VirtualDub Analogue Video Capturing Problems

[Dr Gonzo]

Hello all, this is my first post so please, go easy on me!

I'm attempting to get underway with preservation projects of my (mainly NTSC) Laserdiscs. I've followed the VirtualDub/Avisynth analogue capture guide on Doom9.net and managed to perform a capture using VirtualDub 1.9.10 with Huffyuv at 720x480 and the WinFast VC100 XP PCI card. However, the problems begin when I review the captured material, it is always a small narrow image of video. I have to use the 4:3 option on my media players in order to enlarge the video frame and view the footage properly.

Here are some examples.

This is how the capture appears, normally.



This is the capture, with the 4:3 setting in VLC or Media Player Classic so that I can view it properly.



Also, the captured video suffers from frame tearing, especially during rapid action sequences. This doesn't happen with other video files so I know its not a problem related to V-Sync issues in my media players or the video card. My Windows installation has been tweaked and all anti-virus and firewall services deactivated to help deliver the best performance.

Before posting, I searched for similar instances using Google but couldn't find anything that pinned down the problems I'm having.

Can anyone offer any pointers or tips for me to help correct these issues please?

[manono]

Looks to me like you're capping fields rather than frames. Is the length twice what it should be? Or the frame count twice what it should be? And does each of those fields have a duplicate? The answer might be as simple as reweaving the fields into frames, if you don't feel like capping it again.

[Dr Gonzo]

Hi, thanks for the response! I'm still trying to find my feet with the capping process but from what I've been able to work out when reviewing the video clip, it does appear that the fields have a duplicate. I'm more than happy to start the capturing all over again from scratch but which settings do I need to set up this time around so that its done properly?

[manono]

Beats me, I don't cap. Maybe someone else can help.

[Brad]

Set the frame rate to 29.97 with the resolution at 720x480.

[Dr Gonzo]

Set the frame rate to 29.97 with the resolution at 720x480.

I did that from the very beginning.

[Brad]

That's good. A MediaInfo scan of the file may help to determine what's going wrong.

[Cauptain]

Hi Doctor,

Set audio to 48Hz no 96Hz.
Never check enable audio playback. It´s have high impact in capture (CPU resources)
Go to Capture tab, Disk I/O and set 4MB and 8 buffers.



For set correct video resolution use this mode (video tab, custom format):



For record try UT VIDEO CODEC (ULY2 mode) very high quality and stable. Work nice with interlaced capture.



My video tutorial to Record with Virtualdub, look for any doubts:



Try & reply


Claudio

[Dr Gonzo]

Thanks, Claudio - I will try and reply asap.

In the meantime, here is the Media Info scan that vaporeon800 requested.

Note: there are no audio details because they're being captured separately on a Mac with a SPDIF card in order to obtain the digital audio from the Laserdisc player's optical digital out. Once the capturing and processing are finished, I'll combine the audio and video.

General
Complete name : G:\ROTJ.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 1.28 GiB
Duration : 7mn 36s
Overall bit rate : 24.2 Mbps

Video
ID : 0
Format : Huffman
Codec ID : HFYU
Duration : 7mn 36s
Bit rate : 24.2 Mbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 3.000
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : RGB
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 4.665
Stream size : 1.28 GiB (100%)

[Cauptain]

Thanks, Claudio - I will try and reply asap.

In the meantime, here is the Media Info scan that vaporeon800 requested.

Note: there are no audio details because they're being captured separately on a Mac with a SPDIF card in order to obtain the digital audio from the Laserdisc player's optical digital out. Once the capturing and processing are finished, I'll combine the audio and video.

General
Complete name : G:\ROTJ.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 1.28 GiB
Duration : 7mn 36s
Overall bit rate : 24.2 Mbps

Video
ID : 0
Format : Huffman
Codec ID : HFYU
Duration : 7mn 36s
Bit rate : 24.2 Mbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 3.000
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : RGB
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 4.665
Stream size : 1.28 GiB (100%)

Based on mediainfo, the frame is corretc because you set 720x240 to record. Select 720x480 in custom format.


Claudio

[Dr Gonzo]

As you can see, I have been using 720x480 right from the start but for some reason it captures instead at 720x240.

[Cauptain]

Change the CODEC for test. Try uncompressed or Ut Video or Lagarith.

Claudio

[Dr Gonzo]

I have tried uncompressed and UT Video but the capture still stays at 720 x 240.

Update: after experimenting with my computer's settings, drivers and using the latest release of VirtualDub but seeing no improvement to my problems, I decided to try other software. I installed iuVCR and it appears to be working and capturing perfectly at 720x480! The results are amazing!




There must be something about my PC's hardware that VirtualDub just doesn't like because despite all of the the troubleshooting, it refused to work properly and yet iuVCR ran fine on the first go. Hopefully this will help anyone else who encounters similar difficulties.

I do have one question about iuVCR though, there's an option for interleaving, the default setting is "none" but you can change it to "capture" or "full". Which setting would you recommend please?

[Cauptain]

Sorry for the delay in answering Dr Gonzo.

Good to know you solved the problem.

I do not use iuVCR. But seeing this screen, you may have discovered his mistake.

In VirtualDub or any other program, you have the two options: Preview and capture format.

To capture function properly, both should be equal, otherwise, it will only record using the configuration of the capture format.

Check these options and see if the iuVCR in Virtualdub are equal.

With my AverHD I can play in 1080i (preview format) and record (capture format) in 480i or 480p.


Claudio

[titigrom]

You can do better caps if you set the video output of the Laserdisc player to 16:9 (if possible)
After caps you can play them back by setting your media player in 16:9 mode.

[Brad]

Laserdisc isn't an anamorphic format, so even if there was a player with 16:9 output it would just be scaling the composite video using 90s tech.

[Dr Gonzo]

Sorry for the delay in answering Dr Gonzo.

Good to know you solved the problem.

I do not use iuVCR. But seeing this screen, you may have discovered his mistake.

In VirtualDub or any other program, you have the two options: Preview and capture format.

To capture function properly, both should be equal, otherwise, it will only record using the configuration of the capture format.

Check these options and see if the iuVCR in Virtualdub are equal.

With my AverHD I can play in 1080i (preview format) and record (capture format) in 480i or 480p.


Claudio

Hello Claudio,

I did indeed repeatedly check both the capture and preview pins in VirtualDub from the very beginning and ensure they were both set to 720x480 but the captures it produced were still 720x240. Anyhow, iuVCR doesn't have any of these strange problems so at least I can use that instead and I'm very happy with it.

Laserdisc isn't an anamorphic format, so even if there was a player with 16:9 output it would just be scaling the composite video using 90s tech.

That's absolutely correct.

[Dr Gonzo]

Just to update this thread, I've been using the Neat Video plug-in for VirtualDub to remove the video noise from my captures. The project is moving along quite nicely but the capturing side is now resolved so if there's any other issues, I'll create a separate thread. Thanks again for all of the advice and feedback.