A 'sound' question

[Roger Rettig]

I had a very old, much degraded, VHS tape converted to DVD.

The visual is all washed out and, unfortunately, there's very little audio output. I have my PC's volume at 100% but it's no good. I can hear what's going on but only through headphones, and then it's muted.

I'd really like to share this: it's from the '80s when Elton John came on to the stage in our show and sang. We were doing 'Pump Boys & Dinettes' in the West End and Kiki Dee invited her old friend.

My question is: can I boost the volume 'artificially' by any means? After that, I'd need to learn how to upload the segment to YouTube.

One step at a time, though.

[Chris Harwood]

Realize when you boost volumes, background noise also gets boosted the same amount. There are some noise reduction tools available that do a reasonably good job. Restoring video is even harder. If this is really something important to you, professional restoration services exist too. I can help with basic clean up and also with posting to youtube.

[Roger Rettig]

Ron:

I realize that raising the level will accentuate the poor audio, but I need it louder in order to share it. Elton's performance, although impromptu, was very good and I can hear my steel behind it all.

The video quality is a bust, I fear. It's gone a sort of purple colour. It was filmed in 1985 and the tape's not been well cared for. In any case, the camera was perched next to the sound-guy at the front of the balcony seating. You can barely see faces, just movement. The audio is of more importance, I feel.

If I can figure out how to extract the 15 minute segment from the DVD, maybe I could send you a link? It's all a mystery: I can play it on my PC using Windows Media Player but how do I 'capture' it?

[Chris Harwood]

There are free screen capture programs...such as OBS...but that sends you down the trail, learning something new.
Uploading a file to Google Drive, will allow others to access larger files, too large to send in emails, etc.
That would probably be the easiest route at this point.
Google Drive is free and you might investigate the process of using that so others can get to your larger files.
You should be able to drag the file off your DVD into Google Drive, to upload it into the storage program.

[Jim Kennedy]

Audacity, a free recording program, will capture any audio playing on your computer. The settings can be found in the users manual. Once set up, all you have to do is press record at the right moment for the audio you want to capture. There are free plugins available that deal with eq, noise reduction, level adjustment and just about anything else you might need. Go here to download and find all the information you need:

https://www.audacityteam.org/

The late great b0b recorded at least on album using this free open source program, and I am sure others here, like myself, have used it as well.

[Chris Harwood]

Jim's suggestion is also good. If you get acquainted enough with the program, you may be able to rescue the audio yourself, to your satisfaction.

[Roger Rettig]

Thanks to everyone!

The Audacity option seems the best. After all, this is a one-off occurrence and I don't really want to spend any significant money.

It took me 34 years to even bother to get the DVD transfer (an old friend in Mass.), so you can see how 'urgent' it was.

I quite liked Elton's records, but didn't think him particularly special. Hearing him that night, though, changed my view. He was excellent and it was nice to chat with him later when he came backstage to see where the steel had come from!

[Bill Ferguson]

Roger,
For all my VHS to Digital transfers, I used Cyberlink Power Director.
I still have the program on my computer.
If you want to make a copy on a thumb drive and send it to me, I will be happy to increase the volume and send it back to you, no charge.

Bill