Question regarding analog capture.

C

c_wag03

New member
Hi all,

I did some searches of the forums, and couldn't find an answer to my specific question...so apologies if this has been discussed and I couldn't find it.

Anyway, my question is this:

What is the best software to use for analog video capture through a TV tuner/composite video capture card? And what is the best format to capture the video in if I plan to burn it to DVD using a DVD authoring program (such as Ulead DVD Movie Factory Disc Creator)?

I usually record in NTSC DVD format...this makes the rendering of the DVD project go much faster since there is no conversion needed. But the video quality of the finished DVD isn't very good (Not horrible, but I wish it could be a little better).

Also sometimes the video comes out kind of jerky.

I don't know if this due to the software, the format I record in, or the capture card.....or some combination of those.

So to summarize:

1. Any reccomendations of software to use for capture?

2. In what format should I capture/record for optimum quality and
smoothness of video?

3. Is there anything else I can do to keep the video from being jerky?


Any help would be much appreciated.
 
L

LTR12101B

1
It sounds like you are capturing using software MPEG2 encoding, on a system that cannot quite keep up with it. If that is your preferred way of working, then the best solution is to upgrade to a card which has hardware MPEG2 encoding.

MJPEG is another option as an intermediate format, better for editing as the frames are independent (oversimplified, it's a stream of JPEG images).

The Alparysoft lossless or "visually lossless" may be another choice.
http://www.alparysoft.com/products.php?id=8&item=35
(Free, requires registration), or the old standard "HuffYUV", though lossless encoders result in a larger file size.

Capturing in less CPU-demanding encoding should eliminate dropped frames, though the MPEG2/DVD encoding problem is then deferred to a later stage.

If you want a fast route to DVD-ready, hardware encoding is the way to go, especially if you do minimal editing and no picture processing.
 
C

c_wag03

New member
Thanks for the advice. I will try VirtualDub and probably some of those codecs.

Can you explain hardware encoding versus software encoding? I've not heard of that. And maybe give me an example or two of a card that does hardware encoding? Are they pretty expensive?

The card I am using is a Leadtek WinFast PVR card.....it was relatively cheap, so that could very well be my problem....
 
ponzan

ponzan

1
I did the same time ago and ended finding that the best solution for me was to connect my analog source to a digital video camera or to directly play 8mm analog tapes on the dig video camera and connect the camera to the PC via firewire, the camera will do a flawless conversion to digital video, ideal for editing, and the final product is rendered to DVD format. Dig cameras today may be cheaper than a good capturing card, or maybe you already have one or can borrow one
 
C

c_wag03

New member
No, unfortunately I don't have a digital video camera (don't even have a digital still camera!)....I've been thinking about getting one though....
 
L

LTR12101B

1
C

c_wag03

New member
Does anyone know of a good capture device that can be used on a notebook? Im guessing it would have to be USB or PCMIA....do any of those have hardware mpeg-2 encoding?

I am thinking of buying a new notebook computer...are there any notebook manufacturers that offer a built in video capture card with hardware mpeg-2 encoding?

If not, are there any good USB or PCMIA options that would result in good quality video?

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
 
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