JA
I didn't use the software that came with the card to capture as it didn't really do what I wanted- I used VirtualDub instead. Was 3 years ago now when I did it- I started on New Year's Eve 2012 and didn't finish until March 2013! Though I did some more earlier this year when a missing home video tape turned up.
For the final encode I used 6mbps MPEG-2 2-pass VBR, with MP2 audio at 384kbps for Stereo and 192kbps for Mono (the highest audio bitrate allowed for each) Though the footage I took from my MiniDV camcorder I have kept the original DV files as well. Works out well for burning to DVD as well, as at that bitrate I can get 90 minutes per disc, which works out at one Video8/Hi-8 tape, 2 VHS-C tapes, 1.5 Mini DV tapes and half an E-180.
There most interesting bit was working with my aunt's home videos from the first year or so she had her camcorder- where she copied the material to VHS and re-used the 8mm tape, but some partial bits of footage are still on the 8mm tapes so I stitched together using the 1st generation material where it exists, and the 2nd gen VHS where it didn't. A massive difference in quality between the two- especially with the audio with the AFM track on the Video8 and the much lower quality linear track on the VHS. Shows why it's worth keeping the original tapes and not just VHS dubs!
For the final encode I used 6mbps MPEG-2 2-pass VBR, with MP2 audio at 384kbps for Stereo and 192kbps for Mono (the highest audio bitrate allowed for each) Though the footage I took from my MiniDV camcorder I have kept the original DV files as well. Works out well for burning to DVD as well, as at that bitrate I can get 90 minutes per disc, which works out at one Video8/Hi-8 tape, 2 VHS-C tapes, 1.5 Mini DV tapes and half an E-180.
There most interesting bit was working with my aunt's home videos from the first year or so she had her camcorder- where she copied the material to VHS and re-used the 8mm tape, but some partial bits of footage are still on the 8mm tapes so I stitched together using the 1st generation material where it exists, and the 2nd gen VHS where it didn't. A massive difference in quality between the two- especially with the audio with the AFM track on the Video8 and the much lower quality linear track on the VHS. Shows why it's worth keeping the original tapes and not just VHS dubs!
Last edited by james-2001 on 31 December 2015 12:45am