The quality of the VCR you capture from is the first component that needs to be the best it can be. I have an LG vcr / dvd unit with hdmi output, but the parts used (in particular the audio head and tension arms) are trash compared to my higher quality jvc vcrs, that have s video outputs. Scaling vhs just sucks. Also, you can deinterlace the avi in premiere and compress to h264 in one process
Thanks for the feedback! I've run into a lot of little roadblocks along the way as far as hardware limitations. For this video, I wanted to focus on the most accessible and budget friendly versions of advanced restoration. Going forward, I'm definitely going to research how to put together a better capture system overall.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds also, you may not need the splitter if the Elgato has a HDMI output pass through. Plug the pass through output into your computer monitor and it should handshake.
First, LOVE this. I'm working on a documentary and restoring old footage, audio, etc. This was very helpful. The Topaz AI topic may have saved me a TON of wrestling with that software. I also want to share some of my successes. In trying to fix Audio specifically, both with a very old black & white VHS and a digitized Casette recording I discovered that Logic Pro has a new Stem Seperation feature. This turned out to be MAGICAL. On the VHS I had a persistant loud hum that was making it really hard to hear dialogue/speech. Later in the tape there's live music which overpowered the hum. Logic Pro completely isolated the dialgoue and put hum/music on a seperate track. I actually just realized I could have told it to do more track seperation but since it uses musical terminology I only considered "Vocals" and "Other" hoping it would recognize HUM as "Other". It did. 2nd Success: Casette tape of dad singing over piano player. The piano was competely overpowering him in the recording. Logic Pro VERY cleanly seperated the vocals and piano. I was able to put both Stems back on my FCP X timeline and just raise the vocals and lower the piano to rebalance. No more spiking and no more useless attempts to improve the sound in FCP X alone. It can do great things but not like Logic Pro. Wow. Hope that helps someone! Maybe worth a try on old VHS restoration where the audio is suffering.
I enjoyed your video, it was really detailed. You're going to my watchlist. What do you think about VHS-Decode method? Do you find it as extreme effort method or easier? Cheers!
Thank you I appreciate it! I'm not very familiar with the VHS-Decode method but I'll add your videos to my list of things to watch. For this video I really wanted to showcase an affordable and accessible alternative for a "Higher-than-average-quality" VHS transfer. My end goal was to highlight the medium method as a perfectly good alternative without a huge financial investment or time sink. The extreme effort method was mostly just an example of how someone could spend many hours of effort with very little difference to show for it in the end.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds Yeah, I totally understand extreme efforts shown in here. When archiving VHS I started to face problems like unstable signal, dropped frames caused by hardware hiccups or inserted due to how different device clocks can drift away. I discovered first LD-Decode project as the most geekest method of taking tape contents directly to digital storage and then process that stuff with minimal loss and processing involved and then started tinkering with cheap hardware solutions intended for it during my VHS ripping adventure of TV recordings.
I am amazed by the quality! I am also amazed that you did not mention the one thing that i see in so many VHS digitizing videos here on YT. The good ol' Time Base Corrector. I am sure that one would be needed if your video tape was full of glitches and dropouts. Cheers! I am using OBS Studio and am really at the beginning stages of digitizing VHS. I have a crappy EasyCap video capture device. I understand the Elgato is so much better as it captures both fields, unlike the EasyCap. I need to get a capture setup like yours, as i have video tapes that really need to be digitized before they end up dehrading to that "unwatchable" stage.
You might want to try out VHS-Decode, i think it may be the best way to convert tape formats to digital, and it doesnt require high-end VCRs! Also, software TBC and raw signal.
A most impressive project! Hopefully they can tighten up the software user interface and drop an easier hardware solution! A board with dual CX chips and an onboard clock would be killer.
I've found if you have the time and don't mind some of the picture to be lost sometimes Topaz's stabilization can be an interesting thing to apply to home movies from VHS. You lose some of the home camcorder feel, but I've been amazed at how much more I notice in a picture when the darn thing stays more still.
the big hitch with this is *trying to find a working VCR* the last of the production units can be a case of "chinesium". and being outside of an urban area majorly limits finding someone who can and will bother with anything other than the most modern technology. some of us would rather have a unit gone over by a repair and maintenence professional. it's not the media, half the time, it's the players themselves which render not being able to save this older stuff impossible.
odd, last time i tried topaz (which i admit was years ago) it had a model trained specifically for low-res interlaced video. have you considered rendering to a slightly higher quality then cropping down to 720p or something with image stabilization?
