Ulead videostudio 8 capture file formats

[bluesforbreakfast]

I've searched everywhere for what is apparently SUCH a simple question, the answer isn't anywhere. I'm a nubie. I want to capture video from family video tape to save, edit, and eventually burn as a working DVD. I want decent quality, but small file size. I can't find discussion anywhere comparing the different file formats I can capture with, or the pros and cons of each, or anything that helps me decide which format to use, not even in my manual!!
I'm not sure why this is so difficult to find- can anyone advise me or direct me to the right place to understand it? Please don't tell me to upgrade. My needs are simple, and Videostudio 8 is just fine, thanks.

[Ken Berry]

Welcome to the forum!!

Whatever else, if you intend to burn a video DVD, the format of the final video, before the actual burn, has to be DVD-compatible mpeg-2. And that is so since mpeg-2 is essentially the only format which can be used, under international standards, for a video DVD. (You can also use mpeg-1, but that is lower quality and uses a small frame size.)

We do need more information, however. You say your video is currently on 'family video tape'. But what does that mean? Is it on a VHS tape, an analogue video camera tape or a more recent digital video camera's DV tape? If the latter, then what is the make and model of the camera?

If it is on VHS or an analogue camera tape, then what hardware do you propose using to capture it from the analogue camera or VCR? VS8 can certainly do the job with analogue or digital sourced tape, so no, there is no need to upgrade.

If the material is on a digital 'family video tape', then it will be in DV format, which is the best format to capture and edit in. Once the editing is done, then in VS8 you simply then choose Share > Create Video File > DVD and it will be converted to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 which you can then burn to DVD (Share > Create Disc).

If, however, it is on VHS or an analogue camera, you will need either an external capture device or an internal capture card in your computer. You can also use most recent digital mini DV cameras as a pass-through device, connecting the analogue VCR or camera via RCA/S-Video connections to the digital camera, and then the latter to your computer via Firewire cable (if your computer has a firewire port). This again allows capture and editing in high quality DV format. There are also certain external capture devices which connect via firewire and capture in DV format, but they are uniformly expensive. And DV is a large format -- it will take about 13 GB for one hour of DV video. And editing it will roughly require you to have twice that space for temporary files etc.

The 'budget' alternative would allow you to buy a cheaper capture device, which again will connect to your VCR/analogue camera via the RCA or S-Video/RCA method, but will then connect to your computer via USB 2.0 cable. You will normally be able to capture direct to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 that way. Those files will be roughly a fifth the size of DV format. But the down side is that editing mpeg-2 can sometimes be tricky. The other major drawback is that these USB capture devices vary widely in quality and efficacy, and not all of them will work with VS. But in any case, we usually recommend users to use whatever software comes with the device to capture in mpeg-2, and then simply open that in VS for editing and authoring to DVD.

[bluesforbreakfast]

Thank you.
It's plain VHS tapes, so the source would be an old VCR. I have a USB Plextor ConvertX to connect the VCR to the computer, and the Ulead VS 8 came packaged with it.
I want to convert the tapes (made from old 8mm family home movies) into DVD's for the family. But I also use the same VCR set up (VCR as tuner) to record a PBS news show, for viewing in a discussion group I belong to. In both situations what I would like is to capture, edit, and save the files, and whether I'm going to make DVD's or just store the video, I still want a smaller file rather than a large one, sacrificing as little as possible of the quality. I'm not high tec: I have an old analog tv, so it's not like I need HD quality. Ultimately, the tricky part is to get it to fit on a DVD.
In Ulead CAPTURE, can ANY format be converted eventually into a DVD successfully?
Do some convert better than others?
Why or in what way is editing mpeg-2 tricky? What makes it that way?

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi

When you capture to Mpeg 2 use the DVD format option.
This will provide you with a DVD compatible file.

You can change the capture bitrate to match the length of video.

