capture settings advice

[FulciLives]

Without having my PC in front of me (I'm at work), I can't comment on the resolution option, but I know I'm using the highest it offers (and am definitely going to check as soon as I get home).

I agree on the capturing…I have the room and I find the quality is noticeably better when (capturing to /rendering from) AVI.

As far as YUV/YUY2, I think they are about the same…are they truly uncompressed…the old debate (Pinnacle uses the term "uncompressed" in it's YUV codec)…I guess they are to a small degree, since RGB files are bigger, but YUV/YUY2 are huge as well. I used to use Ulead, and compared RGB to YUY2 AVI files…I couldn't tell a difference….maybe it's because I'm color blind and that's where (I'm pretty sure) some of the loss/compression is. If one was definitely better than the other, I thought someone in this topic might know.

See I'm not familiar with Pinnacle software but it seems most other programs capture uncompressed RGB although I think you can use RGB or YUV/YUY2 with the HuffyUV codec. I use PICVideo MJPEG on the 19 quality setting since my computer is a tad slow and HDD space is a bit tight. I know that PICVideo MJPEG uses YUV/YUY2

I know you recommend using a TBC…my captures from VHS and LD look VERY good…will using a TBC improve the quality even further?

I too have done LD captures and they sure look super! I don't think a TBC will really make a huge noticeable difference there but it definately will help with VHS ... even very high quality VHS it still helps and of course it is nearly essential for poor quality VHS (such as LP/SLP) or tapes with drop outs.

A final question (sorry folks for breaking forum protocol): did you see the remake of DOTD, and if so, what did you think? I'm a HUGE fan of the original "Dead" movies.

DAWN OF THE DEAD is my favorite film ... not my favorite horror film but my favorite film. Period.

So I may be slightly biased here but ...

I positively 100% hated the remake.

It ranks nearly as bad on the shit-o-meter as RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2 (which is the worst zombie film ever).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[charvelzeppelin]

when you uninstall the drivers im pretty sure the driver install file is in a hidden folder called inf in system folder (is this right?). you should install the other drivers without rebooting, or else the old drivers will be installed again.

also, you can download virtual vcr schedular for setting up timed recordings.

[dwiesel]

John…I assume you have a TBC, and since you've done LD captures, have you used them together, and were the results negligible? Also, for VHS, what aspect of the quality will look better? My image is quite stable….is the image just shaper with a TBC? (sorry to be a pain)

I didn't want to offend you just in case you liked it, but I too hated the remake…I left a review on amazon (dwieselq) that has yet to be posted (and there's one from a few weeks ago before it’s release).

[FulciLives]

John…I assume you have a TBC, and since you've done LD captures, have you used them together, and were the results negligible? Also, for VHS, what aspect of the quality will look better? My image is quite stable….is the image just shaper with a TBC? (sorry to be a pain)

I didn't want to offend you just in case you liked it, but I too hated the remake…I left a review on amazon (dwieselq) that has yet to be posted (and there's one from a few weeks ago before it’s release).

Unfortunately I don't have a decent TBC. I have a stand alone digital video box that convert PAL to NTSC and vice versa which I used back in the day to do PAL VHS to NTSC VHS conversions. It has a TBC built-in that will work even if you pass a video through without conversion (i.e., input NTSC and output NTSC) but the darn thing deinterlaces the video by throwing out a field so the end result looks "jaggy" and I hate it. I have an old Panasonic DMR-E20 which is a stand alone DVD recorder and I tried using it to pass a video single to my capture card so as to take advantage of the built-in TBC and it works wonders but I don't use it because my DMR-E20 is defective (hey I got it for free from a friend so I guess I can't complain) in that the built-in TBC can cause a strange blueish/purpleish "haze" across the top of the image and it's not a copy protection problem. I never heard of anyone else complaining about the TBC in the Panasonic units (in fact they get raves for this feature) so I must assume mine is defective.

I really would like to get the DataVideo TBC-1000 but money is so tight for me as of late.

