Is there a free program that meets these needs????

[splissken]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I'm looking for a FREE program that will let me do the following:

Capture in 720x480
Capture in mpg2
capture mpg audio at 48k
doesn't give home video that "film" look

The reason is that the software that came with my card (a pctv pro) all of the sudden decided it would capture audio in 44.1 K and there's no way to change it. When the file renders, you can hear some very faint noise because of that. I've bought a few programs already that worked ok, but I always get that "film" look when converting home movies, something the program that came with the card didn't do.

Can anyone help me?

[DonVito]

I use Ulead video studio 6 to capture all my Cam/tv. It gets pretty damn good quality, but the file is a hefty size. I usually re-encode with TMPGEnc and comes out fine.

[leoncheong]

I don;t understand what do you mean by "film" look. Apart from this, you may like to try VirtualVCR.

[bartman]

yeah.....what's with the "film" look ?....my guess is that you are capturing in 15 or 12 fps which would give it a sort of 8mm jerkyness to it.....otherwise you are complaining about a look that people pay lots of $$$$ to try and achieve

[Coopervid]

I need that "film" look, too! If that card can do it - it's a must for me! Pretty cheap probably compared to plastic surgery..... .

Now serious: We need more details about this card. Please try to provide more information about the chip on it (BT878???) ond so on...

[splissken]

I guess the best way to explain what I mean by "film" look, is the difference of the look between, say, a soap opera versus a prime time drama. For instance, a soap opera is taped where a show like "24" is filmed. Does that make sense? I've tried several programs that end up giving a film look to anything shot with a home camera.

I don't know the details of the card except to say it's a Pinnacle PCTV Pro.

[Coopervid]

splissken,

Your card uses a very common bt8x8 chip.

Please see also the hints for your card in the "Capture Cards" here to the left
<<<<<----------------------------------------

I use Intervideo's WinDVR with a similar Hauppauge WinTV (bt8x8 chip)with good results for MPEG2 recording and it has profiles for DVD compatible MPEG2s.

704x480 and 352x480 and sound at 48kHz.

Cyberlinks PowerVCR is good, too, but doesn't give these above options. So you have to run the results through conversion progranms like TMPGEnc afterwards if you want 48kHz sound.

[splissken]

I tried the Win DVR and the quality is really good, I was impressed. However, is there a way to change the interlace/de-interlace input settings? I found out what was giving videos that "film" look...it was those settings. When I played around with Ulead Video Studio, if I captured with the field order set to B then it looked just like it should, but if I checked "input-deinterlace" or "progressive frames", I got the film look. I would like to use Win DVR if this can be changed somewhere because the quality is much better than Video Studio.

[Coopervid]

Now we're close...

Set up a profile for 352x480.
Edit profile.

General : Mpeg2

System: Mpeg2 Generic

Video: 352 x 480, bitrate: 8000 kbit/sec (sic!!!! this gives you no hesitation), Click ADVANCED:GOP 1, SubGOP 1, Motion Vector 16x16

Audio: Stereo, ADVANCED:224 kbit/sec



Record with these options. Rate and give me a feedback! Don't think there will be a "film look" anymore... sigh.....

[splissken]

Nope, still getting the same problem with the video look.

thanks for the suggestion though.

[Coopervid]

splissken,

the "film look", I guess, is interlaced video. The only software I know that does de-interlacing on-the-fly while recording to decent MPEG2 is the ATI MMC with ATI All-in-Wonder cards. I have it also on another PC.

However, you won't notice any difference when you watch the video on a TV, only on a monitor. You got to decide if this is relevant for you for what you have in mind. If that's video on a computer it's a valid concern, if it's video watched on a TV it's irrelevant.

[splissken]

No, the look happens when I watch it on TV, that's the problem. I wish it only did it on the PC.

I'll keep trying some other stuff. Ulead's stuff gives me the correct look, howver I can't find a setting that gives me above average quality.