Any recommended TMPG settings for encoding of analog capture

[scottb721]

I use VirtualDub and Huffy to do my captures from my analog camcorder then use TMPGEnc to encode to SVCD.
I use the same settings as when I'm doing my DVD to SVCD conversions.

The resultant mpeg doesn't look as nice as my DVD conversions even though my original AVI's are huge files and are very clear.

What changes should I make in TMPGEnc when doing SVCD conversion of my captured AVI's ?

thankyou

[SaSi]

Capturing from Camcorders will not produce a video of as high quality as the original from DVDs. It has to do with the quality of the camcorder recording. It's not the fault of the MPEG encoder.

However, there are some improvements you can make. This is what I usually do when converting camcorder footage.

First of all, before capturing, make sure your capture settings are optimal. That means, ensure that the WDM driver settings regarding brightness and contrast are tuned for the video content. Not too bright and set contrast for softer tones (you can always reverse this). It's about the Garbage-In-Garbage-Out rule.

VirtualDUB has a spectrum chart option. Use it and try to have as wide a spectrum as possible (not always possible).

Then you can use the smoother filter if the video is too "edgy".

In every case, you can use a lower average bitrate for Tmpgenc compared to DVD settings. I've found that while DVD should have at least 4,500kbps average bitrate, 8mm captures are fine at 3,500kbps. Of course that depends on the content. Too much action or camera panning also require higher bitrates, so try to adust. Action takes sometimes require an average of 6,000kbps. To avoid wasting bitrate, try to break down long content into chapters and encode them separatelly being generous on bitrate for action and bright sunlight content. Of course, it you are not trying to cram too much on a disk, you can increase average bitrate to cover all cases.

[scottb721]

regarding bit rate, because I'm going to SVCD I'm limited to 2500.
thanks for the input.
I'll give some filters a try. I could have tried them already but I thought I'd ask for peoples experiences.