Windows or linux platform for making VCDs

[ATTT]

Hello All,

I am wondering what platform is good for capturing and processing video streams...

The platform I am looking at is:
-> Windows 98SE
-> Windows 2K
-> Windows XP
-> Red Hat Linux.

I am currently dual booting 2K and XP and my pc is the following specs:

Athlon 1600+ (1.4G?)
512 DDR ram
3 x IBM 7200rpm ATA100 drives.
Asus 8200T2 Deluxe (Which I am using the video in for capture).

What I currently hope to do is to transfer my old VHS collection to VCD/SVCD and also encoding/re-encoding between different format to either VCD/SVCD so that I can play on my set top DVD player.

Thanks in advance.

[BJ_M]

win2k as i dont like fisher-price XP

i dont know if the cap works on that card in linux .. anyway my 2cents worth ..

[sterno]

If you're more familiar with Windows, keep using it. The benefits of Linux won't matter to you if you have to spend too much time learning a whole different set of hoops to jump through. And you'll have access to some of the same tools, since some of the best UNIX/Linux tools have been ported to Windows.

Ditch XP unless you really need it for something (give it a year or two and it might be OK) and run screaming away from 98. Right now I think Windows 2000 is a reasonable compromise between acceptable stability and up-to-date hardware/software support.

If it were me, I'd probably dual-boot Linux and Windows 2000. But I'm an experienced UNIX guy, so Windows feels like a kid's toy to me (I won't even comment on XP), sort of like comparing a Tonka toy to the real thing. If you aren't going to use Linux and aren't interested in learning it don't waste the disk space.

[ATTT]

Yet. I am more familiar with windows cause its alot easier to use, however if Linux is alot better and faster... I would not mind giving it a go.

Hmm. I am seeing mix reponses with other threads with regards to 2k and 98. While quite a few threads I have seen indicates that 98se is much better with capturing (ie. less chance of drop frames,etc). Hance this thread of asking the diff. between windows OS. I was originally multi-booting with 98se, 2k and redhat (cause I only use redhat at work), but later didn't install redhat due to space restrictions. 98Se I am more comfortable thatn 2k cause I know how to fix most problems and also how to diagnose them. Where 2k is still abit of mystery to me.. I move to XP cause it looks prettier...

Ok.. so now.. looks to me 2k has the thumbs up for the time being...

just out of curiosity what hardware have you got in your pc sterno ?

[sterno]

just out of curiosity what hardware have you got in your pc sterno ?

The machine I use for capture is pretty basic. P3-800EB, 128MB (RDRAM, which is why I didn't buy more), 80GB and 15GB drives, DVD-ROM and CD-RW, Geforce 3, Dazzle DVC II for capture. I keep saying I'm going to buy more memory or build another machine for video, but then I say "nah, this is good enough for now" and leave the money in the bank. I have no problems with capture even at fairly high bitrates, and for encoding I always save project files in tmpgenc and start a batch encode before I go to bed.

That machine has Windows 2000 now, I got tired of 98 screwing up the partition table on the 80GB drive. With proper configuration and fast drives you shouldn't drop frames, and you won't have to segment large captures because NTFS doesn't have a 4GB limit on file size (I don't remember the NTFS limit, but it's in the terabytes).

[Executioner]

Win2k here also. I have a Win2k rig with SP2 only (heard that SP3 might pose some problems), and it's sole purpose in life is to copy DvD's. I've tried XP, but it has too much bloat for me.

[Anonymous65]

Windows 98SE if you want to use all the free video software and hardware that use VFW drivers. Win2K is also nice because you can use NTFS partitions, and you have no 4 gig limits.

[KingJohn]

-> Windows 98SE The best for this work

I have no probs with XP at all and find it the best & most compatible of all Microsofts products, in regards to video editing & conversion, + incredably stable. There is not 1 piece of video software which I have tried ,that doesnt work in XP!

Also my Video capture card which worked in Win98 did not work in win2K also works perfectly in WinXP.

Cheers

[vitualis]

IMHO, Linux is not a good option for VCD authoring/editing. The software maturity is nowhere near that for Windows.

For Windows, I suggest Win98SE or WinXP. The hardware support under XP is much better than Win2000, but Win98SE is best of all. There are benefits in using XP though, mainly stability and as mentioned, there is not one piece of video/editing/etc. software that WinXP hasn't run in my experience).

As for the people still complaining about the "Fischer-Price" look (I hate it too) of WinXP, they obviously haven't used it long enough to turn it off. Without the gawdy show, WinXP looks for all the world like Win2k. There may be technical reasons why some people prefer Win2k over XP, but video capturing/editing/authoring are not them.

Regards.

[Mirror_Image]

Yes, remember, if you're cool and trendy, you are supposed to hate XP. Not for any reason, but just because you're supposed to, or something like that.

