Filter and editing problem

At the moment I am converting my family VHC-C tapes. I am using two VirtualDub's version: 1.4.9.2 VCR version for capture and 1.5.1 for post capture manipulation. I am using V-Dub filters only. I spent many hours to try to figure out what every filter does. After reading many of the Docs and several posts I come to the conclusion, the deinterlace filter is quite important. From my experience whenever I am using one it degrades my video. The question is do I need to use it with my VHS-C tapes ?? As far as I know VHS-C are interlaced. Second question: I often test all the different filter configuration. Beforehand I am editing my tapes from all the odd scenes kind of: "Sorry I forgot to turn off my camera" or grandma trying to film us for the very first time. What is the recomended procedure? Editing in AVI stage or MPEG stage. Whewner I save my AVI file I end up with file twice as big as the original. This puts unecessary stress on my HD. Please help Henryk

Vhs-c is interlaced but I can't tell you if it outputs 29.97. Most 8mm analog and some Dv do not which creates a not so smooth capture. A must visit site is for a full explination. I use Virtualdubmod 1.5.4 for preprocessing of my captured MPEG2 clips. I do all my editing in MEP2004 from Magix. I prefer MPEG2 format for these reason's 1. Quality capture with a ATI 9000 AIW card is on par with DV.avi and takes 1/3 less hard drive space. 2. Fast editing, no slow down on the timeline as compared to other *.avi codec except for DV.avi. 3. If your end product is DVD, you are already in that format. See the posts on taking out unwanted parts of the clip. I beleive it is as simple as set the inpoint and outpoint and hit delete. I do this in the other program. richard photorecall.net

Thanks for that RFMMARS. You said VHS-C camcorder output is possibly 29.97. Is this still true for Australia with the PAL system. I captured all my videos with 25 frame rate ??? is very helpfull but it opened can of worms for me. After reading all the INFO there it seems nothing is certain in this world. I guees this is just steep learning curve for me. Anyway I come to conclusion, I should not use deintelace filter at all when primary I intend play my converted VHS-C tapes on the standalone DVD. Am I right?? I read through several posts about editing out unwanted frames. I am talking about editing out frames from AVI file in V_Dub. Several posters warned against deleting just any frame. Aparently is safe to delete only the key frames. What are the key frames? I presume key frames are the one at the very beginig of the every scene. Is this correct?? What about about unwanted frame with the photo flash right in the middle of the scene. Is ok just to click DEL on it. Thanks in advance. Please let me know, am I in right section to ask this questions. Henryk

henryk..........The frame rate for PAL is 25 fps or slighty less(23.??), you need to check on that. You have lees problems with conversion of analog vhs, but some DV units only output at 12 fps. Editing key frames..... Yes if you delete key frames then the referance frame is missing for the following non key frames. With the Magix program MEP2004 which is called Video Deluxe 2004 in Europe, you can edit anywhere you want, because it does not ever touch your original clip, it is frame accurate for editing. Think of it as a super deluxe media player in which you tell it how to play the clip back, and what part. You can download a Demo version from A lot of reviewers don't like the product because its way over their heads. There happy with stupid programs like Studio 8. It's not that hard to learn. You can do more, burn DVDs, and get more work done faster with this program than anyother. You need to print out the 196 page manual and it doesn't cover everything either. There are forums in the US, UK, and Germany. I will give you help if needed. Don't buy the E version, and make sure the version is for where you live. Your just starting out, I been in this almost 15 years, and the great thing I learn something new every day. richard photorecall.net

I do delinterlace when burning. It is part of the MEP2004 DVD burning options, so you may want to do that in VD. richard

This still doesn't answer my questions. I am not using Mep2004, at least not at the moment. Is the deintelacing advisable when final converted DVD is used mainly on the DVD/TV setup. Is it OK to delete single frame right in the middle of the scene when editing as previously described. Someone must know the answer :confused: Thanks in advance. Henryk

Let me carifly my post. Yes deinterlace before burning in any program. Thats what works for me. richard

What is 'mainly' used on DVD/TV? If you watch it on an interlaced display after deinterlacing it it would still look fine (as long as the deinterlacing was nicely done), but if you watch it on a progressive display (monitor) without deinterlacing it looks very bad (IMHO). In huffyuv compressed video every frame is a key frame. (vdub tells you which frames are key frames, look for the little (K) that appears in the status bar when you are on a key frame. Do you have to worry about audio sync?

Thanks for this. This cleared my mind. Henryk