Can't get a picture with AIW 9800SE, now I'm desperate!

[AlexCR]

UPDATE...

OK I followed Ezergeezer's advice below, and got myself a composite/S-video to SCART adapter, and unfortunately, the problems have continued. Here's where I'm at now...

Using Composite connectors, into the ATI AIW 9800SE card (via this purple thing)...


... and into the back of the VCR, via a composite to SCART connector...


Alas, this failed to work, and I got the same black screen, in ATI MMC and in VirtualDub. So I try to use an S-video cable instead...

Same setup as before, basically, just with an S-video instead of video phono...


... and once again, into the SCART adapter in the VCR...


This setup seems perfect to me, but it doesn't to my bloody equipment. The annoying thing is, when I switch between the composite and the S-video connections, ATI MMC and VirtualDub both recognise that I have done so, changing the settings. So something is twigging somewhere. And yet the screen remains blank, as below in my original post. Is it time to send it back?


---------------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL POST...

I was really looking forward doing some video capturing of my own, but I might have known it wouldn't be as easy as it sounded. I've got an ATI Radeon AIW 9800SE, and I can't even get a picture. I've connected up my VHS exactly how every single guide tells me to, and while ATI's Multimedia Center recognises the video source, the picture remains blank. Here are some pictures.

This is the back of my VCR. According to what I've read, I don't need to connect anything up here...


... because I'm using composite connections, so I stick the yellow and the white cables (presumably the lack of red input means it's mono) in here...


... and from the VCR, the cables run into this little connector box, as shown (yes, I know they're not connected in this picture :P )...


... and in turn, the connector box is connected to the "VID IN" port on the AIW 9800SE like so (the purple cable)...


I presume the "VID OUT" is only used if you want to connect a television to your PC or want to record your captured videos onto a VHS.

So, what am I doing wrong? With this setup, I just get this blank screen when I press play on my VCR (note the "VIDEO IN" title - it has obviously recognised that there's something there!)...


Neither ATI's Multimedia Center nor VirtualDub can pick up a picture. It's very frustrating, especially since other people I've spoken to have had similar problems with this capture card... is it a terminal problem, or am I doing something blatently wrong? Thanks in advance for any help!

[Ezergeezer]

The composites on the front on the video recorder are 'Inputs' not
outputs, are'nt they?

You need to get a Scart to Composite adaptor that plugs into the scart socket on the back of the video recorder, they're cheap most TV/Electrical shops will sell them.

Heres one at Maplin.co.uk

[offline]

Save your money.

On your VCR you have to set the A/V channel to run through your front composite A/V port.

For example, on my capturing VCR I have to change
the channel on the front console to read AV 2 (other channels are mostly regular free to air TV stations)

See your VCR manual for setting up A/V.

[AlexCR]

Cheers for the tips. I have one or two more questions. Lordsmurf's advice was to avoid mono VCRs like the plague - would this really be advisable if I wanted to convert lots of VCRs onto DVD - would the sound quality be a lot better if I got a NICAM stereo VCR?

And do you think it would be better to use an S-Video cable? From what I have read, they produce better quality pictures. And if I did use S-Video, presumably then I have to use the red and white cables to deal with the audio feed - would I have to use any kind of adapter to make this work?

And while I'm here I might as well just pick your brains a little further... when the damn thing finally starts working, I'm preparing this process for VHS/DVD conversion...

-CAPTURE TO AVI USING ATI MMC/VIRTUAL DUB
-CLEAN UP THE PICTURE USING VIRTUAL DUB FILTERS
-ENCODE TO MPEG-2 USING TMPGEnc
-AUTHOR/BURN TO DVD USING TMPGEnc DVD AUTHOR

How does that sound? Should I get decent results? Would it be better to capture with ATI's MMC or with VirtualDub? And when the 30-day trial on each of the two TMPGEnc programs mentioned above runs out, what features are subsequently disabled? Finally, I have InterVideo WinDVD Suite - is it any good? Thanks!

[AlexCR]

I've updated my problem, above. This is so annoying. It's like getting stuck in the starting blocks.

[freebird73717]

ati cards are great...once you get them installed and configured right. just curious what version of mmc you are running and are you using the latest catalyst driver. My guess is a software/instalation problem somewhere. you might try going into your device manager and checking that there are no conflicts or problems listed next to your ati card...like an exclamation mark next to anything. i'm betting that the card did not install right. these things can be tough to install. i know it's a pain but you might try uninstalling anything that has to do with ati...then reinstall following ati's installation instructions to the letter.

good luck!

[AlexCR]

Right I checked out my version of MMC and it was 8.6. I looked on ATI's website and the latest version appears to be 8.9, so I downloaded and installed that.

Now, at last, I've got a picture (thanks for the tip, freebird!) but I still haven't got any sound (I didn't have any in the first place, but I forgot to mention that). My VCR is mono (it's a piece of crap actually, I'll get a new one soon), but I can't imagine that has anything to do with it, right?

The problem with the audio I believe stems from the initialization wizard that goes with MMC. When it asks me what is my audio connection - I don't know what it is exactly (line in? stereo mix? mono mix?), so it says run through each option until I hear a sound. I've run through each one, but I didn't hear a sound. Checking out various guides, it sounds as though I have to make some cable connection between my video card and my sound card (I think that was it, anyway). Does that sound right? What could I do to get some sound? Thanks again for the advice guys, it's slowly starting to work out, I think!

[ferreter]

Yes, you're right. You need to hook the audio out of your AIW card to probably the 'line in' on your sound card. Some people have said they use the 'mic in' because they hear echo using 'line in'. Anyway, try one of those and you should hear sound.