I have a bunch of old VHS tapes that I want to digitize. I have never digitized VHS tapes before. I picked up a generic HDMI capture card, and a generic composite to HDMI converter. Using both of those, I was planning on hooking a VCR up to a computer running OBS. Overall, I’m rather ignorant of the process. The main questions that I currently have are as follows:

  • What are the best practices for reducing the risk of damaging the tapes?
  • Are there any good steps to take to maximize video quality?
  • Is a TBC required (can it be done in software after digitization)?
  • Should I clean the VCR after every tape?
  • Should I clean every tape before digitization?
  • Should I have a separate VCR for the specific purpose of cleaning tapes?

Please let me know if you have any extra advice or recommendations at all beyond what I have mentioned. Any information at all is a big help.

  • ChaoticNeutralCzechEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    First question addressed in other today’s comment.

    Yes, within OBS. IDK where it shows if frames were dropped but it most likely at least writes it to some kind of log. It is a key statistic for most use cases of the software so it would be bonkers if you couldn’t find it.

    Auto-gain is a microphone thing, you likely won’t see it with line inputs on converters and capture cards because line levels are standardized and there will most likely be no overshoot.