watching footage before burning to dvd

[substream]

I am sure this has been discussed before but I cannot think of a proper search term, so I have to ask you.
Is there a way to view captured video on a PC monitor that will show exactly how it will look on the TV?
I need this because my captures really suck sometime. So, I'll burn to dvd-rw and run downstairs and watch on tv. COme back up and make adjustments, burn to dvd-rw, run downstairs...you see what I mean.
Can I get interlaced viewing on a PC monitor through a software app?

If not, what do I need to hook up a tv to my aiw 9200? I have tried in the past, but this action only locks my PC up.

Any advice?

My old legs cant handle much more of this.

[Manokat]

One solution is to use Hollywood X'Card from sigma designs. Or if you just want to play mpeg1/mpeg2 material then Hollywood Plus can do the job.

With any of these two cards you can run s-video cable from your pc to your tv downstairs and playback mpeg2s captured via MMC (aiw 9200) and view it directly on TV without having to burn them on dvd-rw.

As well, using the provided loopback cable you can watch on PC, full screen with x'card and windowed and full screen with Hollywod plus.

[FulciLives]

I use a Hollywood Plus MPEG-1/MPEG-2 card. These are "old" now though with the new model being the Xcard.

Sure saves a lot of time!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Here is the website for Sigma Designs:

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/

[substream]

I'd actually like to see the video before going to mpeg, perhaps in it's avi state.
If I could, then I'd know wether or not I need to make any specific changes before going through the tmpgenc process which takes time.

In a perfect world, I could capture with vdub or mmc and then watch the avi on tv or similated tv prior to the conversion to mpeg.

Why can't I just plug in a TV on my aiw and check it out? Alas, if life was that simple....

EDIT: let me try and grab a piece of video so yous can see why this is important to me. It really looks like crap sometime and I have to make alot of changes. Check back in a bit please.

[Manokat]

I'd actually like to see the video before going to mpeg, perhaps in it's avi state.
If I could, then I'd know wether or not I need to make any specific changes before going through the tmpgenc process which takes time.

In a perfect world, I could capture with vdub or mmc and then watch the avi on tv or similated tv prior to the conversion to mpeg.

Why can't I just plug in a TV on my aiw and check it out? Alas, if life was that simple....

EDIT: let me try and grab a piece of video so yous can see why this is important to me. It really looks like crap sometime and I have to make alot of changes. Check back in a bit please.

OK.. playing back a compressed avi captured with a codec ( e.g., HuffYUV ) on PC will always look 'bad' simply because they are in compressed or coded state. Avi video will look good if you capture it uncompressed or using MPEG4 or Divx codecs.

So, unless you use mpeg4 or divx when capturing in avi, the preview of compressed avi on PC monitor will always look bad. You can still hook up the s-video out of the AIW 9200 to your TV (downstair) but the preview is going to be as bad as the one on pc monitor.

Different story with x'card or Hollywood Plus card. The compressed avi will be decoded (uncompressed) by software and passed on to the onboard mpeg2 decoder of x'card or Hollywood Plus and piped out to TV via S-VIDEO or composite. For mpeg4/divx the x'card has an on-board decoder.

[FulciLives]

Different story with x'card or Hollywood Plus card. The compressed avi will be decoded (uncompressed) by software and passed on to the onboard mpeg2 decoder of x'card or Hollywood Plus and piped out to TV via S-VIDEO or composite. For mpeg4/divx the x'card has an on-board decoder.

Not exactly. The Hollywood Plus can only play back MPEG-1/MPEG-2 files. the Xcard can do that plus some MPEG-4 formats such as DivX.

But the files have to be in that format to begin with.

You can't take a HuffyUV AVI or a PICVideo MJPEG AVI and play back using a Hollywood Plus (confirmed) or an Xcard (unconfirmed). I say unconfirmed for the Xcard because I only have a Hollywood Plus but like I said the Xcard is limited to MPEG-1/MPEG-2 and "some" forms of MPEG-4 so I cannot imagine how it could play back HuffyUV or PICVideo MJPEG or DV ... just because they are AVI formats does not mean they are anthing at all like MPEG-4 AVI formats such as DivX.

So in short these cards are GREAT for testing out a MPEG encode prior to burning to a DVD disc. They give the same quality as what you will get if you burned a DVD and played it back on your TV via a stand alone DVD player. They have basically all the same circuits as a stand alone DVD player. The image quality is MUCH better than playing back your "desktop" to your TV via your video card's TV output.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Manokat]

Not exactly. The Hollywood Plus can only play back MPEG-1/MPEG-2 files. the Xcard can do that plus some MPEG-4 formats such as DivX.

But the files have to be in that format to begin with.

You can't take a HuffyUV AVI or a PICVideo MJPEG AVI and play back using a Hollywood Plus (confirmed) or an Xcard (unconfirmed). I say unconfirmed for the Xcard because I only have a Hollywood Plus but like I said the Xcard is limited to MPEG-1/MPEG-2 and "some" forms of MPEG-4 so I cannot imagine how it could play back HuffyUV or PICVideo MJPEG or DV ... just because they are AVI formats does not mean they are anthing at all like MPEG-4 AVI formats such as DivX.

So in short these cards are GREAT for testing out a MPEG encode prior to burning to a DVD disc. They give the same quality as what you will get if you burned a DVD and played it back on your TV via a stand alone DVD player. They have basically all the same circuits as a stand alone DVD player. The image quality is MUCH better than playing back your "desktop" to your TV via your video card's TV output.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Got both. X'card can play pretty much every divx/mpeg4 and mpeg1/mpeg2 and with direct show and codecs installed it can play compressed avi, wmv and qt files, you have to draw a graph (graphedit). Hollywood plus can play mpeg1/mpeg2 and with direct show and codecs it can play divx/mpeg4 and compressed avi, wmv and quick time files, again you have to draw a graph. P4 1.7 is needed for smooth playback using direct show, avi codecs and both these cards.

[FulciLives]

Well I remember someone WAY BACK WHEN created a special player for the Hollywood Plus that would allow DivX playback but it never seemed to work just right ... had lot's of issues. You did get an image on your TV screen but it wasn't that good hehehe.

I never fooled around with GraphEdit.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman