need help solving excess memory usage in video capture

[philfr]

Hi, Im a raw recruit.

I need help in solving excess memory usage in video capture using Ulead VideoStudio SE DVD.

I started learning by working on a video tape of a movie - don't care if I "crash it"
I tried to capture a 2 hr video, but after 20 min Ulead generated an error (no disk space)
It had used 14Gb for 20min.
I got into the Editing option and could capture to an advertisement, but then had to save it, before continuing.
I want to set it to capture, and walk away until it is done; then spend my time editing.

Can anyone out there give me a Xmas present and tell me what I am doing wrong.

cheers
Phil

[jagabo]

Are you saying you had more than 14 GB free but the program stopped anyway? Or did it fill the drive and then quit?

[philfr]

thanks for the quick reply jagabo. Yes, it filled the 14G then stopped. I have jsut read in the manual that 1hr of tape should fill about 20G, which means that 20min would only use 6-7.
But, maybe that is the problem.

Merry Xmas.
Phil

[jagabo]

How big an hour of video capture should be depends on what type of compression you use. An hour of 720x576 video saved uncompressed RGB will run about 112 GB, as YUY2 (or other YUV 4:2:2 format) about 75 GB. With lossless compression (HuffYUV, Lagarith, etc.) the size will vary depending on the nature of the video. Typically from 20 to 40 GB. Lossy codecs (MJPEG, MPEG 2, etc.) let you specify what quality or bitrate you want. The lower the quality or bitrate, the smaller the file. With those you're looking at 4 to 20 GB/hr with decent quality settings. DV is fixed at 13 GB/hr.

From the size of your capture (14GB for 20 minutes) it sounds like you are using a lossless codec. You need to use a codec that compresses more or get a larger hard drive.

By the way, we're talking here about disk usage, not memory (RAM) usage.

[DB83]

Perhaps you could explain in more detail your workflow >> what options you are selecting etc

Ulead Video Studio normally has DVD(mpeg2) as the default capture setting. And as jagabo infers you can select the data rate for the capture. However DVD using Ulead will not exceed 4 gig for one hour of video so I do not see how the manual can state it will use 20 gig

[edDV]

Also, the more you software compress during capture the more CPU power is needed. Your Pentium M laptop is probably going to struggle with MPeg2 capture but may handle Huffyuv at ~40GB/hr. You will need to test it.

Realistically, with that laptop, you should consider an external MPeg2 hardware encoding device such as
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815255032

If your laptop has IEEE-1394, you could use an ADS Pyro, Canopus ADVC or a D8/MiniDV camcorder with analog capture capability.

[philfr]

thank you all for your input.
Being a "complete" newbie, you are talking a foreign language to me at the moment.
I am going to have to spend some time going over what you have given me, plus learning my way around the software, before I will be able to get back to you.

Thanks again
Philfr