"this action will take some time to render"

[Binary1]

So, I tried the settings above (listed in my other post)
I got great results from one VHS tape...

Now the picture is capturing very choppy on the SECOND tape that I am transferring for our home movie archive.

I want to get this right so 20 years later we can look back and say "wow, he really set these properties well - there is hardly any degradation of quality"

So, I am using the Video Studio 9 "capture" to record my VHS tapes.
These are home movies of a wedding. The camera shakes a little.

I am getting skips during the capture.

Here are my settings:
Template: DVD NTSC (720x480)
(these settings were chosen for me)
MPEG Type: DVD
TV system: NTSC
Frame Rate: 29.97
Frame Size: 720x480
Output Field Order: Upper field first
Not checked: Deinterlace output
Aspect Ratio: 1(Default) Display

Then I chose:
Video Bit Rate: 8000 (Constant) and I don’t know the difference between variable and constant bit rates
Audio Format: Dolby Digital
Mode: Stereo
Bit Rate: 192 (per the recommendation above)

Capture Devices:
Hatachi VCR (composit Output) the cheesy one with left/right and yellow video RCA cable
Instant Video MPX - Composit to USB 2.0
Video Studio 9 Trial - I have Video Studio 8 but it was GPF'ing and I like 9 better.

[2Dogs]

Terry,
The Recommended Procedure presents a choice between a workflow based on DV or one based on Mpeg. It presents a very brief description of the advantages and disadvantages. It does not take sides on one over the other.
John

Dear John,

yes - but Terry was suggesting MJPeg, as opposed to MPEG.

I'm not sure that Video Studio can work with MJPeg codecs - MS Pro certainly can, and most of Terry's posts are to that forum.

I can sense an MS Pro trial coming on!

I'd like to know which workflow gives the highest output quality - the recommended procedure of MiniDV capture to Type 1 or 2 DVI, rendered to MPEG2, or capture to MJPeg rendered to MPEG2.

If the final quality is comparable, then the MJPeg workflow would offer the advantage of less drive space and smaller file sizes, somewhere between DV type 1 or 2 .avi and MPEG2.

[jchunter]

Gentlemen,

The OP has just begun video editing and needs basic assistance to get past some of the initial barriers. His problems are mainly operational and procedural - e.g., are the tape heads clean? how is he capturing? is the capture box hooked up correctly, etc.

With all due respect, a learned discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of different video codecs belongs in a separate thread.

John

[heinz-oz]

I second that John, as much as I like to read about this, I'm sure nothing is further from the OP's mind at present. Maybe we could get Terry to give us a separate thread with a discussion of the advantages/disadvantages of DV AVI - mpeg2 or mjpg - mpeg2.

Back to the original question. From what I can gather now, Binary1 seems to be using a USB analog/digital converter ie. "Instant Video MPX - Composit to USB 2.0"

I have no personal experience with these things myself but, from experiences made by some friends and various posters on this forum, I'm more than suspect of anything USB with full frame video. Sustained data transfer rates are just not there as far as I'm concerned. Unless this device has a hardware encoder on board to do the numbers crunching for the mpeg2 encoding. Even then, CBR 8000 kbps is way too high for VHS capture. Too much data generated at no return on investment. CBR 4000 will give as good a quality as VHS. Anything higher only strains the system and fills the DVD quicker.

We need some more details about the actual hardware used, the capture device as well as the PC all this is supposed to hapen on.

[2Dogs]

I second that John, as much as I like to read about this, I'm sure nothing is further from the OP's mind at present. Maybe we could get Terry to give us a separate thread with a discussion of the advantages/disadvantages of DV AVI - mpeg2 or mjpg - mpeg2.

OK, sorry about that all, I admit I was getting carried away!

A friend of mine gets pretty decent results capturing to 720x480 at 8000kbps from a Hi8 camcorder with a USB capture box - so it's not impossible.

