Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
I don't believe I can calibrate my capture card (Pyro A/V converter from ADS.) And I can't generate color bars with a Hi8 camcorder unless there is a Hi8 tape containing them somewhere. Where could I get the video essentials dvd? Would it be easy to record to vhs (or Hi8 if I got a vcr) or is that dvd copy protected?
I'm also a bit unsure of what to do about capturing. I don't want my video to be compressed but I don't think I can handle using up 8 times as much hard drive space than before. (If 30 min = 80 GB) What other options would I have? I wouldn't want any capture method that compresses by smearing detail or pixelizing. Is there anything very close to uncompressed quality that takes up WAY less space.
I don't believe I can calibrate my capture card (Pyro A/V converter from ADS.) And I can't generate color bars with a Hi8 camcorder unless there is a Hi8 tape containing them somewhere. Where could I get the video essentials dvd? Would it be easy to record to vhs (or Hi8 if I got a vcr) or is that dvd copy protected?
I'm also a bit unsure of what to do about capturing. I don't want my video to be compressed but I don't think I can handle using up 8 times as much hard drive space than before. (If 30 min = 80 GB) What other options would I have? I wouldn't want any capture method that compresses by smearing detail or pixelizing. Is there anything very close to uncompressed quality that takes up WAY less space.
Huffyuv averages about 4:1 or thereabouts, and as long as you have a reasonable PC it will do it in realtime. You really want to capture to a drive that is not your boot drive though for trouble free captures. It is a lossless codec, so think of it like .zip or .rar, it compresses the file without discarding any information at all.
If you can't calibrate your current capture system you can at least correct the levels after you capture, a really quick example is here with the two football images you posted where you thought the VHS image looked better than the Hi8 one.
A very quick levels adjustment and the hi8 image is now obviously far better than the VHS, the Hi8 images just needed to have their levels reset. (I had to use Gimp on the library computer so this is just a quick example)
Hi8 image
VHS image
As for detail, to prove the point take a look at a closeup of the two faces. The VHS is on the leftt and the Hi8 is on the right
The poor bugger on the left doesn't even have a mouth!
As for the video essentials DVD you can buy it anywhere, any online DVD retailer will have it, as will a lot of bricks and mortar DVD stores. I don't know if it is macrovision protected or not, I've never tried to tape it.