Being the geek that I am, I'm interested in the technical details of this project - what VCR you're using, what capture device, software, etc.

Ok, well I'm using a JVC HR-S7600EK S-VHS PAL VCR, connected to a PC with an ATI All-In-Wonder 128 AGP card via an S-Video cable and Left & Right audio phono leads.

I'll be capturing the video using VirtualDub with the Huffyuv 2.1.1 codec and uncompressed WAV audio. From that I'll use and AVIsynth script to edit down and process the video (if needed, I'll likely leave the hard interlace as it is originally captured) and frame-serve it HC MPEG2 Encoder 0.23 for the MPEG encode, and BeLight & BeSweet to encode the AC3 audio, which will then be multiplexed together with ImagoMPEG-Muxer 1.1  I'll then use GIMP 2.6.7 to design the DVD menus and DVD-Flick 1.3.0.7 to author and assemble the final DVD. I'm not sure at the moment whether it will be a single or dual layer DVD, or even two single layer discs (which the retail DVD is). I will have to do some quality tests to settle that.

I know you recommended & used the Lagarith Lossless video Codec for the Evil Dead Laserdisc capture, and I did test this out as well as Huffyuv, but I was getting dropped frames with Lagarith, but none with Huffyuv, really it just comes down to compression, the quality between the two is virtually identical by the time you get to the finished DVD, so I'm happy to stick with Huffyuv.

I recently used this process to capture two 2hr NTSC video tapes, which I successfully captured & authored to DVD (and for anyone out there who's tried to capture an NTSC/PAL-60 signal with a PAL VCR connected to an ATI All-In-Wonder 128 AGP card knows that's really not an easy thing to work out, as the card doesn't really support PAL-60, although it can be done as I managed it!)

This process is a combination of these two guides;
http://dvdguide.ennik.com/
http://www.doom9.org/capture/capturing_vdub.html

Nice VCR - has a built-in TBC I think. Don't know much about the capture card, but the later ATi Theatre chipsets are known to be pretty good.

Yes, I got this VCR specifically to transfer those two tapes I mentioned earlier. Having read up on it, I know a high end S-VHS Panasonic might have given better results, but would also have been more expensive. I got the JVC HR-7600EK for £40 second hand off Ebay. It has a digital TBC (Time Base Corrector), NR (Noise Reduction), Digital 3R (edge correction), the B.E.S.T. Picture System (Biconditional Equalized Tracking System). It can record & play in both VHS & S-VHS formats and record PAL & SECAM signals and play PAL, NTSC (as PAL-60) & MESECAM tapes, as well as having all the standard VCR gubbins.

For VHS archiving I couldn't recommend this VCR more highly. They come up quite often on Ebay and can be picked up for around £30-£60. Here is a link to the PDF manual on JVC's website;

http://www.jvc.co.uk/files/instruction_manual/hr-s7600%20engelsk.pdf

One point I did notice, and something which I had to find out for myself, was that many of the units that come up on Ebay often come without remotes. You need the remote to access the system OSD menu and tinker with some of the more advanced features, you can't do that with just the buttons on the VCR unit itself. The specific HR-S7600 remote can be quite hard to find on it's own at a reasonable price, but many of the JVC VCR remotes are interchangable, I ended up getting the LP20303-003 remote for £6.99 on Ebay which I'd read should work ok (the -003 is usually the most widespread unit of the LP20303's available on there, but there are sometimes LP20303-008, -009, -014, -015, etc.. all which just differ very slightly and are usually quite cheap) The LP20303-003 remote was listed to work with other JVC VCR models, but works with my HR-7600EK VCR just fine.

With regards to the ATI All-In-Wonder 128, I've had that for about 8-ish years. I know that makes it obsolite in computing terms, but it has served me really well, especially once I started using third party capture software rather than the bundled programs that come with it (which can be quite restrictive in what options you control)

I'll be doing the VHS to PC capture this weekend when I can devote a whole day to it, so I'll post some screenshots then.

