Tape duplication question
 

I usually only produce video footage for various interactive multimedia productions that we do on CDROM.

Recently I have been asked to do video work which needs to go to tape, so I purchased an S-VHS tape deck and recorded my productions direct from my computer (using a Matrox 2500 card and Premier 6) to the deck to give to the client as a master.

I was disappointed with the output as there seemed to be quite a big picture loss going from digital to analog.

So my question is this... should I rather output back to Mini DV format onto a deck or my XL1s, and then get a professional company to produce the master? Would a professional dupe company have equipment which would do a better job then my S-VHS deck and be able to produce a master which is at least close to the digital output, or would it essentially be the same as using my S-VHS deck?

Is there equipment that I can purchase which would produce a better analog copy, then my $150 JVC deck that I bought from Circuit City that is reasonaly priced? If so, what?

Thanks for any advice folks,

Ron

Ron,
Have you looked through this thread? It looks like much the same subject as your interests.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2365

Ken:

Yes, I read through that thread, but that seems to be all about mass duplication.

My question relates to giving my clients(s) a master tape which is a close to the digital version as possible in terms of quality.

How do you minimize loss of picture quality? Will more expensive equipment do better than my $150 S-VHS deck. Will I do better by going to a professional duplicating company?

What do you do?

Regards

Ron

There are various gizmos available that claim to help you produce better VHS copies. For example:

http://www.elitevideo.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/p-80.html?L+scstore+zbfr2188+1060798355

I'm sure that some can be beneficial and some are snake-oil. But the bottom-line is as someone here recently remarked: VHS at it's best is crap.

Have you considered using DVD for distribution?

DV has a minimum TV resolution of at least 500 lines and so converting down to S-VHS, which has only 400Lines of TV resolution, there will always be quality loss.

How many heads has your S-VHS deck got?

All the best,

Ed

With S-VHS decks, you get what you pay for. I bought a $400 JVC HR-S9800 with a time-base corrector and noise reduction, and have been very pleased with the results.

Mmmm..OK I think I get the picture.

I'm editing using a very high resolution SONY monitor (PVM-14M2U) producing 600 lines of resolution, so when I have to go down to 250 lines it looks crap (as Ken so eloquently put it).

I guess there is really no way of overcoming that technical truth - 250 lines is not as good as 600 - period.

Also, if one is going to mass distribute a tape for general consumption, you have to play to the lowest common denominator which is VHS. Not everyone has S-VHS recorders or TV'S.

Roll on HDTV!

Thanks everyone for your input...

Ron

Ron. S-VHS recorders tend to do better "normal plain" VHS
recording as well. So this might be interesting for you.