Various capture problems with high-end laptop

[romanticitalian]

First off, I just wanted to say that I have been reading this website and these forums now for over 2 months and am amazed out how much great information I have gathered. I love the good websites too, such as doom and lordsmurf.

Before I begin describing my various capture problems (have yet to make 1 good DVD), here is my hardware and software setup:

HP high-end nx9010 laptop ($2100), with 2.8Ghz P-4, after-market IBM 7200rpm 60GB drive, on-board firewire, USB2, 768MB memory. This was the best notebook I found (besides the Panasonic toughbook, which was $2500).
Software: Mainconcept 1.41,TMPGEnc Plus, TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.15.20.62, Ulead Video Studio 7, Premiere 6, Pinnacle 8.5 (yuck!), Womble mpeg-vcr, ffmpegGui, BesweetGUI, WinDV, Virtualdub mpeg-2, scenalyzer (I think that’s most of it!)
Camcorders I own: Sony DCR-TRV22, TRV350 Digital8 (it also plays regular 8mm). All captures are firewire.

Goal: All I want to do is convert my old VHS-C and 8mm tapes to DVD. That's all.

Various problems with capturing:

1.Capture DV with Mainconcept (CPU 90%, raw DV), convert with TMPGEnc; issue: playback on my new TV after burning, produces shaky video and audio is normal.
2.Capture DV with Mainconcept and convert with Mainconcept (tmpgenc takes forever!) with resolution 352x480(remember, these are analog tapes; 720x480 is unnecessary); video is still shaky.
3.Capture mpeg-2 with Mainconcept at 352x480; Issue: processing takes up to 45 extra minutes after I stop capturing with CPU 100% the whole time. Also, audio is out of sync half the time, by 1-2 seconds on final DVD playback on TV, after burning with TDA.
4.Capture mpeg-2 with Mainconcept at 720x480; again, long processing. Result: Strange jerky video on the fast motions (example: when I record my dog and I watch his feet during playback). Audio is ok, sometimes out of sync.
5.Capture mpeg-2 with Ulead Video Studio 7 (custom resolution size is grayed out and defaulted to 720x480); Issue: audio again out of sync half the time, especially on longer files. Jerky video.
6.Premiere 6 capture in DV, then converted to mpeg-2 with tmpgenc. Issue: Jerky video and all over the place on the screen. Besides, the resolution settings are funky and not DVD-compliant.
7.Capture with WinDV, then convert to mpg2; same jerky video on the TV screen.

ARGH!! Could someone please tell me what I am doing wrong?? I have YET to make a normal DVD with no issues!! (sigh) Whenever possible, I select mpg audio layer 2 with 256k, 48k, 16-bit, then convert to AC3 with ffmpegGUI. Also have tried PCM, but no luck. For TMPGEnc settings, I use the lordsmurf settings.

By the way, I would rather not have to shell out more money and go the external capture card route (unless this is the way to go); and if I did, does anyone know of a card that is mpeg-2 hardware capture with firewire? All the ones listed in the capture card section on this website are USB2 (canopus advc-100 is DV capture only).

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated, as I am really stumped at this point. Thanks.

[bottle-necked]

First thing is that high CPU usage during capture. It needs to be max 55-65%. That 100% is probably where you audio sync issue is coming from. There are several ways to get those numbers down. 1st is to stop all other programs. Use A/C power. Set for Always On and Never in power options. Streamline your system services, startup folder, and autorun. Update Windows, system drivers, and BIOS to the latest available versions - or - the versions that gives you the lowest CPU usage.

Having a laptop with only 1 hdd means that anytime Windows accesses the drive while you are capturing the capture file will pause. An external drive *may* help you here. Shutdown everything that might interupt the capture process. This might take a little time to figure out.

High traffic/throughput on the system bus can cause a lot of problems. This you may not be able to fix. I wonder about that ltop?....

Establish a baseline for your system. I mean to find 'what you can capture' instead of what you can't. Try MPEG1 VCD templates in Ulead VideoStudio. Try turning the quality all the way down. Establish a workable routine to begin with then start bringing the quality up.

