Black line when capturing video

[okee]

Hi

I am trying to transfer an original movie from VHS to DVD
for a friend. The problem i am having is a shadow at the bottom
of the screen.


I'm using WinDV to capture (VS is giving me problems) from a VHS player connected
to my Sony DCR HC96
I have captured other video where the line wasn't so bad
but i was just wondering if there's any way to get around it.

Thanks

Richard

[Ken Berry]

I get such a line with any capture from a VCR. But in the past I have never worried about it, as it falls in the overscan area of a CRT TV screen. I am not sure what happens with a flat screen TV however.

Otherwise, all you can do is use the crop filter to clip it out.

[sjj1805]

Been there, done that etc.
A few years ago when I started to get into video editing it was of course natural to move everything off my VHS tapes onto DVD and then do the same for some friends and family.
Using the exact same equipment and settings, most VHS tapes would transfer over without any problems. A few would have niggling issues such as the one in you example above.

The problem is the reason why we move our VHS stuff onto DVD!
Tapes stretch, deteriorate and gather dirt. The tapes get wrinkled and frayed and the tracking goes out of alignment.

Some tapes you can "recover" by doing things like:
Adjusting the tracking.
Fast forwarding / rewinding the tapes several times
Using a Tape Head Cleaning Cassette.
Recording as best you can then cropping the video with your Editor.
Hiding spoilt areas with overlays, logos, lower thirds etc.

In some cases you just have to bite the bullet and put it down to bad luck and try and get a fresh copy on DVD.