Best MPEG-2 Capture Device?

[PuzZLeR]

If you have a large amount of VHS to digitize, and/or do alot of SD analog TV capturing you really should consider dedicating an XP box for the task.

This is regardless of whether or not you buy the 600, or other similar product, or even a Canopus, etc. It just makes sense - undisturbed capturing, no burdening/stressing your regular PCs and their hard drives, no messing with O/S settings or making special accomadations, and no need for over-rated hardware based encoders.

If you shop around, you can get a tower used, that is 4-5 years old, 2-core, for under $100, and would be fit for the job - and save a ton of headaches.

[dorenhagen]

I have a dual core W7 laptop. I'm going to buy a new 500 GB HD for it and load XP onto it. Hopefully, that's going to work!

I did voporeon800's trick and got the driver recognized but couldn't get any software to work with the now recognized driver with W7. The new HD is only $50 so, hopefully it will do the trick. I'll keep the HD for any video projects and keep XP loaded on it for any old programs which might require it.

Thanks to everyone who has helped on this thread.

[PuzZLeR]

I have a dual core W7 laptop. I'm going to buy a new 500 GB HD for it and load XP onto it. Hopefully, that's going to work!

Ah phooey. Get a 2TB instead for maybe only 20%-30% more price.

I prefer capturing to a separate PC entirely, but a different drive, or even partition, and an XP boot can work too and would be worth it to use the 600 IMO. All my other capture tools are collecting dust now - seriously.

Let us know how it works out for you.

[jagabo]

I see 2 TB going for US$80 now.

[PuzZLeR]

I'll take a six-pack then.

[dorenhagen]

[QUOTE=PuzZLeR;2059952]

All my other capture tools are collecting dust now - seriously.

Let us know how it works out for you.

I will post as soon as I load XP, the drivers and software.

Puzzler, have you directly compared DV/AVI capture converted to MPEG-2 to direct capture with the AVI USB device?

What program do you use to capture the video images that you post here?

Thanks.

[PuzZLeR]

Puzzler, have you directly compared DV/AVI capture converted to MPEG-2 to direct capture with the AVI USB device?

I did from other capture devices in the past, but thanks for reminding me - I'm curious now to see what I'd find with the 600.

Keep in mind, the 600 also does DV too almost bit-for-bit like a Canopus (DV is a fixed format). That's why I don't have, or care for, my ADVC110 any more.

I have compared DV to a direct high bitrate MPEG-2 capture and found very little difference overall. In fact, some scenes in MPEG-2 looked better such as strong reds/blues or grain retention.

I will do some tests and report back.

What program do you use to capture the video images that you post here?

On the advice of Jagabo and Vaporeon800 it's best to use something like VirtualDub to get a true-to-form picture. (VideoReDo seems to deinterlace or blur it somewhat.)

MPEG Source -> D2V -> AVS -> Load into VDub -> Slider and F3/F4 to Mark In/Out one frame of choice -> File -> Save image sequence... -> enter your settings (I prefer BMP) -> OK

Then you can use something like Windows Paint to convert to PNG (since this forum doesn't accept BMP and PNG is better than JPG for this).

[dorenhagen]

Puzzler, I just used MPEG Video Wizard to compare AVI captures from the Canopus, the MPEG-2 conversions of those Canopus captures and the MPEG-2 direct captures by a Magnavox DVD Recorder from Walmart.

MPEG Video Wizard was far less than ideal for the task but one thing was clearly evident. The direct captures from the Magnavox DVD Recorder were unquestionably sharper with more detail than the either the direct Canopus AVI capture or the MPEG-2 from the re-encode from the Canopus. I have to admit this was quite surprising. Later, if I can figure out VirtualDub I will get some captures from all three files and see how they compare.

Very interesting!! I just hope the direct capture with the AVI USB device is as good. Then all this will have been worth it. I will keep you posted. My new HD arrives Monday and I hope to be capturing soon afterward.

[jagabo]

if I can figure out VirtualDub I will get some captures

Use VirtualDubMod when dealing with MPEG 2 files. It has a built in MPEG 2 reader and handles interlaced MPEG 2 correctly.

1) File -> Open Video File
2) seek to the frame you want
3) Video -> Snapshot Source Frame, use PNG

[dorenhagen]

if I can figure out VirtualDub I will get some captures

Use VirtualDubMod when dealing with MPEG 2 files. It has a built in MPEG 2 reader and handles interlaced MPEG 2 correctly.

1) File -> Open Video File
2) seek to the frame you want
3) Video -> Snapshot Source Frame, use PNG

Thanks, jagabo.

[PuzZLeR]

Let me also highly suggest, if you haven't already, that you learn some basic AviSynth as well - you will miss out on so much in this hobby without it.

For one example, instead of Womble, a much better way to compare two video clips frame-by-frame is with Interleave() using AviSynth. It has saved me much time over the years making an effective decision during testing instead of squinting on playback.

An excellent tool that makes it easy to start is AvsP. It's free and needs no installation. Once you set up your first script that previews correctly you will be fine after that.

EDIT: Just remembered that AvsP is recently discontinued and replaced by AvsPMod, which is an upgrade.

[usually_quiet]

I have a dual core W7 laptop. I'm going to buy a new 500 GB HD for it and load XP onto it. Hopefully, that's going to work!

I'm assuming you mean the 500GB HDD will be used for the laptop. It won't work unless suitable Windows XP device drivers are available for your laptop. I hear that is sometimes the case. If Windows XP is not an OS option made available for a laptop, it stands to reason that some makers wouldn't bother to have XP drivers written for it. If so, you may need to reconsider getting a used PC for running XP as suggested by PuzZLeR .