capturing analog

[ddan]

I'm new to capturing video and capturing video can be overwhelming. I'm capturing video from a camcorder through a composite to digital adapter using Microsoft Movie Maker. It brings the 120 minute movie in as a 1,6 GB .wmv file. I used several different encoders to write it to DVD. TMPGenc seems to work the best for me. Though I have a problem with the audio. I have and extremely loud back ground humming noise on the captured video that then gets put onto the DVD. The noise is almost unbearable. Anyone got some help for a newbie/;

[tmh]

First off, what are you trying to do? Are you doing editing in WMM? If not, then maybe WMM can be skipped. If the adapter converts it to DV (AVI file) then I'd say you should capture it a Dv AVI - I use WinDV for this. I see no value in creating a .wmv file. You can edit in AVI then encode to mpeg2 video with TMPGenc or whatever you like then Author (TDA is what I use).

WMM uses type 1 AVI files. You can save the edited video as a DV AVI (type 1). Usually, I've had to convert this to type 2 so the other programs can work with it (encoders). If you use WinDV, you can capture as type 2, but you won't be able to edit in WMM without a conversion to type 1 as far as I know.

Again, please give more details on what the project is your working on.

[ddan]

thanks, that was very informative. I'm just taking video off old 8mm tapes and putting them on DVD's. I would like to retain as much of the video quality as possible. I'll try WinDV and see how it does.

[tmh]

OK. If you're not doing any significant editing, then transfer via firewire to PC with WinDV (select "type 2") then encode with TMOGenc should do a fine job for you. You can use VirtualDub (mod) if you want to do a few cuts/splices, etc. It also does more advanced stuff, but I haven't done much with that yet.

WinDV - Tmpgenc - TDA (author) - Nero burn (TDA also can burn, but I've had great success with Nero so I stick with it).

[redwudz]

If you can't get rid of the source of the hum, you might run it through a audio editor like Audacity (Freeware) to lower the levels.

Also, you can transfer the DV stream directly into Mainconcept encoder and output MPEG-2. Of course if you need to edit, this is not the best method, but it is quick.

If you use Virtualdub mod for editing, you may need the Panasonic DV codec.

[ddan]

the coposite to video adapter that I'm using is usb. Can WinDv work with this to capture video? I emailed the WinDv guy but he hasn't gotten back with me.

[redwudz]

Don't believe WinDV works with anything but a Firewire DV stream. Does your camera or your adapter have DV (Firewire/1394) output? If not, it's probably analog and many of the answers above don't apply.

You might mention the name and model of your camera and your adapter and someone here might have a little more knowledge of the best setup.

Also look to the left under 'Capture' and you should find quite a few guides.

[ddan]

I mention in the first post that I was doing analog to dv. The adapter is airlink+ that has composite in and a usb out. It was the only thing that I could find that did this. I also have access to a Dazzle device at my office.

[redwudz]

OK. I think you have this device or model thereof:http://www.airlinkplus.com/multimedia/atvusb01.htm

There doesn't seem to be any DV involved. (What is called DV here is a form of AVI video and audio, sent through a Firewire interface. That may be where the confusion lies.)

It appears you have a USB capture device that seems to have software included to capture and encode. You can probably use Virtualdub to capture, but it would be in a AVI format. You would have to then encode this to MPEG-2 for a DVD compliant file. VirtualVCR may also work. The software included with the device should work better than WMM.

For quality, capture as AVI and edit, encode with TMPGEnc encoder or similar, author with TMPGEnc DVD Author or similar.

On to the audio problems. If the hum is not on the tape; Make sure you have the audio plugged into 'Line in' on your sound card, not 'Mic in'. You should also be able to just run the audio directly from the camera to the sound card, bypassing the USB device. Not sure what the USB device is doing with the audio, if anything. Lots of hum usually mean a connector partly unplugged, a loose wire or connection or plugged into the wrong input.

Sorry, it's hard to make all this simple. Getting the video to the computer is the easy part. Try some of the software mentioned, study the 'Capture' guides.