As a guide 8000 kbps will allow 60 minutes per disc (top quality)
6000 kbps 90 minutes (good quality)
4000 kbps and you will fit 120 minutes to a disc.(vhs quality)

Using a bit rate calculator may help:- http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php

Once captured use the same settings for your project properties.

Create a video file before burning (Share Create Video File) use ¡¥Same as first Video Clip¡¦
This will use the same settings as capture/project properties. VS will use Smart Render, only fully rendering the edited portions.

Start a new project and Share Create Disc¡XAdd Video¡Xusing the file made above.

Editing Mpeg

Mpeg is a lossey format, in that it looses quality each time you render the file.
With minimum editing you probably will not see any difference after the first render.

Hope this Helps

[bluesforbreakfast]

MOST HELPFUL! Thank you. A few left over questions:

You suggest making a video file first and then making the DVD from it. Since Mpeg-2 loses quality with each render, wouldn't quality be served by capturing, editing and making the DVD all in the same process, instead of saving the file and then opening it again? Or am I misunderstanding the word "render"? Am I correct that the original captured file will be the best quality?

RE editing, all I do is split/remove unnecessary chunks of the video. Do I understand that to then save the file will reduce the quality of the remainder?

What format should I use if I'm simply going to play it on my laptop?

Thanks for the excellent VS HOW TO link. I will study it.

[Black Lab]

That workflow is suggested to avoid potential problems. If you try to burn straight from the edit timeline some computers have problems with the combined render/burn process. We suggest you simply break that down into 2 steps - render, then burn. Seems to eliminate problems. And as Trevor has stated, you probably wouldn't notice any quality loss with just one render.

Since you are capturing to MPEG-2 (assuming it is DVD-compliant) you could skip that step. Just make sure that SmartRender is enabled so it will only re-render parts that have changed (your edits).

[bluesforbreakfast]

Okay, I just got it- am I correct:
If all I do is remove clips, and I don't do any fancy stuff like fading in/out, increasing the volume, or any of the other editing options, then the footage will remain as good quality as the original, assuming I use smart render, because the remaining footage is unchanged?

[Black Lab]

Got it.

[bluesforbreakfast]

Hmmmm. No one ever answered this: do all formats convert successfully to Mpeg2? Some better than others?
This is getting worse instead of better. I've been experimenting, and I seem to have more problems every time. I tried to make a DVD from a Divx file, and absolutely everything was out of wack- audio/video. How come some DVD players are "able" to play Divx, but you can't make a DVD from a Divx file????? Am I way dumber than I thought?
And then I decided to try my WinDVR which I had not used before, and it seems to be only an added complication. I have (bundled) version 5, but the website seems to suggest it doesn't even exist- only 1, 2, and 3, which makes it real hard to find answers. I schedule-recorded an hour of tv to test it. It chopped it up into 350 absurd little 12 second long files, every single one of which hiccuped when they were re-assembled into one file. I can't find any way to change that setting. When I read the help files to find out, a lot of the pages say "this feature may or may not be included". So I've spend hours trying to find things that aren't even there. I'm about to give up altogether.

[Ken Berry]

I can't answer your WinDVR question (not familiar with the program). However, DivX, as you have discovered, is a difficult format to edit or even convert. It is highly compressed (i.e. quite small files) though high quality. And all highly compressed formats are difficult to edit and re-process. They are essentially made for display on screen (either a monitor or TV) rather than edit.

There are some programs out there designed to convert DivX (or its open source cousin XVid) to mpeg-2. A simple Google search will give you lots of answers. However, I find that the special plug-in for this in the TMPGEnc program is probably best for the job. (Mind you, I have also succeeded in this conversion using VS, though it takes ages to finish.) Once converted, the new mpeg-2 can of course be burned to a standard DVD. However, you need to be aware that there will inevitably be some loss of quality from the original DivX to the converted mpeg-2.

