I'm having problems capturing analog video into VS7 and burning it to DVD.
Computer:
P4 3.0E, 768MB DDR400, 80GB 7200rpm PATA drive, Compro Videomate Gold+ analog capture card, Lite-on SOHW-812S DVD burner
Capture Settings:
DVD-PAL (720x576), 25fps, frame-based, VBR 8000kbps, 90% quality, MPEG 224kbps audio (hope I haven't missed anything).
Burn Settings:
As above, but Field Order B (to overcome field temporal ordering problems which caused massively jerky DVD playback).
Problems:
When I capture video, preview in VS7 looks interlaced (jaggy edges on verticals), but DVD playback is fine.
If I switch to Field Order B for capture (which is recommended for analog capture devices), preview in VS7 is fine, but DVD playback is slightly jerky, although not as bad as it was before I sorted out my field order burning problems.
Questions:
What are the preferred settings for PAL capture and burning so everything looks sweet?
What effect does the quality slider have on proceedings? The Ulead PDF manual is woefully inadequate when describing capture and burn settings, so a link to a detailed description on various capture properties settings and what they do would also be appreciated.
VS 7 PAL settings
Moderator: Ken Berry
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THoff
The Quality slider controls how extensive the search for motion vectors is. Spending more time on identifying sections of the image that have simply shifted around the frame instead of having changed can increase the quality of the MPEG output, especially at lower bitrates.
Not all capture devices use the same field order. In fact, if you look in the file uvDeviceField.ini in the Ulead.dat directory, you'll see that Ulead provides field order hints for the capture module.
You can also have the capture module determine the correct field order using a menu item on the Options menu.
Last but not least, the actual field order for the DVD doesn't matter, you can use either Lower Field First or Upper Field First -- the important thing is that it matches the source video that is used to produce the DVD.
Not all capture devices use the same field order. In fact, if you look in the file uvDeviceField.ini in the Ulead.dat directory, you'll see that Ulead provides field order hints for the capture module.
You can also have the capture module determine the correct field order using a menu item on the Options menu.
Last but not least, the actual field order for the DVD doesn't matter, you can use either Lower Field First or Upper Field First -- the important thing is that it matches the source video that is used to produce the DVD.
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GlenB
VS 7 PAL settings
Thanks THoff for the info on the quality slider. Explains why high quality settings use a fair bit of processor power.
I'm using the SE version of VS7, so I think I got shortchanged with the uvDeviceField.ini file. I also can't find the auto field order determination setting under the capture options button (which is where I'm guessing it would be). Ah well, the perils of 'free' software.
I'm using the SE version of VS7, so I think I got shortchanged with the uvDeviceField.ini file. I also can't find the auto field order determination setting under the capture options button (which is where I'm guessing it would be). Ah well, the perils of 'free' software.
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GlenB
VS 7 Capture Experimentation
Carrying on from my original post, I did some experimentation, and came up with the following:
Field B Capture, Field B burn- good for VS7 preview and DVD playback.
Field B Capture, Field A burn- good for VS7 preview and DVD playback.
Frame based capture, Field B burn- bad for VS7 preview, good DVD playback.
All other combinations came up with jerky or blurred DVD playback. All frame-based capture appeared interlaced in VS7 preview; all Field-based capture appeared OK in VS7 preview.
So there you go- with a bit of "suck it and see", I've been able to solve my own problem. I don't know why the original Field B capture/Field B burn didn't work properly- may have had to do with quality settings or something (now set to 90% in capture, project and burn). Hopefully this helps others out too (at least others with exactly the same hardware and software as me).
Field B Capture, Field B burn- good for VS7 preview and DVD playback.
Field B Capture, Field A burn- good for VS7 preview and DVD playback.
Frame based capture, Field B burn- bad for VS7 preview, good DVD playback.
All other combinations came up with jerky or blurred DVD playback. All frame-based capture appeared interlaced in VS7 preview; all Field-based capture appeared OK in VS7 preview.
So there you go- with a bit of "suck it and see", I've been able to solve my own problem. I don't know why the original Field B capture/Field B burn didn't work properly- may have had to do with quality settings or something (now set to 90% in capture, project and burn). Hopefully this helps others out too (at least others with exactly the same hardware and software as me).
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jchunter
Glen,
You should not be having this difficulty with Field order.
Are you carefully, manually setting every single one of the DVD burn properties to match your project Video file properties as explained in the Recommended Procedure (top post)?
Also, you don't have to burn DVDs to check image quality. Just uncheck Record to Disk in the final burn screen and check one of the disk image boxes immediately below.
John
You should not be having this difficulty with Field order.
Are you carefully, manually setting every single one of the DVD burn properties to match your project Video file properties as explained in the Recommended Procedure (top post)?
Also, you don't have to burn DVDs to check image quality. Just uncheck Record to Disk in the final burn screen and check one of the disk image boxes immediately below.
John
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GlenB
Recommended Procedure
John,
I have followed the recommended procedure as closely as I can, given that I use PAL and VS7, which makes no mention of Upper or Lower Fields, just A or B fields. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe A corresponds to Lower Field. This means that B field (or Upper) would be correct for analog capture as per the recommended procedure, but as stated in other posts, this apparently can vary for different capture devices.
I don't mind burning to DVD to check image quality (I use DVD-RW when testing), as I can't detect field order problems with the finished product on my non-interlaced computer monitor when viewing the file from hard drive- they only show up on my TV when viewing the DVDs.
It's working, as per my last post, so I'm happy.
I have followed the recommended procedure as closely as I can, given that I use PAL and VS7, which makes no mention of Upper or Lower Fields, just A or B fields. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe A corresponds to Lower Field. This means that B field (or Upper) would be correct for analog capture as per the recommended procedure, but as stated in other posts, this apparently can vary for different capture devices.
I don't mind burning to DVD to check image quality (I use DVD-RW when testing), as I can't detect field order problems with the finished product on my non-interlaced computer monitor when viewing the file from hard drive- they only show up on my TV when viewing the DVDs.
It's working, as per my last post, so I'm happy.