Recommend AGP 4x capture card for P4 2.4GHz computer please??

[w@ntonsoup]

I'm building a PC to capture old VHS and 8mm camcorder, using my old P4 computer. It'll have a 2.4 GHz / 800 FSB processor, 1GB - 1.5 GB of PC133 RAM, and two hard drives. Now, onto the video capture card.

I have AGP 4x and PCI slots, so I figure AGP is best.

What a great, cheap AGP capture card that would provide AMAZING results in this computer?

THANKS!!

[olyteddy]

If the goal is DVD think Hardware Encoding. See the 'Lists' over there <<<---

[w@ntonsoup]

My goal is the best quality possible, regardless of storage needs (I have 500 GB free and maybe 10 hours of video to sort through).

[TheFamilyMan]

Decent quality, very low cost PCI capture card for that rig:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100120
I've used one of these in my rig. It's produces pretty good quality; close to, but not as good as my Theater Rage 550 card's quality (though the 550 card has other deficiencies). If cost is no object, I'd consider one of those canopus AV to DV boxes. Loads of options in the middle, cost wise: as mentioned, spend some time browsing the capture card list. BTW, AGP is pretty much only for video/graphics display and 4x AGP is a goner now-a-days. Good Luck!

[lacywest]

good info

[redwudz]

You could try capturing to a AVI format, such as HuffyUV. Probably a lot of cards will work for that. But the files will be huge. And they will need to be re-encoded to MPEG format if your end product is to be a DVD.

Software capture takes a fair amount of CPU power, and I don't think you have enough to use a more compact capture format. The same applies to encoding. It may take quite a long time with your computer to convert a 2 hour VHS AVI cap to DVD format.

There are plenty of cheap capture cards out there, but they may be lacking in the quality of their output. Alternatively, look to Ebay or similar for used older ATI capture cards. I'm thinking of the All-in-One series.

VHS is not that great of quality to start with. You could go a easier route and use a PCI card hardware capture to MPEG-2, like one of the Hauppauge cards. Most VHS players just have a composite video output, not great for quality. Also, unless you want to invest in a TBC (Time Base Corrector) to clean up the VHS output, and/or you have a high quality VHS deck, you may have some video stability problems.

A third alternative is a DVD recorder with a composite input. This may be one of the simpler methods.

[judo54]

I recommend the PCI Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 capture card. I have used it a lot in the past and it will record in MPEG2 format ready to be converted in a DVD. I have a Pentium 4, 2.4 Ghz and never experienced a drop frame. It is also has a TV tuner so you can connect your cable to it and capture TV programs for viewing or for recoring. Right now it sells for $149.00. Check it out on the Hauppauge website.

[w@ntonsoup]

Thanks for the input. I've just been through two DVD recorders (standalone) and was appalled at the crappy quality (lots of pixelation artifacts during any sort of motion).

Time-wise, I don't really care how long it takes. I mean, this is an older PC that will have it's own monitor, keyboard and mouse. It can do it's thing all by it's lonesome while I use my normal PC for everything else

My main concern is quality. I'll do some looking through the capture list here.

[judo54]

For quality, I'm using the Panasonic DMR-EH55 (US version) it has a build in hard drive and its what you see is what you get in 1 hour mode and 2 hour mode is not bad either. I wrote a post about it under DVD recorders. The only complain that people have a lot about, is its TV Guide setup, which took me a little time to figure out. Also patience with the instruction manual, but in terms of recording quality, excellent.

[Jeremiah58]

I've just been through two DVD recorders (standalone) and was appalled at the crappy quality (lots of pixelation artifacts during any sort of motion).

Just when I thought to recommend a standalone DVDR for the job.
Lots of pixelation? There must be some crappy machines. I've been using LG standalone DVDR for a couple of years, to convert VHS into DVD format. I'm very pleased with the result.

There is also an option to use digital video camera to convert analog signal from your VCR to DV signal, which is then transferred to your PC via i-link or firewire card.

[w@ntonsoup]

Yeah, I don't know what the problem is with my VHS setup. I tried two VHS/DVD recorders, and even tried connecting my S-VHS machine to an external input. No luck.

I have a MiniDV camcorder, but alas, it's got no line-in recording.

I'll try one of the Happauge PVR cards. Worst case scenario, I sell all this crap on ebay

[TheFamilyMan]

Something to consider when converting VHS and analog camcorder footage to DVD is that these video sources tend to be noisy, which drives the MPEG2 conversion process bonkers and produces blocky/grainy output. This noise appears as "graininess" when watched from their native playback, though it may not be too noticable. Filtering this noise will do wonders to improve the final MPEG2 output quality. I'd make sure that any "direct to MPEG2" capture hardware has some sort of noise filtering. I capture as AVI, which isn't picky about the noise, and then use digital noise filters when encoding to MPEG2. My VCR also has noise reduction (and line TBC) which also help greatly, but I can't use if for 8mm footage.

[w@ntonsoup]

So... how do I capture to AVI with a capture card? Is that a standard option? What you're saying makes a lot of sense. These are very old VHS with lots of noise.

Might almost be worth getting a MiniDV camcorder with a line-in record if that completely alleviates the possibility of this issue.

[vhelp]

Evening w@ntonsoup,

Before you go any further in this endeavor, I would first address the issue you have
with the pixelation problems in your prev attempts. The reason I bring this up with
you here is because you seem to be getting them in all your captures. This leads
me to believe that something else is the problem. And that problem (IMHO) has to
be identified first.

My suggestion for you at this point is provide a demo sample clip of your captured
vhs, and provide the A-Z steps you used to get the finished mpeg that seems to
reveal these pixelations.

Also, what are these videos of ?

--> personal; family; home recorded cabletv shows/movies;

And, how long ago were these recordings made ?

--> a year ago; 10 years ago; 20 years ago; ..

And what condition are the Tapes and Videos in ?

--> bad; noisy; worped or flaggy; etc.

Provide the answers (and more) to these questions above and we might be able to
help solve your prev problems, and/or find a better solution set up for you -- eather
way.

I think a demo of your current work is your best place to start

-vhelp 4406

[w@ntonsoup]

The VHS are really old (20+ years) and recorded on a VHS camcorder in the early 80's mostly, or from a VCR in the same time period. I'll see if I can host a video clip for ya.

[SmokieStover]

If you need a tool to cut a short clip from one of your DVD recordings, download VideoRedo. Best $50 tool that I have ever used. Ten day free trial too!

[w@ntonsoup]

I actually have VRD already, because I'm a ReplayTV guy and it's far and away the best tool for editing those videos for a DVD

I just ordered a MiniDV camcorder with analog pass-through, and older Canon I found. I'll certainly post my results.