As for the conundrum of some (many these days) DVD players being rated to play DivX but it is difficult to burn DivX to a DVD, the answer is relatively simple. You are thinking in terms of a *video* DVD. However, those DVD players can actually detect the DiVX format and will play them when detected either on a CD or a DVD as simple files without the special codes required for a player to recognise a *video* DVD as being a video DVD.

In other words, the trick is that you burn the DivX video files to disc as *archives* i.e. simple files. Forget the fact that they are video files. Just think of them as files like document files, music files, photo files and burn them accordingly. When you put the data disc containing the DivX files into a rated player, the player will recognise the DivX data files and play them (just as it will recognise and play, say, mp3 music files or JPEG photo files).

Note also that the DivX organization has even developed a special program called DivX Author 1.5 which allows you to build menus for DivX movies just like those on standard video DVDs. However, only a pretty limited range of players are rated to play those menus to date though they will of course appear when you play the movies on your computer.

[bluesforbreakfast]

well duh. I guess I AM dumber than I thought. Thanks Ken. That makes a giant difference. It never even occurred to me that DVD players had the ability to "read" files- I thought only a computer could do that.
So, if I capture video (from tv or from VHS tapes) and want it to be Divx to save space, can I just capture it in Divx, or do I need to use another format and then convert it TO Divx? And then I just plunk it on a dvd or cd, like I'm making a backup file? (And a set top DVD player is actually gonna play it, eh? That's amazing!!)
I'm pretty sure WinDVR has that Divx capture option, although I don't actually want to get anywhere near that program again, for awhile. But I'll check my Ulead VS 8, which has given me no problems. I'm pretty sure that's only a "convert to" option on the EDIT and/or SHARE tab, not a capture option. I assume it would be preferable to capture in Divx in the first place, though, if at all possible, right?

[Ken Berry]

Haven't you ever played back an mp3 music CD (or DVD) back in your stand-alone DVD player? Or a photo disc for that matter?

If you only intend to watch the videos yourself, then yes, you can capture direct to DivX or even convert other formats to DivX (DivX has its own software for such conversions which works well in that direction, though not in the DivX > other formats direction...). That is indeed one of the purposes of DivX -- to allow archiving (and playing in high quality playback) entire movies on a single CD (or several on a DVD). And if you have a DivX rated player, then fine.

But if you intend to distribute your videos to friends and family, then you will need to ensure that *everyone* has a DivX rated player before you do so. Otherwise, they won't see a thing on their stand-alone players, though they will be able to on their computers if they have the DivX codec installed.

[bluesforbreakfast]

WOW
No, I have never played anything but a DVD movie in my player. Boy, everything just got a whole lot easier, I think...
But am I right, that the optimum quality would be achieved by Divx capture, and that capturing in Mpeg2 and then converting is something you'd do only if you absolutely HAD to, like because Uncle Fred's DVD player wouldn't play it? Come to think, what WOULD be the best format to use if you were going to ultimately convert to Divx, but knew you were going to need to make a regular DVD video too, first?

[Ken Berry]

How long is a piece of string???

It depends... If you only ever intended to burn your video to a DivX disc, then it is obviously better to capture in DivX. But as I have already said, it can be difficult to edit to any significant extent.

If you know you will have to make standard DVDs (as well), then it depends what you are intending to capture, what from and using what capture device... If for instance you have home video on a mini DV digital video camera, then you capture and edit in DV over firewire, convert the project to mpeg-2 for the regular video DVD. But you would also convert the DV project separately to DivX for the DivX disc. DV arguably is the best standard definition video format quality and editing-wise...

But if you are capturing from a hard disc or DVD camera, or even from an analogue source (VCR or analogue camera) and don't have either a mini DV or Digital 8 camera you can use as passthrough (to capture DV again via firewire) or an external (expensive) DV/firewire capture device, then you would be best using a capture device or card that can capture direct to mpeg-2 and burn that directly to video DVD and convert it to DivX separately. If you use high quality mpeg-2 capture settings, the DivX quality should still be quite high.