I would agree however that the USB link might well be to blame. In theory, USB 2.0 can support data transfer rates up to 400Mb/sec but in practice there are a lot of enhanced USB 1 devices masquerading as USB 2.

Could even be the USB ports on the pc, though that's unlikely if the machine is fairly new, say less than 3 or 4 years.

Might be worth disabling legacy USB support in bios.

It might be useful to try capturing at a lower resolution to see if the problems are reduced - and from my reading of most posts on VHS capture, there is no benefit in terms of output video quality gained by capturing at 720x480.

[jchunter]

Jason,
I googled on your capture box and found the following

Product name Instant videompx
Marketing information Supports recording to divx video
Capture audio and video to your pc record to mpeg-1 windows
Media 9 video and divx video usb 2.0 for high-quality video
Capture create video cd's and divx cd's capture video to
Play on your pocket pc palm pda portable media player or digital
Media receiver record over 2 hours of video on a single cd
Manufacturer website address Www.adstech.com

I think I now understand how you got tangled up with Divx.
Videompx "allows uncompressed video to pass through the USB2 port before compression but then offers only Divx, Windows Media 9, or Mpeg-1 formats as outputs.

So, you should be able to get the capture box to create the Windows Media format video and you can edit that in Video Studio 9. Try this first. I have not used VS to edit WM9 format but its worth a try... After you have edited the video, then do SHARE/Create Video File to create your Mpeg2 video file in preparation for burning the DVD.

Otherwise you may need a new capture box.

John

[Terry Stetler]

If you're capturing DV then I don't recommend working in MJPeg. Not much of an advantage there.

Where MJPeg is most useful is when capturing analog footage from cards like the All in Wonder or others that can use installed codecs to compress the video. Here it's an excellent choice and edits VERY nicely. It also encodes to MPEG with very good results.

Of course this all depends on the MJPeg codec being set up properly. Most offer a wide range of bitrates or quality settings, and the higher this is set the better the results.

Bitrates of 8-10 MB/s (quality 20 in PICVideo) is essentially lossless and is therefore great for projects that include heavy duty f/x like keys, overlays etc. 5-7 MB/s is a good general purpose data rate while 3-4 MB/s is good if few effects are to be added.

When setting up for using MJPeg you should also create custom editing templates for use with MJPeg, one for each bitrate you plan on using.

[Binary1]

First of all guys I REALLY appreciate all the help. I do not understand some of the expressions, lingo and acronyms but I am getting there.

I understand jchunter's request about the different post because its getting a little "over my head"

As far as the hardware I have this:
PIV - 3.0 GHz Pentium
1 Gig - 4200 DDR RAM
GForce 6800 GT 256Megs RAM
Soundblaster Live sound card

I am going to try:
MPEG audio layer 2 48K, 192kbps Stereo
640x480, MPEG1, VBR, 4000 kbps Variable
Speed 100%
Frame Rate 29.97

I will let you guys know how it goes! I am not doing ANY editing. I am simply trying to capture my video and then burning it to DVD. I dont really have a need for editing. IF I really get into this I will re-import the video and edit it when I get more experience under my belt!

I will let you all know how it goes!
Regards,
Jason

[jchunter]

Jason,
I'm strongly recommending that you quit experimenting. The properties that you posted will not work. Avoid Mpeg1 and don't use frame size of 640x480, which is all wrong for your objective - DVD. You will have to produce a 720x480 frame size for the DVD burn.

Start over.
(1) If your capture box permits, capture as AVI (DV) files and follow the Recommended Procedure for AVI. Otherwise, capture to Windows Media 9.
(2) Use 720x480 as the frame dimensions.
(3) Set Variable video bitrate 4000kbps.
(4) Set Field Order to Upper Field First
(5) Dolby Audio.

Your computer specs are fully adequate for video editing.

