577. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGish52Mjq1pbrc (old Solution)

[@TechTVusa]

@@TTVEaGMXde At 9:00 minutes I am showing of equipment for Broadcasting as opposed to home use.

[@duncanmacleod2136]

Premier Pro’s last update completely got rid of video capture altogether. They aren’t optimized for video capture like virtualdub anyways and they never were.

[@TechTVusa]

You're back again? That being said instead of being obsessed with my channel why not create your own VHS capture tutorials using VirtualDub? Demonstrate how VirtualDub is better than using an older version of Premiere Pro. As I stated a few months ago your VHS transfers are not horrible but then again they do not seem that great either. There is a saying. Those who live in glass house shouldn't throw stones. I posted the links to your video below so other people can see the quality. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWaUZn2reKicq6c kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4qmmWVojtZlmbM Last but not least I noticed the latest version of Premiere Pro does not allow for video capture and I have made mention of this in the comments section here and there for other videos. I might be able to do one more VHS transfer video in a couple of months letting people know Adobe has removed the capture utility panel in the latest version of Premiere Pro. Having said that I will be looking forward to your VirtualDub video.

[@sirvivor_1974]

Spot on! Expecting consumer tapes to look any better with 10bit 422 digitizing shows a lack of understanding of the source formats´ capabilities. DV is not perfect but absolutely capable of capturing all the luma and chroma bandwith from VHS or Hi8. The only use case for a higher qualitiy codec would be extremely noisy tapes which might introduce compression artifacts at 25 Mbit Intraframe DV. But you would probably have to denoise the captured video anyway (preferrably in the temporal domain which takes care of a lot of artifacts in the process). And of course DV does not mess up color or luma levels at all if your equipment is only a bit on the professional side.

[@TechTVusa]

I left the link below to part 2 and another video link about image quality. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHOyYXR9rZ1maJY kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKKmmmx4lJygmrc

[@sirvivor_1974]

@@TechTVusa Just watched, excellent elaboration on the subject. It´s important to point out people that obviously never put in the (hard) work of establishing a very good AND efficient solution but think they know everything better.

[@TechTVusa]

@@sirvivor_1974 Lordsmurf is spewing out pure stupidity on his website. The world of TV production embraced the DV 25 codec. The majority of TV shows broadcast from 1998 until 2008 used DV cams with the DV-25 codec. Lordsmurf is very confused.

[@aaprods]

You appear to be an expert on these ADVCs. What is the technical difference between the ADVC-100 and the -110?

[@TechTVusa]

I am not expert on the ADVC devices but I have used a several Firewire DV converters. Having said that the ADVC 110 can be bus powered by the cable.The ADVC 100 needs a power adapter.

[@CantankerousDave]

@@TechTVusaAnd I think they removed the ability to ignore Macrovision in the 110.

[@seasonstudios]

Love your channel and your take on things and it seems to me that in the end when you read all the comments both pro and con about any of this stuff, it often comes down to a personal preference for different people. Sure, one comment might say more of this and less of that and someone else, visa versa and of course there is an element of snobbery in any line of tech product where the obsession goes from finding a great product to constantly trying to find the absolute best there is. This will never happen as long as people are selling product. A lot of times you read someone recommending an Easycap because "it is simple and has great colour" and in the same breath condemning FireWire because "it looked washed out" not knowing technically why that may be. They don't care because they just want to digitize their video. There isn't one thing wrong with trying to get the best results but there comes a moment when it's all over and a person needs to move on. This comment isn't a strike against anybody, it's just the way I see things.

[@TechTVusa]

I think you should check out the video links below. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHOyYXR9rZ1maJY kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKKmmmx4lJygmrc That being said it is not about personal preference. The cheap USB capture devices can be problematic and so can the Intensity Shuttle. I have demonstrated this in several videos. Some of the cheap USB devices will crush the dynamic range. That has also been demonstrated. The Firewire DV converters will clean up the video. The Firewire DV converters do not look washed out. I have demonstrated the quality of the Firewire DV converters in several videos. Keep in mind DV-25 codec used in the Firewire DV converters is of Broadcast quality.

[@seasonstudios]

Don't misunderstand me when I say personal preference. Everything you said is probably as close to 100% correct as it could be. My point was that I could capture two different ways, one being inferior and unless that one has quality that is absolutely horrible, there will always be someone saying they like the bad one better. It does happen. I'm going to check out the link you posted. Thanks.

[@TechTVusa]

@@seasonstudios I see your point.