VirtualDub Capture Setup

[owenfam]

I have a Pentium 4, 2.4 Ghz Dell Destop with a cheap Avermedia PCI capture card. I bought a cheap capture card because all I want to do is capture my HI8 video without quality loss and archive them to DVD's. HI8 video (small step above VHS) should not be very demanding. I tried the NeoDVD4 software that came with the card and it works but at the highest quality level (needed to get the visual quality I am looking for) I drop occasional frames. I have read a months worth of help info. on this topic and you all are my last resort before I give up. I was last told to trash NeoDVD4 and capture to and AVI instead of MPEG. Afterwards, I should then render the AVI's to MPEG's. I am okay with this, but I am not able to get VirtualDub to capture the AVI's successfully at the quality I am giving it from the HI8 player. What would be a good setup for capturing HI8 to AVI in VirtualDub. I have already followed the guides on this site to no avail. Please help if you can. I would GREATLY APPRECIATE any and all ideas.

[mod]

Hi. Could you post the main settings you've used (resolution, compression etc)?
If you have space on your HD's you can capture uncompressed and then recompress.
If space is a problem you can capture with a lossless codec (ie Arithyuv, Huffyuv, MSULossless, Alparisoft) with a really good quality.
If space IS a problem you can directly capture in MPEG4, edit and then recompress to match DVD standard.
So, how many gigs free? :)

[owenfam]

I do not have the specifications here at work, but I can tell you that I tried to follow the VirtualDub capture guide from this website as closely as possible (the versions of the VirtualDub software were apparently different). I have a seperate WD 7200 RPM hard drive (250Gb) just for capturing video. I will try to get you the rest of the specifications tonight if possible. Last time I tried to capture the Audio was captured at "Real time" (sounded normal), but the video seemed to capture in what seemed like double time or faster in the AVI file. I was using the Huffyuv codec per the capture guides suggestions. Thanks for your help, I hope this information helps.

[mod]

Ok, space isn't a problem :)
I usually capture with all the 3 methods I wrote before, and reconvert to dvd, and imho the video quality is good (in descending order of course), so I think there may be something wrong in your settings. When you can post your settings.

EDIT: For the capture I use an AthlonXP 2700 Thoroughbred with 512 mb DDR PC2100 and Asus 9600XT Vivo 128 MB, directly to an external HD Lacie 160 GB usb 2.0.

[owenfam]

Sorry, I could not get you the settings last night. I had to pick the wife up at the airport and got home a little later than expected. I do believe that my Avermedia card uses a WDM driver, and in doing a little more reading I was wondering if my problem may be averted by using VirtualVCR instead of VirtualDub based on the guide for Analog Video Capture. Should VirtualDub be able to handle my setup even though I believe it is WDM not Vfw?

[mod]

Directly from VDub help:

If you have a Windows Driver Model (WDM) driver installed, you may also have an entry in the device list called Microsoft WDM Image Capture (Win32) (VFW). This entry comes from a Microsoft driver called VFWWDM32 and is a wrapper that allows WDM-model drivers to be used through the older Video for Windows (VFW) API. The WDM driver that is adapted can be selected through the Video Source driver dialog.

There are unfortunately some quirks in the way this adapter works, and some video capture devices will work erratically or not at all through this wrapper. Device settings not accessible through VFW will also still not be available when using it. If possible, use the capture device directly in DirectShow mode rather than using the VFWWDM32 driver.

I'm sorry but I don't know the specs of your video capture device.
In my experience video quality with VirtualVCR is a little lower than with VDub, so, considered that you are interested in the highest quality possible, (imho) I would try to solve the issue with VDub.

I hope this can help you, post here your settings if the prob remains :)

[owenfam]

Thanks, I will get back with you here and let you know what I come up with. Again, I appreciate your time. :)

[owenfam]

Okay, lots of settings here, but I will do my best.

VIDEO
Stream Format - YUY2 - 720X576 - NTSC_M - 29.970 fps
Video Source - Video Composite
Capture Pin - YUY2 - 720X576 - NTSC_M - 29.970 fps
Preview Pin - YUY2 - 320X240 - NTSC_M - 29.970 fps
Compression - Huffyuv v2.1.1 - Predict Median (Best)

AUDIO
Raw Capture Format - PCM: 44100 Hz, Stereo, 16-Bit
Compression - <No Compression(PCM)>
Audio Input - Line In

These are most of them, if there are others you want let me know. :thanks:

[Moitah]

First I would recommend using the latest VirtualDub 1.6.12 beta (http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/VirtualDub-1.6.12-test7.zip) build (1.6.12 final should be out soon). It fixes problems with A/V synch that you might have experienced with earlier versions.