This message was censored many times So i have to write it again. I hope it won't get deleted again ! First don't get your informations from TH-cam videos, do actual research. First store tapes correctly, not in cave or attic, standard room temperature, vertical position, staked like books. Use good SVHS VCR, not normal VHS, so you get better comb filter and better mechanical parts Don't use the S-video plug, it is not necessary. The VHS tape doesn't contain Y/C signal, it is composite all along, so just stick with composite on the RCA or SCART plug. S-video won't improve the signal, this is a myth. Don't use HDMI converters, they are usually bad too. Most important thing, use a TBC, time base corrector, it will fix the picture, no more wobbling effect. For the computer side. Digitize in 4:2:2 format, use ProRes or DNxHD codecs. No need to remove hiss from audio this way, it can remove acutal sound information. This is not restoration is going beyond. If the audio track is hi-fi, do nothing, if it's not, just mesure the higher frequency and apply a low pass filter. Also use 48 kHz sample rate. Don't use AI, this is not necessary at all and can be harmful too. Deinterlace with QTGMC, it is possible to do this with Hybrid. The file being digitized in 720×480 or 720×576 has black bars on the sides. Center the picture in a 704×480 or 704×576 projet and export. And it's done. If you need to use the video in a HD or UHD project, then upscale with Shutter Encoder, set it with Lanczos method, it preserves detail. Use Rec601 to Rec709 or Rec2020 for the colour space. If you need to compress to outdated H.264 or new H.265 or VP9, then use Shutter Encoder too. Keep the original tape just in case
You are right they do have models specifically for low-res interlaced video, but based on my experience I assumed it wasn't trained with anywhere near as much video as the HD and 4k models. It still really seems like the core program is designed around modern footage since that what the company is advertising as its strength.
I prefer using my Magnavox MWR10D6 DVD recorder. It latches on video well & preserves everything about the source. Output with an SVHS deck via SVideo & record that.
Has anyone trained a model by capturing VHS movie playback & using the master or a bluray as the fitness function? I'd love to see how much information could be captured & corrected from tracking errors & other VHS shortcomings.
Some thoughts. There are better Vbub deinterlacers. Working with an already compressed video is like squeezing a green lemon in a refreshing drink. Capturing hardware upscaled signals is inferior to capturing full resolution via software.
Amazing work. You did a great job explaining and showcasing your methods. I’m currently using an S-VHS vcr then running the video into the A/v port port of a camcorder and using the DV in/out FireWire port from that camcorder into a Sony MC3 or 5 (I can’t remember which) standalone dvd recorder which has a dv in port . I then take those DVD’s and burn them into my pc using handbrake. It’s messy with a bunch of cables but the results have been much more pleasant than straightforward VCR plugged into my Mac using Roxio software. I could also skip the camcorder but the audio sounds a bit better when I do it that way. I could be wrong but I’m just going with what my eyes and ears feel is more pleasant.
What a nice video, thank you for sharing! I'm just wondering if you'd be interested in trying out Nero AI Video Upscaler, this is also an AI video upscaler we're working on lately. We provide options to record from your VHS directly with our record stick. Let me know if you're interested. And thank you again for your great video :)
I actually looked at many solutions to get vhs to pc (only the budget ones), but neither of them seems to handle video as is: 576i keeping it interlaced (not interlaced in progressive) and at "original resolution" without OSD appearing or screen resetting, they try to upscale it, sharpen it, deinterlace it in the worst ways possible. I came to the conclusion that a combined vhs-dvd recorder would be the way to go. People are selling it for cheap these days and in theory it should be the best: 10mbit mpeg2, probably interlaced (as it was common then and supported by dvd I expect it to be), best quality connection between the vhs and dvd, I don't think it is composite or svideo, so probably rgb. Then I will just rip the mpeg2 stream from the dvd and upscale it with topaz (also deinterlacing it with it). Why do you say that it's bad quality? Isn't it best at getting the exact video that's on the vhs? I don't have any experience with it but you say that the transfer quality is not great. I really hope you are wrong :)
Imagine good deinterlacer (I’m currently change dvd from chain to that Kramer scalers, then good capture card that can provide 4:4:4 10bit rgb) and yours method will give 10/10 😅
They’re good if you have one on hand, but if you’re starting from scratch I’d recommend a Domesday Duplicator + VHS-Decode. It takes some technical know-how, but it’s reasonably documented and AFAIK it’s the best price-to-quality ratio for VHS digitization (it’s cheaper + higher quality ceiling than the Retrotinks).
