Acceptable dropped frame rate?

[nezza_42]

What do you consider an acceptable dropped frame rate?

My system is as follows:

AMD T'bird 1Ghz
Gigabyte GA7xzr mobo
20 Gb udma66 7200rpm hdd with Win ME o/s
30Gb udma66 7200rpm HDD partitioned 20/10 with 20Gb Primary partition for Vid Cap (defragged prior to each cap)
Matrox Marvel G400

Source: SCART signal from analogue TV
Matrox set to capture 704x576 25fps PAL High Qual (compression 6.6:1)
Capture using VirtualDub v1.4d multi segment "normal" capture mode (not AVICap mode)

The I've just file captured is 8.21Gb size, 49mins duration, 74,000 frames with 51 dropped frames.

Is this considered a good/poor or average dropped frame rate?

Any input greatly appreciated.

PS yes, I know it's not ideal to partition the capture drive, but I have no option - I require to back up sensitive data on my system drive to a seperate hdd!

thank again

Nezza

[iant]

Nezza,
As a fellow Matrox Marvel user, I'd suggest switching capture applications. I use AVI-IO on a much lower specced machine ( AMD K62 500 with a 5400 rpm disk. ) and regularly get zero frame drops on a full res capture. By rights, you should get similar.
I find that VirtualDub is the best editor available but it does result in more frame drops than AVI-IO on captures.
Ian

[CubDukat]

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On 2001-08-02 14:08:18, nezza_42 wrote:
What do you consider an acceptable dropped frame rate?

My system is as follows:

AMD T'bird 1Ghz
Gigabyte GA7xzr mobo
20 Gb udma66 7200rpm hdd with Win ME o/s
30Gb udma66 7200rpm HDD partitioned 20/10 with 20Gb Primary partition for Vid Cap (defragged prior to each cap)
Matrox Marvel G400

Source: SCART signal from analogue TV
Matrox set to capture 704x576 25fps PAL High Qual (compression 6.6:1)
Capture using VirtualDub v1.4d multi segment "normal" capture mode (not AVICap mode)

The I've just file captured is 8.21Gb size, 49mins duration, 74,000 frames with 51 dropped frames.

Is this considered a good/poor or average dropped frame rate?

Any input greatly appreciated.

PS yes, I know it's not ideal to partition the capture drive, but I have no option - I require to back up sensitive data on my system drive to a seperate hdd!

thank again


I'd say that's pretty good. They say an acceptable drop rate is about 10-15%, and it looks like that's where you are. Ideally, no dropped frames should be the goal, but with hardware specs like yours, it looks like the reason for the drops is actually related to the source material being captured. Note the places in the file where the drops seem to occur, then watch the corresponding sections on the source material. If you see any glitches or dropouts, that's probably it. If not, perhaps the source is too active electronically, and the card just can't keep up, although a M-JPEG card should be more than capable of keeping pace.

BTW, I've managed to get zero-drop captures using a 600MHz Celeron and a 60GB drive split four ways, with the swapfile on its own partition (not the C: drive) and a 52GB partition dedicated to video. It's all in the source. If you have moderate to severe dropouts on your tape, you will drop frames.

Oh, one final thing I learned. This may not apply to you, but here goes anyway: My VCR has a "Tape Stabilizer" function meant to stabilize rental and/or EP-recorded tapes. TURN THIS OFF WHEN YOU CAPTURE! It will cause you nothing but dropped frames. Again, this may or may not apply to your VCR; mine is a JVC S-VHS unit.




Nezza

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