Making better-than-crap quality from average sources does not require "lots of money", it just takes some effort -- effort to learn what is good and what is not, and time to learn proper settings in the hardware/software (as opposed to "auto" or default settings).
Buying a VCR from Walmart/Best Buy (or using the POS you bought in 1995), and hooking it up directly into the cheapest DVD recorder available from Walmart/Best Buy is sloppy and makes crap. To top it off, you'll get people that make 6-hour mode dubs, complete with tracking errors and audio buzz/hiss, using cheap Memorex blanks. This is then re-encoded even sloppier, and then barfed online into a torrent or onto Youtube.
An hour of reading would have avoided that whole mess.
There should also be a degree of patience. Do one video, and then learn how to do better next time. Sadly, most people try to churn out everything rapid-fire (again, often for some kind of monetary gain or bragging rights), and their 100th video is just as awful as the 1st. That was unnecessary, too!
There needs to be middle ground between lazy crap, and that "best" pro work. And yes, that does require adopting some pro methods and equipment. Even something as simple as a $200-300 JVC/Panasonic VCR will cause massive quality increases. Still not pro, no -- but a heck of a lot better in the quality department.