I need a new method for digitizing home tapes

[tluxon]

For many years, I did VHS and 8mm capture with a couple ATi Radeon All-In-Wonder cards using MMC. With all the possible tweaks I could get quite good results, but it was a bit time-consuming to end up with DVD spec MPEGs.

A few years ago I picked up a LiteOn LVW-5005A DVD recorder and found that I could get results just as good as capturing with the AIWs and with a lot less trouble. I was able to "jukebox" many of my home tapes with the PC.

Since then, I picked up a Hauppauge HVR-1600 to timeshift OTA high definition programming on the PC, and swapped out the AIW for a dual DVI output video card.

Last week, I noticed the LiteOn 5005 stopped recognizing good recordable media, so I tried capturing using the HVR-1600, but the resulting video (using Windows Movie Maker and I assume the 1600's hardware MPEG encoder) was horrible.

So what should I try next? Is there something simple that I'm overlooking?

Should I try using VirtualDub with the HVR-1600 or is it pointless with the HVR-1600's built-in encoder?

Should I try replacing the drive in the LiteOn 5005? I've heard some people have done this with some degree of success and it keeps the nice liberties of the modded firmware.

Should I buy another DVD recorder? It seems they're getting harder to find.

By the way, I also have a JVC HMDH40000U D-VHS VCR, but I don't believe that would be usable for any kind of analog-to-digital conversion, would it?

Any advice is greatly appreciated! :)

[nevragain]

Harder to find dvd recorders? Have you tried walmart? The only ones I have had trouble finding are ones with tuners. I would just buy another high quality unit unless you really like the current unit or the repair is inexpensive. However if you have unfinalised discs repairs may be needed to get your video off the discs.

[tluxon]

The LiteOn had very nice filters for recording from a tape source - not all other brands did at the time I researched the subject.

Also, some don't realize that DVD recorders are prone to falsely "detect" macrovision on personal recordings, making good archiving more complicated (essentially requiring a TBC). The firmware of the LiteOn was easily hacked to disable macrovision detection (as well as make it region free and add a 3-hour quality option).

Perhaps those are no longer concerns - I really don't know yet. I was just wondering if other options I haven't thought of might be more cost-effective and/or simpler.:thanks:

[nevragain]

You are right about the macrovision issue. I had forgotten about that. I don't know about the filters, when I owned a liteon recorder I didn't copy many tapes. Just try fixing it would be my suggestion if you need/like these features.
I did find this page http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/buyerguides/dvdrecorders/liteontips.htm that discusses the hacks available.

also see this

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f102/liteon-lvw-5005-problems-rma-replace-drive-204102/

[tluxon]

Thanks for the links. Those instructions detailed on lordsmurf's (his moniker on videohelp) site (digitalfaq.com) were the ones I followed for my original firmware mod a few years ago. I hadn't seen the thread you linked from cdfreaks, but I had come across a thread (
Drive change in a 5006 with detailed photos! (http://ccgi.mgillespie.plus.com/liteon/smf/index.php?topic=1243.0)) that gave me hope that a drive replacement may be an option.

Anyway, wherever I've found people discussing drive replacement the results appear to be mixed. It'd be one thing if it was a surefire fix, but as water goes under the bridge, it's increasingly difficult to find drives that have been confirmed to work. I'd probably have to buy any old IDE burner as a shot in the dark, with a high likelyhood that I would be stuck with a less-than-optimal burner for another PC.

Another factor to consider may be that the JVC HMDH40000U D-VHS VCR has built-in TBC, which apparently overcomes macrovision along with other timing anomalies. Also, I can still use the camcorder my Hi8 tapes were made from for playback, which may negate the concern that macrovision could be an issue should I opt for any random DVD recorder.

Regardless, would you concur that using a DVD recorder for the analog-to-digital process is still the best solution to minimize the simplicity-to-results ratio?

[nevragain]

There is really no best solution but for me a dvd recorder worked well when I transferred many VHS tapes. The simplicity can be mixed as a combo unit I owned would create mpegs with the wrong flags (bitrate too high). Also learning the interface of a new recorder can take time. However the recorder is much simpler (for me) when compared to computer capturing.

[tluxon]

I was able to find a new burner drive to put in my Lite-On LVW-5005 recorder, but another "fix" got it working. I opened the recorder up and thoroughly cleaned the spindled surface on the burner drive that contacts the hub of the DVD disc.

To my amazement, all my problems went away. I guess a tiny little bit of slipping of the disc results in far more symptoms (such as disc recognition, etc.) than I ever would have figured. Now I'm beating myself up that I threw away that cheap old player I used to have that used to play everything (PAL, NTSC, any Region, DVD-Audio) and stopped working properly. A thorough cleaning of the spindle drive would've probably given it new life!

Anyway, I ran into problems playing some of my 8mm and Hi8 tapes on the original camcorder (Sony CCD-TR400), so I found a Digital 8 VCR (Sony GV-D200) which is doing a much better job.

The nice thing about this D8 VCR is not only that it'll play my 8mm tapes significantly better and in more versatile ways (more speeds, TBC, NR, and so on), but it converts everything to DV as it reads it. This includes any analog input such as from another VCR.

Now I've got to find the best way to work with all the digital video (DV AVI) I'm capturing on my PC (720x480 resolution at about 13GB/hr).

To start with, I'm hoping to do simple cut-and-join editing without re-encoding for file organization. Can someone please recommend a simple tool to do this with?

:thanks:

[zilog jones]

To start with, I'm hoping to do simple cut-and-join editing without re-encoding for file organization. Can someone please recommend a simple tool to do this with?
VirtualDub can do that with DV, can't it? Haven't had any DV AVIs in a while...

[Blue_MiSfit]

Yep. VirtualDub and (I think) AviDemux would both be excellent choices for this type of job.

~MiSfit