Optimizing XP for capture and other questions.......

[sellpipe]

I thought I would post all my questions on one message to avoid confusion

1. Is there a procedure to optimze windows XP for capture? I can find threads on other OS's but not XP. Any recommendations?

2. I have an ATI AIW 128 pro, when I capture with this card, what is the best format to capture for best quality video and audio. HD space is not an issue. I eventually convert to VCD

3. I just bought a Sony DCR-IP5 Micro V digital camcorder. It records in MMV format. The software that comes with the camera can convert to other formats but is there any other software that can play MMV? i have tried all the usual players with no luck.

Thanks for your help!!!

[fortension]

I never had an XP setup issue. Make sure you get all the latest ATI capture drivers and capture patches.

Huffy is the best quality for capturing, as it has no compression artifacts. If your hard drive can handle the datastream and many gig files

[Spicuzza]

1. Is there a procedure to optimze windows XP for capture?

Yes, click start>settings>control panel>system>advanced>under performance click settings>adjust for best performance>apply>Ok>restart computer.

This will shut off the pretty graphical user interface which uses cpu power and system resources. You WILL see an immedieate boost in computer speed. Also disable ALL programs that are running in the background, go to Run and type "msconfig" uncheck EVERYTHING in there>restart computer.

2. I have an ATI AIW 128 pro, when I capture with this card, what is the best format to capture for best quality video and audio.

I have the same card and ever since I started using the China Video Disc format I've had great success. There really isn't much difference between this type of (X)SVCD and my original Hi8 tape.

When I want something to be the best I quality I can achieve with my equipment I capture 352 x 480 uncommpressed AVI, do all the editing with the AVI file then encode that MPEG-2, field order B, 352 x 480 @ 2500 kbps video and 160 kbps audio. I do all of this with Ulead VideoStudio 6.0 and I'm very happy with the results I get with that software package.

[pburdett]

In capturing in XP, I turn off all the apps and services EXCEPT Windows Audio and Plug and Play.

Also, until I got a second, dedicated capturing harddrive, I was never able to avoid dropping frames.