Capture in MPEG 2

[MI6]

I'm looking for "realy' good program for capturing the video directly in MPEG 2 (720x576) format, (analog or trough firewire), as DVD Recorders do.I have tryed some programs but with no quality as DVD Recorders.
Regards.

[guns1inger]

Mainconcept is probably the best for real time conversion, but if you want to get close to the same quality as a DVD Recorder, you need to use a hardware encoder. Quite a few capture cards have mpeg2 encoders built in.

This may be OK for shorter captures, but you will get much better quality on longer captures if you can do a multi-pass VBR encoding from your HDD.

[mats.hogberg]

Hauppage PVR 1/2/350 cards. They don't have FireWire input tho - only analog.

/Mats

[Scorpion King]

Software mpeg-2 capture is tough. I've tried several programs over the years.

MainConcept captures very well but it is going to require some reading and study because it has more buttons and switches than the space shuttle. Very customizable. Good program.

Ulead VideoStudio is easier than MainConcept to use but can still give very good results. I vote Ulead VideoStudio because it can also do much more than just capture and convert video files.

Good luck.

[edDV]

...

Ulead VideoStudio is easier than MainConcept to use but can still give very good results. I vote Ulead VideoStudio because it can also do much more than just capture and convert video files.

Good luck.

Ulead Video Studio is the Mainconcept encoder but with reduced control options. This is a good thing if you don't know which options are good/bad.

A 2.4 GHz. P4 is going to be on the rough edge for realtime MPeg2 encoding (i.e. unreliable but may work). When you see the "buffering" assume frames are being lost. The faster the CPU from there, the more reliable it gets.

[Nelson37]

You have listed an ATI capture card in your profile. Which one? There is no software which will produce better MPG2 captures, at least with the AIW cards, than the MMC that comes with it.

ATI uses a hardware-assisted MPG encode which rivals the Hauppage cards and has more options and controllability, IMO.