WinTV PVR250 and Pinnacle Studio8

[GridX]

I have been using the hauppauge wintv pvr250 for about 4 weeks now, it seems to be a great card. Except, when I try to edit an MPG2 file (DVD SP) with Pinnacle Studio8 - Studio8 will lockup or kick me out to windowsXP.

I can get this lockup to occur consistantly when I single step frame by frame, Studio8 will kick-out to winXP at very precise frame locations.

I suspect the PVR250 MPG2 files must have some irregular encoding format that causes studio8 to kick-out to winxp. I have also seen similar effects with winxp-moviemaker and showbiz (that came with my sony dvd burner dru500a).

Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix this behavior???

Thank you for your time, have a great day!

Grid-X

[epo]

If You have ver 1.2 drivers, try newest drivers from www.shspvr.com . and change DVD templates to MPEG2 program stream recording (not DVD!). Same applies (template change), if You have allready ver 1.4 drivers.
No quarantee, it works, but some changes have been made to otput video format.

[GridX]

Thanks for the great feedback epo!

Your advice did help, but I am still having performance problems with the output mpg2 files. Program stream with const bit rate allows the sound to play at normal speed in studio8, but now I get chirps and studio8 will go real slow on selected parts of the mpg2 file.

It took studio8 over 2 hours to render a 30 minute mpg2!!! I have a Pentium4 1.7ghz, 256MB, GeForce3 64MB, and an extra dedicated hard drive (7200rpm-ultra ata 100) just for mpg2 videos. When I edit the vcd sample that came with studio8, performance is ok.

I am going to exchange my PVR250 for another PVR250, and see if maybe I just had a defect card? I really like the PVR250, just need to edit my mpg2 files that come out of it. I also like Studio8, but man, I expect a little better performance.

It is funny, "MS-Media Player" plays the mpg2 files just fine??? (why can't studio8, movie-maker, and ShowBiz)

Thanks,
GridX

[GridX]

Well, I took the PVR250 back and replaced it for another!

Same problem, I can't get the output mpg files from PVR250 to work using Pinnacle Studio8. Again, the studio will exit right in the middle of editing the mpg file. I even tried MovieMaker2 (beta-just out) from Microsoft - even it exits in the middle of an edit (or jog).

I also took pvr250 mpg files to another computer, and got the same bad results.

I cant believe anyone can edit the mpg files from the pvr250???

I am working with DVD SP output (const or var bit rate).

On its own the PVR250 seems to do a great job, and real time playback works great??? (just can't use the output files)

I guess I will just have to go buy the Matrox RT.X.100 - If only I had $1000! LOL

Well, if anyone has had a similar experience, I sure would feel good knowing i am not the only one?

Have a good one!
GridX

[Anonymous65]

Normally, you don't edit mpeg files, it's a bad idea. For cutting or trimming a mpeg file, use the Nanocosmos cutter, it works. If you want to edit, make trasnsition effects, add CG and so on, then capture in Mjpeg or other low loss AVI format and then convert the edited file to mpeg. Mpeg is not a format that can and should be edited.

[CubDukat]

Not having worked with the Hauppauge product, I couldn't tell you if something's wrong on that end, although I have heard horror stories about their products and support.

I will tell you, however, that having worked with Studio 7 and having heard that S8 is not substantially improved, you might want to investigate using a different editing program. Pinnacle's support is virtually nonexistent and mainly consists of denying their product is at fault, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Doesn't the PVR250 come with Ulead's program? I haven't heard about problems with that.

BTW, I am considering a PVR250 myself. What's the quality of the MPEG-2 files like? I have a 1GHz P3, and for a while I was considering the AIW Radeon 8500DV, but I heard it's a CPU hog when it comes to MPEG-2 encoding. I'd rather have a hardware solution.

[GridX]

Thank you for you replys skittelsen and CubDukat!

I can't say how much I appreciate the feedback/advice.

Skittelsen, what your saying makes a lot of sense and seems very logical (audio/video sync). I really wished you were wrong LOL. But, my findings so far seem to back you up. Just think about it - Pinnacle thinks they can edit mpg files!!! Are they good enough? So far it does not look like it. Your advice has shed some new light on my problem, thank you so much.

CubDukat, YES - Pinnacle has the worst tech support I have ever seen! I was going to email Pinnacle a sample MPG file that does not work with their Studio8 product but does work great with MS-Media player!!! The email address I was given did not work, get this, it was a yahoo address, ROFLMAO!!! BTW, I still have this 1MB mpg1 file as proof!!! I will say one thing though, Studio8 is easy to use and the I/F is not bad.

