Macrovision question (an odd one?)

[migf1]

I have this question, regarding macrovision during capture. Both Virtualdub and iuVCR preview the video just fine (without showing the macrovision white bar) when put in Overscan mode, but they both record it in the final result.

The question is this: since those cap progs (I assume others too) are capable of showing clean video (in Overscan mode) why can't they record clean AVIs (without MV that is)?

If you assumed that I have no idea what this "Overscan mode" is or does, you are absolutey right?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Bets regards,

[proxyx99]

MV is part of your material (embedded) and it's left intact. If you want to revove it then look for similar posts covering it.

[migf1]

MV is part of your material (embedded) and it's left intact. If you want to revove it then look for similar posts covering it.

Thanks for responding!

Actually I have read several theads regarding MV in this forum, but never came across an answer to the above question (that's why I started a new thread). For my kind of equipment (Pixelview/Prolink GF4 Ti4200 and a standalone/desktop Philips Q40 dvd-player) there seem to be three possibe solutions:

a. To send some special codes via a universal remote-control to the Philips player (I never succeeded in that)

b. To install nVidia's WDM drivers version 1.08, which are supposed to ignore the MV noise. I found those drivers, tried to install them, without success (it may be that I'm using the latest drivers for my Graphics card -regardless WDM that is... I'll do some more extensive experiments, perhaps trying older versions of drivers, and I'll get back to the forum).

c. To buy a hardware MV remover, which sounds a bit silly, if you think that they are equally or even more expensive than several stand-alond dvd-players which are already MV free.

In any case, I still don't understand why the Overlayed preview shows clean video, while the recorded result has the MV noise in it. It looks pretty odd... Can't the Capture programs record what they show in Overlay mode? ('cause they are obviously capable of filtering out the MV voise, in that Overlay mode of theirs).

Best regards...

[ronnylov]

Why do you capture from a DVD player? It's much better to copy the DVD directly from a DVD-ROM unit (see DVD backup guides).

Some VHS tapes may be macrovision protected to make copying more difficult so it's an interesting question for VHS captures.

[migf1]

Why do you capture from a DVD player? It's much better to copy the DVD directly from a DVD-ROM unit (see DVD backup guides).

Some VHS tapes may be macrovision protected to make copying more difficult so it's an interesting question for VHS captures.

Actually I don't have a DVD-ROM on my PC and frankly I'm not really interested in complete movie rips. On the other hand, I've bought several DVDs with movies I like (mostly musicals) and what I like to do is to capture scenes I like accross different movies, merge them together and output them to VCDs just to watch them collectively from time to time. But most of my movies are MV enabled (for example "Chicago" and "All that Jazz").

Regards...

[Poppa_Meth]

its still better to do it via a DVD-ROM drive and much better results. you can get a decent DVD-ROM for about $30. there's really no reason not to do it that way.

[migf1]

its still better to do it via a DVD-ROM drive and much better results. you can get a decent DVD-ROM for about $30. there's really no reason not to do it that way.

Thanks for the tip Poppa_Meth. I have already given some serious thought in buying a DVD-ROM (price is not really a problem, since it's really low for some time now) but decided not to get on with it, mostly because I'm not really interested in complete movie ripping. Please note that I'm using Win98SE (a.k.a. FAT32), meaning I cannot work with files larger than 4Gb (please, dont advise me on moving on to WinXP, since I have already tried them and rejected them for reasons irrelative to video-processing).

Unless there are utilities allowing me to selectively capture individual scenes from the DVD-ROM, I don't see much need for me to buy one. But if there are indeed such utilities, I would appreciate it if you could save me some time by pointing them out. My next move will be to go buy a DVD-ROM, first thing in the morning!

Thanks in advance and best regards...

[indolikaa]

please, dont advise me on moving on to WinXP...

How about a dual-boot configuration with Win2000 Pro / WinXP and your existing Win98SE?

I multi-boot between Windows ME and two different partitions of Win2000 Pro and everything works very well. This gives me legacy support, a dedicated partition for video, and a dedicated parition for games.

I'd like to think of this as something less than advisement. A thought, maybe?

As for the Macrovision, I'd rip and edit. Otherwise you are looking at a pricey solution for a "decent/quality" hardware option. If memory serves me correctly, probably about US$300...

.indolikaa.

[ronnylov]

No files are bigger than around 1 GB on a DVD so there are no problems copying a DVD to a harddrive in Windows98. You can use DVDShrink in reauthor mode and just copy the chapter you need. There are many ways to do it with freeware. It is really worth the improved quality compared to analogue capturing.

