For MainConcept users

[Phoebos]

I think that capturing from VHS straight to DVD mpeg2 format is no worse than capturing in avi first and then converting to mpeg2 if you only intend to cut some unwanted parts. And maybe avi and then mpeg2 is waste of time.

I was told that this job can be done with MainConcept Mpeg Encoder w/o sync problems but I would like to know about the settings.

For example
1. in Detailed Settings which value do you put in Search Method and Search range?

2. Or which value for I and P Frames in GOP structure?

3. Should I change something in default values in Andvanced Settings or in Multiplexer Settings ?

4. Is more than 5000 average bitrate waste of space since VHS is a fair quality and you cannot make it something better than what it is originally?

Any other about settings or useful tips for MC Mpeg Encoder would be appreciated

[hhhhbk]

will have to investigate this
im after a program which will capture drectly to dvd compliant mpeg2 from dvcam

mainconcept may well be what im after

[lordsmurf]

Unless you're pushing a 3.0Ghz Intel P4, you're out of luck pretty much. Even on minimal settings, it can be very touchy. This is a pure software MPEG conversion, and MC is pretty buggy about it. It's also not as friendly on NTSC as it is with PAL.

[Phoebos]

Lordsmurf I trying to make PAL DVDs and SVCDs from PAL VHS, but my Intel is definately NOT a 3.0 Ghz Intel P4! Its actually below 2.0 Ghz!

So u propose to give up with MC? Or to capture to avi with it and then encode to mpeg2?

Thanks

[lordsmurf]

I would not give up, but don't have high expectations. I would suggest AVI, then MPEG2 for best results. Or a new capture card that can capture MPEG (ATI, Hauppauge, etc).

[Phoebos]

Thank you lordsmurf

I ll try to capture in avi ,352X288 for DVD PAL (no need for higher resolution since the source is only VHS which means low quality (with MainConcept+MorganJpeg codec set to quality 97%)
then encode with the same program in mpeg2
and God help me

[SatStorm]

I can capture realtime mpeg 2 with a duron 1200 without framedrops and mainconcept 1.4.2
Input 768 x 576, output 352 x 576 (best combination IMO) and a cheap bt8xx card (also a asus 7700, nvidia based...). So, don't be afraid! I can do the same with an athlon xp 1700 and add scene change detection in case someone cares...

If you search the forum, you gonna find few older posts of mine, of how to set up mainconcept. You can succeed miracles with that proggy.

[catdaddio6]

PHOEBS:I ll try to capture in avi ,352X288 for DVD PAL (no need for higher resolution since the source is only VHS which means low quality


i would cap it in high quality 720x480,,i've done some fight captures and no they arent near as good as dvd but they came out pretty darn good,you watched vhs for years without a problem and now everyone balks at it,,i just dont get it,,i mean you can spew specs all day but in the end its down to what the eye percieves,,anyway i'd do a high cap and then if you want lower the res in encoding process,,but you might be surprised at what you end up with at high res,,,just my thoughts

[Phoebos]

Thank you guys , your opinion is valuable

Satstorm, why capture in 768X576 and not to DVD format 720X576? or even to D/2 =352X576? this seems strange to me.

And the output isnt always 720X576 ?(=DVD format)

[lordsmurf]

I can capture realtime mpeg 2 with a duron 1200 without framedrops and mainconcept 1.4.2
Input 768 x 576, output 352 x 576 (best combination IMO) and a cheap bt8xx card (also a asus 7700, nvidia based...). So, don't be afraid! I can do the same with an athlon xp 1700 and add scene change detection in case someone cares...

If you search the forum, you gonna find few older posts of mine, of how to set up mainconcept. You can succeed miracles with that proggy.

You and I need to get together and write a guide.
I'll follow up on this in the near future.

[SatStorm]

LS: I don't have ******* time even to visit the forum anymore... I have already started guides for various subjects (how to capture PAL60 and proccess it, an easy way to convert / filter mpeg4 to DVD, how to filter with virtualdub a VHS source, What is DVB and what you can do with it, how to filter / proccess DVB, and couple of more) and I can't finish them!. Also, my current personal life is a mess (and I have to pay bills! Tons of bills! I don't know what to do!).

@Phoebos: DVD can be for us, the PAL users: 720 x 576, 704 x 576, 352 x 576 and 352 x 288. Interlace or progressive!

For practical reasons, it is "better" to capture VHS the higher you can and then resize and encode on what you wish. Especially for older bt8xx cards.
This is an overkill, but better keep it simply, so for now follow this suggestion. Later, you gonna find ways to change that.

For mainconcept, capturing the higher you can, is a "must": This program has a bug and when you output anything lower than 704 x 576, you may have field distortion at the bottom of the screen. Untill that bug fixed, capture the higher you can to bypass that

[Phoebos]

Satstorm, u mentioned input 768X576 and not 720 or 704 X 576 thats why I it seemed strange to me.
My card is a Fly Platinum with 7133 chipset. I have noticed about the distrortion at the bottom but I think this is visible only in pc and not in standalone DVD.

Do u recommend capture straight in mpeg or avi first? and is it ok a value 25 for the "range" in settings and 5 for Noise sensitivity? I Frames /P frames 15/3 ??

Eyxaristw poly

[SatStorm]

Capturing to avi, filter, resize and encode to mpeg 2 is the best way. Also, IMO, this is among the best ways to convert VHS/SVHS/LD to DVD.

But sometimes we need something fast or quality is not our first priority. Neither the file space. Those times, realtime mpeg 2 captures are a good alternative.

For practical reasons, and because you need to learn a lot of things (which you won't learn in a forum and in a week), for your first steps, just capture the higher your card offers. If that is 768 x 576, use this. If you card offers 720 x 576, use that.
This has to do with mainconcept and only with mainconcept.

Deactivate noise sensitivity (helps only a bit but also is the reason for framedrops), use value 21 (default) and I/P frames 12/3 (PAL GOP stracture needs to be 15 total, not 18. That 's NTSC). Top field first on the field selection.

The lines at the bottom you see, are from the VHS/SVHS tape and indeed you won't notice them on TV (they are overscan areas). But I don't talk about this, but about a field distortion at the bottom lines of the screen (about 150 lines). This is a mainconcept problem that occurs when we activate the "motion search pixel movement". The picture becames far better with this activated, but we have a terrible field distortion, like "stuttering", at the bottom of the screen, when we encode to 352 x 576. We eliminate half of the problem when we capture the higher our card offers (720 or 768 x 576, depending the card). The problem appears also on realtime DV convertions to mpeg 2 .
Let's hope that the future mainconcept versions gonna fix that bug.

[Phoebos]

Statstorm thank you very much, your experiernce is valuable

[Phoebos]

I am trying to encode for test an avi file with footage of 20 mins with MC but the encoding time is about 50mins !
(with 2 pass encoding while w/o 2 pass is more than 30 mins which is still too much. )
Which are the apropriate settings w/o dramatical loss of quality ? Let me put it another way, what is the normal encoding time vs the footage time : 1:1 , or more?
And why my mpeg resulting file has no sound????

Thank u in advanced

[SatStorm]

I suggest you a new topic for this!
In the convertion section (newbie)