I also wanted a hardware based mpg1+2 capture card, and the PVR250 looks like the best product for $150 (on paper at least). So I bought one. I just need a way to edit and burn the output mpg files. I want to preserve the output mpg files so I don't have to waste time re-encoding!

If you plan on buying an mpg hardware based capture card, give me a little time (about a week) and I will post my final research regarding the PVR250.

IN SUMMARY:

My goal is to create DVD, SVCD, VCD, and photo DVD projects.

This is the system I am trying to get to work:

* Hauppauge PVR250
* Pinnacle Studio8
* Sony DRU-500A dvd burner
* I am now using multiple operating systems and hardware for my testing.

Here is my progress so far (VERY PRELIMINARY):

After spending 12 hours today on this project, guess what? It looks like I may have got an mpg2 file to edit and burn with the PVR250+Studio8+SonyDRU500A. This info is very preliminary, and I am currently trying to isolate the exact requirements to accomplish this. It might just be a fluke, but looks promising. Please bare with me, I promise to post my findings asap.

Thanks to everyone here at VCDHELP!!!
GridX (proud to be a member)

[GridX]

Well...

After a week of messing around with PVR250 and Pinnacle Studio8, I have reached a simple conclusion.

Do not buy Pinnacle Studio8! I can not even create/edit bmp files (to create a picture dvd w menus and titles). Please just go visit pinnaclesys.com and read the user forums, one complaint after another! I love Studio8's interface, and the software has fantastic capabilities, it just does not work! I've had Studio8 lockup and/or kick me out to the operating system (asking me to report the fatal error to microsoft). Software can have the best user interface, but if it does not work what good does it do (skeleton code is more important than user I/F)?

On the other hand, I got Studio8 to work when I edit those images captured directly by Studio8. To me it looks like Studio8 does not like those files generated by other applications (including the PVR250).

I would really like to hear from some of you Studio8 people out there, has anyone got Studio8 to work with files created by other apps. Please tell me Studio8 does not lock up on you? Just try taking some bmp files and create a dvd (with menu and titles per bmp image).

As far as the PVR250 is concerned, I can't reach any conclusion because I am unable to get Studio8 to run without lockup. BTW, I did install the latest Studio8 update (v8.3.18).

Using the PVR250 I can easily create VCD's using NERO (v5.5.9.17). The quality is a little blocky but it works (heck Studio8 can't even do this much). I am waiting for Nero to release their mpg2dvd plugin, I bet that will work. I am gaining a lot of respect for Nero. Nero is working on a new video authoring app called Nero Vision, I expect this app will show some promise.

Does anyone know where I can get a program to validate the integrity of an mpg2 file????? (To ensure mpg compliancy)

Thanks so much for your time and attention!!!
GridX

[Beavis]

For simple cut / joins, I'd use the latest version of nanocosmos editor off of the hauppage site. Ulead Video Studio doesn't seem to have any trouble with the mpegs created by the card for me. So far I have limited experience with this card as well.

Have you tried demultiplexing the PVR's original mpegs and re-multiplexing them in TMPGenc or bbMPEG and then loading them into your editor? Might be worth a shot.

[Fede Pede]

HI GridX..

Try out vegas video 3.0, it have no problems with Pvr-250 Mpg2 files...

Or try DVD2AVI make a d2v file convert the file in to avs.(you have to have install a frame server)

You can also try flask mpg and make and avi files out of your mpg2 files and then you can use an Edit-Program to edit the file.

[GridX]

Thank you for your reply Beavis and Fede Pede!

I have tried Nano, just was not impressed at first glance. I will give it another try to be fair. I have had some troubles with ulead, but it does seem to handle the PVR250 mpg's better than Pinnacle. Try some heavy duty editing and you will see what I am talking about.

I have considered Demux/Remux, but that sounds like lots of work/time.

Going avi prob would work, but that defeats the purpose of getting my movies converted straight to mpg via hardware encoder (PVR250).

I will give Vegas3 a try, thanks for the advice Fede Pede! I am also going to try Adobe Premiere 6.5 $$$, I have heard good things about Premiere6.5???

I was expecting to use the PVR250 to capture, then use a dvd production app to edit and produce the DVD. I will not give up this quest, I'll just have to keep pluggin away. I just can't understand why all this video editing has to be so difficult??? I know it can be hard for developers to write an app to run on 100 different variations of the PC. With all the various chipsets and mobos even a simple PCI card can be difficult to configure to work properly on every PC.

BTW, I am an electronics, firmware, and software engineer with over 20 years experience. Does anyone know how I can get my hands on the MPEG2 specs to design my own MPEG2 editor???

Thanks!
GridX

[donpedro]

I agree that MPEG format is not for editing. Try to capture in AVI (FireWire card) and see if you still have problems.