If your card has a WDM driver, check in the Device menu to make sure you are capturing directly from it rather than through the VFW wrapper.

For NTSC, the Capture pin should be set to 720x480. My card (SAA713x based) will show 720x576 if you go back into the Capture pin settings even though 720x480 was selected earlier, this just seems to be a UI bug because it captures fine at 720x480. Also in the Video menu, select "Preview" instead of "Overlay", preferably with both fields accelerated.

[mod]

Preceded me 5 minutes.. I really wouldn't have answered anything better :)

[jozza]

I have tried virtualdub and a few other programs, but the best I have found is software called intervideo, the picture is very sharp and doesnt jump.

Its very strange but I noticed that the actual signal improves then from using other programs.

[owenfam]

I do have a WDM capture card and per the ealier post (#6) I do have a "Microsoft WDM Image Capture (Win32) (VFW)" entry in the driver list under the VirtualDub software. However, I have not selected this driver, by default the other driver for the Capture Card was selected and I did not change it. I will download the newest version per the latest recommendations tonight and see if that helps the situation at all. Also, I too have noticed the UI issue with selecting the frame size and having it revert back, I will try the new resolution per your new information as well, thanks all for your continued help. :)

[owenfam]

Jozza, does the Intervideo (WinDVD Capture 2, I assume) software support WDM natively unlike it appears VirtualDub. Does it capture directly to MPEG or to AVI's which can then be rendered?

[owenfam]

Okay, I have the latest Beta per your suggestions. I also changed the Resolution for the Capture Pin to 720X480 as suggested. The symptoms are pretty much the same. It appears that the Video (on playback of the AVI file) is being played "double time" (like fast forward on a VCR), while the audio track is clear and at a normal playback speed. If I capture 40 seconds of footage and then play the file back. The audio takes 40 seconds and sounds normal while the video looks pretty good but goes fast and the whole captured video clip finishes in about 19 seconds (give or take) with the audio lagging after. This was with the Huffyuv codec, so just for grins I captured a new clip with the XVID-MPEG4 codec and got the same results. During the capture process the Video Capture Ratio being displayed varies between 1.9:1 and 2.2:1 again give or take, while the Audio Capture Ratio is 1.0:1. It would appear that these ratios are also valid in some way in the playback issue I am having. I am really still not convinced it is not just a setting I have checked or not that is causing this annoyance. Do you have any other ideas for me based on this new information. During the capture process, my CPU usage never gets above 20% and I don't drop any frames according to VirtualDub that is. :sly:

[Moitah]

What is the frame rate set to in Capture mode? Near the bottom right corner you can select, it should be "29.97". If this still doesn't fix it, what does the "Average rate" value in the video stats area say while you're capturing?

BTW VirtualDub 1.6.12 final is out.

[owenfam]

My frame rate is set to 29.97 as recommended, however, I cannot confirm the Average rate during capture until I get opportunity for another test capture. I will get back with the information when I get it. Interestingly enough, I tried VirtualVCR for the capture with the same specifications and I get the same results in playback of the AVI. I also get a lot of dropped frames in VirtualVCR for some reason. Hope this information helps somehow?

[owenfam]

I confirmed the Average Capture rate as well and in general it is between 25 and 29 fps during the capture process. Is there anything else I can do to get this working? http://forum.doom9.org/images/smilies/frown.gif
:(

[Moitah]

Are you sure it's not just a playback issue? I have a P4 2.4GHz processor also, and cannot play 720x480 HuffYUV real-time. Have you tried recompressing some of your capture (e.g. with XviD or MPEG-2) to see how that plays?

[mod]

I have a P4 2.4GHz processor also, and cannot play 720x480 HuffYUV real-time.
I had the idea too that it could be a decoding issue. Try using ffdshow as decoder.

[owenfam]

I can't say that is not a correct assessment. In fact, what I can tell you is that in my preliminary investigations, I did notice that the CPU usage does in fact spike to near 100% during playback as opposed to capture. I will try re-encoding an MPEG-2 to a DVD and see what the playback quality is. If I have this problem at playback, will I also have it while encoding to MPEG-2 format? If so, is there a way to work around it? Is the capabililities of my PC Video card the limiting factor in the encoding and playback issue?

[mod]

I decode with FFDShow and works fine, give it a try..