[BJ_M]

accually i dont like XP because of real world testing we do on an on going basis and that fact it performs not very well or is unusable on the video and audio and animation applications we use ... nor is it certified for such use by most of our higher end apps ...

like as we linux for our render farms - we will simply use what works best. though the cost of switching 100's and 100's of machines to another OS is also a factor in down time and cost.

we are re-evaluating it as patchs come out and new versions of apps also .. in time i'm sure i'll be using it .. but at this point in time it is unusable for professional work.

another problem is that it doesnt support sgi nt boxs w/ 4 cpus ...

[KingJohn]

I have no probs with XP at all and find it the best & most compatible of all Microsofts products, in regards to video editing & conversion, + incredably stable. There is not 1 piece of video software which I have tried ,that doesnt work in XP!

Also my Video capture card which worked in Win98 did not work in win2K also works perfectly in WinXP.

Cheers

Wow, where did you get this version from ?, I'm sure everyone else would be interested in having it also, as the ones they are using keeps falling over all the time

[BJ_M]

yes that must be a special version of xp .. the truth be told even nt4 was awesome for some video work , better than win2k even ... anyway i can see what people say about 98se being the best .. without a doubt 98se is the best at capture unless you have a good hardware only capture solution ..

U-Lead is advising thier customers to NOT use XP because of all the problem they have seen with .. the biggest bug w/ XP (out of mny) is that its useless for serious DV work as XP for some odd reason adds a HUGE amount of lag when using a firewire card ,, and its not consistant ..

this is reported by MANY companies on many sites ...

King John

Like someone also said in this post, its still cool to hate XP,(ie the last version was always the best)

but I think for most people who have actually spent a little time playing around with it, using the latest drivers, downloaded all the updates& patches etc, its pretty damm good, I personally think Bills best effort so far.........

I`m using a dual boot win2k/Xp system at the moment, I havnt used 2k now for about 3 months as all my apps (yes including Ulead Media studio 6.5 ) work 100% ok. I was keeping it just for safety, but I think in the next few weeks it will be time to delete 2k and free up a little HDD space.

Cheers

[KingJohn]

Actually I base by comments on experience, if I have not used anything I don't comment. The release of XP meant most people could not use half their hardware, then having waited for updated drivers, they finally got things to work, then there was the period when it crashed randomly and many more bug fixes later, its still not anywhere near a final release, its still a BETA with dubug code.

We have seen the same with previous OS, Windows 95,a,b were rubbish WIN 95C was good, then Windows 98 was rubbish while SE is good. The present XP is rubbish, tweak away as much as you want to make it stable on your system and you have lost most of the new performance enhancement anyway.

Apart from the change of colours, the built in programs, that would be better installed separately from better sources, I see nothing at all that would want anyone upgrading to something that gives so much trouble, when what you have works just fine.

Like someone also said in this post, its still cool to hate XP,(ie the last version was always the best)

Actually its the other way around, its cool and trendy to say you have XP installed, and you have no problems with it. That way your a super cool trendy person and there is an elite group of these people about.

[jugernaut]

For VCD PLEASE not use Windows XP. Search for Nero 5.5.3.5.

The reason?

Windows XP is unable to use the extended mode (used in VideoCD to save as much as 80 min of video in a 700 MB disc), so new versions of nero has no support for this mode. Use W2K and this version of Nero.

For VCD PLEASE not use Windows XP. Search for Nero 5.5.3.5.

The reason?

Windows XP is unable to use the extended mode (used in VideoCD to save as much as 80 min of video in a 700 MB disc), so new versions of nero has no support for this mode. Use W2K and this version of Nero.

Win XP and the latest version of Nero(+ the last few versions) work fine with SVCD & VCD, I always fit 800mb on a 700mb disk. Check the way you are multiplexing as this causes problems fitting 800mb on a 700mb disk!

[vitualis]

As above.

There is no intrinsic problem with Windows XP working with MODE Form2 data (i.e., X/S/VCD) otherwise the many VCDs I've created under WinXP wouldn't exist.

Regards.

[KingJohn]

As above.

There is no intrinsic problem with Windows XP working with MODE Form2 data (i.e., X/S/VCD) otherwise the many VCDs I've created under WinXP wouldn't exist.

Regards.

I'm taking notes, thats 3 people that have XP working

[kinneera]

Well I guess this makes me an "elitist" but I've been using WinXP with absolutely no problems. Has worked with everything I've connected to it including an old AIW 128 Pro as a second video card on PCI, never had any ASPI problems, burns mode2 discs just fine, and can't recall an OS (kernel) crash in recent memory - even ran for a month without problems until I had to reboot it for other reasons.

It's still essentially the NT kernel and you can disable the new GUI if it's not to your liking, so I think its no where near as bad as some people who like to think they look smart because they use linux/unix would try to make it seem. And for the record, I have linux installed on my machine too, so I know both worlds.

[vitualis]

@ KingJohn -- "elitist" ?

I'm sorry, but it would seem that WinXP bashing is still the favourite sport of "elitists".