Great video!..thanks!...maybe I'd change some things, like the VHS heads cleaning method, then I'd use a good Svhs unit and capture from the Svhs output, then something like QTGMC for deinterlacing, then the neat plugin then something like Real-Esrgan for that little AI upsampling/sharpening...greetings!
VHS tapes certainly degrade, but I'm old enough to remember using VHS cameras back in "the day". I very clearly recall the original video was rather disappointing, straight out of the camera.
I think the conclusion of "the high effort techniques are barely noticeable" are extremely unfair. the "high effort" where pretty much based on up-scaling and fixing the poorly digitalized content from the low and medium effort attempts, and as always: "garbage in, (smooth) garbage out" the de-interlacing was terrible, the video capture card was also poor quality. The AI up-scaling AI did a lot of heavy lifting that would probably perform way better if the quality of the capture where actually good to begin with. if the capture process where actually "high effort" rather than just putting high effort on the up-scaling, the end result would be much better even without AI involved. adding a noise filter on top of the overly AI smoothed image was like adding ketchup on a burnt cake so it disguises the burnt flavor. I think this had potential to be much better, the "high effort" options where still DIY level budget that would be much more well spent in capture hardware rather than AI subscriptions
Interesting stuff, I was sad to see how many crappy tape transfer products were released and those products then going into transfer service related fields. So many initial conversions looked terrible but I'd be watching my VHS tapes looking better and wondering where the gap was in that technology. One gap was people forgetting what good VHS recordings look like lol. Definitely color timing was bad in vintage consumer grade camcorders, that yellow hue is so prevalent in many examples and should be removed when transferred to digital. Same with audio, if you can get rid of background noise and camcorder hiss please do so, that isn't something to keep for authenticity sake. Lastly AI tools are great for this kind of restoration efforts but the reality is a human being needs to control the result since the AI can't be left automated, plus certain people have better skill at using such tools than others.
HDMI capture devices and DVD recorders are usually the way to get the best quality of an analog format, i like HDMI because it does the de-interlacing for you which saves a lot of time, i absolutely despise AI's , adding fake detail does lead to horrible results.
I'm not sure if this video was made "in jest." I know that l've achieved very good results archiving my "old" S-VHS tapes in a fraction of the time you spent playing around with all these tools. You have to ask yourself, "What are the intended goals for archiving my videotapes?" "Who is going to watch the digitized mp4s?" "How often are the digitized files going to be watched?" You need to keep your efforts in perspective. 😊
This message was censored many times So i have to write it again. I hope it won't get deleted again ! First don't get your informations from TH-cam videos, do actual research. First store tapes correctly, not in cave or attic, standard room temperature, vertical position, staked like books. Use good SVHS VCR, not normal VHS, so you get better comb filter and better mechanical parts Don't use the S-video plug, it is not necessary. The VHS tape doesn't contain Y/C signal, it is composite all along, so just stick with composite on the RCA or SCART plug. S-video won't improve the signal, this is a myth. Don't use HDMI converters, they are usually bad too. Most important thing, use a TBC, time base corrector, it will fix the picture, no more wobbling effect. For the computer side. Digitize in 4:2:2 format, use ProRes or DNxHD codecs. No need to remove hiss from audio this way, it can remove acutal sound information. This is not restoration is going beyond. If the audio track is hi-fi, do nothing, if it's not, just mesure the higher frequency and apply a low pass filter. Also use 48 kHz sample rate. Don't use AI, this is not necessary at all and can be harmful too. Deinterlace with QTGMC, it is possible to do this with Hybrid. The file being digitized in 720×480 or 720×576 has black bars on the sides. Center the picture in a 704×480 or 704×576 projet and export. And it's done. If you need to use the video in a HD or UHD project, then upscale with Shutter Encoder, set it with Lanczos method, it preserves detail. Use Rec601 to Rec709 or Rec2020 for the colour space. If you need to compress to outdated H.264 or new H.265 or VP9, then use Shutter Encoder too. Keep the original tape just in case
@debranchelowtone I have not deleted any comments. I believe TH-cam filters some comments for review depending on the contented without my knowledge. I will see if I can investigate why your comments aren't being shown.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds I wonder what TH-cam can filter out of technical informations. This can actually help you to get even better result with this system.
@@debranchelowtoneI just started with archiving some rare V-Cinema tapes and using an adapter to OBS. Deinterlace with Yabris, 720x480 and the output to 720x540 for 4x3. What software and adapter do you highly recommend.
I'm currently capturing my old family Hi8 tapes, I bought a Hi8 camcorder with S-vhs out... I then plugged that to a svhs to hdmi female that also upscales to 720p and 1080p. Then I plug a hdmi from that to a used Átomos Ninja Blade hdmi in, that records to removable SSD at Apple prores LT or prores 422, I want apple prores as I'm going to do heavy color grading, sharpening, and then de noise in premiere pro. I need my pc free from capturing so I use the Átomos. Don't know if that helps anyone 😎
I believe that much of this video is bogus. First of all, I would never clean VCR heads or tapes, as that would likely only cause damage! Secondly, if more effort doesn't help then you are putting in the wrong kind of effort! It is very important to have multiple VCRs and to figure out which one has the best quality playback. It is also important to have a better than average capture card, but understand it need not be too expensive. Lastly, Topaz AI doesn't require much effort, and doesn't often work that well for VHS tapes. Forget about AI, the most important thing to figure out is the deinterlacing method!
There's only 1 way to clean video heads & They Do Need to Be Cleaned because when oxide shaves off & clogs them there's no picture. 12voltvids shows using ordinary notebook paper & 91% isopropyl alcohol - put the paper against the drum & gently rotate. Also inspect the rest of the video drum for black specks which don't move & don't belong.
Thanks for letting us know. Would you care to point us in the direction of the way to better results? Perhaps a video of your own? Now, that would be useful...
@@laststraw9363 So i have to write it again. I hope it won't get deleted again ! First don't get your informations from TH-cam videos, do actual research. First store tapes correctly, not in cave or attic, standard room temperature, vertical position, staked like books. Use good SVHS VCR, not normal VHS, so you get better comb filter and better mechanical parts Don't use the S-video plug, it is not necessary. The VHS tape doesn't contain Y/C signal, it is composite all along, so just stick with composite on the RCA or SCART plug. S-video won't improve the signal, this is a myth. Don't use HDMI converters, they are usually bad too. Most important thing, use a TBC, time base corrector, it will fix the picture, no more wobbling effect. For the computer side. Digitize in 4:2:2 format, use ProRes or DNxHD codecs. No need to remove hiss from audio this way, it can remove acutal sound information. This is not restoration is going beyond. If the audio track is hi-fi, do nothing, if it's not, just mesure the higher frequency and apply a low pass filter. Also use 48 kHz sample rate. Don't use AI, this is not necessary at all and can be harmful too. Deinterlace with QTGMC, it is possible to do this with Hybrid. The file being digitized in 720×480 or 720×576 has black bars on the sides. Center the picture in a 704×480 or 704×576 projet and export. And it's done. If you need to use the video in a HD or UHD project, then upscale with Shutter Encoder, set it with Lanczos method, it preserves detail. If you need to compress to outdated H.264 or new H.265 or VP9, then use Shutter Encoder too. Keep the original tape just in case
@BrennensBudgetBuilds Why did you delete debrachelowtone's comment? HE TOLD YOU WHAT TO DO TO IMPROVE there is still a better way you just didn't care to listen to professional advice
This is a GREAT video! You deserve more subscribers! keep it up!
Thank you!
It's 2024. I have VHS tapes from the late 1970s that still play fine. They've all been digitized. 😊
Yeah they last a lot longer than people act like. People that say they don’t are just parroting inaccuracies and have no actual base to their claims.
That's good to hear... It's still a good idea to transfer them though.
I transferred a video from 1986 last month or so to DVD & had GoDVD restore it. Turned out better than the original tape. The formulation didn't help.
The extreme effort looks really good, now you have the process figured out the next video can be done much faster
The quality of the VCR you capture from is the first component that needs to be the best it can be. I have an LG vcr / dvd unit with hdmi output, but the parts used (in particular the audio head and tension arms) are trash compared to my higher quality jvc vcrs, that have s video outputs. Scaling vhs just sucks.
Also, you can deinterlace the avi in premiere and compress to h264 in one process
Thanks for the feedback!
I've run into a lot of little roadblocks along the way as far as hardware limitations. For this video, I wanted to focus on the most accessible and budget friendly versions of advanced restoration.
Going forward, I'm definitely going to research how to put together a better capture system overall.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds also, you may not need the splitter if the Elgato has a HDMI output pass through. Plug the pass through output into your computer monitor and it should handshake.
First, LOVE this. I'm working on a documentary and restoring old footage, audio, etc. This was very helpful. The Topaz AI topic may have saved me a TON of wrestling with that software.
I also want to share some of my successes. In trying to fix Audio specifically, both with a very old black & white VHS and a digitized Casette recording I discovered that Logic Pro has a new Stem Seperation feature. This turned out to be MAGICAL. On the VHS I had a persistant loud hum that was making it really hard to hear dialogue/speech. Later in the tape there's live music which overpowered the hum. Logic Pro completely isolated the dialgoue and put hum/music on a seperate track. I actually just realized I could have told it to do more track seperation but since it uses musical terminology I only considered "Vocals" and "Other" hoping it would recognize HUM as "Other". It did.