Those 'jiggles' you're talking about is probably just wrong field order. On my system I capture/process as Field Order A (upper), but when working in Ulead products I must choose Field Order B. In other words, as long as Ulead reports my files as Field Order B then I know it is the correct order. Just do a simple 5 minute capture test, burn to DVD, and play on settop box. 1 file in B and 1 in A. You will see.

Some of that jumping video can also be from that 100% CPU usage also. That is why I suggest a max of 65%. You've got to get that down....

Does that ltop have USB 2.0? All of this is making me wonder just how good that firewire port is working.

Keep working on it, you'll get it going.

Good luck.

[MrMungus]

What are you using to play your files? Have you tried creating VOBs and playing them or creating a DVD and playing it on a standalone?

[romanticitalian]

Hey there, guys. I'll add a bit more info for ya..thanks for responding.

Mr Mungus: I have a stand-alone 3-yr old Sony Carousel 5 CD/DVD player, which has DTS and Dolby Digital. It's never had any issues so far, and plays all new DVD's with no problem, very clean picture and still nice after 3 years.

Bottle-necked: Yes, I totally agree about the 100% CPU issue; just can't seem to find a way yet to lower it. Also, I always kill about 4 processes and anything extra in my systray (Win2K Pro, service pack 3, with all windowsupdate patches). I disable Norton antivirus (especially the annoying ccpaa in taskmanager or whatever its called) and my Firewall, no internet connection hooked up. This brings me down to 39 processes running. AC power is ALWAYS plugged in. The strange thing is that even though I have 768 MB memory, I have YET to see the Peak usage (under Commit charge) go above 200 MB! So I know I have plenty available, as physcial RAM is 768MB.

Now you say an external drive might help. How? Either way, it has to write the data, correct? By the way, my laptop has 3 onboard USB 2.0 ports. Would I choose external USB hard drive, since my capture is via firewire?

An idea: What about changing my variable bitrate (only 3000-6200), and capturing at a constant rate (say, 4000)? Would this work? I will test that tonight. I have heard, though, that there is some issue with choosing constant bitrate...what is the issue, if anyway?

Trying MPG-1 VCD first: If I do that, don't I lose quality when I convert those to DVD-compliant mpegs?

Field order: Yes, I will try both. I have tried bottom vs top field etc in mainconcept, but will attempt again.

[bottle-necked]

39 running processess is a bit much. BlackViper.com has a nice page about "Windows 2000 Professional and Server Services Configuration" that will help you. They offer a download file "2000Services.zip" that contains a PDF file that explains every service and if it's necessary to run or not. Using their advice you can streamline your system services easily. I've used their advice on my XP machine with very good results. Look it over, it will help ya.
I would create a link to their page but you can find it easily with Google.com.

My suggestion for trying VCD was to try and find a setup you "CAN" capture without problems. Record CPU readings for that setup then increase quality/size/etc until you reach 65% CPU load during capture. Without establishing a baseline it's hard to judge system changes. Understand? This way a system wide change can be tested against your capture CPU load to see if they helped or hurt.

You are using software MPEG2 encoding. Reducing the quality slider/number wil lower CPU usage. Try that also.

I would check the manufacturers website for updated system drivers. Thats usually a good idea and sometimes some are available. Test these against your load values.

It's going to be hard to figure out whats going on and how to fix it, but its possible to do I think. Just take it one step at a time.

Good luck.

[romanticitalian]

Well, guess what??? SUCCESS! (well, at least partial anyway)...here's what I did:

1. Capture with Mainconcept in 720x480; tried 30 second vids; tried upper field, lower field, variable bitrate (avg 4200), constant 4000, constant 6000, constant 1000....CPU 100 % on all, so I didn't even bother burned the DVD.

