Capturing analog video

[Bronx]

Which size is ti best to capture analog?


352 x 480

352 x 240

[yoda313]

Hello,

352x480 is half d1 dvd resolution.

352x240 is video cd resoulution (I believe).

If your capturing for dvd go with the half d1.

Kevin

[Bronx]

Yes, I am going to be capturing for a DVD I'm compiling of home videos.

Thanks for your reply.

[NightWing]

If you dont mind what is the source?

If VHS then the 352 x 480 is the best. Let the Mpeg engine stretch it to the correct horz for a DVD. And you should be ok.

[Bronx]

I will be capturing from VHS straight to an avi file. Making it easier to edit later on.

[housepig]

I did some head to head tests with various capture resolutions, and even with a so-so VHS source, I could still see a marked difference between 1/2 D1 and full D1.

so unless a) I'm capturing something that is really poor quality AND b) I'm looking to save space, I capture at 720x480.

your mileage may vary.

[wwjd]

I have done the same tests as housepig and I agree, if your not interested in squeezing as much as you can on a DVD then full D1 is better than 1/2 D1.

wwjd

[Bronx]

Can anybody recommend a program to capture analog video?

[sacajaweeda]

I'm a VirtualVCR fan myself. What kind of hardware are you using?

[pchan]

First, you must have a capture card. Assuming you already have one, then one simple capture software that I can recommend is AV_IO and Picvideo MJPEC codec. A ballpark number of the video filesize is about13Giga byte per hour for a compressed video clip.

A word of caution, since you are in the US, please use NTSC video standard e.g. 29.97 frame rate, frame size is 352 x 240 for VCD and 720 x 480 for DVD.

Pleaes refer to the What is and How to section in the site. All the info are there.

[winifreid]

I have done the same tests and can not tell the difference. I think it depends mainly on the size and quality of your TV, then on the video (crisp colors, lots of action) then upon whether you are really close to the TV.

[NamPla]

I have done the same tests and can not tell the difference. I think it depends mainly on the size and quality of your TV, then on the video (crisp colors, lots of action) then upon whether you are really close to the TV.

I've done loads of side-by-side comparisons too. I can't tell any diff...

I capture at full-D1 and resize to half-D1. With some spatio-temporal filtering, I get better quality than the source!

But I can imagine that if you have a HD TV, you might see differences...who knows.

[lordsmurf]

I know with my ATI or LSI captures, I cannot see a difference.
A lot of this is based on your card, drivers, software, etc.

I did some head to head tests with various capture resolutions, and even with a so-so VHS source, I could still see a marked difference between 1/2 D1 and full D1.

so unless a) I'm capturing something that is really poor quality AND b) I'm looking to save space, I capture at 720x480.

your mileage may vary.

This is because of the sharpening and resizing of your card.
I bet trevlac or fulilives or satstorm could give you some info on adjusting it. One of them sent me screen grabs way back when. It worked.

[Bronx]

I got this (used) Pinnacle Dazzle DVC80 usb from a cousin. He did not have the time to transfer his home videos so I offered to help him with it. I know this is not a great piece of hardware so I will do my best.

I personaly have a Panasonic MiniDV (only output/no input). I transfer all my videos through firewire.

OK, I will Capture at full D1

I want to THANK EVERYONE for their responses and opinions.

[NamPla]

I know with my ATI or LSI captures, I cannot see a difference.
A lot of this is based on your card, drivers, software, etc.

This is true.

I use a GeForceFX card. Some cards don't like capturing at certain resolutions blah blah etc...

Look over to your left here at the "Capture Card" comments and you'll probably find out more about your card's idiosyncracies.

Learn shit, and test shit, and when you're happy, STICK WITH IT! Heh

[Wilbert]

I have done the same tests and can not tell the difference. I think it depends mainly on the size and quality of your TV, then on the video (crisp colors, lots of action) then upon whether you are really close to the TV.

Size and quality of your TV is of no influence. If you cap at 352x240 you throw away half of the information. So, you should see a clear difference. Perhaps you can post some screenshots.

[fmctm1sw]

I think one thing that has been hashed out here is that most analog capture cards capture at a specific size regardless of what you type in for a resolution. The image will be resized (or scaled maybe) to the dimensions you chose. I think the best course of action may be to determine this specific size for your particular card and go from there. Mine captures at 712x480. I crop 4 pixels off each side and then reduce the horizontal by half sometimes if I want a 352x480 frame size. There are also card specific sharpness issues to deal with as well.

*note* I just noticed most of what I said is mentioned about by lordsmurf.

[Wilbert]

@fmctm1sw,

What card/chipset do you have?

[fmctm1sw]

@fmctm1sw,

What card/chipset do you have?

Hauppauge wintv BT848

[Bronx]

Update:

I tried several programs to capture video, Pinnacle Studio 7 and 9, VirtualVCR, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Media Capture, and others which I don't even remeber, but the results were almost the same. Plenty of dropped frames.

I tried MyDVD v4 that came with my burner and to my surprise I was able to capture the home video with no sync issues. And I have to admit the quality was very close to the source.

[pchan]

@ Bronx,
If your PC does not have USB 2.0, then leave the PC alone when you are doing video capturing. FYI USB 2.0 is double the data throughput that USB 1.0.

[Bronx]

Yes, I have USB 2.0 and I leave the PC alone when I'm doing video capturing. I also turned off the preview that way PC can just to one thing, capture instead of capturing and showing the preview at the same time.



If you have anyother recommendations I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

[pchan]

@ Bronx,
One more suggestion, go to your IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers and see if the DMA is turn on.

[Bronx]

I will check tonight when I get home.

thanks

[pchan]

Right Click My Computer & select properties. At System Properties window, click Hardware tab and click on Device Manager. In the Device Mgr Window, you can see the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers. Click on the + sign. Right click on the Primary Channel and select properties and see if the Transfer Mode is set to DMA if available.

[Bronx]

@ Bronx,
One more suggestion, go to your IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers and see if the DMA is turn on.

I checked my Drives and the DMA is turned on - on each drive.