Want to start capturing, have a few newbie questions

[Miles]

I have an old ATI TV Wonder VE card that I got cheap off eBay, but I've never really learned how to use it.

Anyway, there's a film on TV this Saturday that I fancy having a go at capturing, so I wondered if anyone could help with some questions I have:

1. The film is The Empire Strikes Back (ITV Sat 6:45 p.m., for those in the UK). I already have this on a bought VHS tape, but if I capture (from digital cable TV) I might be able to get a better quality. Is this strictly legal, or is there some sort of limit on how long I am allowed to keep it?

2. Can Windows XP automatically install the correct drivers when I put the card in the PC? I want to use VirtualDub, as described in the guide on this site, so I don't want to install the ATI MMC off the CD that came with the card.

3. I have about 35GB free on my hard disc. Is this enough to capture the whole movie to a lossless format (huffyuv) for re-encoding to SVCD (with TMPGEnc) later?

4. If the answer to 3 is no: although the card is pretty basic, I have a fast CPU (Athlon XP 2700+). Would this mean I could capture straight to SVCD format MPEG-2?

5. If I captured to MPEG-2, would this make it more difficult to remove the ad-breaks?

Any other things I should know/bits of advice from people? Thanks.

[Vejita-sama]

1) You should be fine.

2) Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it. More than likely you'll have to d/load the drivers or use your CD.

3) 35GB? I doubt it. It depends on your settings (resolution and audio). You might be able to get ~60-75min at 352x576 (or 480x576), but don't forget that you also need HD space to encode/edit/etc.

4) You can capture directly to MPEG2 (if you card/hardware) is up to it. And for most VHS captures this is what i do (to save time, quaility is a little worst but given the poor quaility of a VHS source it's about equal). And yes, editing MPEG files is a huge pain in the a&&. So removing commericals can cause problems (sync). Also most programs only cut MPEG files. That is you'd have to cut each commerical block out, generate a new MPEG file, then merge all of them back together. Sync problems are likely to develop

Best bet is to capture to avi with either huffyuv or picvideo set to a ratio that gives good quailty but leaves you with enough space to encode latter. SVCDs only hold ~40min of video (at CBR 2520kbit/s) I forget how long SW:ESB is, but you might want to make some xSVCDs at lower bitrate (2pass VBR) so everything fits on 3 SVCDs.

[TBoneit]

Or do what I Do, I use the TMPGEnc DVD authoring progam (30 day trial) . It only accepts DVD ready MPGs so just capture that way.

It cuts real easy and when you are done just author a DVD.

I just mark the beginning and ends of the commercials with it and choose CUT. Do as many times as needed.

It doesn't re-render or anything. It appears to just use the edited file as is and create the DVD. On my machine it takes around 15 minutes to create the DVD folder after the editing is done. Doesn't seem to affect Audio/Video Sync at all. Slick easy to use.

Then if you don't have a DVD Burner use some of the tutorials/Software from here or elsewhere skipping the steps that relate to ripping the DVD to the hard drive as the DVD is already there. Convert the Authored DVD to MPG and convert to VCD or SVCD etc.

Hope this helps.
Cheers
Roger

[Oliver]

I'll answer the questions that I can, I don't know the answers to all your questions.

1. First, I wouldn't worry about recording off a broadcast. I don't know exactly what the law says, but as long as you're not going to sell copies of it, law enforcement isn't going to "bust" people for recording stuff off TV.

2. I Don't use XP, so I don't know. Probably will, but you're likely better off installing the latest drivers from ATI. I'd go to their website for help on installing it.

3. 35G won't be enough to capture 2+ hours with Huffyuv. Read this site for other codecs. Since it's a TV broadcast (digital or not), I wouldn't worry too much about using a "lossy" codec, especially when your ultimately encoding to SVCD.

4. I think your system would be fast enough to encode to MPEG2 in realtime, but don't take my word for it. Read the guides on this site and try it yourself.

5. From what I understand, it is more difficult to edit MPEG2.

[housepig]

only one suggestion -

whatever course you decide on (avi or mpeg), set up your stuff and do a test before Saturday night!

don't wait until the prog is on to start diagnosing your capturing problems - you have 36 hours or so, you should capture a bunch of stuff and check for kinks in your system, sync problems, etc.

try capping both ways and see which looks better - I find that with my card, avi caps that are encoded to dvd later look a lot better and sharper than capturing direct to dvd mpeg.

good luck.