Restoring video tapes can improve original source quality.
Transferring analog video tapes to digital disks and hard drives creates the opportunity to restore the original quality of the video tape and even improve the tape's original quality. Improving VHS tapes with editing software requires a few pieces of high-dollar equipment, however. According to the website Digital FAQ, the signal path from a source VHS tape to a computer hard drive should run through a professional quality Super-VHS (S-VHS) player with 19-micron tape heads, gold-insulated video cables and a high quality video capture card. Your desired results will determine the amount of money needed to restore the quality of VHS tapes when converting them to digital files and burning them onto a disk.
Instructions
Preparation
1. Turn off your computer, unplug all wires from the outlet and open your computer case to install an internal video capture card. Insert the card into an available PCI slot on the computer motherboard and close the case. Plug external capture cards into USB or firewire ports without turning off the computer.
2. Insert the capture card disk in the CD drive and double-click the drive in Windows Explorer to run the software. Follow the onscreen instructions for installing the software, and then run the software or restart your computer to initialize the software before running.
3. Connect the S-Video output of your VCR to the S-Video input of your capture card. Turn on the VCR, press "record" from your capturing application and press "play" on the VCR to start recording. Stop the VCR and capturing program when the video is over.
4. Install your video-editing software from the install disks. Read the software's owner's manual carefully to familiarize yourself with the program. Depending on your plans for editing video---for example, whether you plan to splice together clips or only restore the color---you may only need to read the sections pertaining to your project.
Restoration
5. Open your video-editing software and look for the files of your captured video in the "File" menu by clicking "Open." Depending on your editing software and the issues with the video you want to restore, apply filters such as "ghost reduction" and "de-interlacing" to your captured video.
6. Run the program setup of your MPEG-2-converting software to install the program. Your editing software may offer file conversion as well, so consult the owner's manual. Convert uncompressed video to MPEG-2 if you plan to watch the finished DVDs on a standard DVD player. Video file conversion may take several hours.
7. Open your DVD-authoring software and drag MPEG-2 files into the project window to add them to your project. Insert a blank DVD+R or -R in the burner and click "burn" or "write" in the program. Most home DVD players recognize DVD-R media.
Tags: capture card, editing software, your computer, captured video, Depending your, file conversion
