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With Windows Media Center (WMC), I recorded VHS videos. WMC creates files with the "dvr-ms" extension. I want to convert these to MPG format, so that I can play the videos on my Mac.

I used VLC 1.1.11 on Windows to convert these files. When I played the MPG files with VLC (on Windows or Mac) or with Windows Media Player on the PC, there are snags/pauses in the video every couple of minutes. That is, the video stops for a brief moment or the audio disappears for a brief moment. On one of the MPG videos, the audio seems to be lagging the video by a slight bit.

Does anybody know how to convert the dvr-ms files properly without having snags/pauses and lags?

I had these settings in VLC when I converted:

Encapsulation: MPEG-1
Keep original video track
Codec: MPEG-1
Bitrate: 9999 kb/s
Frame rate: 29.97 fps
Keep original audio track
Codec: MPEG Audio
Bitrate: 128 kb/s
Channels: 2
Sample Rate: 8000

Have you tried tool called DVRMSToolbox?

And MPEG-1 really isn't best possible option quality-wise.

Thanks for replying. Does DVRMSToolbox do a better job than VLC?

What should I use instead of MPEG-1? A friend who is familiar with video file formats recommended it. It's supposed to help preserve the highest quality, which is what I want to do.

MPEG-1 was developed in 1980s, so it isn't very good on any standards (but it somewhat parent free nowadays).

If you want good quality output, use x264 encoder for video.

Best option would be not to re-encode at all during capture stage, so if you want good quality captures use Dscaler or Virtualdub for capturing (if you have disk space, use lossless encoding). Then encode to the final format.

Dear VLC_help,

I'm not sure if there's miscommunication here, as I'm not sure what you mean by "capture". I assume that I've already captured the videos with Windows Media Center (WMC), when I recorded the videos from my VHS player onto the PC. I now have these "dvr-ms" files that I like to convert over.

I tried converting again with VLC, except this time, I used the H-264 codec (there is no x264 encoder). I still get the same problems.

Should I try converting with DVRMSToolbox, Dscaler or Virtualdub to convert?

I meant that you capture directly from VHS with Dscaler or with Virtualdub.

For VLC related issues, what does Tools -> Messages (set Verbosity to 2) complain when you try the conversion?

And also, have you tried VLC 1.2.0 nightly builds?

Thanks for replying.

I no longer have my Windows PC, as I have replaced it with a Mac. I have Parallels, which runs Windows 7 under the Mac OS, but this is a hassle. Do you know if Dscaler or Virtualdub will work on a Mac?

Also, VLC does not seem to do on conversions on a Mac, or am I missing something?

Mac versions should also do the conversions, but the GUI is a bit different since Mac OS X still uses the "old" wizard mode.

There aren't native Dscaler or Virtualdub for Mac OS X.