Need newbie help with video capture

[Djinn252]

Simple problem... I have an ATI TV Wonder (NOT an AIW), and I want to capture a video source (either from cable signal or from VCR) to an MPEG-2 file that Nero 6.0 will recognize as "DVD-Ready." I'd like to lose as little quality as possible in the process. We're talking about standard NTSC proportions here; no widescreen or anything like that.

I'm running MMC 7.9 (the latest for non-AIW tuners), and there's a "DVD" quality setting, but it's defined as MPEG-1 @ 352x240 (8MB/s), and that doesn't sound right. I believe the correct resolution for DVD video has a width of over 700. Anyway, manually configuring a custom setting is no good either... Although one of the size options is 720x240, that sounds WAY out of proportion for NTSC video.

Can anyone help? I checked the guides, but they seem to be written specifically for AIW cards.

Many thanks.

[trevlac]

I believe your card sports a BT878 chip. This means it is like most cheap vid capture cards. I think very few people do direct mpeg with one of these. (If any).

You can however use a program like virtualvcr and the btwincap drivers to capture to avi and then encode to mpeg later. This will give you excellent Full frame dvd (720x480 NTSC) results with this card, especially if you clean the capture before you encode.

Unfortunately, all of this takes a bit of learning.

I've never used the ATI software, but it is my understanding that very few like the 'older' versions. Like most sw that comes with a cheap card, it probably stinks.

So my advice? Forget MMC and find a capture guide that tells you how to capture avi with a cheap card.

[Djinn252]

Many thanks for the reply... I checked out VirtualVCR, and while your solution would likely work, it's not terribly cost-efficient. The program costs $50, however, for $60, I can purchase a new Compro VideoMate TV Gold Plus card from newegg.com.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (see specs at link below), but I believe this is far superior tuner card to the ATI TV Wonder, and should be able to do the job in fewer steps. If another brand of PCI tuner cards in the same rough price range would be a better idea, I'm wide open to suggestions.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-160-017&depa=1

- N

[Will Hay]

Try virtualdub for capturing avi.
It's free, and superb.
Will

[trevlac]

it's not terribly cost-efficient. The program costs $50, however, for $60, I can purchase a new Compro VideoMate TV Gold Plus card from newegg.com.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (see specs at link below), but I believe this is far superior tuner card to the ATI TV Wonder, and should be able to do the job in fewer steps. If another brand of PCI tuner cards in the same rough price range would be a better idea, I'm wide open to suggestions.

Neal,

Last I checked virtualVCR and the BTwincap drivers are free. Click on the link you 'created' to virtualVCR in your post.

The card you link to technically has a better chip and possibly a better tuner. However, it is unlikely you can achieve better results with the software that comes with it, vs the free software (such as what Will mentioned) that has been made available by the hobby community, using your current card. Maybe, but I doubt it. You don't get much for $60.

Unfortunately, it takes a bit of learning. You can jump to a say $300 device and have a decent AND easy option.

A big caveat is that I do not have the card you have, nor do I have the one at newegg. So I don't really know what you are/will experience(ing).

What do I have ? A ($30) AverTV card, and an MSI (CX) card. On both I use virtualVCR for free or amcap for free. I even linked TitanTV to virtualVCR for free. There is a current active thread where Fulci shows a shot of what he does with his BT878 card. I think it looks pretty good, considering it is thru composite.

[Djinn252]

Ah... Brain freeze... I mistook the app you recommended for "Power VCR"

http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/products/product_main.jsp?ProdId=20

Many thanks for rehashing...