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Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Talk about anything audio here. From video narration to podcasting, MP3s to MP4s - whatever your flavor, this is the place.

Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby MP#$864zz » Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:01 pm

Hi Steve
Thanks for the reply.
My History May HELP.

Installed Diamond sc 500 on Computer
about Two Weeks ago. Recorded some VHS tape Captures.
Using EZGrabber Everything seemed to work OK.

When your NEW Tut was Posted. I wanted to try
Potplayer. Did not Change Anything on Computer.
Just DL Potplayer and Installed.
Will Not Record ?
Any Help from the PP Error Message?
The only Possible problem I see is where the
Record File is Stored. The Storage Box Setting
Can Not be Changed.

One Section I do not under stand.
I will Post S S FredZ
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Steve Grisetti » Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:21 pm

I can't tell from your illustrations alone.

As I said, it's not something I can duplicate.
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby MP#$864zz » Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:58 pm

Hello
Thanks for the Reply.
How do you setup where the Capture will be Saved ?
Does the Storage Area File Address Need to Match the
Record File Setting ?
I tried Removing Potplayer and Reinstalling it.
No Change.
Thanks for you Offer to walk me through it.
I think there is a simple Error I am Making in
in the File Set up.
I do not understand why the Default goes under
the USER File ?
Any S S I could Post that would Help ?
FredZ
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Steve Grisetti » Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:06 pm

I really can't tell from your illustrations, MP. Sorry.
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby MP#$864zz » Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:41 pm

Hi Steve
Thanks for the Reply.
I Ran an Experiment.
Loaded PotPlayer on New Computer.
Did Not do Any selling just left the Default.
Same Problem.

When I hit Play it opens Documents not the Video

Please tell me how you set the Save File folders in PP ?
It does not show in your Video.

Enough for today
Thanks FredZ
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Steve Grisetti » Tue Sep 01, 2020 5:55 pm

You set where to save your captured files by clicking the box at the top of the Video Recorder panel, as I show you at about 2:30 in this video.

But I have no idea why clicking the Play button is opening your Documents, unless you're clicking it when the device isn't plugged into your USB port.

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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby RJ Johnston » Tue Sep 01, 2020 5:58 pm

Magix Movie Studio or Magix Video Pro X will capture from the Diamond VC500, composite or svideo. That's on my Windows 10. Corel Video Studio used to capture, but I don't have that installed to try.

I was able to capture video, but not audio, with the EZGrabber. But I installed it in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode.
I had to save to AVI format or VCD format. Nothing displays on the screen while recording, except you can see the time increment on the player controls. When finished recording, you have to navigate to the folder that EZGrabber uses for saving files. Video looks good, but like I said, no audio.
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby MP#$864zz » Wed Sep 02, 2020 12:46 pm

Hello RJ
Thanks for the Reply.
I did not have a Problem with Sound
in EZGrabber.
I had problems with the Install on
one Computer it worked on another
it did not both win 10.
I would look in device manager
and check the Drivers.
It was confusing there are two.
Video and Audio.
You can control where Videos are
Saved on the SetUp page.
On top just Click Record Button.
Strange Problem I had with EZG front usb ports
would not work Rear USB from MB did work ? ?
FredZ
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby RJ Johnston » Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:03 pm

The Pyro arrived, and it works. I played back on a VCR a VHS tape recorded in 1991. In Vegas and Video Pro X, I captured with the Diamond (USB) and the Pyro (DV firewire). The wires coming out the the VCR are composite (RCA). Compared a frame from video captured with the Diamond and with the Pyro. The Pyro has more contrast and saturation. In addition, when playing back the video captured with the Diamond, there is "wiggle" on the sides, the Pyro is smooth. The Pyro will work on Windows 10 without need to install drivers. You just need video software that can capture DV. If I wanted, I could bypass the computer and record on DV tape with my JVC DV Camcorder.

Well, now that I have the Pyro, I'll be using that instead of the Diamond. Way back when, the Pyro was too expensive ($150) for me, but now you can get them on Ebay for pretty cheap.

