Best way to capture analog to acheive best results.
Moderator: Ken Berry
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gordon_fan_24
Best way to capture analog to acheive best results.
What is the best way to capture analog video to burn to DVD, should I do one big capture, or several smaller files? Should I use the Capwiz program that came with my ADS Tech DVD Xpress capture device that only captures in MPEG, or use the capture in VS7? Also, any tips to avoid alot of dropped frames.
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rwindeyer
mpeg capture is fine, especially if you don't want to do a lot of editing, and your computer has the horsepower to handle it (converting to mpeg on the fly is pretty resource-intensive).
Avoiding dropped frames - just the usual advice; defragment the hard drive first, turn off all extraeneous programs, (including screensaver) - just make sure there are no interruptions to the capture process.
Avoiding dropped frames - just the usual advice; defragment the hard drive first, turn off all extraeneous programs, (including screensaver) - just make sure there are no interruptions to the capture process.
Hardware Encoder
Hi,
I would recommend using CapWiz to make your mpeg captures from the DVD Express. Since it's an external hardware encoder, it shouldn't need too much of your computer resources, but to be safe and avoid dropped frames, you can optimize your system and stop all non-essential background tasks (virus scanner, task scheduler, screen savers, etc...).
Regarding the one-big vs. several smaller files, it will depend on how stable your setup is. I don't like to capture anymore than one hour to a single file...
Regards,
George
I would recommend using CapWiz to make your mpeg captures from the DVD Express. Since it's an external hardware encoder, it shouldn't need too much of your computer resources, but to be safe and avoid dropped frames, you can optimize your system and stop all non-essential background tasks (virus scanner, task scheduler, screen savers, etc...).
Regarding the one-big vs. several smaller files, it will depend on how stable your setup is. I don't like to capture anymore than one hour to a single file...
Regards,
George
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jwarner
The ADS Xpress is a hardware MPEG-2 encoder so does not require nearly the amount of computer resources that a software encoder does.
I used mine to capture all 50 hours of my Hi-8 camcoder tapes to MPEG-2's with no problems or dropped frames.
You can break your captures up any way you choose but I would recommend the CapWiz software for the capture. Check the ADS site for the latest update first.
I captured at 4000 kbps Variable Bit rate and created one MPEG file for each 2-hour tape. These are home movies I wanted to digitize as input to DVD's I will create over time. Each file is around 4gb at that rate (about 2gb per hour). You could probably go up to 4500 kbps VBR and still fit 2 hours on one DVD if that is what you plan to do.
At those rates, I feel my quality is equal to the source material and the files I created are manageable. In hindsite, the 2 hour per DVD probably doesn't matter since my work products will be bits and pieces from many different input files and will lilkey all be shorter than 2 hours.
My recommendation would be to do a sample 15-30 minute capture at various VBR and CBR rates to see what file sizes and qualities suit you needs before you digitize everything you own...
Good luck!
I used mine to capture all 50 hours of my Hi-8 camcoder tapes to MPEG-2's with no problems or dropped frames.
You can break your captures up any way you choose but I would recommend the CapWiz software for the capture. Check the ADS site for the latest update first.
I captured at 4000 kbps Variable Bit rate and created one MPEG file for each 2-hour tape. These are home movies I wanted to digitize as input to DVD's I will create over time. Each file is around 4gb at that rate (about 2gb per hour). You could probably go up to 4500 kbps VBR and still fit 2 hours on one DVD if that is what you plan to do.
At those rates, I feel my quality is equal to the source material and the files I created are manageable. In hindsite, the 2 hour per DVD probably doesn't matter since my work products will be bits and pieces from many different input files and will lilkey all be shorter than 2 hours.
My recommendation would be to do a sample 15-30 minute capture at various VBR and CBR rates to see what file sizes and qualities suit you needs before you digitize everything you own...
Good luck!