Canon HV20 can't handle very bright video on pass-through?
July 11, 2011 9:27 PM Subscribe
I've digitized some ancient VHS tapes by passing the video from my VCR through a Canon HV20 to iMovie '09 on my Mac mini, but a couple tapes seem to be confusing the HV20. Can you help me import these troublesome videos to my Mac?
My bare-bones VCR → HV20 → Mac mini setup has worked well for digitizing VHS tapes from 25+ years ago. However, very bright scenes—like those in the snow—on some of the tapes cause the HV20 to act like there's no longer any video signal coming from the VCR. When those scenes begin I suddenly get the blue screen on the HV20, as though I shut off the VCR.
What's weird is that if I press Stop on the VCR, then immediately press Play, the video will pass through the HV20 again until it becomes too bright and the HV20 gives up again. Since the HV20 acts like there's no video, iMovie '09 thinks the video is done and the import stops.
My questions are:
My bare-bones VCR → HV20 → Mac mini setup has worked well for digitizing VHS tapes from 25+ years ago. However, very bright scenes—like those in the snow—on some of the tapes cause the HV20 to act like there's no longer any video signal coming from the VCR. When those scenes begin I suddenly get the blue screen on the HV20, as though I shut off the VCR.
What's weird is that if I press Stop on the VCR, then immediately press Play, the video will pass through the HV20 again until it becomes too bright and the HV20 gives up again. Since the HV20 acts like there's no video, iMovie '09 thinks the video is done and the import stops.
My questions are:
- Is there something I can do to the VCR and/or HV20 to fix this problem? Keep in mind my VCR is very entry-level; I don't have much more than Stop, Play, FF and Rew capabilities.
- Is there a relatively inexpensive composite-to-USB or -FireWire cable you'd recommend to bypass the HV20 and that would allow me to import the video into iMovie '09?
After reading a bit of the manual online, I don't think it does. But if your barebones VCR has auto tracking, you might try turning that off on the VCR side. Even on a bare bones VCR you should have tracking controls, and some of the more recent models (*ahem* meaning the last generation of them) often had auto-adjust tracking on them.
I don't know enough about iMovie '09 to give you input about the settings on that side, unfortunately. (I'm still using iMovie HD from 2006 because frankly it was an easier to use product for simple VHS transfers that I wanted to make.) But from a quick launch of it on the machine I have here I can't see there's anything to adjust from the preferences. Maybe from within capture window itself there's an adjustment.
Good luck.
posted by smallerdemon at 9:56 PM on July 11, 2011
I don't know enough about iMovie '09 to give you input about the settings on that side, unfortunately. (I'm still using iMovie HD from 2006 because frankly it was an easier to use product for simple VHS transfers that I wanted to make.) But from a quick launch of it on the machine I have here I can't see there's anything to adjust from the preferences. Maybe from within capture window itself there's an adjustment.
Good luck.
posted by smallerdemon at 9:56 PM on July 11, 2011
Response by poster: I checked the manual and there are white balance options...but only for recording. In pass-through mode the camera is set for playback.
I don't think any options in iMovie would help, because it stops importing when it sees that the HV20 has bailed. I agree that iMovie is much easier than '09. My mini came with it and wasn't sure that I could downgrade to HD.
posted by DakotaPaul at 10:02 PM on July 11, 2011
I don't think any options in iMovie would help, because it stops importing when it sees that the HV20 has bailed. I agree that iMovie is much easier than '09. My mini came with it and wasn't sure that I could downgrade to HD.
posted by DakotaPaul at 10:02 PM on July 11, 2011
Best answer: Yeah, that's a reasonably common problem with transferring using home video equipment. Usually, it's due to either:
The second cause really requires a proper video processor / timebase corrector to fix. The first can often be fixed by using a small voltage divider between VCR output & the capture device input. I suck at ASCII art, so I'll just point at the Wikipedia page for voltage dividers, and suggest something like a 150Ω resistor for Z1,and a 300Ω resistor for Z2.
posted by Pinback at 10:13 PM on July 11, 2011
- Too high a video signal - 1.5v - or even 3v - p-p used to be common for VCR outputs, while standard composite is (~) 1v p-p; or
- AGC drift in either the output or input device 'shifting' the signal so the sync signal on the porch is lost.
The second cause really requires a proper video processor / timebase corrector to fix. The first can often be fixed by using a small voltage divider between VCR output & the capture device input. I suck at ASCII art, so I'll just point at the Wikipedia page for voltage dividers, and suggest something like a 150Ω resistor for Z1,and a 300Ω resistor for Z2.
posted by Pinback at 10:13 PM on July 11, 2011
Best answer: The soluition might be cheaper to just take the problematic tapes to a company to digitize them. If you just have a few problematic tapes to fix than it could be MUCH cheaper.
posted by Murray M at 3:50 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by Murray M at 3:50 AM on July 12, 2011
Response by poster: Wow, Pinback, I had no idea.
I currently have some slides out to ScanCafe for digitizing, so if I'm happy with their work I'll send them my tapes, too. Thanks, Murray M.
posted by DakotaPaul at 8:36 AM on July 12, 2011
I currently have some slides out to ScanCafe for digitizing, so if I'm happy with their work I'll send them my tapes, too. Thanks, Murray M.
posted by DakotaPaul at 8:36 AM on July 12, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by smallerdemon at 9:43 PM on July 11, 2011