Diamond VC500

VC500.jpg


Pyro A/V Link

Pyro AV Link.jpg
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Chuck Engels » Sun Sep 06, 2020 8:31 am

Thanks RJ, This is exactly what I was looking for :TU: What about lost frames? Did you get a report of lost frames for each capture? If so, what was the number of lost frames for each device?
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Steve Grisetti » Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:59 am

Thanks for the comparison, Robert!

Just curious: What software did you use to capture from your Diamond VC? Have you tried using Pot Player to do the capture? It has settings that will enrich that color.

I may do my own comparison as an experiment. I don't have a Pyro, but I'd like to compare FireWire capture of miniDV to Diamond VC capture. I'm sure the FireWire will be superior, but that I still have hope that the Diamond will give nearly-the-same-as-original quality from a VHS tape.

As I've said, it's not a contest. Just a chance to offer our users a practical solution that doesn't involve chasing eBay for technology that's been out of production for a decade. When we're talking about a tape format that was never that good to begin with, good enough might still be good enough.
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby RJ Johnston » Sun Sep 06, 2020 7:00 pm

Chuck Engels wrote:Thanks RJ, This is exactly what I was looking for :TU: What about lost frames? Did you get a report of lost frames for each capture? If so, what was the number of lost frames for each device?


There were zero lost frames reported for both. But I only did about 15 minutes with both devices. Then I just used the Pyro. I remember I had a couple of lost frames when I first started the capture with one of the devices, but that was it for lost frames.

The real trick is making sure the tape is tracking correctly.

I just captured 30 minutes using the Pyro only to find out the tracking was off. The recording was made on a different VCR. There were definitely a lot of lost sections when I played the AVI back. There were no reports of lost frames. So I did it over making sure the tracking was correct and captured about 2 hours. The audio was perfectly in sync. The only complaint I have is my parents didn't record the last 10 minutes of the 1991 Ryder Cup. I had to look up on Wikipedia to find out which side won.

Steve, I used Magix Video Pro X (v. 11) -- that I got for $25 from Humble Bundles. Earlier I was using Vegas Pro 18. Both did about the same recording job as far as I could tell. The Pyro came with ULEAD software, but I didn't install that.
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Chuck Engels » Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:14 am

Thank you RJ, appreciate the testing and glad the Pyro is working for you. I always found it to be very reliable and still use it today to do VHS conversions for people. I have converted all of my 50+ tapes already but still have them all.

I am thinking if they would come out with a device that connects via USB Type C or Thunderbolt that would solve most of the problem. USB 2.0 is half the write speed of Firewire, it just can't keep up very well. I was surprised that you didn't drop more frames with the USB device but it's good that you didn't and that's good to know. Considering the number of VHS tapes still out there I doubt anyone is going to spend a lot of time developing a really good device for capture at this stage.

I find all of this very interesting and would be interested in any other tests and results :TU:
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby RJ Johnston » Mon Sep 07, 2020 4:07 pm

Steve Grisetti wrote: Have you tried using Pot Player to do the capture? It has settings that will enrich that color.


Steve, I downloaded Potplayer (PotplayerMini64) and installed it. Finally was able to capture in a video/audio format where there was actually audio and the captures could be edited in Premiere Elements 2020.

Had to uninstall Potplayer and then reinstall it with the option to install the additional codecs. The first time I chose not to install the extra codecs. That created a mess. Then after the second install, I was able to capture, but had difficulty editing. Then after shutting down the computer last night and starting the computer this morning, all the captures from yesterday loaded into Premiere Elements and they all played back smoothly. I'm thinking that you should reboot the computer after installing Potplayer. Some of the codecs may not be available until the computer is rebooted. With the MKV files, there were some red frames at the end of the clips. The best combination was capturing to AVI with h.264 and PCM (raw) where I got a constant frame rate of 29.97. I could load those into a DV project in Premiere Elements without getting the orange line.

Being able to have a "Proc Amp" where you can adjust saturation and other effects is a nice thing to have. They sure put a lot of different functions into the player.

Navigating through the menus and setting up was somewhat frustrating, but I finally got it.

-Rob
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Re: Capture tape-based video with the Diamond VC500

Postby Steve Grisetti » Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:54 am

Thank you for all of your hard work, Robert. This is great research!
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