Sure, there may not be a good reason to UPGRADE to WinXP, but that hardly means that WinXP is crap and certainly all that stuff you posted before hasn't been my experience.

If you had a choice of installing an OS on a PC with the aim of video editing/VCD authoring, WinXP is definitely a good choice. Software compatibility is good and so is hardware compatibility. And if you are comparing stability, any NT based OS is better than the Win9x/ME line.

Regards.

[kwag]

IMHO, Linux is not a good option for VCD authoring/editing. The software maturity is nowhere near that for Windows.

Hey Michael,
You are refering to some "Userland Software" in Linux right? Because Linux ( Kernel+binaries ) = Unix ( clone ), with a maturity of over 25+ years.
Are you aware that many scenes of "The Matrix" and all the water rendering of "Titanic" was rendered with (Alpha) Linux? Most of "The Mummy" scenes were rendered with FreeBSD. I would call that very "mature", and every stinking version of anything Microsoft has released "IN-mature"

-kwag

[vitualis]

Hey Michael,
You are refering to some "Userland Software" in Linux right? Because Linux ( Kernel+binaries ) = Unix ( clone ), with a maturity of over 25+ years.
Are you aware that many scenes of "The Matrix" and all the water rendering of "Titanic" was rendered with (Alpha) Linux? Most of "The Mummy" scenes were rendered with FreeBSD. I would call that very "mature", and every stinking version of anything Microsoft has released "IN-mature"

-kwag

That's all very interesting but not particularly relevent when it comes to trying to rip a DVD or encoding a VCD does it?

BTW, I use Linux as well. I know what its limitations are when it comes to "userland" software however.

Also, "IN-mature" isn't a word...

Regards.

[kwag]

Hey Michael,
You are refering to some "Userland Software" in Linux right? Because Linux ( Kernel+binaries ) = Unix ( clone ), with a maturity of over 25+ years.
Are you aware that many scenes of "The Matrix" and all the water rendering of "Titanic" was rendered with (Alpha) Linux? Most of "The Mummy" scenes were rendered with FreeBSD. I would call that very "mature", and every stinking version of anything Microsoft has released "IN-mature"

-kwag

That's all very interesting but not particularly relevent when it comes to trying to rip a DVD or encoding a VCD does it?

BTW, I use Linux as well. I know what its limitations are when it comes to "userland" software however.

Also, "IN-mature" isn't a word...

Regards.

I know, I just wanted to put a little accent on the word
BTW, TMPGEnc already runs fine on Lindows, so we're only missing a couple of things, like AviSynth, etc. Explorer 5.5 runs faster, WAY faster in Lindows than on any version of Windows
So it won't be too long before we can move our utilities over to Linux platforms, and then bye bye Windows ( can't wait 8) )

-kwag

[vitualis]

Is Lindows really that good (serious question)?

In any case, although it may be a Microsoft alternative, I'm not entirely sure I'm happy switching over to another proprietary (though based on *nix) OS.

I've tried using Wine a few times but didn't have the patience to make it work.

Regards.

[kwag]

Is Lindows really that good (serious question)?

In any case, although it may be a Microsoft alternative, I'm not entirely sure I'm happy switching over to another proprietary (though based on *nix) OS.

I've tried using Wine a few times but didn't have the patience to make it work.

Regards.

Hey Michael,
Actually, I see a bright future for Lindows ( and cousins ), and they're putting a lot of efforts into compatibility to run windows binaries. I was able to run Explorer 5.5, TMPEG, WinAmp. A friend installed Office 97 ( I believe it was ) and he told me that it ran perfect. But still, there are a lot of programs that bomb. I think that they made a VERY bad move, and that is to start selling PC's at Walmart, with Lindows pre-installed. The windows emulation layer is still on beta stages, so I think that many people will be unhappy trying to run many windows programs, and finding out that they fail. They should have waited at least another year.
Here. Take a look: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product_listing.gsp?cat=96356&dept=3944&path=0%3A3944%3...56&bti=0&sb=61

Anyway, they're on the right track, and hopefully it will be a solid product ( eventually )


-kwag

[KingJohn]

Ah yes, another elite group, as long as its not a Microsoft product.. It’s the best

Kwag Wrote

TMPGEnc already runs fine on Lindows, so we're only missing a couple of things, like AviSynth, etc. Explorer 5.5 runs faster, WAY faster in Lindows than on any version of Windows

This cant be right, maybe you can run these programs ok, but that they run faster than in windows I find very very hard to believe? As you are emulating the windows OS which takes processor power.

Would be interesting to hear other peoples experiences with Lindows and speed running Tmpgenc & CCE etc.

Cheers

[incognito]

The only thing I use windows for is video processing.

I'm a win2k snob also, by the way-- it works fine, so I'm sticking with it.

When there are native ports of tmpg, xmpeg, and smartripper,
or when ffmpeg matures and gets a good front end on linux like
it has on mac os/X, then I'll happily rip the last vestiges of
windows off my system and tell grub to boot straight into mandrake.


But for now, windows remains.