I'd Be Really Grateful If.....

[petercitrine]

...anyone can put up with me and point me in the right direction. I own a DVD hire shop (hooray.! There's one left...) and offer a VHS to DVD service. The films are mainly already edited etc. Weddings & the like, all they want is for them to be put onto DVD. I used a Hitachi combi for years and it doesn't stand me a penny. I have always been aware though, that some of the DVDs produced when played back on some machines tended to freeze every minute or so for a few seconds, then carry on. I want to offer a better service so I've bought a computer, Roxio Creator 2010 and a Sony SVO5800 S-VHS player. So far so good, but....I am absolutely pulling my hair out trying to master the most basic tasks in Roxio. I have never done anything like this before and I am going round in circles. If anyone could answer the following I would be most grateful... (I have watched & watched the tutorials, Googled, joined this forum and read so much my brain is pretty much fried) Oh...also I've ordered the 2011 pro upgrade.. Wishful thinking methinks..!!

 

1. I understand that Creator2010 does not capture static and switches itself off when there is interference or tracking problems (I posted earlier about this) so I know I can bring in the content using Windows Media..

 

2. If (and most are) VHS content is in 4.3 can I resize it to 16.9 Widescreen without distortion or any dark bars at the side of the screen during playback?

 

3. How can I make a simple DVD from the VHS? No editing required...just make a DVD from it. I bring the movie into Create DVD and add chapters automatically but when I go to preview I get a black screen then a blank screen. I have updated the graphic card drivers. I know it is something so simple and basic that I'm not doing. The only video tutorial shows Videowave. I just want a "Play" button and a "Chapter" button similar to the beginning of most of the DVDs I rent.

 

4. I have been told that taking analogue to digital can sometimes result in some sound distortion. Having had some, is this so..? I am using Verbatim blanks.

 

5. There is loads more I need to know...but feel awful asking this much.

 

6. Sorry....just remembered. The menu styles...whilst pretty comprehensive, can you use others? ie: are there any more available via download? Maybe 2011 Pro has more..??

 

Any help is much appreciated and would be reciprocated if I can/could... Thank you... Peter...

[Jim_Hardin]

...anyone can put up with me and point me in the right direction. I own a DVD hire shop (hooray.! There's one left...) and offer a VHS to DVD service. The films are mainly already edited etc. Weddings & the like, all they want is for them to be put onto DVD. I used a Hitachi combi for years and it doesn't stand me a penny. I have always been aware though, that some of the DVDs produced when played back on some machines tended to freeze every minute or so for a few seconds, then carry on. I want to offer a better service so I've bought a computer, Roxio Creator 2010 and a Sony SVO5800 S-VHS player. So far so good, but....I am absolutely pulling my hair out trying to master the most basic tasks in Roxio. I have never done anything like this before and I am going round in circles. If anyone could answer the following I would be most grateful... (I have watched & watched the tutorials, Googled, joined this forum and read so much my brain is pretty much fried) Oh...also I've ordered the 2011 pro upgrade.. Wishful thinking methinks..!!

 

1. I understand that Creator2010 does not capture static and switches itself off when there is interference or tracking problems (I posted earlier about this) so I know I can bring in the content using Windows Media..

 

2. If (and most are) VHS content is in 4.3 can I resize it to 16.9 Widescreen without distortion or any dark bars at the side of the screen during playback?

 

3. How can I make a simple DVD from the VHS? No editing required...just make a DVD from it. I bring the movie into Create DVD and add chapters automatically but when I go to preview I get a black screen then a blank screen. I have updated the graphic card drivers. I know it is something so simple and basic that I'm not doing. The only video tutorial shows Videowave. I just want a "Play" button and a "Chapter" button similar to the beginning of most of the DVDs I rent.

 

4. I have been told that taking analogue to digital can sometimes result in some sound distortion. Having had some, is this so..? I am using Verbatim blanks.

 

5. There is loads more I need to know...but feel awful asking this much.

 

6. Sorry....just remembered. The menu styles...whilst pretty comprehensive, can you use others? ie: are there any more available via download? Maybe 2011 Pro has more..??

 

Any help is much appreciated and would be reciprocated if I can/could... Thank you... Peter...

Peter: 1. Not exactly… I have one and can capture all the static you can throw at it! I suspect that it is Hardware related and has nothing to do with Software.

 

2. Yes but also understand when you stretch a 16:9 with bars and you are only starting with VCR Quality, it looks pretty bad! Have you ever watched Commercial Blu-ray movies? Most have BARS on them!!! If that doesn’t bother you, or your customers, why the fuss? VHS is what it was and you can’t make it better…

 

3. NO! Not without #1 under control!!! Then you could use Plug & Burn as I have outlined Here. I cannot recommend you do so (use 'P&B') and I cannot emphasize that enough!!! (for a once in a while project, OK. But you are talking commercial use and it will bring you grief)

 

4. Never “heard” any and I have done a lot! Distortion comes from your PC…

 

5. Not really, keep it up!(but you do need to try things between posts)

 

6. No but you can create your own and personally I feel way too much time is wasted on this fluff…

 

Ask anyone about 3 movies they watched last year. Ask them what the menus looked like??? So why waste effort on something that will be forgotten? Keep it simple and you will never go wrong!

 

For Item ‘1.’, try a pass through. VCR >> DVD Player IN >> DVD Player OUT >> Roxio USB Device

 

It may act like an amplifier, keeping the signal strong enough for the program to capture static.

 

Another possibility would be those DVD's you are making now. YOu should be able to make a DVD on an RW, then copy the *.VOB files to your PC and rename them *.mpg and edit? This would eliminate your manual capture, assuming I understood your first Topic (Here).

[ggrussell]

. I have always been aware though, that some of the DVDs produced when played back on some machines tended to freeze every minute or so for a few seconds, then carry on.

The freezing can be caused to two issues: a very high bitrate in the original MPEG 2 file AND the video buffer size in the DVD player.

For example if the DVD player is an inexpensive model with a small video buffer, it probably can't handle higher bitrates. I just created a DVD for my uncle usng 9Mbps and it froze every 2 or 3min. DVD Player was one of those unknown brands probably from Walmart. LOL Anyway, I redid the video at 8Mbps and it played fine.

 

Some of the more recent or better DVD players can handle higher bitrates. To be safe though,, I would stick to 8Mbps and it still gives excellent quality.