Analog Capture

[blidge]

I've recently bought a Packard Bell Ixtreme setup which includes Firewire and Analog (FlyVideo) capture cards. I have an Analog Video Camera and a number of VHS cassettes that I wish to archive to DVD and VCD. I understood that VCD quality was similar to VHS standard but when I capture in VCD(MPEG1) mode the results are very grainy and blurred. I've tried installing VirtualDub and the Huffyuv codec as I was told this would capture at the highest quality and then let me convert to MPEG but VirtualDub does not recognise that a capture card is present. Also my other pre-installed apps (Ulead VideoStudio SE) don't appear to let me select a different CODEC. Can anyone offer any advice on how I can achieve some decent quality Analog capture?

[avatarx]

Many capture cards come along with their own codec.
And I think most of them don't allow to use other codecs, because they are not optimized for using them.
Even many people say vcd's offer vhs quality I made different experiences. svcd's are a better choice.

greetings, Hendrik

[myloula]

My experience is that analog capture boards are a pain in the ass. One board that works great and supports different codecs and works fine with Vdub is the Videum VO pci board at Winnov.com ..Only problem is at 30 fps the max resolution is 320x240...not optimal for mpeg2/svcd work. They have a new board, Videum 1000, captures at 640x480 but only works with Win 2000 (not Win 9x).
If you have some extra $$, buy the Sony A-D converter box (DVMC-DA2) and capture thru fire wire port...it works great.
You need a capture program like MainActor DV-Capture (mainconcept.com) that supports DV capture (maybe part of U-lead, already). Add Mainconcept DV-Codec (demo OK), and, also capture type-2 avi files for cutting files with Vdub.