Digitising Composite Video - any recommendations for a composite upscaler and HDMI capture device?

[Mysterae_]

Does anybody have any recommendations for a relatively cheap but good quality composite to HDMI upscaler and a separate HDMI (USB3) capture device?

I've been tasked with digitising some old camcorder videos and from what I've discovered you get better results using separate devices. One device for upscaling the composite video (s-video possibly) to HDMI and then capturing the HDMI with a capture device, preferably USB3 or higher.

Budget is around £100 and I don't need any editing software as I already use DaVinci Resolve.

Cheers.

 

[Mysterae_]

Thanks for your advice @Lord Alibaski but a little too late as I've already ordered some hardware . The camcorder is a Hi8 with no s-video output so composite is what I'm starting with.

I went down a right rabbit hole with this project. First I saw this video that simplified the capturing and digitising of the video:

Then I looked at various upscalers and capture devices, read reviews and thought I might have to up my budget somewhat for better quality.

Then I stumbled across this video....

Before I knew it I was looking at Time Base Correctors, BlackMagic's Analogue to SDI and UpDownCrossHD mini converters and capture devices from Elgato . Probably skip the time base corrector though....

Then I gave myself a reality check and kicked scope creep to the kerb!

I settled on two devices:

Upscaler - an average reviewed unit from Tendak for the composite to HDMI conversion/upscaling, £33.
Capture Device - a well reviewed unit from Mirabox for the capturing to PC using the free OBS software, £44.

So for £77 I should have a pretty easy system of digitising the numerous tapes.

However, I'm thinking I should have got the StarTech upscaler that does 720p for £81 instead as that's much better reviewed and used Resolve's Super Scale feature to get to 1080p. Or perhaps StarTech's alternative 1080p version for £144. If the Tendak unit is really crap then I'll go the StarTech route and decide on either hardware or software for further upscaling.

 

[Mysterae_]

There isn't much to say looks like you already chose before listening to any advice from anyone on here.

You can use composite connection with the Lite-on devices, some have a FireWire connection also something most camcorders have (depending on age). The software you want to buy isn't a dedicated analog capturing software its screen capturing software so again will be limited on what you can do and actual quality, Something free like virtualdub2 would have been better.

The end of the day it is your choice on what you want to buy and how you want to capture them, I was just giving advice on a much easier way when doing it your way won't give you good results there won't be any improvement on picture quality doing that way.

Meow! I did wait while I continued my research but I was beginning to think it was too niche .

I looked in to the various devices you mentioned and it's mostly expensive second hand stuff with no guarantee of condition. The free and open source OBS suite is capturing software used by thousands of streamers and gamers but of course that can only capture and return the quality that it's HDMI capture device is given, i.e. from the analogue converter/upscaler. The Tendak converter/upscaler has reasonable reviews but I suspect that's from people upscaling old game consoles that don't have to deal with TBC. I shall see.

This approach seems very simple - Camcorder, composite output --> Tendak converter, HDMI output --> Mirabox capture device, USB3 output --> PC, running OBS. The process seems very easy - Press 'play' on the camcorder and 'capture' on OBS and let the tape run. Process the resulting file in Resolve as required.

I have come across VirtualDub2 and watched a few youtube videos on it - it does look extremely powerful if a little daunting with all it's options and possible configurations. Well worth a play with though.

Thanks for your advice, it is appreciated.

 

[Mysterae_]

A little abrupt perhaps, no offence taken .

It'll be interesting to see what results I can achieve and if I need to take a different path. I'll let you know!

 

[Mysterae_]

I meant to update this for the interest of the few. The converter and upscaler arrived and I started to have a play.

It's interesting, now these devices are getting older and older, it's getting harder and harder to digitise in older formats.

This is very true, especially when the original device fails!

Not long after starting this my aging Ferguson camcorder just stopped opening to load a tape. Thankfully there wasn't a tape inside it and considering it's age I thought the moving parts might just need a clean and grease, so opened it up.

I wasn't so lucky.

A number of capacitors had leaked on the camcorder's power board causing some corrosion and with power being applied those few times probably caused it to finally fail. I had nothing I could play the tapes on!

So after a bit of research I bought a Sony DCR-TRV340E handycam as a replacement.

As the image above shows, it has svideo, DV (firewire) and USB outputs as well as time base correction. Using this and the converter and upscaler (my PC doesn't have Firewire) I finally got some footage on to my computer for editing.

I've settled on using VirtualDub2 instead of OBS as it has far more control and settings to improve the picture however I've yet to find the best method. Things like capturing at the original resolution and using software to upscale or use the hardware upscaler, what's the best final resolution for viewing and the many other settings I've seen used in tutorials for VirtualDub2. There's a lot of configuration possible!

I'm in no rush though .

 

[Mysterae_]

If you want to upscale stuff I'd recommend using Topaz AI rather than any hardware upscaler, it does a very good job.

A few folk have mentioned Topaz AI, is that the Video AI? A bit pricey at $299 though!

Capture close to the original, even interlaced is fine. The likes of mpeg2 format is designed to match the older style formats so use it.

Svideo is arguably the better channel compared to composite or even DV.

I suppose it was fortuitous that the old camera died so that I can now use the better quality svideo output!

Nice, new cameras are always fun!

My recommendation would be to grab a FireWire card for your PC. Should be able to get one for about a tenner.

FireWire basically allows you to take an exact copy of the data that's on the tape. From there you can then run it through something like Topaz AI to upscale. That will be the best quality you can get.

Software wise, Win DV should capture for you

I don't have the space in my PC for a Firewire card (ITX motherboard, see sig). I looked into Firewire to USB C adaptors but apparently you have to go Firewire DV to Firewire 800 > Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 > Thunderbolt 2 to USB_C and then pray all the cables and converters work with each other!

So svideo it is then .

 

[Mysterae_]

Funnily enough, I also have all those converters for running FireWire when I want to use it on the Mac. Looks atrocious, but does indeed work perfectly

That interesting, perhaps it is an option. I read that the Apple Firewire to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor is the one to go for but it's pricey though.

 

[Mysterae_]

I found an old Hi8 camera in the dump the other day... I don't make a habit of picking stuff out of the bin, but it was sitting right there in the electronics skip when I went to throw some bits.

No battery or PSU, so I need to find one that fits, and it's probably dead anyhow! But looks in very good nick

It wasn't my old one that I chucked?

Make sure you give the head and other internals a clean before you put a tape in it. Good luck on getting it working.

 

[Mysterae_]

Interesting! If we don't hear from you again then I'll presume the tape had something juicy on it and Mi5 got you .