Help using CapWiz

[hhhgamewmx7]

I'm trying to capture from and DVD and my VCR using CapWiz. I have it set to record VCD and I have unchecked deinterlace. For DVD it all works fine up until the 20min mark and then the picture goes all grainy and blue but the sound stays perfect. With the VCR capture the same happens but only after 5mins. Some help would be greatly apprectiated. Thank you.

Dell Notebook, Windows XP, Intel Celeron, 512mb RAM, 30gb disk space.

[DVWannaB]

try this site:

http://p211.ezboard.com/bpyro1394

its the forum for capwiz and everything associated.

[akrako1]

You can check the Pyro board - but I've found the ADS tech support to be horrible! If you have an ADS Instand DVD 1.0 you're out of luck. That's what I've got, and it looks like they're not releasing updates/patches for it anymore. If you've got the Instant DVD 2.0, they are developing new software for it, so you can find updates. I've sworn off ADS for good. Stand-alone DVD burner for me now.... so much easier!

[DVWannaB]

You can check the Pyro board - but I've found the ADS tech support to be horrible! If you have an ADS Instand DVD 1.0 you're out of luck. That's what I've got, and it looks like they're not releasing updates/patches for it anymore. If you've got the Instant DVD 2.0, they are developing new software for it, so you can find updates. I've sworn off ADS for good. Stand-alone DVD burner for me now.... so much easier!

I am slowly moving in the same direction as akrako1. I have a Instant DVD 2 and has worked well for me, but I think it is time to move up. That new Sony HDX900 sounds delicious

[hhhgamewmx7]

I've got the ADS DVD Xpress, i send an e-mail to ADS a week back with no reply. Thanks for the forum, i'm gonna check it out now, ill check back if i get anywhere.

[hhhgamewmx7]

I browsed the forum and didnt find much help so i went back to the settings and had a go at changing the video settings like contrast and such which i never touched before. I can cap a bit better now when i lowerd all the settings down to zero. The bluely/grainy effect then became less frequent and only really occured when there was a strong colour picture on screen or stobe lighting. The picture then either went back to normal or froze. So i upped the brightness to max and am trying that now. What can i do further? Can i affect the VCR output or what? Any more settings tips?

[vhelp]

Maybe capwiz is the problems.., as well as the directx version you have on
your system.

How about trying Ulead's capture app that comes w/ the Xpress ??

I found it to be pretty good. The version I have is ver 7SE

-vhelp

[hhhgamewmx7]

The same thing happens with Ulead infact it is even more unstable then CapWiz. Overall I think Ulead is terrible and I am losing faith in the overall product. All i want to do is capture a video. All i want to do is press play on my vcr, press record in CapWiz and come back an hour or two later and find it's done, not 10 mins later to find it has gone all blue and froze.

Last night I tried to capture a 3 hour video and it took be about 10 hours to do so. What's wrong with this picture. I have waited many years to get my first capture device and make DVDs, and videos and so on but i have been terribly disappointed. Please i am in desperate help.......all i want to do is capture in peace. Thank you.

[Sturge33]

What are your computer specs? I have the DVD Xpress and it works fine. I get better quality from my ATI card but the DVD Xpress works just as it is supposed to. There are two versions of it. Supposedly the first one had problems overheating which would cause it to lock up.

[oldfart13]

That Sony is probably the best current home DVD recorder out there but there are problems with it as well. Read here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=463155

The HQ+ mode is non DVD spec (15 MBps) and can only be used for dubbing to disc in 2pass VBR mode. There is no FR or "fit to disc" or variable bitrate mode to burn directly or capture directly. Apparently this has been fixed on new machines in Japan but the 900 being released here has these problems. Might have to await newer machines yet...

[hhhgamewmx7]

Thanks for the help guys, I think i can now capture in peace and this is why.

Last night I was very close to sending the product back when i decided in a last ditch effort to actually go back a step and download CapWiz 3.1 instead of 3.5 that came with DVD Xpress. And guess what? It worked like a charm. I recorded a home VHS video that clocked over 90 mins perfectly, no signs of that bluely/grainy effect, it was the longest non-stop capture i ever did. And just to make sure i wasen't dreaming i recorded an episode of Scrubs directly off digital broadcast TV in 6mp/sec DVD quality PERFECTLY. So if people have trouble with 3.5, take a stab at 3.1 and you might be better off, it works better for me and it's a much smaller file!

At last i'm in capture heaven....heres hoping it'll hold up. Thanks again guys.

[oldfart13]

I've sworn off the ADS stuff after having blown over $400CAD on the original capture unit then having it not work even after optimizing my computer. ADS eventually offered me a $50 rebate on buying the version 2 device. I passed on that and ended up giving the unit away to a friend to play with. I don't even think Futureshop carries their product anymore after getting way too many complaints and returns. Buying a DVD recorder saved my sanity in this case...