I wanna capture some some VHS home movies to DIVX. I say DIVX as it seems to be the format which takes least space and has good quality. Correct me if I am wrong. I have a TV capture card which converts to MPEG I/II, so what is the best software (and not to dear) to filter the noise that comes with VHS and how can I convert it to MPEG4 (divx)? -Thanks

-- Jason Bob Schmit (bobby121418@yahoo.com), September 09, 2002

Answers

DIVX quality probably won't show you much improvement over standard VCD format. The reason for this is that VHS (and especially consumer- grade VHS cameras--200 lines of resolution) has about the same resolving power as VCD (352x240).

When you refer to noise, are you refering to video noise? Or camera motor noise? Are you on a Mac or Windows or Linux (or VAX or DRDOS or other arcane OS, etc., etc.)? What capturing hardware are you using?

Unfortunately, my answer to either won't satisfy you as I use Premiere which is probably out of your budget. But there may be someone here who has experience with some of the entry-level software like the stuff that comes on new Macs or MS Movie Maker who could give you some settings tips.

-- No One (no@one.com), September 09, 2002.

Thanks for the reply, by noise I mean the degradation noise you get on VHS with time, most notably with the picture. I am using Win XP and my capturing card is a simple Aver MediaTV. If you are refering to Adobe Premiere 6, I have that but cant really figure out how to use the filters.

I am searching the web for a MPEG to DIVX converter but there doesnt seem to be any.

-- Jason Bob Schmit (bobby121418@yahoo.com), September 09, 2002.

What kind of TV card do you have? If you have one of the better ATI cards (one that allows AVI recording) it is possible to directly record in DivX with it. I've never done it, but you simply record in AVI format and use the DivX codec. If you can record your video to MPEG-2 format, you should be able to figure out how to frame serve it to Virtual Dub and make a DivX out of it. See http://www.doom9.net for some guides on making DivX. As far as the filtering goes, Virtual Dub might be able to help you, but doing something like this is definitely an advanced topic. If your source VHS tapes already have started to degrade, don't expect miracles. The best you can hope for in this field is to have results as good as your input source and if your input source has problems, it's not realistic to expect to be able to fix it with filters. You might be able to make it slightly better, but that's all.

-- Root (root@yahoo.com), September 10, 2002.

I know that there's a video noise reduction filter in Premiere. I haven't used it as I shoot DV. I'll play with it and let you know.

Cheers

-- No One (no@one.com), September 10, 2002.

Ok, I've looked at a couple of filters that may help you. First, there's a filter called "Video Noise." It doesn't have any settings and when I tried it on some of my footage, I didn't notice any difference, so I know it doesn't add noise 8^). Another that you might try is "Gaussian Blur." At low levels (ap. 1 pixel), it adds a slight blur and will smooth out your footage, possibly giving it a more film-like look (at least on a TV screen).

To use filters, right-click on the video in the Timeline window and select Filters. On the left side of the screen, select the filter(s) you want to use and click Add. If the filter has any settings (most do), the filter settings screen will show immediately.

Cheers

-- No One (no@one.com), September 12, 2002.