Is AVI best format for capture?

[scottb721]

I want to use TMPGEnc to produce a SVCD but I'm not sure of the best format to capture VCR/TV. Hard disk spce is no problem.

[theDruid]

If hard disk space is no issue, I recommend you use HuffyUV (which is a codec that uses the .avi format).

Try a search on this forum for 'Huffy'.

Huffy is supposedly a virtually lossless codec (lots about this in other posts) and therefore puts you in a good position for encoding later, as the source going into your encoder is very 'data rich'.

I don't know anything about your capture card, but I personally use VirtualDub and Huffy, as I have an AverTV98 (bt878) which works great with vDub - not all cards do. (Again loads about this in other posts - try searching)

cheers,

mcdruid.

[Craig Tucker]

If hard disk space is no issue, I recommend you use HuffyUV (which is a codec that uses the .avi format).

I would second that :P

[tuco1979]

The other reason to use something like huffy or mjpeg for capture is that if you want to edit, it is easy to edit to the exact point you want whereas you can't do that with mpeg1/2/4 because their keyframes are a couple seconds apart which makes it difficult to cut out commericals for instance.

[scottb721]

Thanks.
My capture hardware is the Compro VideoMate Cinema.

[Anonymous65]

Get a MJPEG or DV codec and capture video at 720x480 pixels. It will make the best looking VCD and SVCD's using TMPGEnc.

http://steve.kittelsen.com/vcd

[scottb721]

My first attempt I used Huffy in Virtualdub and burnt off a SVCD.
The picture quality was superb but any movementont the screen was very stop starty.

Any ideas?

[phhoth]

in this forum, go to "tools" and check out "AVI IO". This is a great capture software when used with huffy.

[scottb721]

I read references in the Tools\Capture about WDM drivers.
My capture setup uses nVidia WDM Video Capture (universal)

Does this affect what I should use?
VirtualDub worked fine except for the jerky motion.

[hoola_loop]

try reversing the field order if your experiencing jerky motion.
if you used field b first. try and use field a first and see if that helps. solved all my probs with svcd and jerky motion.

[scottb721]

Is that it Virtuadub or TMPG?

[Craig Tucker]

Do you have the framerate set right, virtualdubs default is 15fps which will cause a jerky looking picture. Set it to 25 for pal or 29.97 for NTSC.

[scottb721]

Thanks Craig.
I noticed it on my 2nd last attempt. I changed it to 25fps but also switched field order in TMPGE (earlier suggestion). No good.

I just tried it again leaving TMPGE alone this time but making sure of the 25fps in VDub.
Much better but it had some unwanted pixeling. TMPGE was set to 2520 bitrate so I don't think that caused it. No other filters were selected.

I'm capturing using my old Sony Camcorder (analog) so I'm not sure if this limits my end result. It looks OK on VDub whilst capturing though.
In Vdub, under Video\Compression there are 2 choices, UYVY and HuffyHuv.

Select HuffHuv, Yes?
What about the options in the Configure button?

Thanks very much.

[Craig Tucker]

I capture using YUY2 with huffyuv compression @ 720x576, I leave the settings as they are.

What resolutiuon are you capturing at, if you are capturing with a vertical resolution of 576, this means you are getting both fields per frame and when played back you will see interlacing artifacts. This is normal. SVCD can support interlaced video so if you are creating SVCD to be played on a TV you can leave it interlaced.

I don't know why you should be getting pixelling at that high a bitrate, does the original AVI video look ok, apart from interlacing.

Are you using TMPGEnc to encode to SVCD mpeg2, are you using a variable bitrate with 2520 as the maximum, but with a much lower average, this could cause pixellation if the average bitrate was too low. Or are you using CBR

[scottb721]

I was using CBR because I was only using 20 secs of capture for practice.

I switched to VirtualVCR. I've read it is good for WDM capture drivers.
It seems to have given me a better result.

My only gripe, at the moment, is now TMPGE takes a while to load the VirtualVCR avi file. It seems to pause at every 10% during the "judging field order" screen.
Also the source ranging is slow to respond.

Both of these problems didn't happen with the VDub avi.

In VirVCR there are several options in the Options\Settings\Video\"Use Compression" drop down box. Huffyuv and MJPEG are both there as well as others. I might try and find which is best. I've read MJPEG is the pick.

What about leaving the "Use Compression" box unticked?


Thanks again

[Will Hay]

If hard disk space is no issue, I recommend you use HuffyUV (which is a codec that uses the .avi format)

When experimenting with huffyuv I found my output file was limited to ten minute files which, considering I'd have to run each one through TMPGEnc to encode, was too much hassle and I went back to PicVideo which was coming out an one hour per file.
Clearly has something to do with max file size limit under XP.
Is there a way to run all files through TMPGEnc at once to encode?
Is this what the phrase 'batch' means?
Thanks,
Will
--
FreeVCR, TMPGEnc
WinXP, Athlon 2000XP, 512mb PC100 Ram, 1x40gb IBM deskstar, 2x80gb Matxor on RAID 0, Elite K7S5A motherboard, ATI Radeon 64mb DDR ViVo

[Craig Tucker]

There is no max file size limit under XP, well none that you would ever reach anyway.

There is however a max filesize limit of 4GB when using the FAT32 filesystem. Convert your hard drive to NTFS and you won't have this problem.

[Craig Tucker]

You can batch encode in TMPGEnc. Start the wizard, go through all the steps until the last one where you will see 2 tick boxes.

Start encoding immediately and
Create another project(s) for batch encoding

Then repeat until you have set up all the videos you want to batch encode, then start encoding.

[Will Hay]

There is no max file size limit under XP, well none that you would ever reach anyway.

There is however a max filesize limit of 4GB when using the FAT32 filesystem. Convert your hard drive to NTFS and you won't have this problem.

My file system is NTFs
I say I have a file size limit as the first time I tried FreeVCR over 2gb I got an error message and as a result lost the first ten mins of a two hour capture
Thanks for the post,
Will

[kenmo]

I use VirtualVCR with WindowsXP Pro and I've captured a single file as large as 50gbs.

That's odd you've hit a limit of 2gbs. Are you sure your hard drive is NTFS and NOT FAT32 ??

Cheers

[Will Hay]

I use VirtualVCR with WindowsXP Pro and I've captured a single file as large as 50gbs.

That's odd you've hit a limit of 2gbs. Are you sure your hard drive is NTFS and NOT FAT32 ??

I'm certain, I formatted the two Maxtor's on the RAID 0 config!
It may be a fault with FreeVCR, I'll try with avi_io and virtualdub (although I tend to lose more frames with virtualdub than anything else)
Thanks,
Will

[Craig Tucker]

I could understand if you lost the last 10 mins, but not the first 10 mins

[Will Hay]

I could understand if you lost the last 10 mins, but not the first 10 mins

My first attempt at capture I set the file limit to 4gb, I got an error message.
The next attempt I set the file limit to 2gb, it worked (as did all subsequent captures), hence losing the first ten minutes of the movie