Video Capture Software

[Etherel15]

The Why
I've read all the posts about people asking what the best video capture CARDS are, seen plenty of those. I have a very nice quality capture device, however it does not come with capture software. After doing some testing with the pre-installed DVD suite software that came with my Burner (Roxio) I found the quality was always of fairly low quality, with very visible pixelation. I tried another capture software and it did better, but was still showing some pixelation even when recording to AVI/DV (at 13GB per hour). I came to the conclusion that not all capture software is made equal. I looked up and down these forums, and constantly saw questions about either Hardware (most capture cards) or video format. I already have very nice equipment (Panasonic AG-1980 and Sony GV-D200) and All I want is to capture to AVI and MPEG2. I couldn't find any good information on software though.

The Question
What is your recomended highest quality Video Capturing Software? It needs to do at least AVI/DV, and full 720/480 MPEG2 output, and preferably affordable (but you can mention pricey if you think its REALLY good). Thanks in advance for everyones opinions and expertise. Saves me the time and hassle of looking up software, downloading and installing the trial version of all of them, and then doing a lenghty test capture and comparison (aka, many many long hours). I know I can rely on you guys to know your stuff![/b]

P.S. If I'm just crazy, please give it to me soft, I bruise easily! :P

[Baldrick]

What's your capture device ? Or are you using a firewire/dv input to "capture" the video?

[Etherel15]

What's your capture device ? Or are you using a firewire/dv input to "capture" the video?

Exactly, IEEE 1394 Firewire cable from the Sony Digital8 Tape Deck to the PC. It's listed as a Sony Digital Video as the capture device.

[guns1inger]

WinDV. Transfer as DV-avi, then encode properly and author and burn.

[Etherel15]

Can you recomend anything that does both AVI/DV and MPEG2?

[pippas]

As you're using firewire, the 'quality' of the capture doesn't apply. Firewire is just a means for real time digital transfer of the DV information. I use the freebie WinDV, which I find simple and reliable.

Now when it comes to converting the transferred DV to MPEG2, that's a different story.

I personally think that Procoder gives excellent results, but the full blown package is a silly price, and it seems to be difficult to find the cut down version, Procoder Express, anymore.

TMPGEnc is generally regarded as very good, and quite a lot cheaper, but can be a bit slow.

As with most things, there are those that swear by one package or another, so it might be worth having read through some of the comments found on this site on the various options available.

Unfotunately, you'll probably find as many different opinions as there are packages!

[guns1inger]

If you are getting pixelation from a DV transfer then the fault lies in the hardware (the Digital8 deck) because it si doing the encoding. This means the damage is done before it gets to the PC, and there is little you can do to fix it. Certainly, changing software will not make any difference.

As for software that encodes to mpeg-2 on the fly - I believe some of the Ulead products will do this. However if you are encoding to mpeg-2 directly I suggest you keep your running times below 70 minutes so you can do CBR encoding at a high bitrate. You should also refrain from doing any major editing or post processing of the video.

[dfisher052]

I know a lot of people have been negative about Roxio, but I'm running Roxio 8 and have been capturing mpeg2 without a single problem. It will capture both AVI-DV & mpeg2. I originaly used it with a Sony Digital 8 but now use it with a Canon GL2. The footage has always looked great. I edit with Mpeg Video Wizard. MVW is an excellent mpeg editing program. It is very fast, but it's weakest link I would say is the titleing program in it. It's very basic & works fine, but could use an update. For my purposes it's ok but if it had a few bells & whistles I would probably use them.

[edDV]

As for realtime software conversion of a DV stream to MPeg2 try the Mainconcept MPeg Encoder demo. It sells for $169 but certain Premiere owners can get it for $49. A beefy CPU is needed to avoid rebuffering (lost frames). The more you compress, the faster the CPU needs to be.
http://www.mainconcept.com/site/consumer-products-4/mpeg-encoder-813/information-825.html

ULead Video Studio includes the Mainconcept real time MPeg encode modeule but may not match all encoding quality features. Get the ULead demo and compare to the full Mainconcept product.

Premiere and Vegas don't include the Mainconcept real time MPeg module.

[DereX888]

As for realtime software conversion of a DV stream to MPeg2 try the Mainconcept MPeg Encoder demo. It sells for $169 but certain Premiere owners can get it for $49. A beefy CPU is needed to avoid rebuffering (lost frames). The more you compress, the faster the CPU needs to be.
http://www.mainconcept.com/site/consumer-products-4/mpeg-encoder-813/information-825.html

ULead Video Studio includes the Mainconcept real time MPeg encode modeule but may not match all encoding quality features. Get the ULead demo and compare to the full Mainconcept product.

Premiere and Vegas don't include the Mainconcept real time MPeg module.

Isn't it cheaper and easier to use a standalone dvd recorder in that case?
Im assuming no post-processing is needed (since OP wants direct-to-MPEG2 capturing), right?
Setting HQ or such mode is basically CBR capturing on all standalones.
Standalone can be bought much cheaper than the software (not to mention ease of use).

Yes, myself I always prefer doing it on PC, but for Joe Average IMHO standalones with firewire input are the easiest way of transfering their DVs to DVDs, and at HQ even on shittiest/cheapest standalone encoding cannot be bad at all...

[edDV]

As for realtime software conversion of a DV stream to MPeg2 try the Mainconcept MPeg Encoder demo. It sells for $169 but certain Premiere owners can get it for $49. A beefy CPU is needed to avoid rebuffering (lost frames). The more you compress, the faster the CPU needs to be.
http://www.mainconcept.com/site/consumer-products-4/mpeg-encoder-813/information-825.html

ULead Video Studio includes the Mainconcept real time MPeg encode modeule but may not match all encoding quality features. Get the ULead demo and compare to the full Mainconcept product.

Premiere and Vegas don't include the Mainconcept real time MPeg module.

Isn't it cheaper and easier to use a standalone dvd recorder in that case?
Im assuming no post-processing is needed (since OP wants direct-to-MPEG2 capturing), right?
Setting HQ or such mode is basically CBR capturing on all standalones.
Standalone can be bought much cheaper than the software (not to mention ease of use).

Yes, myself I always prefer doing it on PC, but for Joe Average IMHO standalones with firewire input are the easiest way of transfering their DVs to DVDs, and at HQ even on shittiest/cheapest standalone encoding cannot be bad at all...

Depends if you want the file on a DVD or hard disk. The arguement for hard disk is editing or "inventory" management. I for one like to group files of a type before burning a DVD.