Which analogue capture software for best quality

[didikai]

I have just bought a serious system
Pentium 4 HT
2 x 200 gig HDs
4 gig ram
ATI Theatre Pro 550

I finally managed to capture some footage from a vcr, aftre failing with Ulead Studio, Sony Vegas, and PowerProducer.
Pinnacle 8 wouldn't work, but I finally got the trial of Pinnacle Studio 9 and everything worked (sort of)
But I saw some quality loss in the final burned DVD.

Is this normal, or are there other methods I could use to get better quality output.

Thanks

[thecoalman]

Use MMC for capturing with ATI, generally the software that came with the card is best for capturing.

www.digitalfaq.com has step by step tutorials for capturing with ATI cards.

Get a good capture first and import the video into a editng app. I haven't used it but if that's the full version of Vegas ($500? approx.) then use that.

[Nelson37]

I don't think MC comes with that card.

What procedures occurred between the capture and the final DVD? Your statement seems to indicate that this quality loss happened AFTER the capture?

If you would like recommendations for other procedures to follow, it is necessary to detail exactly what you have done up to this point.

[didikai]

I don't think MC comes with that card.

What procedures occurred between the capture and the final DVD? Your statement seems to indicate that this quality loss happened AFTER the capture?

If you would like recommendations for other procedures to follow, it is necessary to detail exactly what you have done up to this point.

Thanks for the reply
O.K.
I captured with Pinnacle Studio 9 (AVI)
Did some minor editing (trimming)
Rendered with Pinnacle Studio 9
Burned with Nero

Should I be getting equivilant quality on burned DVD or is some deterioration to be expected

[Nelson37]

OK, many points to ponder.

First, VCR not the best source for capture. It may be your desired main source, but use a higher quality source to get things set up. DVD output ideal, Svideo from cable or Sat. Better quality source will more clearly show issues you need to deal with. VCR have basic issues which really cannot be fixed, you will be chasing your tail.

Two major areas where quality is lost - capture, and final encode. Check quality at each step, this is a multi-stage process and each stage must be optimized. Quality check on PC is significantly different than TV, but you will learn to adjust.

While quality is usually not lost in the editing or authoring stages, ANY software which alters the file can potentially destroy quality.

Pinnacle not generally highly regarded either as capture software or as encoding software. Suggest you find something else.

As for the end product, you should be able to get very, very close if not identical to original source.

Suggest some further reading, just as a for instance you haven't yet mentioned the resolution, framerate for either capture or encode, nor the all-important bitrate. Don't ask, these have been explained in great detail in other sections and you should become intimately familiar with these terms, as they are primarily what you need to manipulate in order to get where you want to be.

[laspis59]

Use Virtualdub for capture with the huffyuv codec (Completely lossless)for compression,has always given me good quality results.Use high resolution,as your PC specs should cope fine.
Btw WinDVR bad either for capturing directly to MPEG2

[edDV]

Also the ATI Pro 550 and its clones have been receiving many help me threads lately. I don't recall hearing about an ideal solution.

Just type "ATI Pro 550" in the all forums search above.

Long term I may buy one if anyone can get it working as a hardware MPeg2 encoder.