Best format copy VHS movies.

I am currently trying to copy all my old VHS movies onto my hard drive so I can get rid of the tapes.
I have figured out how to connect my old VCR to my computer. I have figured out how to capture the movie into FCE. Now when I save the file using the default quicktime settings the file is 4 gig! What would be a better way to export this so that I can stay under 1 gig per movie?
thanks

Here is my desired sequence of operation.
1. Remove VHS copy of Matrix from shelf.
2. Capture Matrix into FCE.
3. Export Matrix to a file under 1 Gig that still has reasonable quality.
4. Copy exported Matrix to my super huge media hard drive.
5. Give VHS copy of Matrix to Goodwill.
6. Repeat above steps with Gladiator, Ronin, Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner. etc...
7. When video storage shelf is empty, give it to Goodwill.
8. 5 months from now, get steak, watch Matrix from my hard drive.
I see there are devices that come with software that allow you to do this operation. But I would have to pay for them, and I already own all the equipment to capture the VHS into FCE. The reason I don't want real DVD's is I then have to store them in a physical location which defeats the exercise of removing stuff from my extremely small apartment.
So is there a way to take a 90 minute DV file, export it using quicktime conversion, and end up with a file of reasonable quality under 1 gig.
For reference I do not have a high def tv... in fact I am giving my old 21" tube tv to Goodwill as well. I dont watch TV I am not spoiled by extremely sharp movies. Chances are I will be drinking some whisky while watch the movies so if it is not super amazing quality I really dont care.
thanks

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MPEG-1 files (how old is 1991) must completely download before viewer playback can begin. They are huge in file size compared to modern QuickTime formats.
H.264 would require all of your viewers to have QuickTIme 7. Not really much of an issue as it is now 2 years old and ships with iTunes (Mac or PC's).
Flash video will require special software to convert your files.
Same with WMP formats and any re-compression degrades video quality.
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Web viewers need a speedy download and are used to poor quality audio and video. If you don't need "stereo", switch to mono and save half of the bandwidth resources. Same with the frame rate of your source files. Cut it to "half" (15fps) and save some file size.
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Avoid H.264 video codec (default in many presets) so older versions of QuickTime can view your files. Use MPEG-4 or H.263 or Sorenson 3 instead.
The reason your controller isn't showing is because you've (probably) didn't allow for it in the movie dimensions. A 320X240 .mov file would become 320X256 (16 pixels for the controller).
Make sure you're using the proper "tags" (object and embed) in your page code.
More info here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61011
No need for "streaming" (hint tracks) in your movies. They are only used by special software if your files are served from streaming servers. Your files download and the hint tracks only add to the file size and are not needed.

Best format for ps3 and apple tv

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Message was edited by: rwltrz4

Thanks.
I've posted up on their forum too (the folks over there are not as responsive as you guys, helpful, but not in the same volume )
I kinda hear what you're saying, but the encoding time (fps and time taken) is pretty slow on my PPC G5 iMac at the moment, and if the Turbo.264 is doing most of the processing then from what you say it'll stay the same on a new Intel Mac. I really hope not, or it'll be me throwing in the whole notion of recording TV on my Mac and heading off down the shop for a PlayTV for the PS3.
Either that or hope for a decent upgrade to the Mini at Macworld, sling the Apple TV on to ebay (film rental selection here in the UK is still pretty weak) and replace with a Mini, plug the tuner in that and watch native EyeTV recordings without the need for lengthy encoding. I reckon Front Row, and an iPhone Remote will do almost as good a job for my music as the Apple TV does.
One day we will look back and laugh at the notion of an hour long TV show being 'encoded' for playback at all, let alone waiting more than 2 minutes for the process to happen!

