Converting VHS to DVD

[Dan K]

I wrote:
>>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>

to which "Dr. Trevor J. Hutley" <hutley at geneva-link.ch> replied:
>For my own knowledge and learning, could you explain how this 
>proposal for analog video to DVD is better than using EyeTV for the 
>task?  EyeTV saves to drive in MPEG1 format, if I understand 
>correctly, and from that you can edit and then save as QT, VCD or DVD.

I'm not familiar with EyeTV, can EyeTV streams be burned as a 'normal' 
DVD directly to a DVD-R?

There are tons of ways to get from analog video to DVD, each with its own 
strengths and weaknesses and one chooses the most appropriate for the 
task at hand.

My client needed to move alot of VHS tape (which didn't need alot of 
editing) to DVD. The files which Instant DVD produces are suitable for 
burning directly to a DVD-R needing no additional processing. With the 
volume of material involved, it would have taken them forever to digitize 
via FW-DV and then compress even with their dual 1 ghz G4. A TiBook would 
of course have taken even longer than forever. :-)

Since the resulting captured MPEG2 streams aren't directly editable 
(other than basic stuff like trims), clearly this solution isn't for 
everyone. However, I mentioned in my previous post a very satisfactory 
workaround:
>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.

The other BIG advantage we found was the resulting quality was visibly 
better with Instant DVD than with the iDVD codecs. I'm aware of other 
available codecs which supposedly give better results than the iDVD 
codecs but we haven't tried them so I can't comment on quality relative 
to Instant DVD. And of course since I haven't used EyeTV, I can't offer 
an opinion on the relative quality of its output either.

hth,

Dan K

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