capture from VCR

[corumz]

I have the Plextor capture device that connects to USB2.0. The software that came with it is WindDVD Creator. However, the captured file is in MPEG-2. When I loaded the file into G-spot, it indicated that it was in VCD format but was MPEG-2 encoded, which does not make sense. Also, virtualdub would not load it. The file burns ok through Nero to DVD, but if I want to improve the quality or make changes, I cannot load it into virtualdub. It get some kind of error messsage about some start point being off.

Anyway, I am looking for additional option (s) for capturing from VCR us the Plextor capture hardware that runs through USB2.0 Much of the software out there captures from capture cards and is why I cannot use virtualdub to capture. When I try to use my Nero6.6 to capture, it crashes and and I get a blue screen then a restart.

My compute uses an AMD 1.4ghz Thunderbird processor and the os is win2000sp4.

Can anyone recommend other software to capture from VCR using a device that connects through USB2.0? Thanks

[jagabo]

VirtualDub does not load MPEG2 files. Use VirtualDubMPEG2 or VirtualDubMod.

You are probably out of luck on other capture software. Few programs know how to capture from hardware encoders via USB.

[classfour]

Have you tried TDA? If it is Mpeg2, it might load it.

[trhouse]

Many of the USB devices use proprietary drivers like my Adaptec AVC-2200. This prevents the use of most software for capturing. With the Adaptec I believe only Sonic MyDVD will capture from it currently although because the chip has changed and I have an older chip it will work with Movie Mill as well.

[GMaq]

Hi,
I also have the Plextor USB 2.0 PX-M402U, There is good news and bad news, Pretty much all the software that came with these units, other than the device drivers is utter trash, The Intervideo stuff is just no good, if you are fortunate enough to capture your file properly with the Intervideo stuff then good luck importing it into other programs, I realize opinions are a dime a dozen but here's what worked for me, For MPEG-2 capturing I use Nero Vision Express it isn't the greatest software for many other capture cards but it supports the Plextor devices quite well and the quality of capture is determined by the Hardware not the software and it is quite stable, I use the preset HQ setting which gives the best quality, Do not try and use Nero Vision Express with the "Custom AVI" settings which should access the DivX Hardware Encoder on your Plextor Unit but does not work well at all, for MPEG-2 you should be all set. The files created with Nero Vision Express import into VirtualDub MPEG-2 just fine and are also compatible with TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.5 and 1.6, If you want to use the DivX Encoder I recommend capturing with "iuVCR" which can be found in the "Tools" section of this site in the capture section. It has been my experience that the quality of the DivX Encoder at it's highest settings is superior to the MPEG-2, however that like the rest of this post is a matter of opinion. Hope this helps!!

[corumz]

I have the Plextor PX-AV100U hardware USB connector capture device. I appreciate all the suggestions by everyone. I was not aware of the virtualdubMPEG2. I will look into that as well as the other suggested sofwares.

I am presently using Nero6.6 OEM, but when I tried to use it for capture, it crashed. As soon as I click on the icon for capture, the computer crashes and I get a blue screen then it restarts. I had upgraded to Nero7 but was not able to transcode/burn any avi files at any quality level without getting a jerky video with popping audio. So I uninstalled it and went back to the Nero6.6 OEM until Nero and I resolve the problems with the upgrade on my computer.

I also tried to capture with an inexpensive European software called VHS Backup by Idigicon. But it would not capture throught the Plextor. However, it would capture through my webcam which did not make sense since the webcam is a USB connected device.

Even though so far I have been able to capture with the Intervideo WinDVD Creator, overall I have never like Intervideo products. Also, I have not tried its editing and burning features. Besides Nero, I like Super DVDCreator better for DVDs but I have not figured out how to do chapturing with it.

Again, thanks for all your helps.

[jimbucc]

This is not the answer you are looking for...
but you need to ditch the USB capture altogether - especially if it wants to encode to MPEG2. You have little control over the quality.

Instead, invest a little cash and buy a Firewire capture device like the Canopus ADVC55 or even better the Canopus ADVC-300.
Then edit in AVI.

I had the USB capture and hated it since the quality was worse than the VHS it was recording from. Since I got the ADVC-300 I have had nothing but excellent quality video from my VHS tapes - even tapes that are 20 years old.

Jim