Hello,
I hope I have this posted in the correct place. I am seeking advice and suggestions for VHS tape to digital transfers. Here is my current workflow:
- VHS tape is played back on a Panasonic PV-D4744S VCR and is recorded directly (via composite A/V cable) to a Panasonic DMR-ES40V DVD recorder and onto a DVD-R, -RW, or +RW.
- The disc is then copied into a Windows 7 folder with all of the contents of its VIDEO_TS folder intact; this folder is saved on several external hard drives for safe keeping.
- I then open and import a copy of the .vob files into Premiere Pro CS6, where I minimally scale the video to eliminate the distortions (“VHS tearing”) on the sides and bottom of the VHS source video. The result is a very clear video which fits perfectly in a 4:3 project window on my 16:9 HD computer screen with minimal pillarboxing.
It is at the stage of export where I am stuck.
The final DVDs are going to be viewed on a 16:9 widescreen TV, as well as on an iMac computer. I’ve read all much about interlaced scanning (VHS, Laserdisc, TV) and progressive scanning (computer, LCD TVs), but I’m still not sure if I can make a DVD which will look proper on both TVs and computers. In addition to the scaling, I am using Premiere to add chapter makers and poster frames to the video, which I wish to then export to either Encore CS6 or NeroVision – I love Nero’s animated 2D and 3D menu selections. What export settings should I use in Premiere which are closest to the original, imported .vob files? I’ve exported some test videos in MPEG2-DVD format to folders, but they are huge compared to the original DVDs made on the standalone recorder, i.e., 12.8GB on Premiere export compared to the 4.7GB import.
Are there settings to make the Premiere export as close to the original DVD import of 4.7GB without sacrificing quality? Should I simply import the sequence into Encore as a timeline and let it perform the heavy lifting of automatically compressing the files to fit on a 4.7GB DVD? NeroVision seems to not accept the MPEG2-DVD files; it “sees” only the .m2v video files and not the .wav audio files.
In a nutshell:
I want to take a raw DVD-R (or -RW, +RW) recorded on a standalone and copy to hard drive, add chapter markers and minimal scaling in Premiere Pro CS6, then export and burn a DVD that will look good on both a 16:9 TV and computer screen.
I'm trying to get this project finished for a soon upcoming family get together. Any suggestions, tips, and general advice would be greatly appreciated.
Eric