John

[Binary1]

Hey John,

I guess I am just getting confused with all the settings. When I tried capture to AVI before it took forever to burn.
I changed it to MPEG with the settings in my previous post and finally got the video to burn.

THEN, I changed VHS tapes and all of the sudden, when I clicked capture the video was choppy (during the capture and on playback of the captured video) but it would preview smoothly. So, now I am back to playing with the settings.

I dont understand the difference between MPEG, AVI, DVD NTSC (720x480), DV and DivX formats on the capture.

I think the general consinsis is that I need to use:
4000 bit rate
29.97 Frame Rate
Upperfield first
Audio
Mode: stereo
Sample Rate: 48000
Bit rate: 192

I guess my question is what do I choose for the format (avi, dvd ntsc, dv, mpeg? and why?

Regards,
Jason

[jchunter]

Jason,

(1) What you captured initially was a Divx compressed file in an AVI wrapper and it took forever for VS9 to try to convert it to the format that it needs to burn a DVD (Mpeg2).

(2) When you changed it to mpeg, you actually changed it to Mpeg1, which is an old format, not appropriate for burning DVDs.

(3) In my last post, I said capture to DV (in an AVI wrapper) if you can. {Evidently your capture box can't do this.} Otherwise, set up the capture box to capture in Windows Media 9 format (WM9) because I know that you can pull these files into the VS9 timeline and perform edits. Set the capture properties as I said in last post steps 2 - 5.

After you edit your captured files, save your project and follow the steps in the "Create Video File" section of the Recommended Procedure to convert your project files from WM9 to Mpeg2 format.

Then follow the Recommended procedure to Burn your project to DVD.

John

[Binary1]

Well maybe I didnt state all of the format types that display in VideoStudio 9.
I see these:
DV
AVI
MPEG
VCD
SCVD
DVD
WMV
DivX
DivX Handheld
DivX Portable
DivX Home Theater
DivX High Def

This is what VS 9 says. I believe in the specs that was in the previous post about my hardware stated that I can capture with DV format.

I see it in the list, and when I choose it (DV format) - it automatically sets all the options for me. I cant change all those other options. The only things I can change are:

Compression: UYVY (only option by the way)
Frame Size: 720x480 (and 640x480 is default)
Under an "advanced tab" I see a compression tab. No compression is default. I have like 20 options (JPEG Video compressor, Roxio MPEG2, Intel Indeo Video 4.5, Microsoft H.261 Video Codec, etc, etc)

I think I should keep this at no compression, and there is an option button for DivX Video encode codec. It is unchecked by default.

thats it. I cannot choose all those other options (NTSC etc) with this.

Is that right?

so confused...

[jchunter]

Jason,
If these are the choices that are available in the CAPTURE tab, then select DV (Type1), select 720x480, Upper Field First (I hope that you can select this in DV capture), and no compression. Your files will be huge but you should be able to edit them. Capture a short section (5 - minutes) and lets see how it works.

John

Edit: If the DV choice does not work, try selecting AVI (with no compression).

[Binary1]

Hey,

I did a snip and, well it worked but when I did the real one I ran out of room on my hard drive. I had 67 gigs free and it took up all of it for a 40min clip.

[jchunter]

Jason,
Congrats! You are making progress.

The dark side of uncompressed AVI is that it will fill up your hard drives rapidly. You probably have a whole lot of huge junk files on your drives that could be eliminated to give you more space. (BTW, I usually capture my video in 10 minute chunks because the editing is easier - the jog controls are less twitchy.)

BTW, right mouse on the capture file in VS and select Properties. What are they?

In any case, did the capture file terminate cleanly? Can you play it through without crashing? If so, don't delete it. After you clear up some disk space, you can resume capture just before the point of interruption with another capture file.

If you can't free up enough space to continue capture, we could either
(A) Try completing a DVD burn with what you have already captured or
(B) Explore compression options that will reduce the need for huge amounts of disk space or
(C) Consider adding another hard drive to your computer...

John