But I've seen what a TBC can do with my testing using the Panasonic which works well other than the wierd "haze" I get and I can see just HOW MUCH the videos benefit from it.

For LaserDisc I saw very little difference but for VHS it is night and day. I'm very happy with my SP SPEED VHS captures without the use of a TBC but you can see how much the image gets stablized when using it ... any wavyness ... however suitle it may be ... is gone. The image also seems to be more clear although this is most noticeable with LP/SLP VHS recordings.

I really can't wait to get a proper TBC myself but you can get away without it if the VHS is very good quality and I don't think you really need it at all with LaserDisc or good TV reception like digital cable or satiellite.

As for the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake the only interesting kewl thing in the movie is the guy across the street. However that subplot alone is not enough to save the movie!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dwiesel]

Thanks for all the info John...I actually just ordered the TBC 1000...I have dozens of video tapes that will need to be converted, so it's worth the investment...and I've heard others say what a good machine it is. I will try it with the LD player too. Woohoo, a new toy!

[dwiesel]

Back to Trevlac's great explanation earlier in this thread, I have a couple of questions:

1) How does YUV2 fit into this (this is what I capture in)? How does it differ from YUY2? Is it as good? I see the two used interchangeably quite often.

2) I don't understand how HUFFYUV fits in to the equation…I use Pinnacle to capture and TMPGenc to create my MPG and don't see how it fits in.

Thanks!

[FulciLives]

Back to Trevlac's great explanation earlier in this thread, I have a couple of questions:

1) How does YUV2 fit into this (this is what I capture in)? How does it differ from YUY2? Is it as good? I see the two used interchangeably quite often.

This would be a question for Trevlac I'm afraid I can't answer it.

2) I don't understand how HUFFYUV fits in to the equation…I use Pinnacle to capture and TMPGenc to create my MPG and don't see how it fits in.

Well most of us use capture programs that allow us, the user, to select the CODEC we want to use for video compression and HuffyUV is a video compression codec. I don't know if Pinnacle allows one to choose a codec or not. If you are doing uncompressed RGB then you aren't using a codec really so no real worries there I guess. However if your capture is not RGB then it must not be uncompressed RGB which means SOME codec must be in use. Which one I can't tell you have to look in your Pinnacle software options.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Might want to PM trevlac on the first question.

[dwiesel]

Thanks John.

[duhmez]

Huffyuv i a lossless compresison codec, and if you chose any of the rgb options it is completely lossess. You will see a filesize actually about 1/3 of the uncompressed filesize. This adds up to huge savings quick. I don't know if Pinnacle lets you tap into windows installed vfw codecs; if it can't then it's weak.

[dwiesel]

duhmez...Pinnacle is VERY weak and sadly unreliable.

I changed over to capturing in VirtualVCR and am happy so far (most importantly, no frame drops/glitches). I capture to YUY2, which makes me guess that I don't even use HuffYUV, or if so it's invisible to me. Can you confirm? Thanks!

This HuffYUV seems to be a tough one for me, since I've never seen an option for it anywhere.

[ironwood321]

i am of the same train of thought mate

untill tonight my pctv s/ware has been faultless , using 5.5 build 110

its never let me down , in use or installation , thanks for the reminder about the reg thing , seen it before but just forgot about it , never needed it

off i go then

cheers m8

Hi,
Do you really need your Pinnacle PCTV software its a bit bloated and my experience with pinnacle software has been bad. The generic driver Amicap or AVIIO / huffyuv will give you excellent results.

For info how YUV2 and YUY2 is different track down the fourcc page http://www.fourcc.org/fcccodec.htm

If you use PCTV software to watch TV and now you can't you should really consider what you want your card to do. Capture excellent video or watchTV. If its both you wont be able to do it with pinnacle software as it hogs the CPU too much.

After you capture to Huffyuv feed the files into TMPEnc to make your VCD/SVCD or DVD.

If you want to capture live TV feed the video/audio out from your vcr into your card.