Question about VHS -> DVD and direct Mpeg2 capture

[masteripper]

Hi to everybody and a happy new year.
I know it has being asked about a zillion times but i wourld really appreciate a clear answer since i unable to find any.
My setup is the following
CPU: 2.4Ghz P4/533
RAM: 512mb /333
HDD: 160GB ATA 100/8 mb cache
Capture Card: Prolink(pixelview) Play TV Pro Ultra
Capture Settings: PAL - 720(768) x 576 Sound Stereo either Mpeg or DD 2.0
So the million dollar question is : With the above setup is it natural to have a hell of dropped frames(choppy video with a lot of breaks and small freezes) when i capture directly to mpeg2
I have tried everything.
Mainconcept PVR with just the default settings (DVD profile) -----> Choppy Video
Intervideo Windvr3 again PAL 720x576 ------> A little better But again Choppy
NeroVision PAL 768x576 DD 2.0 -------> This was the King we are talking about freezing video i was too dissapointed just to look at this
NeoDVD Mpeg2 HQ ------> This one seemed to do the trick but the picture quality was Horrible

So back to capturing to Pic Mpeg Avi and convert it to Mpeg2.
SO what i am doing wrong? Does anybody has a similar setup with no problems or i do have to replace something like my horrible Tv/Capture Card.....to setup it was a nightmare beyond anything known i had to e-mail to the tech support to get a decent driver.......
If i am breaking any rules plz forgive me but i am really frustrated...

[spuddog]

I have a similar set-up to your's (except my card is an ATI). I don't have any problems capturing directly to mpeg2. I cap in NTSC though. I use Intervideo WinDvd Recorder. I don't know what your trouble is, maybe drivers or Dma.

[masteripper]

Strange it makes me wonder.when u say ati u mean just the vga or u have something like all-in-one wonder???
To make it clearer do u have the same tuner/capture card like mine(pixelview play tv pro)
Please reply it drives me nuts

[spuddog]

My card is an ATI Wonder ve, pci tv capture card. Cost 40 usd a couple of years ago. I can't remember if I am using the original driver or the btwincap ones.

[masteripper]

Hmmmmm

BT878 chipset
Ihave the new 10-bit cx2738 i think
lt makes me wonder thanks for the reply but i think ineed someone with the exact same configuration

[Boulder]

You're much better off capturing in mjpeg and then converting to MPEG2 with HC for example. The quality will be better than capturing directly to MPEG2.

[masteripper]

I know but in some you want to go for the fast way and this is what is troubling me

[signal]

Just for grins... have you tried the capture card in another slot?

Before hand you might want to run msinfo32 and see if your IRQ is shared by something that could be interfering with the capture card.

Start -> Run -> msinfo32 -> Click the + on Hardware Resources -> Click on Conflicts Sharing

Look for your capture card and see if anything else is listed with it.

Also, what motherboard are you using?

[Ga$tan]

Maybe the problem is this: If you have plugged your computer to the Internet, or to the LAN net, disable it. I have similar problem. I had 56 dropped frames per one film when I was plugged to the Internet and LAN, while CPU usage was only on about 25%. Today I capture with 0 dropped frames. I capture first to the MJPG MainConcept 3.00 codec (720x576, compression 13.6), then I apply filters and finally convert with XviD codec.

My system configuration is: AMD AthlonXP 2200+; Powercolor ATI Radeon9200 VIVO; APACER 512MB DDRAM PC400; ATA MaXtor DiamondMax Plus8 40GB, 2MB cache, ATA 133.

[tedkunich]

Hi to everybody and a happy new year.
I know it has being asked about a zillion times but i wourld really appreciate a clear answer since i unable to find any.
My setup is the following
CPU: 2.4Ghz P4/533
RAM: 512mb /333
HDD: 160GB ATA 100/8 mb cache
Capture Card: Prolink(pixelview) Play TV Pro Ultra
Capture Settings: PAL - 720(768) x 576 Sound Stereo either Mpeg or DD 2.0
So the million dollar question is : With the above setup is it natural to have a hell of dropped frames(choppy video with a lot of breaks and small freezes) when i capture directly to mpeg2
I have tried everything.
Mainconcept PVR with just the default settings (DVD profile) -----> Choppy Video
Intervideo Windvr3 again PAL 720x576 ------> A little better But again Choppy
NeroVision PAL 768x576 DD 2.0 -------> This was the King we are talking about freezing video i was too dissapointed just to look at this
NeoDVD Mpeg2 HQ ------> This one seemed to do the trick but the picture quality was Horrible

So back to capturing to Pic Mpeg Avi and convert it to Mpeg2.
SO what i am doing wrong? Does anybody has a similar setup with no problems or i do have to replace something like my horrible Tv/Capture Card.....to setup it was a nightmare beyond anything known i had to e-mail to the tech support to get a decent driver.......
If i am breaking any rules plz forgive me but i am really frustrated...


For one thing, your card does not support MPEG compression in hardware - your PC is performing that for you. My guess is that your PC does not have the bandwidth to capture at full frame. What happens if you capture at anything less than full frame? Are you compressing audio as your capture? if so, set it to save audio as PCM, again it is a bandwidth issue. Things that might help would be to eliminate all services/sys tray apps that are not absolutely nessesary, defrag that hard drive. There should be some tips for optimizing your system in the FAQs.

T

[masteripper]

Thanks all of u guys. I have tried yesterday ulead i think disc creator and surprise surprise it captures without any drop frames.....this must be strange
The only thing i changed was the addition of a mysterious utlity called MaxBoost for my HD.
I will try the other apps and post results???
Of course the info u provided is more than helpfull and i will try it asap.

[ronnylov]

Try reducing the resolution to 352x576. This will require less CPU work and you may use better quality settings in the encoder without dropped frames. It is still DVD compliant. I would prefer lower resolution without dropped frames above choppy vide with higher resolution.