Video Capture Codec

[ThatOtherGuy]

Hi there,

Im new into video capturing. I'm using VirtualVCR v2.6.9.6252 to capture video from my TV card. I tried using Huffyuv v2.1.1 with a frame size of 768x576. My first question is, should the checkbox on the Video tab "Use Custom Setting" be checked?

Secondly, after 9 minutes I had a file size of 4 GB(on FAT32 drive...my bad!). Is this normal? Is It correct? Is this the optimal setting?

I would like to put the captured programs on VCD/DVD.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[Richard_G]

Where are you, PAL or NTSC country?

[ThatOtherGuy]

Im in South Africa (PAL).

Celeron 2.4GHz
512MB DDR
80 GB HDD

Thanks

[spectroelectro]

Got to be PAL. Huffyuv is a real monster for chewing disc space. Roughly 40 gigs per hour. That's the price you pay for using a lossless codec. The encoding times will be correspondingly larger, too. You might want to try the new Mainconcept 1.41 DV encoder. It can capture directly to many video capture devices and you can set the framesize arbitrarily. Capturing directly into Type 2 DV would cut your disc space requirements down to 13 gigs per hour. Or you can even capture directly into MPEG-2 or even Divx in Mainconcept 1.41 if you really want to cut down on filesize.

[Richard_G]

For PAL you want to use a DVD compliant resolution if DVD is going to be your final destination. Use 720 x 576 for full frame or 352 x 576 for Half D!. This will allow twice as much per disc with too much of a compromise on the final quality.

Use, as spectroelectro says, the Mainconcept encoder or an MJPEG encoder such as the PicVideo one. Alternatively, try downloading the free trial of Ulead DVD MovieFactory from www.ulead.co.uk (or the SA site if there is one). It does everything from capture to burn and incorporates the Mainconcept encoder so the quality is good too.

[Nelson37]

Real-time capture using any significant amount of compression becomes heavily dependent on CPU speed and capture card used. Filling out your profile would be helpful to determine feasability.

It's a matter of how many compression cycles you are willing to go through.

As for subsequent encoding time, I have found no capture method which provides for faster re-encodes than a Huffy AVI.

One thing to consider when evaluating quality, which I learned the hard way. Huffy is NOT designed for playback, it is designed for storage. You may see anomalies in a Huffy AVI playback which are not present with other intermediate codecs, these will, however, not be present in the final encoded MPG, or Divx, or whatever.

[trhouse]

FAT32 allows a maximum file size of 4GB. That does not allow much capture time in the lightly compressed formats. Even DV at 13 GB/hour is only about 18 minutes.

[edDV]

Im in South Africa (PAL).

Celeron 2.4GHz
512MB DDR
80 GB HDD

Thanks

You need a much larger second drive for huffyuv. Encoding a DVD will take many hours from a huffyuv capture, probably more hours than you want to spend for a PVR application.

other ways
1. Buy a capture card with hardware MPeg2 encoding (e.g. PVR-250). This realtime encodes a DVD MPeg2 file that can be authored directly after capture.

2. Attempt realtime software encode with ULead Video Studio or ULead Movie factory. I can make it work at ULead's default DVD MPeg2 7Mb/s VBR settings for the internal Mainconcept encoder with a stripped down dedicated Celeron 2.4GHz with 512MB RAM. CPU runs ~60-70% with occcasional 100% activity when it rebuffers. Result is a DVD compliant MPeg2 file.

The hardware solution will allow you to use the PC for other uses while encoding.

[ThatOtherGuy]

Sorry about the lack of info in my profile. I have now added some more info.

[ThatOtherGuy]

Thanks for all the advice. I have read such alot on tutorials and articles about the subject on the Net, my brain is about to explode. And it is a Saturday evening.

But I think I will use your guys' advice mainly and play around a bit more.

I want to upgrade my machine as well, but its not gonna be soon.

[edDV]

Sorry about the lack of info in my profile. I have now added some more info.

OK but the same issues apply.

What software have you got to author a DVD?

[ThatOtherGuy]

I just downloaded the latest MainConcept DV codec and PICvideo MJPEG codec. I'm impressed with their quality and CPU/Disk Utilization.

Concerning software, the tutorials I have read suggest TMPGenc and DVD-LAB, so I decided to get it. I haven't authored anything to DVD yet because I was still struggling with the ideal capturing codec. I want to still keep the original captured video on my hard drive.

But I think I will use the codecs you guys suggested and I might be ready to get on with my "projects".

Thanks.

[edDV]

I just downloaded the latest MainConcept DV codec and PICvideo MJPEG codec. I'm impressed with their quality and CPU/Disk Utilization.

Concerning software, the tutorials I have read suggest TMPGenc and DVD-LAB, so I decided to get it. I haven't authored anything to DVD yet because I was still struggling with the ideal capturing codec. I want to still keep the original captured video on my hard drive.

But I think I will use the codecs you guys suggested and I might be ready to get on with my "projects".

Thanks.

Are you saying you can get the Mainconcept encoder to encode realtime from your capture card without drops? Same with PicVideo?

You are on the edge capturing to Mainconcept with that machine. A faster CPU would help.

[ThatOtherGuy]

Well, I first downloaded the MainConcept MPEG Encoder which was a whole new app and my machine was hopeless. I'm using PICVideo 3 DirectShow M-JPEG Compressor and it's fine. Then I used the MainConcept DV Video Encoder which was just a codec and the picture was very jittery.

I'm yet to try the Ulead apps.

Just a final question. To capture using 720x576, will this cut down on the conversion time to DVD either using TMPGenc or Uleade Video Studio?

Sorry for labouring this point but thanks for your patience.

[edDV]

Well, I first downloaded the MainConcept MPEG Encoder which was a whole new app and my machine was hopeless.

I find the version of Mainconcept MPeg2 encoder in the ULead products is more efficient with a 2.4GHz Celeron. I have mine encoding real time to MPeg2.

I'm using PICVideo 3 DirectShow M-JPEG Compressor and it's fine.

Only problem is you will have a long encode step from MJPEG to DVD MPeg2.

Then I used the MainConcept DV Video Encoder which was just a codec and the picture was very jittery.

No way that will work realtime. You would need a DV hardware codec like the Canopus ADVC boxes.

Just a final question. To capture using 720x576, will this cut down on the conversion time to DVD either using TMPGenc or Uleade Video Studio?

You have several alternatives to try.

1. Cap MJPEG at 720x576, then MPeg2 encode to 720x576 for the DVD.

2. Cap MJPEG at 720x576, then MPeg2 encode to 352x576 for the DVD.

3. Cap MJPEG at 352x576, then MPeg2 encode to 352x576 for the DVD.

Alt3 would probably encode a bit faster but the choice is mainly for image quality and DVD disc space.

Once you experience the encode times above, you may decide to reconsider getting a hardware MPeg2 encoder like the Hauppage PVR-250.

[ThatOtherGuy]

I just realised that I enjoy making life difficult for myself. I just discovered that my DVD writer came with Arcsoft Showbiz DVD 2, which has the ability to capture with video in VCD and DVD format. It doesn't have any fancy settings like TMPGenc of Virtual VCR, but the results seem to be fairly decent.

Any idea of the encoder is anything to write home about?

[edDV]

Here are user reviews
https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Arcsoft_ShowBiz_DVD

I doubt it will realtime encode but you can give it a shot.

Try doing short test projects and note times for each step with each software.

[ThatOtherGuy]

I'm blown away that someone will reply to a question 2 years later. But I do thank you.

Does one have to buy this codec or is it freely downloadable?