capturing direct to mpeg1

[dlb]

Can anyone advise it there is a capture card (under £100) which allows you to capture straight to mpeg rather than to a avi file. I tried using the dassle dvc 80 usb device and the software I tried to do this did not recognise the device.

The avi file I was generating using the software with the card was running at approximately 300 mb per minute - is this normal ? My hard disk is only 10 GB therfore I would only be able to capture 30 mins at a time.

Thanks.

dlb.

[nittany]

I have an ATI TV Wonder PCI card. I am using MMC 7.6 with it. It allows you to capture to both MPEG1 and MPEG2. I, however, still capture to AVI for editing, then convert to MPEG. Hope this helps.

[gll99]

That depends on you system. If you have a fast cpu 800 or above you can use a generic bt878 tv/capture card like the Avermedia. Then get "wdm" drivers and PowerVCR II or WINDVR or Wincode, You will then be able to capture Mpeg1 or mpeg2 directly. Some say the files are not compliant but I have had no problems with them.

If your system is slower then you may have to go with hardware capture.