2nd Success: Casette tape of dad singing over piano player. The piano was competely overpowering him in the recording. Logic Pro VERY cleanly seperated the vocals and piano. I was able to put both Stems back on my FCP X timeline and just raise the vocals and lower the piano to rebalance. No more spiking and no more useless attempts to improve the sound in FCP X alone. It can do great things but not like Logic Pro. Wow.
Hope that helps someone! Maybe worth a try on old VHS restoration where the audio is suffering.
Really fantastic video - thanks for walking through everything so helpfully!
I enjoyed your video, it was really detailed. You're going to my watchlist.
What do you think about VHS-Decode method? Do you find it as extreme effort method or easier? Cheers!
Thank you I appreciate it! I'm not very familiar with the VHS-Decode method but I'll add your videos to my list of things to watch.
For this video I really wanted to showcase an affordable and accessible alternative for a "Higher-than-average-quality" VHS transfer. My end goal was to highlight the medium method as a perfectly good alternative without a huge financial investment or time sink. The extreme effort method was mostly just an example of how someone could spend many hours of effort with very little difference to show for it in the end.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds Yeah, I totally understand extreme efforts shown in here.
When archiving VHS I started to face problems like unstable signal, dropped frames caused by hardware hiccups or inserted due to how different device clocks can drift away. I discovered first LD-Decode project as the most geekest method of taking tape contents directly to digital storage and then process that stuff with minimal loss and processing involved and then started tinkering with cheap hardware solutions intended for it during my VHS ripping adventure of TV recordings.
@@Zcooger A time base corrector can help.
@@debranchelowtone Yes, I used to use Panasonic DMR-ES10 as passthrough however it never entirely helped to get rid of sync issues of capture card.
@@Zcooger Then frame synchroniser maybe.
I am amazed by the quality! I am also amazed that you did not mention the one thing that i see in so many VHS digitizing videos here on YT. The good ol' Time Base Corrector. I am sure that one would be needed if your video tape was full of glitches and dropouts. Cheers! I am using OBS Studio and am really at the beginning stages of digitizing VHS. I have a crappy EasyCap video capture device. I understand the Elgato is so much better as it captures both fields, unlike the EasyCap. I need to get a capture setup like yours, as i have video tapes that really need to be digitized before they end up dehrading to that "unwatchable" stage.
Just found your channel. Long live the algorithm! Subscribed.
You might want to try out VHS-Decode, i think it may be the best way to convert tape formats to digital, and it doesnt require high-end VCRs! Also, software TBC and raw signal.
A most impressive project! Hopefully they can tighten up the software user interface and drop an easier hardware solution! A board with dual CX chips and an onboard clock would be killer.
This was my suggestion as well. You can't beat raw flux data @4fSC.
I've found if you have the time and don't mind some of the picture to be lost sometimes Topaz's stabilization can be an interesting thing to apply to home movies from VHS. You lose some of the home camcorder feel, but I've been amazed at how much more I notice in a picture when the darn thing stays more still.
I like Topaz for the stabilization feature. You should run your video through the latest Rhea model and see if that helps.
the big hitch with this is *trying to find a working VCR* the last of the production units can be a case of "chinesium". and being outside of an urban area majorly limits finding someone who can and will bother with anything other than the most modern technology. some of us would rather have a unit gone over by a repair and maintenence professional. it's not the media, half the time, it's the players themselves which render not being able to save this older stuff impossible.
odd, last time i tried topaz (which i admit was years ago) it had a model trained specifically for low-res interlaced video. have you considered rendering to a slightly higher quality then cropping down to 720p or something with image stabilization?
This message was censored many times
So i have to write it again. I hope it won't get deleted again !
First don't get your informations from TH-cam videos, do actual research.
First store tapes correctly, not in cave or attic, standard room temperature, vertical position, staked like books.
Use good SVHS VCR, not normal VHS, so you get better comb filter and better mechanical parts
Don't use the S-video plug, it is not necessary. The VHS tape doesn't contain Y/C signal, it is composite all along, so just stick with composite on the RCA or SCART plug. S-video won't improve the signal, this is a myth.
Don't use HDMI converters, they are usually bad too.
Most important thing, use a TBC, time base corrector, it will fix the picture, no more wobbling effect.
For the computer side.
Digitize in 4:2:2 format, use ProRes or DNxHD codecs.
