need your comments on my very 1st video capture & encodi

[Rell]

first things first, i still use vcd coz buying a stand alone dvd player and a dvd writer is not yet on my priority lists of have to's. and for the time being im only capable (financially speaking) of producing a vcd copy of my kids analog videos which has been kept for 6 years on video 8 tapes. so before the tapes deteriorates, id rather convert it to vcd than wait for the time id be able to buy a dvd player and dvd writer.

so here goes...

ive recently produced my first home video vcd from my analog video8 tapes and from the looks of it, id say it's A OK. what i did was...load the analog video 8 tape on my sony DCR-TRV350 and captured the video through firewire using the windows movie maker version 2. after which, i encoded the AVI file through TMPGEnc plus 2.5 and authored/burn the resulting mpeg through nero ver 5.5. the result of my capture and encoding are the follwing:

1) analog to AVI -
video size = 640x480

2) AVI to mpeg1 -
video size = 312x240

my question is:

1) how does windows movie maker 2 compare with other capturing sofwares (example: virtualDUB) in terms of video capture? is it ok if i stick with windows movie maker or id be better off with other capturing softwares around?

2) based on my capture and encoding output above, can you say that i have dropped in frames and video quality? or it's just fine? are there any effective tweaking on the settings of the windows movie maker and TMPGEnc that i should have done which can result to a more quality video capture and encoding?

3) i burned my vcd at 48x writing speed, does this in any way affect the final vcd product? or should i just settle to lower speeds for a more quality vcd output?

4) finally, what format would you recommend that i should convert my analog home videos to in case i decide to produce a dvd copy of it?


thanks in advance and more power to this great forum!!!

[Tommyknocker]

In my opinion, I would convert the AVI to 352 x 480, and see if I can make a CVD and see if it can play on my DVD player. Once you do get the DVD burner, keep converting and burning, but to the DVD at the same size, as it is also a proper DVD size.

[FulciLives]

VCD looks like shit. It's pointless in converting your videotape to that format. The tape is not going to become unusable anytime soon.

So wait until you can do DVD OR at least consider doing CVD or SVCD although in the long run CVD now would be the way to go if you can't wait for DVD burning technology to fit your budget.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Rell]

point well taken guys, but for the time being im contented with converting my V8 tapes to vcd. i know that it looks crappy but im satisfied with it. and moreso, i only have a vcd player (poor me). dvd conversion will be in the future when the prices go down reasonably. so please bear with me if im somewhat pre-historic. : - )

with regards to my AVi capture, why is it that the resolution is only 640x480? shouldnt it be 720x576 (correct me if im wrong coz i dont remember the exact numders)? or its the limitation of windows movie maker? or maybe its becoz my source is analog? should i use a more reliable capturing software? and if that is so, what software can you recommend that is easy to use on the fly but gives quality captures.

also, how come my encoded mpeg1 file-- which i did with TMPGEnc--is just 312x240 when im sure i selected video-cd NTSC with a res of 352x240? is there a loss during encoding? i thought losses occurs only during capturing, so why is this?


thanks again, and more power!!!

[Tommyknocker]

point well taken guys, but for the time being im contented with converting my V8 tapes to vcd. i know that it looks crappy but im satisfied with it. and moreso, i only have a vcd player (poor me). dvd conversion will be in the future when the prices go down reasonably. so please bear with me if im somewhat pre-historic. : - )

Actually, the simple DVD burner prices have gone through the proverbial floor (check the latest prices).

As for capturing at 640 x 480, you really are doing very well, if you are not dropping any frames, and capturing at a higher rate will not produce better video. If you check the specs of your source, you will see how high above them you are.

Now, this business about your encodes being selected at 352 and showing up as 312. Select the template you used and go to settings-->Video tab. Check the Size window and confirm it is 352 and 240.

Finally, see about finding another capture program. Movie Maker was fine for its day, but looking in the Tools section at left should give you some better choices, in my opinion.

[FulciLives]

Also keep in mind that if you are doing NTSC then VCD is 352x240 but if you are doing PAL then VCD is 352x288

There are PAL VCD and NTSC VCD templates in TMPGEnc so be sure to use the correct template per your source.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[vhelp]

.
.
DVD burners or writers (or however way you want to put it) have come down
in prices. My first DVD writer (though never used) was $249 I think, or
higher. Today, (few weeks ago) I got an new one by "OptoRite" for only
$149 at my local computer shop. It's a DVD+R 4x writer. I hanven't yet
connected it, but at least I know it works under Windows 98, vs. my prev.
one that the Cindyne box said it didn't what a waist. Anyways.

Point I'm making is that, prices have gone down, and will continue to. And
that also includes DVD players. You can get one as cheap as $29 at some
outlets. You just gotta go out and look.

But, if you're stuck w/ your current one, then there is not wrong w/ working
w/ what you got until you can get what you want

-vhelp

[Rell]

hhhmmm, just checked the prices of DVD writers and well, it made me change my mind right away and might get one next year. prices here are at $223 for a pioneer DVR-A06, and hopefully it still goes down around $175 to $150 next year as new models arrive.

with regards to the template, i select the video-cd NTSC format 352x240 from TMPGEnc's project wizard and confirmed that its 352x240 at the video tab on the settings button, but still when i play the mpeg file on windows media player 9 it says the file's video size is 312x240 and this puzzles me.

also, i tried running FRAPS during mpeg play and it shows that my mpeg is doing 30fps. is it ok?

btw, im using windows movie maker version 2 for capturing. does it still perform less than the other 3rd party capturing softwares?

thanks for bearing with me!

[Rell]

don't know where to ask this question so id rather put it here in my thread.

is it possible to make dvds on cd-r media?

[Tommyknocker]

Yes, they are called miniDVDs. They only contain about 15 minutes of decent quality, and not many DVD players can play them. I do know Ulead programs can burn them, but not too sure about other applications.

[Rell]

thanks Tommyknocker! i guess it would be impractical to make dvds on cd-r media, and i think no one does it either.

btw, care to give some insights to my previous questions so that i can rest in peace.

[Rell]

bump...

just like to ask about the hardisk stuff coz ive read somewhere here that it's not a good practice to capture and encode on the same hard drive, is it true?
im planning on getting another HD about 120gig to add to my 30 gig HD boot drive. the 120 will be dedicated for capturing and the 30 will be my main drive. my question is where will i output my encoded mpeg? should i direct it to the 30gig(main drive) or maintain it in the 120gig together with my capture? i definitely wouldnt want a 3rd HD for just my mpeg files which i will delete later on. any advice on these? or what ive just read is just another urban legend?

pardon me for posting a different question here.

[rcb]

Rell -

since we are happily spending your money here, consider bumping the new 120 gig hd size up to 160 gig... and then partition in half. Additional cost should be minimal.

while it's not critically needed for your purposes right now, sure will ease things a bit later when defragging, archiving, etc.

BTW, DO chk to see that your motherboard/os will accept a 120/160 gig hd. Some will, some won't. Read the "fine print" in your computer's documentation.

[jarros]

Another option could be to burn your AVI files (the ones you just captured) onto a regular data CD. Not for playback, just a data backup of these files so you can convert and burn them to DVD later on once you get a DVD burner. Until then you could stick to VCD if you'd like.
Wow, DVD burners are REALLY comming down. At FutureShop (Best Buy's Canadian partner) they just had a sale on an LG DVD-RW/+RW for $130 CAD (or $100 US)!! It also burns regular CD's, if you're interested. You can check it out here: http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10031983&catid=10475&l...18&WLBS=fsweb8

[Rell]

thanks for the inputs.