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Csound1 wrote:
Microsoft has not released the official exFAT file system specification, and a restrictive license from Microsoft is required in order to make and distribute exFAT implementations. Microsoft also asserts patents on exFAT which make it impossible to re-implement its functionality in a compatible way without violating a large percentage of them.[13] This renders the implementation, distribution, and use of exFAT as a part of free or open-source operating systems or of commercial software, for which the vendors could not obtain a license from Microsoft, not only technically difficult, but legally impossible in countries that recognize United States software patents.
Can't help with that, if one is using a Windows machine then they are subjected to their rules and control.
Limited support outside Windows and Mac OS X operating systems as of 2012, when most consumer electronic devices could only handleFAT12/FAT16/FAT32, rendering exFAT (and flash memory formats using it) impractical as a universal exchange format.
The OP said they plan to store movies on the external drive.
Many movies today are well over 4GB in size, thus exFAT has to be used and formatted on the PC, which the Mac can then read.
Older Windows NT versions up to Windows Vista without Service Pack 1 do not support exFAT.
Irrelevant, Microsoft provides a free download of exFAT for Windows XP, and Vista shouldn't be running on pre SP1 anyway.
Some distributions of Linux have begun to include support for exFAT. It is however, only available as a file system in user space, as it's not supported by the kernel.
Irrelevant, OP is using Windows and OS X, not Linux and if they did Linux can read the files at least and transfer, which is all they care about really.
Windows Vista is unable to use exFAT drives for ReadyBoost. Windows 7 removes this limitation, enabling ReadyBoost caches larger than 4 GiB.[14]
Irrelevant, the OP's is intending to use it as transfer drive between Mac's and Windows for movies.
The standard exFAT implementation only uses a single file allocation table and free space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.
Some relevancy, but only exFAT can handle 4GB+ files between Mac's and PC's, so the need outweighs the possible problem.
The OP needs to follow the standard Windows practice of "safely removing hardware" before physically disconnecting the external drive. If a write is occurring, it won't allow disconnecting until the write is finished.
Support for up to 2,796,202 files per subdirectory only.[1][nb 3] Microsoft documents a limit of 65,534 files per sub-directory for their FAT32 implementation, but other operating systems have no special limit for the number of files in a FAT32 directory. FAT32 implementations in other operating systems allow an unlimited number of files up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 268,304,373 files on volumes without long filenames).[nb 4]
Not a issue, only in extreme cases of a lot of small files. The OP plans to use it for movies which are usually large and take up a lot of space on the drive.
IMMO It looks like you just ran off and copied something to argue your point when all the points are basically irrelevant.
There is only one format that can easily share 4GB sized files between Mac's and PC's without further complications.
It's ALSO possible to install MacDrive on the PC and format the drive on the Mac HFS+, but I didn't recommend that because I know it's a hassle just like third party NTFS writing software is a hassle on Mac's.
If you so anti-Microsoft format, then you must know Paragon has to pay a license fee to Microsoft for using the NTFS format.
At least with exFAT there is no fee to Redmond, at least not yet.

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Merry Christmas

Repartition and format the drive for a Mac:
Drive Preparation
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4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
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Like in After effect we use "NTSC D1 Widescreen Square Pixel".,
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I asked this question in iMovie and told it belonged here. When i try to copy homemade movie _TS format it will not auto load in DVD player original does. How do I make a copy that will auto load?

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garysm99 wrote:
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I copied a movie home movie from a VHS tape to a disc. I want to edit it and make it a part of iMovie. How do I do this?

I used a software product called Honestech 5.0 from VHS to Disc. I have converted several of my VHS tapes to discs. I would like to modify the movies on these discs. I do not have any idea how to do this. Can it be done?
I have iDVD, iTunes,and iMovie on my Apple computer.

Thanks for the assistance. I will purchase the software. Copying VHS to DVD disc went well? I wanted to clean up the movies I copied by editing. I plan to use iMovie to do this and then copy this edited version to a DVD disc.
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I need to digitize VHS movies to an editable format to iMac.

I need to digitize VHS movies to an editable format to Mac. I've tried the Elgato Video Capture but it only works if you use it with the software that only export in mp4 format. No editable format. I need to make adjustments and cut it afterwards. I have an iMac 27 "2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 and OS X 10.8.3. IMovie '11.