No need to remove hiss from audio this way, it can remove acutal sound information. This is not restoration is going beyond.
If the audio track is hi-fi, do nothing, if it's not, just mesure the higher frequency and apply a low pass filter.
Also use 48 kHz sample rate.
Don't use AI, this is not necessary at all and can be harmful too.
Deinterlace with QTGMC, it is possible to do this with Hybrid.
The file being digitized in 720×480 or 720×576 has black bars on the sides. Center the picture in a 704×480 or 704×576 projet and export.
And it's done.
If you need to use the video in a HD or UHD project, then upscale with Shutter Encoder, set it with Lanczos method, it preserves detail.
Use Rec601 to Rec709 or Rec2020 for the colour space.
If you need to compress to outdated H.264 or new H.265 or VP9, then use Shutter Encoder too.
Keep the original tape just in case
You are right they do have models specifically for low-res interlaced video, but based on my experience I assumed it wasn't trained with anywhere near as much video as the HD and 4k models. It still really seems like the core program is designed around modern footage since that what the company is advertising as its strength.
I prefer using my Magnavox MWR10D6 DVD recorder. It latches on video well & preserves everything about the source. Output with an SVHS deck via SVideo & record that.
Has anyone trained a model by capturing VHS movie playback & using the master or a bluray as the fitness function?
I'd love to see how much information could be captured & corrected from tracking errors & other VHS shortcomings.
That medium effort method is the way I do it. Panasonic DVD recorders seems to have the best tolerance for bad video signals 👍
Some thoughts. There are better Vbub deinterlacers. Working with an already compressed video is like squeezing a green lemon in a refreshing drink. Capturing hardware upscaled signals is inferior to capturing full resolution via software.
Amazing work. You did a great job explaining and showcasing your methods. I’m currently using an S-VHS vcr then running the video into the A/v port port of a camcorder and using the DV in/out FireWire port from that camcorder into a Sony MC3 or 5 (I can’t remember which) standalone dvd recorder which has a dv in port . I then take those DVD’s and burn them into my pc using handbrake. It’s messy with a bunch of cables but the results have been much more pleasant than straightforward VCR plugged into my Mac using Roxio software. I could also skip the camcorder but the audio sounds a bit better when I do it that way. I could be wrong but I’m just going with what my eyes and ears feel is more pleasant.
The ROXIO product is absolute garbage!
Did you feed the Topaz with interlaced video? Interlaced video does not scale.
What a nice video, thank you for sharing!
I'm just wondering if you'd be interested in trying out Nero AI Video Upscaler, this is also an AI video upscaler we're working on lately. We provide options to record from your VHS directly with our record stick. Let me know if you're interested. And thank you again for your great video :)
I actually looked at many solutions to get vhs to pc (only the budget ones), but neither of them seems to handle video as is: 576i keeping it interlaced (not interlaced in progressive) and at "original resolution" without OSD appearing or screen resetting, they try to upscale it, sharpen it, deinterlace it in the worst ways possible. I came to the conclusion that a combined vhs-dvd recorder would be the way to go. People are selling it for cheap these days and in theory it should be the best: 10mbit mpeg2, probably interlaced (as it was common then and supported by dvd I expect it to be), best quality connection between the vhs and dvd, I don't think it is composite or svideo, so probably rgb. Then I will just rip the mpeg2 stream from the dvd and upscale it with topaz (also deinterlacing it with it). Why do you say that it's bad quality? Isn't it best at getting the exact video that's on the vhs? I don't have any experience with it but you say that the transfer quality is not great. I really hope you are wrong :)
멋진 복원작업 잘 보았습니다.
Imagine good deinterlacer (I’m currently change dvd from chain to that Kramer scalers, then good capture card that can provide 4:4:4 10bit rgb) and yours method will give 10/10 😅
Thoughts on using a RetroTink 4K or 5X Pro? RetroRGB did a video about using those scalers for converting VHS to digital.
They’re good if you have one on hand, but if you’re starting from scratch I’d recommend a Domesday Duplicator + VHS-Decode. It takes some technical know-how, but it’s reasonably documented and AFAIK it’s the best price-to-quality ratio for VHS digitization (it’s cheaper + higher quality ceiling than the Retrotinks).
that A looks more like ANARCHY!!
Shhh that's suppose to be a secret!
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds LOVE IT!!!
They don’t degrade that fast. I have tapes from the early 80s that were stored in unstable temperatures for years that still play fine.
