TV/Video System Capabilities/Limitations

[senrew]

I just recently picked up a Performa 631CD and am adding the tv/video system to it. I've been thinking of maybe using it to transfer some older VHS tapes I have lying around, just as an experiment in old-schoolness. My question is, what are the capabilities of the system vs its limitations for this sort of work?

Also, I intend to use this setup as a makeshift monitor for my IIgs until I find an appropriate monitor for it. I assume I should be able to do it when full screened?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

In terms of video capture . . . it's pretty much worthless. The actual resolution is only 320x480 that is "pixel doubled" to 640x480 for full screen display. Dunno if this involves interpolation, but judging from the Video Quality on a Graphics Level 21" CRT, I'm almost willing to lay money on it, but it will be an interesting screen shot exercise to determine if it is interpolated or not.

I used the TV/Video System as the monitor for the Laser 128 when I was playing around with it back in the day, works great. Works well in a smaller window at higher resolution as well.

For VidCap you'll need a lot newer system to do a creditable job of transferring your tapes to disk.

 

[Bunsen]

The actual resolution is only 320x480

I thought it was 320 x 240? Still, that could be adequate for old VHS tapes - their native resolution isn't so great.

For VidCap you'll need a lot newer system

Unless you have a Quadra 840AV and a Spigot Pro AV Nubus card And optionally a fast SCSI card and drive.

 

[senrew]

Ok, well say I would like to use a vintage mac to transfer my old and dying VHS collection of family events and other such crap. What would the ideal system be to get the best remaining quality out of the tapes? What hardware and software combination would I be looking for?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

320x240 it is . . . forgot to divide the second number by two. :I

I'm thinking of using my beige G3. VHS looks great on 720p, so don't give it short shrift when converting.

 

[LCGuy]

If you want to use an older Mac, your best bet would be a Quadra 840AV, PCI PowerMac, Beige G3 with Wings card, or any NuBus/PCI Mac with a 3rd party video capture solution, lots of RAM, and a big, fast SCSI HDD.

As for me - I have a USB video capture dongle which I use with iMovie on my MacBook.

 

[classic]

The problem with the video hardware on the the 6xx series is that anything higher than 15fps and the video gets jittery.

Also, if any of your content is longer than 5 minutes you will need a larger hard drive. Achievable, given its IDE.

Its worth doing if you want your memories to last.

I've digitized analogue video with all kinds of macs.

My best setup was an upgraded B&W G4 which had an external 500GB firewire drive and an IX micro PCI card.

I used the Mac OS 9 divx codec and could squeeze one and half hours into about 700mb on the fly.

Once I had filled the drive, I brought it over to my macbook pro and burned to DVD.

Alas, the power supply died in my blue bird and it was parted out, sold and given away.

I think LCguy got the PCI firewire card and a bunch of other stuff

I'm thinking of using my beige G3

I had one of these also,likewise, upgraded to G4, but the bottle neck with its digitizer was that after about 10 minutes the video and audio got way out of sync.

I think there is a post somewhere here where iMac600 was had a similar dilemma.

Still, the 631CD is a beauty. Two simm slots and they make great TV's or PC's

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Sounds like I should be cheating and using the Quicksilver'02 after all. I had wanted to use something with a Rainbow Logo on it.

If I can't do that, how would the VideoVision Studio Card in the Radius 81/110/G3 with a Fast SCSI2 card do? I've got the StudioArray Box ready to go with U160 Drives, but I don't have a Fast/Wide card to interface with it yet. I was under the impression that the 8500's VidCap would relegate the Radius Rig to NuBus playtime. Might it be more usable than the Beige G3?

Will Fast2 do for VHS Transfers? :?:

The 630 and 6360 made a great pair for telecommuting, using a delayed VidCap downloaded under Timbuktu Remote over dialup back in the day. I'd check to see if the 30" wide roll of vinyl was still being cut, was still on track on the plotter a/o had stopped cutting. If all was well, it was ready for me to load the next big file and start it plotting from home in the middle of the night!

It wasn't real time, but it was fine for the purpose. That was one of my better efforts at pushing Low End Mac Tech to the limits . . .

. . . not too shabby for a utilitarian hack back in the day! ;D

 

[Bunsen]

how would the VideoVision Studio Card in the Radius 81/110/G3 with a Fast SCSI2 card do?

Considering this was exactly the task it was designed for, and that it cost a fortune back in the day, I'd say it should perform pretty adequately

 

[kite210]

I use my Power Mac 8500 with a 300Mhz G3 Upgrade to transfer my tapes, it works quite well with what I've thrown at it so far. I will agree that you need to have a large hard drive to transfer anything longer than 5 minutes, as the sizes greatly expand as the video gets longer.