I would suggest using your ElGato.
Record the video in MP4 or h.264. They should be roughly equivalent quality since h.264 is more efficient.
These will import and edit directly in iMovie.
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The alternative are the Firewire-based DACs from Grass Valley. They will convert to DV, and in my experience do not produce enough qualtity difference to justify spending several humdred dollars more. After all, the original VHS is roughly 400x300 pixels, so it is never going to look like DV from a DV camera.
Personally I use the EyeTV Hybrid with the EyeTV 3 software. I do not know for sure, but I assume the EyeTV Video Capture is very similar, but without the TV Tuner.

Best Format for Archiving Video Files

I am importing old VHS and 8mm family videos for my cousin, to both burn them to DVD, and to archive the movies in case he wants to edit them later.
I am planning on purchasing for him, a "write once," external HDD, probably firewire, (though I am open to suggestions), to put both the backup Video TS folders on, as well as the Quicktime movies themselves.
My guess is, the best format for the QT movies would be their original DV-NTSC, but at around 13GB an hour, this can add up pretty fast.
The h264 .mov codec looks great, takes forever to render, and it seems the file size difference to DV-NTSC is nominal at best.
Obviously the future is some kind of HD, so these movies will never look great years from now, but I want them to be preserved for him at the best quality possible, at the smallest file size, if it will not compromise the quality too much.
I know I can render them significantly smaller as h264 .mp4 files, or as DIVX, (which also takes a long time), but I imagine they are of significantly reduced quality that would be visible in future video editing he might do.
If DV-NTSC is the only way to go, so be it. But if not, then any suggestions for what other format I could use to save these QT files, without visible loss of quality is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all the advice. And I mean everyone.
Here is my latest dilemma.
Though 15 years old, the original Vhs's play beautifully. Aside from some (expected) glitches in the beginning or end of some of the shots, the video has not degraded appreciably. This is great news, as my cousin wanted to make back ups before degradation begins.
First, I captured the Vhs movies and corrected some bad color, mostly due to poor white balancing, and on the computer, they looked great in comparison. I burned DVD's and they looked terrible in comparison with the originals. Now I know I am going to lose some resolution when going to DVD, but it seemed harsh, so I ran some tests.
I burned a DVD of the original capture, with no color correction, just the raw footage and the DVD did not look much better, so it wasn't the color correction.
Not satisfied, I made a copy from the FCP timeline straight to Vhs, (I should note, through the ADVC-110.) This looked significantly degraded as well.
Finally, I made a straight dub from Vhs to DVCam, figuring that had to look good, and that also looked significantly degraded, compared to the, (now looking pristine), Vhs original.
As the original Vhs looks so good, what good would a TBC do? Or a proc amp?
Is there some secret to capturing and exporting Vhs that I am missing? Or, will it always look significantly degraded, even straight to DVCam?
+David Murray wrote: There is an industrial way to get good VhS copies but it is extremely expensive+
I don't know what this is, but I am sure it is clearly out of our league, but David M., if you are still following this thread, I'm curious, would this ultra expensive method actually result in a dub that looks like the original? I am actually really shocked at how bad the straight DVCam dub looks. It really does not look much better than the color corrected, computer exported version.
The Vhs tapes of my cousins daughter are as precious to him as anything he has.
As they date back 15 years, he is concerned about the longevity of the tapes.
As there are over forty hours of them, he wants them to be in an editable format, so later he or his daughter can make a highlight reel, or whatever. So thus the QT movie archive/backup on HD.
Whether as Finalcutter said, that this drive, even if unused, and put in a cool dry safe, might not function years down the line, makes it iffy, but what other choice is there for editable versions, unless I break the QT movies up into 20 minute chunks and archive them to over a hundred DVD's instead. Perhaps that is the safest solution, though certainly time consuming.
As failure of the HDD somewhere in the future is likely, though not certain, I am still not sure that the HDD holding all his QT movies for future editing is the wrong way to go.
As it is a digital version, and not an analog copy, I get that a DVCam backup of the originals is the best option. I will suggest to him that we do this as well, even though he does not have DVCam himself. But again, is there something I am missing here? Why does the Vhs to DVCam copy look so degraded? Is there anything I can do to keep the original quality, or will it die with his original Vhs as it slowly degrades over time?

Best format copy VHS movies.

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