Using software to capture the VHS video to PC (from the hardware described on the Video Hardware Set-Up page) the resulting file will be huge (for the ADVC-50, an hour of video will be about 13GB). Therefore the file needs to be encoded (or compressed) to fit a DVD-/+R, edited and then burned to disc. The software, presented below, are programs that I have used to capture, encode, edit, tweak and burn to DVD-/+R.
There are several different recording software programs available, that I used to use, to capture the video output from the Canopus and they are still there if I ever need them again:
A very small and free capture program. Also good for just viewing capture source. The play button has to be clicked on first to view. Regards the recording operation it is not immediately obvious but simply save where the captured file is to go first.
Another very small and free capture program, but this does not play audio during capture. Very easy to use, just be aware of the Max AVI size (frame) under 'Config...'; a low frame number of e.g 22500, will only capture in 15 minute chunks which is for Windows 98 users. To set to record one big file, set the rate to 1000000.
One issue to watch out for with WinDV is that with no sound, problems with a VHS soundtrack won't be found until after the capture (I have learned that one the hard way!). It may be worth previewing the part of the VHS via DVapp first.
Free software and further details from here
Once the video has been captured the file needs to be encoded (or compressed) to fit a DVD-/+R, edited and then burned to disc. I have used the following software for these purposes:
This program encodes the file, recorded via the Canopus, to MPEG in a size that will fit onto the destined format e.g. VideoCD, DVD etc. Depending on the power of your PC, and the TMPGEnc settings used, this can take a long time.
TMPGEnc is also useful for converting already captured MPEG2 files to a different resolution. For example, an off-air television programme captured at 14:9 can be trimmed and converted to a 16:9 picture.
The software has not been updated since 2008 but is still available here. The freeware version will only convert to VCD after one month's use.
After the encode, there may be some trimming needed or the removal of advertising breaks; step up to the penalty spot VideoReDo.
Utterly superb software; its sole purpose for editing and joining MPEG files. Load the MPEG files in, select the frames that need to be removed and save to a new MPEG file ready for converting to DVDR. This is not free software but for the amount of use I have had with this it has been staggering value for money; the only grumble being the horrible "Fisher Price" buttons.
Then they went and made VideoReDo better by releasing VideoReDo TV Suite...
All the excellent features of VideoReDo but now with DVD Authoring (with 5:4 and 16:9 menus) and DVD burning. This has also become an invaluable piece of software for editing MPEG files captured by my DVD Recorder which I have loaded onto my PC to re-edit for my "Box Full Of DVD-Rs".
But further advancements have been made...
For a nominal fee, you can upgrade VideoReDo TV Suite to VideoReDo TV Suite H.264 and the two main advantages are:
.wtv files, recorded Windows in Media Center, can be dropped straight into VideoReDo without being converted to a .dvr-ms file first. Also, the files can be saved to many different file types: h.264, .mpeg and .WMV. Or as the original .wtv, .dvr-ms etc. Very useful for converting video to play on my iPhone.
Admitedly, this version has been available for quite sometime but I took the plunge to upgrade to co-incide with a PC re-format.
Details about VideoReDo (all versions) can be found here
A wonderful little DVD authoring and DVD burning program. I use this for any DVD-/+R that I don't need a menu for e.g. a single play or episode. It is very quick too.
This will, as its title suggests, also convert other formats like VCD and SVCD to DVD without any adjusting. Just load and off you go. This also features menus and DVD-/+R burning.
Details about SVCD2DVD can be found on the author's website here
My DVD burning program of choice; very reliable and it makes sure that all burns are good ones. To date, I don't think I have had a single coaster produced from ImgBurn. This program is also free.
Even programs that have inbuilt DVD burning capabilities (such as VideoReDo TV Suite) are ignored in favour of ImgBurn.
More details about ImgBurn here
Other tweaks may have to be applied to some of my videos or in some cases need a bit of restoration; a VHS may not be in the best of condition or an already converted video may need improvements. The programs below are ones that I have used (also see Video Restoration page).
A Swiss Army Knife of a program! Edit, apply filters and change the whole look of the video; very useful for restoration work but may still take a small bit of effort for the novice. There are several different versions of this around.
One version, called VideoReDo-Mpeg2, is the program that I use to make any screen captures from videos for this site.
Freeware. More details here
Occasionally, my captured videos are anamorphic widescreen (16:9) but will still play in 5:4. DVD Patcher changes the video file so that whatever the mpeg video file is played on (PC, or when converted to DVD or any other format, e.g. H264) will automatically play at the right aspect. Will also convert from 16:9 back to 5:4.
I haven't had to use this for a while as many of the issues can be dealt with in DVD creation programs like VideoReDo. Although it is useful for video that is only destined to be played on a PC that doesn't play at the correct resolution.
Free Software. More details here
On occasion, I have created a DVD-R which should be anamorphic widescreen but somewhere along the process I forgot a setting and the DVD-R plays at 5:4. Instead of having to re-author the whole DVD again, I can copy the Video_TS folder from the DVD-R back to my PC.
I can then run IfoAR2WS on the Video_TS folder, re-burn to disc using ImgBurn, and the resulting DVD will play in 16:9.
Freeware. Details about IfoAR2WS can be found on the author's website here