I have a copy of a film that's a rare(ish) colorized film that I have desperately wanted to upscale
Great video!..thanks!...maybe I'd change some things, like the VHS heads cleaning method, then I'd use a good Svhs unit and capture from the Svhs output, then something like QTGMC for deinterlacing, then the neat plugin then something like Real-Esrgan for that little AI upsampling/sharpening...greetings!
th-cam.com/video/YsMSUocEZA0/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/PDbwmaKfL3o/w-d-xo.html
Ganaste un nuevo suscriptor. Saludos desde Colombia.
Gracias lo aprecio!
Thanks I appreciate it!
VHS tapes certainly degrade, but I'm old enough to remember using VHS cameras back in "the day". I very clearly recall the original video was rather disappointing, straight out of the camera.
I think the conclusion of "the high effort techniques are barely noticeable" are extremely unfair.
the "high effort" where pretty much based on up-scaling and fixing the poorly digitalized content from the low and medium effort attempts, and as always: "garbage in, (smooth) garbage out"
the de-interlacing was terrible, the video capture card was also poor quality. The AI up-scaling AI did a lot of heavy lifting that would probably perform way better if the quality of the capture where actually good to begin with. if the capture process where actually "high effort" rather than just putting high effort on the up-scaling, the end result would be much better even without AI involved.
adding a noise filter on top of the overly AI smoothed image was like adding ketchup on a burnt cake so it disguises the burnt flavor.
I think this had potential to be much better, the "high effort" options where still DIY level budget that would be much more well spent in capture hardware rather than AI subscriptions
nice, thank you, personally I think that he extreme is worth it for some content.
Interesting stuff, I was sad to see how many crappy tape transfer products were released and those products then going into transfer service related fields. So many initial conversions looked terrible but I'd be watching my VHS tapes looking better and wondering where the gap was in that technology. One gap was people forgetting what good VHS recordings look like lol.
Definitely color timing was bad in vintage consumer grade camcorders, that yellow hue is so prevalent in many examples and should be removed when transferred to digital. Same with audio, if you can get rid of background noise and camcorder hiss please do so, that isn't something to keep for authenticity sake.
Lastly AI tools are great for this kind of restoration efforts but the reality is a human being needs to control the result since the AI can't be left automated, plus certain people have better skill at using such tools than others.
HDMI capture devices and DVD recorders are usually the way to get the best quality of an analog format, i like HDMI because it does the de-interlacing for you which saves a lot of time, i absolutely despise AI's , adding fake detail does lead to horrible results.
I'm not sure if this video was made "in jest." I know that l've achieved very good results archiving my "old" S-VHS tapes in a fraction of the time you spent playing around with all these tools.
You have to ask yourself, "What are the intended goals for archiving my videotapes?" "Who is going to watch the digitized mp4s?" "How often are the digitized files going to be watched?" You need to keep your efforts in perspective. 😊
Use s-vcr with s-video cable's and get rid of those composites cable's ir use a TIME BASE CORRECTOR AND U WILL REALLY SEE A DIFFERENCE
Not necessarily. I have both of those, and whether they make a significant difference or not depends on the specific devices and tapes.
@@DoubleMonoLR device is a super vhs with a tbc internal ir external
He keeps deleting the messages !
This message was censored many times
So i have to write it again. I hope it won't get deleted again !
First don't get your informations from TH-cam videos, do actual research.
First store tapes correctly, not in cave or attic, standard room temperature, vertical position, staked like books.
Use good SVHS VCR, not normal VHS, so you get better comb filter and better mechanical parts
Don't use the S-video plug, it is not necessary. The VHS tape doesn't contain Y/C signal, it is composite all along, so just stick with composite on the RCA or SCART plug. S-video won't improve the signal, this is a myth.
Don't use HDMI converters, they are usually bad too.
Most important thing, use a TBC, time base corrector, it will fix the picture, no more wobbling effect.
For the computer side.
Digitize in 4:2:2 format, use ProRes or DNxHD codecs.
No need to remove hiss from audio this way, it can remove acutal sound information. This is not restoration is going beyond.
If the audio track is hi-fi, do nothing, if it's not, just mesure the higher frequency and apply a low pass filter.
Also use 48 kHz sample rate.
Don't use AI, this is not necessary at all and can be harmful too.
Deinterlace with QTGMC, it is possible to do this with Hybrid.
The file being digitized in 720×480 or 720×576 has black bars on the sides. Center the picture in a 704×480 or 704×576 projet and export.
And it's done.
If you need to use the video in a HD or UHD project, then upscale with Shutter Encoder, set it with Lanczos method, it preserves detail.
Use Rec601 to Rec709 or Rec2020 for the colour space.
