I am pulling my hair out trying to fix VirtualDub capturing and I can not seem to get it to workj correctly.
Facts:
1) ATI TV will capture to MPEG-2 and the video result looks fine at 1.6 gigs per hour. I need to compress this, as that is not satisfactory for me.
2) I try to capture (it functions fine with no lost frames) using VirtualDub and I get very crappy video(distortion/blurring) no matter what compression (or even just using straight AVI). My format used could be anything but typically I use 320x240.
What am I doing wrong?
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1) what settings for mpeg-2 capture
2) What codec? what bitrate? Anything else important?
Are you in PAL land? Using the built in tuner/external cable box? Connected through coax or s-video? -
1) using Huffy Codec for capture via VirtualDub , with whatever the standard settings are for it. (I tried other CODECs but it is the same)
2) Bitrate is anything from 1000 to 4000. Still get blurring.
Is there an interlace setting that is maybe incorrect somewhere? I read that TV is interlaced so I must capture that way.
NTSC capturing of TV, COAX, but this should make do difference as again the ATI capture works fine. -
Bad typing but since I can capture with the ATI TV application (just at a very high bit rate) there should be no difference in switching to the Virtualdub capture. Right?
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Can you post a sample of this distortion/blurring? I think that will clear things up quite a bit. Mabye we are just taking two different things.
You might also want to check out VirtualVCR since it works directly with the WDM drivers ( ATI nativte and not the wrapper like vdub ). -
Txpharoah,
I read your cartoon capture FAQ. Very good work!! I may need to reference it a little more closely to get ATI MMC working better. Are you able to capture to MPEG2 (or some other high compression via the ATI MMC) with the data rate being around 1 gig per hour, or do you find the quality suffers too much, and you need to go to a higher data rate (AVI direct seems to be way too large)?
I am running WIN98SE so I am trying to stay below the 4 gig file limit, when I capture a 3 hour movie. Is this even possible? Or should I expect to capture a movie split between two files, and try to recombine them later (not wanting to do this), via a second encoding pass on VitualDub?
Kev -
I think the problem is simple. Your capturing an interlaced AVI. Viewing this avi on most players is going to look horrible (computers don't do interlaced). The MPEG2 is interlaced, but I bet your using a compensating player to view (power DVD or something like that).
Use a player that deals with interlacing, asd see how 'horrible' it looks then. Remember, it's not how it looks like at capture, it's how it looks on the final product (DivX/XviD or DVDPlayer).
Huffyuv can get HUGE! 2 hour cpature can fill an 80 GB drive, try MJPEG at 19 (95% for some codecs).To Be, Or, Not To Be, That, Is The Gazorgan Plan -
Gazorgan,
Lets assume you are correct that I have captured an interlaced video stream (via VirtualDub using a huffy or whatever codec), and I am playing it back on players (software or hardware) that can not deal with interlaced video very well.
Then why would I be able to capture via the ATI TV (also called MMC) application to MPEG2 and play it back (both in software on the computer, and in hardware on a separate player) and not have any problems?
Would interlaced problems show up no matter what capture software I use, or could my ATI TV capture software be capturing interlacing correctly? -
Originally Posted by ktjensen
I've personally captured as low as MPEG2 352x480 at 2.5 mb/s VBR and gotten really decent quality. That should fit 3 hours of MPEG2 under 4GB, or close to it. If it goes a bit over, demux the streams, then recombine them. Most authoring software likes demux audio/video source anyhow.
Any lower bitrate, and your quality will fall apart.I'm not online anymore. Ask BALDRICK, LORDSMURF or SATSTORM for help. PM's are ignored. -
Txpharoah,
Okay I did some more experiments last night. I tried to fix some settings by making INTERLACE instructions work better. I hate experimenting, but this is what I got:
1) VirtualDub is working to CAPTURE but I can not use a the DIVX 5.x codec as I get some significant bands in the resulting image.
2) I switched to a different codec (still using VirtualDub) called something like xdivx (which is still a DIVX codec) and I get a better resulting picture but still blurry. (Final file size is less than 1 meg for a 2 hour movie).
3) I may switch back to what you mentioned using ATI MMC in a custom MPEG2 setup, and see if that looks better. Is there a way to adjust the MMC bits per second rate?
After more reading of FAQs I find that most are saying I will have video quality problems if I do not capture using the huffy codec at maximum bits per second and lossless compression. Then after the file is done being captured (it will be very large, but supposedly VirtualDub can manage multiple files correctly maybe), doing some post processing of the file with VirtualDub (and a DIVX codec) will give me a great final file result (maybe not much over a gig for a two hour movie).
I am starting to think it would be easier to get the DVD from the library and rip it, instead of all this processing crap.
Kev -
By the way.
The best guides for DIVX use (and general great guides discussing capture) can be found at www.doom9.org with the forum at forum.doom9.org
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