UPDATE - 31/01/10

I've captured both episodes and already encoded both MPEG and AVI (XviD/MP3) versions. I made AVI versions as I figured at some point someone would make them anyway, and they might as well be properly done using the uncompressed source footage rather than the compressed MPEG DVD. They're 350mb each, so both would fit on a 700mb CD-R. These AVI files will be put in a DVD-ROM folder on the DVD disc. I gave the MPEG files quite a high bitrate as I decided to go for one dual layer DVD for this project; 7800kbps average and 9500kbps maximum bitrate, along with 192k AC3 stereo audio. They're both virtually the same length so came out the same size at 2762mb each.

Here are three uncompressed JPEG screenshots taken from the  final encoded MPEG files;

I said above that this VHS tape is a Pan & Scan version of the 1.85:1 widescreen version recently brought out on DVD, but having a quick compare, I don't think that's quite the case. It looks like the DVD gains a little over the left & right sides of the VHS, but looses a lot more by being cropped top & bottom. Here is a superimposed image to show what I mean;

I've also made a start on the DVD cover for this release. It's based on the Channel 5 VHS release cover (rather than the Polygram VHS tape I've captured). I'll hopefully be adding high quality 600dpi scans of the three VHS tape covers too (the Polygram double tape and the separately released two Channel 5 tapes). Below you can see the original Channel 5 VHS cover, and beneath that you can see the progress I've made on my version.

It'll likely take another week or two to get the DVD cover & printable DVD disc art, along with the DVD menus completed.

UPDATE - 02/02/10

Both the DVD cover & disc art are just about complete. I may still tweak them, but basically here are the final designs. Since this is more of a nostalgia project, which is unlikely to have mass appeal beyond the people who already know what this is, I've not gone overboard with technical info or DVD symbols, leaning more towards trying to replicate the look & feel of the original VHS cover.

The next & final piece of this project to start designing the DVD menus in GIMP, then assemble the final DVD using DVD-Flick. The menu design should be quite simple to put together as it will be made using many of the existing graphical elements from the cover & disc art.

One last point, I'm having trouble locating someone who can supply a cover scan of the Channel 5 Dick Spanner VHS release of 'The Case Of The Maltese Parrot'. It would seem this tape is far rarer than 'The Case Of The Human Cannon-Ball' (there are five Cannon-Ball tapes currently on Ebay, but no Maltese Parrot tapes). Hopefully I can locate one before completing this project as I really would like to include it in the disc's DVD-ROM folder.

The DVD is now basically completed. I've just got to write it onto a test disc & watch it through on a DVD player to check it's all ok, and then I'll be good to make copies.

One thing to make clear; I know some directors are inclined to tinker with their old work as it's re-released on new media, even if this is to the severe detriment the piece in the eyes of it's fans (as to which the many Star Wars threads on this board will attest).

If the 2007 retail DVD release had contained the untampered versions (4:3 unmatted, and with the original music), I would have happily bought it and there would be no need for this DVD to exist. Actually, it would have been cheaper for me to buy a brand new DVD, rather than the second/third hand Polygram VHS I used as the capture source.

That said, I've not created this DVD to rip off Gerry Anderson and the show's creators, the time & effort I putting in to the project should make my utter fondness & respect for the show obvious. I also appreciate that if people don't support obscure & small scale DVD releases (no matter how clumsily thought out), then it will reduce the willingness of companies to take the financial risk of future releases of old gems such as this. In that spirit, anyone wanting a copy of this fanmade preservation DVD would be expected to own either one of the old retail VHS release sets or the new DVD release, otherwise this would simply be piracy. You can buy the retail DVD quite cheaply if you shop around, especially in online sales and such.

I'm not going to be sharing this online/P2P (or selling it, of course) but I can't really afford to send out free copies to anyone who asks (one full-face printable dual layer DVD+R disc with printed label + printed DVD cover + DVD case + padded envelope + postage, multiplied by a couple of people, it adds up!)

Assuming only a handful of people would ever want this (which may be revised if it's more than that); we can just work a 1:1 trade or something out. I've shied away from asking people to post me discs with a SAE, as on some previous projects I kept getting sent duff discs (either unbranded poor quality or covered in dust/fingerprints/scratches), which left me using my own personal discs to send back to them. Anyway, you can PM me if interested.

Hi all, I still get people asking for this from time to time, and I'm still around to provide them as of Feb 2012 (which everyone asks as it's an old thread). Such a shame this one has still not had a better release?