NanoDVR Demo trouble

[Chyron]

I just downloaded demo version of NanoDVR software MPEG capture...and run in to the trouble - although message at start tells that only restriction of demo during 30-day trial period is logo, it refuses to capture after 100th frame (and info still says that trial not expired) and crashes after that . So i just can't even see quality of capture (4 sec is too small time, and video and sound isn't multiplexed). Any ideas?

[lchiu7]

I just downloaded demo version of NanoDVR software MPEG capture...and run in to the trouble - although message at start tells that only restriction of demo during 30-day trial period is logo, it refuses to capture after 100th frame (and info still says that trial not expired) and crashes after that . So i just can't even see quality of capture (4 sec is too small time, and video and sound isn't multiplexed). Any ideas?

I have a non time restricted version (you can download one if you have a Hauppauge card) and found it pretty flaky. Firstly it loses channel settings between invocations, secondly it defaults to about 10s recording unless you change the timer settings. Finally for some strange reason, it multiplexes picture and sound at the end, not recording both simultaneously

[boss]

i also got nanodvr from the hauppauge website and had trouble with it. i found that it would stop capturing all of a sudden for no reason. as well as that, the picture quality got worse the longer capturing went on, after about 20 minutes the screen had turned into a mess of coloured blocks!
take my advice- stop using nano and get a decent straight to mpeg capturing program like cineplayer dvr.

[Chyron]

Normally i don't capture in MPEG1/2, in worst case i use DivX5.0.2Pro, but I need MPEG1 for capturing some tv-shows - broadcasting quality is "not meat nor fish " as we say in Russian, so realtime MPEG can't make it much worse and filtering\converting in VDub and TMPGEnc won't worth wasted time.
I wondered what can be reason for NanoDVR problem - i don't want to use WinXP with WDM drivers or i'd use program from manufacturer -AverMedia's TVFleet . So i checked most popular programs working with VXD - WinVCR, PowerVCR and NanoDVR. Looks like they all full crap then - only one stable working on my system is WinVCR, but it had worst quality in VCD mode despite filtering. So looks like for my tasks i need to use both systems - as i like AVI_IO and VDub and dislike IUVCR. Thanks for caveat (do i use this latinism right? anyway.

[gll99]

Since you have a bt878 based capture card, you can use "wdm" drivers with win98 you don't have to switch operating system. So don't shy away from apps like Powervcr II, Wincoder and Windvr to capture mpeg1 or mpeg2. Do a search on Google for "tweaked wdm drivers" you will find them. I have already posted the links twice here this past week. Then you can use virtualvcr, amcap or iuvcr to capture avi with the wdm drivers.

[Chyron]

Well, i already said that i LIKE to use AVI_IO and VDub for capture - and do VFW wrapper for 9x exist? Anyway with wrapper i'll be limited to 352*288 capture in vfw applications. And TVFleet ( version with mpeg capture) in 9x works for everything except capture - i.e. shows TV, works with FM... but do not allow to capture - errors, something like "cannot create file" if i recall correctly, so i doubt that this is driver fault. Anyway, thank for help - i'll try either Uskov's drivers or some ?spanish? guy, don't remember his name. If any other good versions exist, can anybody post a link?

[gll99]

NO I haven't found a VFW wrapper for w9x so unfortunately if you go wdm its all or nothing. As you already know, but for the sake of others reading this, Vdub, avi_io,Nanodvr and many other apps won't capture with wdm drivers.
You have to switch apps but the results for me have been great. Absolutely no dropped frames and no overscan lines showing. If someone else has a wrapper for 9x I'd like to hear just to keep some options open.
My card is an Avermedia but it has essentially the same chipset (bt878).

These are the drivers that I have tried, I currently use the one's at Btwincap.

http://www.iulabs.com/eng/index.shtml

http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/index.html

[Chyron]

Fisrt - just tried WDM drivers form Uskov and Eduardo Tagle. First one do not work with vfw, everthing other - ok, but as i don't like Uskov's IUVCR, that's not for me. Tagle's driver surprisingly works(!!!) with VFW apps - but in this mode uses much more cpu power and looks like it favors rgb24 format - swithes to it all the time. Another drawback - do not allow to change color standart - only during install. As our TV is Secam based, but most VHS cassetes is recorded in PAL, this major drawback. And finally - i don't like standart WDM resolutions - despite they're ones used in Mpeg1/2 standart, i prefer 4:3, not 1,22 aspect ratio for capture - AVI is bit stretched with 1.22. So i switched back to VFW...
OK, conclusion is that i need to install XP or 2K as second system, what is ( thank god) possible due to their NT architecture.

P.S. I have no dropped frames in AVI_IO except ones in break between different records on same tape (or blank space), so that's bothers me least. And VDub with VFW wrapper anyway sometimes drops burst of 2-4 frames (w/o overloading CPU)(and not for audio sync - then it drops 1 frame a time), so this is some conflict/bottleneck i still had to pinpoint.

[Chyron]

And looks like i found source of my problem with VDUB! It's msacm.dll - when i replaced it with version from Tagle's site - no burst drops! For those, who interested, link is
http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/Files/msacm-fix-forWinMe.zip

[lchiu7]

Fisrt - just tried WDM drivers form Uskov and Eduardo Tagle. First one do not work with vfw, everthing other - ok, but as i don't like Uskov's IUVCR, that's not for me.

Have you tried this capture program http://www.digtv.ws/

I didn't like iuVCR that much either

[Chyron]

Well, somewhy it's buggy on my PC.
Anyway, as mpeg1 rt capture is nightmarish, i switched to using VDUB+DivX5 combo - with both noise reductions enabled, then convert to vcd with TMPGenc with "motion estimate" - no time-consuming extra filters and much better qulaity than any rt shit.