If you need to compress to outdated H.264 or new H.265 or VP9, then use Shutter Encoder too.
Keep the original tape just in case
@debranchelowtone I have not deleted any comments. I believe TH-cam filters some comments for review depending on the contented without my knowledge. I will see if I can investigate why your comments aren't being shown.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds Ah, i thought it was you, this is weird, i don't get this problem elsewhere.
@@BrennensBudgetBuilds I wonder what TH-cam can filter out of technical informations. This can actually help you to get even better result with this system.
@@debranchelowtoneI just started with archiving some rare V-Cinema tapes and using an adapter to OBS. Deinterlace with Yabris, 720x480 and the output to 720x540 for 4x3. What software and adapter do you highly recommend.
Thats trying to enhance it, not create a direct 1:1 copy.
That would be the "restoration" part of the title.
Upscaling is also pointless because at the end of the day it’s still standard definition video. All that does is waste storage space.
I'm currently capturing my old family Hi8 tapes, I bought a Hi8 camcorder with S-vhs out... I then plugged that to a svhs to hdmi female that also upscales to 720p and 1080p. Then I plug a hdmi from that to a used Átomos Ninja Blade hdmi in, that records to removable SSD at Apple prores LT or prores 422, I want apple prores as I'm going to do heavy color grading, sharpening, and then de noise in premiere pro. I need my pc free from capturing so I use the Átomos. Don't know if that helps anyone 😎
Why upscale though...that just wastes space. It’s still standard def video regardless.
KF HZ AI
I believe that much of this video is bogus. First of all, I would never clean VCR heads or tapes, as that would likely only cause damage! Secondly, if more effort doesn't help then you are putting in the wrong kind of effort! It is very important to have multiple VCRs and to figure out which one has the best quality playback. It is also important to have a better than average capture card, but understand it need not be too expensive. Lastly, Topaz AI doesn't require much effort, and doesn't often work that well for VHS tapes. Forget about AI, the most important thing to figure out is the deinterlacing method!
There's only 1 way to clean video heads & They Do Need to Be Cleaned because when oxide shaves off & clogs them there's no picture. 12voltvids shows using ordinary notebook paper & 91% isopropyl alcohol - put the paper against the drum & gently rotate. Also inspect the rest of the video drum for black specks which don't move & don't belong.
@@Mrshoujo Just a note, you MUST rotate the drum counter-clockwise while cleaning and be gentle over the slotted parts!
This video shows everything you should not do to get good results.
Thanks for letting us know. Would you care to point us in the direction of the way to better results? Perhaps a video of your own? Now, that would be useful...
@@laststraw9363 I wrote a second message under this one explaining what to do but it was deleted.
@@laststraw9363 So i have to write it again. I hope it won't get deleted again !
First don't get your informations from TH-cam videos, do actual research.
First store tapes correctly, not in cave or attic, standard room temperature, vertical position, staked like books.
Use good SVHS VCR, not normal VHS, so you get better comb filter and better mechanical parts
Don't use the S-video plug, it is not necessary. The VHS tape doesn't contain Y/C signal, it is composite all along, so just stick with composite on the RCA or SCART plug. S-video won't improve the signal, this is a myth.
Don't use HDMI converters, they are usually bad too.
Most important thing, use a TBC, time base corrector, it will fix the picture, no more wobbling effect.
For the computer side.
Digitize in 4:2:2 format, use ProRes or DNxHD codecs.
No need to remove hiss from audio this way, it can remove acutal sound information. This is not restoration is going beyond.
If the audio track is hi-fi, do nothing, if it's not, just mesure the higher frequency and apply a low pass filter.
Also use 48 kHz sample rate.
Don't use AI, this is not necessary at all and can be harmful too.
Deinterlace with QTGMC, it is possible to do this with Hybrid.
The file being digitized in 720×480 or 720×576 has black bars on the sides. Center the picture in a 704×480 or 704×576 projet and export.
And it's done.
If you need to use the video in a HD or UHD project, then upscale with Shutter Encoder, set it with Lanczos method, it preserves detail.
If you need to compress to outdated H.264 or new H.265 or VP9, then use Shutter Encoder too.
Keep the original tape just in case
@BrennensBudgetBuilds i hope this can help you to get better results.
@BrennensBudgetBuilds Why did you delete his comment? He told you the direction already but you deleted it! Thumbs down to your video.
@BrennensBudgetBuilds Why did you delete debrachelowtone's comment? HE TOLD YOU WHAT TO DO TO IMPROVE there is still a better way you just didn't care to listen to professional advice
I thought ytube had been deleting a lot of comments lately