Convert framerate?

[stuar.t]

Hi folks

I'm new to the forum (and to this subject) and not sure where to put this help request.

I just bought a Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-S-HD for the purposes of backing up my many hi8 tapes from the 90s to DVD.

I can capture the tapes perfectly well - I'm happy with the results. However when I burned to DVD the sound was completely out of sync.

Even with my limited knowledge it didn't take long to work out what the problem might be -

I'm in the UK so PAL plays at 25 frames per second whereas the captured video is at 30.

As far as I can see the software has no option to capture at 25 fps.

I can only come up with one idea so far which is to convert the frame rate in VirtualDub but this seems to take forever. It would be fine if it was just one tape but I have about 30 tapes to convert.

Thanks for reading

[jagabo]

The easiest solution for you is to make NTSC DVDs. Most PAL DVD players and TVs can handle NTSC discs.

Good interlaced NTSC to PAL conversion is difficult and time consuming to do well with software.

[stuar.t]

Thanks for your reply, jagabo. I'll try that now.

[intracube]

The easiest solution for you is to make NTSC DVDs. Most PAL DVD players and TVs can handle NTSC discs.

But his starting point is PAL Hi8 tapes. Converting to NTSC DVD format will introduce judder to the video.

It'd be better to figure out why the Hauppauge card isn't capturing the video properly. It's sold in the UK, so it should certainly capture PAL signals.

[jagabo]

He never said his hi8 tapes were PAL. Since he captured at 30 fps I assumed the tapes were NTSC. If that's not the case, and his tapes are PAL, then by all means he should be capturing them at 25 fps.

[jman98]

While I am not familiar with this particular Hauppauge device and I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be a case of a new member leaving out absolutely critical info that is necessary to solve this problem, I can make some general statements.

1) Hauppauge devices, unlike those of some other manufacturers, typically support PAL and NTSC input.
2) If you bought this device outside of Europe or from an untrusted seller such as on Ebay, there is a chance that you were sold a device that only does NTSC capture. Again, I've never seen Hauppauge devices that only do NTSC or only do PAL capture, but I cannot definitively rule this out.
3) Your tapes may be in NTSC format as Hauppauge devices typically do not convert between PAL and NTSC and simply record what they see.
4) Some Hauppauge devices allow you to set up the input video format and you may have this setup for NTSC, in which case the device is converting.

[stuar.t]

Hello again, yes I went off to try to do what jagabo suggested but the audio was still out of sync.

So to answer some questions:

Are the tapes PAL or NTSC? I think so, I assume they must be PAL as they were bought in the UK and play on a camcorder which says the word PAL on it.

Was the card sold in the UK? I think so. I bought from amazon.co.uk but from an independent seller: www.base.com

Also, the software settings don't seem to have any option to set up input video format.

Not sure if that helps any.

[jman98]

It helps some. But I have a better question. I went to Hauppauge's website. Your card is intended for European TV capture. Why on earth are trying to use this card for tape capture? Since what you are doing is definitely outside the scope of the card's intended use, my best guess is that the problem is with your playback device and it's sending either NTSC or PAL60 output to the Hauppauge card. This card seems to have only 1 coax input so there's not really anything I can do to help you out any further. Maybe now that I've explained what you are doing someone else can tell you if what you are trying to do is even possible.

[jagabo]

I recommend you post a short sample capture. Straight from the capture software, not reencoded. How far off is the A/V sync? Does it start out in sync and get progressively worse? By how much?

[intracube]

It helps some. But I have a better question. I went to Hauppauge's website. Your card is intended for European TV capture. Why on earth are trying to use this card for tape capture?

I couldn't find the exact model on Hauppauge's site - where are you looking?

The product is listed on ebay.co.uk and appears to have coax + composite RCA/phono input. What leads you to think the card isn't intended for use in the UK? If there were any incompatibility issues, I'd expect them to be over PAL/SECAM not NTSC.

[stuar.t]

Jman98, The reason I'm using the wrong thing is just because I don't really know what i'm doing and was probably a little hasty on the old purchasing due to wanting to get the job done quickly and it being pay day. It had a coax input so thought "that'll probably work". I now realize I may have wasted £60 and I feel very silly.

So the video is going through the coax input and the audio is going through the aux in.
jagabo-
The audio syncs perfectly throughout straight from the capture software but once burnt to DVD it starts off in sync then goes wildly out of sync gradually. I'll post a sample ASAP. What can you ascertain from it?

[jman98]

It helps some. But I have a better question. I went to Hauppauge's website. Your card is intended for European TV capture. Why on earth are trying to use this card for tape capture?

I couldn't find the exact model on Hauppauge's site - where are you looking?

The product is listed on ebay.co.uk and appears to have coax + composite RCA/phono input. What leads you to think the card isn't intended for use in the UK? If there were any incompatibility issues, I'd expect them to be over PAL/SECAM not NTSC.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_novahds2.html
If your model really is the exact name you listed then it's an old version of this card.

You don't understand my point. My point is NOT that it's not for the UK. It's that it's NOT intended for capture from anything but a cable TV source. Feeding video to this via coax is really not optimal. You really needed either this
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
or the Colossus:
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_colossus.html

[intracube]

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_novahds2.html
If your model really is the exact name you listed then it's an old version of this card.

You don't understand my point. My point is NOT that it's not for the UK. It's that it's NOT intended for capture from anything but a cable TV source. Feeding video to this via coax is really not optimal.

That card is for digital satellite reception only (DVB-S/S2). I can't see that the OP is using this.