Mpeg 2 capturing software

[case 5]

Hello, I have my TV connection . . . connected to my Mac. Is there any cheap, free programs out there that will let me capture, edit directly into an mpeg 2 format. I can only currently capture into DV format and the encoding drives me nuts.

[galactica]

directly to mpeg2??? hmmmm free?!.... hmmmmm

sorry dont think so

capture box/card is about the best thing, but it aint free

[pixeljammedia]

On that note, anyone know of any good hardware encoder cards for OS X. If I can find a way to get better speed/quality through a PCI card, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I remember a software/hardware combo with Cleaner and an their MPEG charger, but that was back in OS 9. Anything around now? Any experience with the card?

[live4ever]

I'm not sure about a PCI card but I was researching the EyeTV 200 which is a Firewire mpeg-2 capture box (I'm using a laptop).

http://www.elgato.com/products/eyetv200.html

Anyone out there using one of these yet.

[pixeljammedia]

Naw, I need to be able to edit in FCP and then output to DVDSP. A capture device would just give constant bit rate mpeg encoding which would require re-encoding and loss of quality in order to edit. I am looking for a hardware mpeg encoder along the lines of the old MPEG charger. Thanks for the input though.

[AntnyMD]

FCP doesnt accept MPEGs for editing, does it? Was there an update?

[pixeljammedia]

No FCP doesn't accept MPEG2. I think we have a miscommunication here. Is there any hardware acceleration for mpeg ENCODING from FCP/QT files? Is it possible to get a hardware encoder for the srep between FCP, which would have video in from my mini-dv cam, and get a good quality MPEG over to DVDSP? Something along the lines of the Cleaner/MPEG Charger card that was available on OS 9? I have Compressor and Bit Vice, but is there a chipset that can do this encoding (not capturing) for me and allow my processor to do other things?

[Frobozz]

I found some video capture PCI cards for Macs at powerdv.com. The cheapest was $700 and some were several thousands of dollars. I don't know of any consumer-level cards.

So the best bet is to use one of the USB or firewire external converters. As noted here often, if you want to edit the video you must import as DV. If you only want to trim the video, save time and hard drive space by importing as MPEG2.

Along this subject, EchoFX just released a new version of the capture software that goes with the XLR8 Interview capture device. It's now called USBVision This captures 30 fps video at 352 X 240 and saves it as a QuickTime file. The new software also works with a number of other video sources. I have the Interview unit and it is terrific for what it does.

[pants]

the only card i know of is os 9 only, the digital mediapress card. you can encode from tape or from a file from fcp, i think right from a ref movie. you can get them used for about $400-500, from what i've heard most people loved them, but again, os 9 only.

there is a add on from lacie, called fast coder. but it doesn't like ref movies. read up on it below. if this box could take right from the timeline of fcp or from a ref movie we'd be in business.

http://www.bobhudson.com/FastCoder/index.html

[case 5]

Hey guys, Does EyeTV record tv feeds directly to Mpeg2, instead of waiting for reencoding? If so, which one is best . . . 200, 300 . . .

[Frobozz]

Yes, the new EYETV encodes to MPEG2 before sending it to the Mac. It isn't a question of which model is best, but of which one is the correct one for your setup. A couple user reviews have appeared at xlr8yourmac.com.

This is a new product and there are certain to be some bugs to be worked out and some features yet to be added. But ElGato has been a good company in serving the Mac community and I believe they will work quickly to make this device a terrific product. No I'm not a shill. It's just that I like to say good things now and then.

[SERBIAN]

http://www.wiredinc.com/aboutosx.html

"MediaPress is our third generation MPEG encoder, featuring realtime encoding from a variety of external devices, as well as transcoding of QuickTime files. With professional quality and reliability, MediaPress is perfect for any production enviroment where time is money"

"For over 12 years, the engineers at Wired have strived to bring professional real-time MPEG encoding to the masses. The result of their hard work is the award winning encoding solution we call MediaPress. Based on Wired’s realtime encoding engine, the MediaPress encoder combines the latest digital video technology to capture and compress video and audio signals into fully compatible MPEG1 or MPEG2 bitstreams for media network transmissions and DVD authoring."

MediaPress X SDI (now for G4 or G5) = $3799

[AntnyMD]

Price! Oh god! Pricepoints are not a measure of quality or worth, only target market. Three thousand seven hundred and ninety nine dollars is, in any conversion scheme, outside the disposible income of any average joe consumer. I question the suggestion but its an option so why not.

If somethings gonna cost you more than YOUR ACTUAL COMPUTER, even on a "prosumer" level, its not worth your time or consideration. If you have $3,800 to blow on a production device, why on earth are you in THIS forum seeking advice? You should be getting Level A customer support from the inventor himself or herself, directly.

Apologies for flipping out but this thread needed a reality check after that one!

[dcsos]

MediaPress X SDI

and it only accepts SERIAL DIGITAL INPUT right?
so You woud need to convert your TV TURNER OUTPUT to SDI with a black box by AJA costing an equal amount!
ALL to get MPEG-2 capture in OS X!

There must be other consumer ways? ..
What about ADS INSTANT DVD for MAC?

[pants]

the consumer ways, would be usd instant, fast coder, eyetv 200/300, or a set top dvd recorder.

[pixeljammedia]

Thanks for the info... a bit too pricey, I guess the lesson is be careful what you ask for. Yep, probably not consumer level stuff, but if it saves processing time it could pay for itself after a few jobs. (you know those corporate gigs can really rack up the expenses) So okay, it may be worth it to just buy a G5 desktop for encoding plus a big old firewire drive and let my primary Mac do my day-to-day stuff. $3800?!?

[SERBIAN]

I agree that the card is too expensive for regular user, but I posted the link as an option to think about...That card is the top level thing with SDI inputs...Best quality and speed for 4000$...Im sorry if I missed the point..

[cbkilner]

The FastCoder available from LaCie seems to be the answer to the FCE/QT MPEG converter asked about in this thread:
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10125