2. Capture with Mainconcept in 352x480, again, lower, upper, variable and constant.....CPU 100 percent.

3. Capture with Mainconcept in VCD format (352x240)..CPU 100 percent!

4. Capture with Mainconcept in MPEG-1 format...CPU 100 percent!

5. Capture AVI with Mainconcept...90 percent. Too high in my book, for AVI capture should only be 20-40 percent CPU.

6. Capture with Ulead Video Studio 7 (Custom MPG2 can only be 720x480). (CPU at 80 percent!) I was afraid that that would be too high resolution, considering that my source is analog 8mm tape (despite playing through a Digital8 camcorder that plays back 8mm and firewire).
Tried 4000 constant with field B, 6000 constant with field B, 6000 constant with field A, and AVI capture coverted to MPG with Mainconcept (tmpgenc is too long), field B (CPU 30 percent).......converted audio to AC3, burned all to a DVD+RW with TDA, and played back on my stand-alone DVD player on my stereo system.

Surprise....the constant bitrate 6000 with field A worked perfectly and was clean on the screen! (I want to try 4000...will that work? I need more space on DVD) All field B captures were funky and shaking on the screen, except for the AVI converted mpg (which was ok, but shook at the end of the clip. I'll look closely at field order on Mainconcept).


By the way, I still don't see how killing additional processes is going to lower the CPU usage.....my understanding is that it just lowers the amount of memory in use, after closely watching the task manager. I've been watching the thread amounts too, in addition to the Peak Commit charge amount under task manager. After browsing Google for awhile, I still have not been able to find a correlation between the threads/processes and the CPU, or that lowering the amount of threads or processes would somehow lower the CPU usage. I'm still not sure how I'm going to lower the CPU below 80 percent. I did notice it was 82-83 percent on higher bitrate. On all captures, Ulead also flushes the buffers afterward, which did take about 10 seconds.

So to sum it all up....what are your thoughts, bottle-necked? How about variable versus constant...what could I expect or what should I be careful of? Also, what about a lower constant bitrate (say 4000, versus 6 or 8000)...considering my source is just analog, what would be the difference? Should I really only capture AVI, edit and convert, as I have heard that you lose some quality when doing mpeg capture and/or editing mpeg (Ex: Womble)? How much loss? And will any of this be different for when I capture my VHS-C tapes through the Digital8 or miniDV camcorder? And finally, your thoughts on processes in task manager? (I looked at blackviper...not sure about benefiting from it) I look forward to your reply.

[bottle-necked]

Finally some good news!!!

I can't answer all those questions. . . haha

Running processes: The bad deal would be for an open process to suddenly decide to do something right in the middle of a capture and mess up the video. The idea would be to close/end all processes that might cause a problem. Norton is one I'm sure of.

MainConcept has a quality slider that effects the CPU load during capture. You can lower this slider to obtain a better CPU reading. Ulead has a box and a number that goes from 1 to 15. I think it defaults on #8. Lowering this number will lower your CPU load during capture. How much quality is lost I don't know, but if you can't run the higher numbers you have no choice but to lower it. I would experiment with different settings to find which is best for your setup.

352x480 or 720x480 is up to you. I like the larger framesize myself expecially when working with a source like VHS/C or Hi-8. I don't usually put that much time on a DVD project when capturing from my camera and I like to retain all the quality I can. This may not be necessary but it's just how I like to do it. Your way may be entirely different and thats fine too. It's up to you and what your tests shows you need to do. Right!

Best quality can probably be achieved by capturing AVI then encoding with a program like MainConcept or TMPGEnc. I suppose it depends on the source. I usually capture MPEG2 because of the time it takes to encode the video. If you need to run filters then you're pretty well locked into capture in AVI/DV. This again is up to you and your video source. Just do a few tests and you will know.

720x480 is usually 4.0Mbps to 8.0Mbps. 352x480 is usually 2.0Mbps to 4.0Mbps. I've tried higher and lower. Lately I've been using 8.0 max and 7.0 average / 720x480 and my captures look good. It depends on how much time you need to put on a DVD and how you want it to look. My normal camera to DVD projects lately have been around 20-25 minutes long so bitrate is generally not one of my problems. If I do have a project that turns out a little big I just use DVD Shrink. I've had good results so far and it's not that big a deal. It's best to calculate bitrates and times and use the proper amounts, but if it's a little over I just shrink the folder. That is a lot easier than starting over from scratch.

Keep up the good work, you've just about got it