I'm capturing TV in digital form too, using a DVB capture card. My video camera is miniDV. So the only need for analogue capturing today is capturing from old analogue video tapes. And then macrovision may be a problem.

[JamieM]

c. To buy a hardware MV remover, which sounds a bit silly, if you think that they are equally or even more expensive than several stand-alond dvd-players which are already MV free.

I have one of these. Cost me $50 from the back of Popular Mechanics. A black box that takes a 9V battery. I've had it for years and it still works pretty good. Its not as good as a TBC.

Then again, my new Zenith DVD player has the MV off feature as well, and it only cost me $69 too...

[migf1]

I would like to thank all of you guys for your valuable info. I think the most vital solution for my case would be the one provided by Ronny, in his last post (regarding DVDShrink that is).

I'm just downloading the utility right now, to get an idea of what it is doing. I should also read some guides too I guess. Providing the prog indeed suits my current (and/or near future) needs, I'll go buy a DVD burner (instead of just a DVD-ROM) pretty soon.

Once more thank you all for taking the time to enlighten me in this matter.

Best regards...

PS. I also got a private message from Ben, pointing me out a utility called TVTool, which among other things seems to handle MV too. I d/led the demo version last night and installed it... I must say it looks pretty cool, although it asks for Detonators 43.xx or higher in order to work properly. Right now I'm using Detonators 30.82, which are the latest being compatible with nVidia's WDM ver 1.08 (which in turn are supposed to ignore MV). I don't know yet, 'cause I've sent my stand-alone Q40 player to Philips, for a firmware update. I'll get back to you as soon as I have the player in my hands (hopefully this weekend). Thanks Ben.

[ronnylov]

You can find some DVDShrink guides here:
http://www.dvdshrink.info

In reauthoring mode you can set start and stop frames and copy the scenes you want.

Regarding TVTool it can switch off the macrovision on the tv-out but I don't think you can do it on TV-in.

[migf1]

[snip]
b. To install nVidia's WDM drivers version 1.08, which are supposed to ignore the MV noise. I found those drivers, tried to install them, without success (it may be that I'm using the latest drivers for my Graphics card -regardless WDM that is... I'll do some more extensive experiments, perhaps trying older versions of drivers, and I'll get back to the forum).
[snip]

Although I haven't checked if nVidia's WDM 1.08 drivers are indeed ignoring the MV noise during capture (I'll do so as soon as I get my Q40 back from Philips) I played quite a bit about installing WDM 1.08 on a system with Win98SE.

I found out that the lastest Detonators compatible with WDM 1.08 are version 30.82. Now, if you have already installed any WDM drivers higher than 1.08 and/or any Detonators higher than 30.82, then (alas) the uninstall procedure is not a trivial one.

You have to uninstall them both, without rebooting in between, with the help of a small utility called "Detonators Destroyer". However, this is not enough!

You should also do the following:

1. In the first reboot after uninstalling the drivers (as described above), you'll be asked to specify your dispaly adapter... Choose "Show all devices" and then select "Standard VGA (PCI)". Win98SE will ask again for a reboot, do it.

2. Once you get into Windows, reboot again (Start->Shut down->Restart) but this time enter Safe Mode (do it by pressing repeatidly the F8 key during the reboot, until you get a DOS menu... in that select: "Safe Mode")

3. While in Safe Mode, go to "Start->Settings->Control Panel", open the icon "System" and then select the tab "Device Manager".
Alternatively, you can right-click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and then select "Properties". Then select the tab "Device Manager"

4. Open the subtree "Sound, video and game controllers" (by clicking on the plus sign, just on the left of the subtree's name).
Now, remove MANUALLY all elements with names statring with "nVidia WDM..."
There should be 4 of them:
- nVidia WDM A/V Crossbar
- nvidia WDM TV/Audio Crossbar
- nVidia WDM TVtuner
- nVidia WDM Video caprture (universal)

5. Reboot again (Start->Shutdown->Restart)

6. Install Detonators 30.82. DO NOT REBOOT! Install WDM 1.08.

7. Reboot.

You should be all set now. WDM 1.08 should be installed and working (I tested them with Virtualdub, iuVCR and AMCap 9). I only need to test them with MV enabled input now.

Best regards...

PS. Thanks again Ronny! I've already followed the Flash guide of DVDShrink's Re-authoring feature, and it looks just perfect for my needs!