Converting VHS to DVD

[Dan K]

IMO the best way to go directly from analog video to DVD is with the 
Instant DVD USB for Mac device, nowadays well under $200 at OWC:
<http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_MailList.cfm?ID=5448&Item=ADSMACAV1750>

I set up a very picky customer with one after he had tried a number of 
other solutions (eg: vhs-FWbridge-DV-iMovie-iDVD-DVD) and it was the 
simplest solution of all, plus it produced the cleanest-looking DVDs. The 
resulting mpeg files aren't easily directly editable the way are DV files 
but the included SW does allow for trims and similar simple edits. USB 
InstantDVD's hardware encoder does a swell job with NTSC analog video, 
much nicer in my experience than iDVD's at similar bitrates (comparing 
identical tracks originating in iMovie.)

If we need to edit we typically capture to a DV deck or camera, send that 
FW stream to FCExpress for editing, print back to the DV deck and then 
play that 'final' cut into the USB InstantDVD analog S-video input. That 
workflow has proven to give higher quality results than using iDVD, not 
to mention that it doesn't tie up the dual 1ghz G4 edit station crunching 
the mpeg2.

USB 1.1 is entirely adaquate for a realtime mpeg2 stream and the result 
is fine for someone ripping VHS (or similar quality) straight to DVDs. 
Actually, FW-level bitrates are much higher than needed for such a task, 
huge file sizes and subsequently long encoding times just make a FW 
solution that much more cumbersome. A (relatively) small mpeg2 stream 
captured via USB is much easier to deal with, and being able to just burn 
directly to a DVD makes it simpler still.

For anyone who just wants to move a ton of analog video to DVDs it's hard 
to beat.

hth,

Dan K

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