Problem with capturing video and audio

[454Casull]

My setup: P4, 512MB memory, onboard audio, MSI GF4 TI4200, Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150

I would like to record the output from my Dreamcast which outputs to composite video and analog L/R audio. All three coax cables go into the WinTV card. I've got two problems, though, one of which I should be able to solve later on.

1) I can't figure out which audio input to use for the card's L/R sound input (no sound at the moment). I think if I get a stereo female RCA to male 1/8" stereo adapter and plug it into my sound card's line-in, it should work fine, though.

2) I can preview the video just fine in VirtualVCR; however, when I open the recorded file, it has neither video nor audio. (it's just a timeline-kinda thing for audio-only files, except there's no sound)

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[454Casull]

Can anybody help me with this?

[Awatef]

I think, you should use the application that comes with your card for capturing, since your card has a built-in MPEG-2 encoder, so I guess the home application is best suited for recording with this card (That would be WinTV2000?).

As for the audio part, I would say, you HAVE TO buy an adapter, because as far as I can tell, the PVR-150 does not have those red & white connectors, but a regular 3,5mm cinch. The adapter should have female connectors for your Dreamcast cables and on the other end a regular 3,5mm connector as used with walkmans (I'm doing this with my PS2, works perfectly!). You should be able to connect it directly to your WinTV card and get sound.

[454Casull]

Yes, I'll get the adapter soon, though the WinTV-PVR-150 does have the red and white RCA jacks at the back... unless they're not for audio?

I tried using WinTV2000 but I couldn't even get preview to work.

I don't want to encode directly to MPEG2, though. I want raw AVI.

[gameplaya15143]

If you can't view it properly in winTV, then you can't capture it.

I have a wintv usb2 (without hardware mpeg2). Before I can capture with it, I have to first view with wintv (it freezes virtualvcr otherwise). In virtualvcr, make sure all the filters on the 'device' tab in settings are setup properly. Composite video for source, and line-in for audio.

Note: you should be able to capture the sound with your soundcard without problems. You don't have to use the inputs on the wintv card.

My question to you, have you successfully captured anything with virtualvcr before?

[454Casull]

My question to you, have you successfully captured anything with virtualvcr before?
No. xxxxxxxxx

[454Casull]

I tried using AMCAP and the recorded AVI cannot be played in MPC because the codec is missing? What gives? Again, the preview works in AMCAP.

[chipzoller]

You need to get an audio cable that goes from RCA (2) -> mini din (audio jack) and plug that into the line in of your sound card. Using VirtualVCR you can select this as your audio input along with video and should be able to capture fine. Depending on how long a time you capture you'll need to select "resample audio dynamically" to avoid sync issues towards the end.

[454Casull]

You need to get an audio cable that goes from RCA (2) -> mini din (audio jack) and plug that into the line in of your sound card. Using VirtualVCR you can select this as your audio input along with video and should be able to capture fine. Depending on how long a time you capture you'll need to select "resample audio dynamically" to avoid sync issues towards the end.
Yeah, I'm not so much worried about the audio since if worse comes to worst, I'll just put some background music on.

The video is what worries me.

[chipzoller]

What's wrong with the video? It won't preview? Make sure your codec is installed and you can view it in the device manager. And if you're going to capture, it's best to capture with a lossless codec like HuffYUV then recompress/edit as you like.

[454Casull]

I can preview it in both AMCap and VirtualVCR, though in VirtualVCR I have to use the Smart Tee Filter.

AFAIK, it doesn't record to file properly, unless it actually IS recording properly and I don't have the proper codec to play the resulting AVI file, which I doubt. That's the error I get when I play the file made with AMCap - I have the wrong/missing codec. The file made with VirtualVCR simply shows no video at all and no codec-error message.

[chipzoller]

In VirtualVCR, select and use HuffYUV (http://neuron2.net/www.math.berkeley.edu/benrg/huffyuv.html) to compress your file. Make sure you've set the proper sources for capture and then try it. And what are you using to play these files back? Because if you're not seeing any video then either the codec isn't properly installed (or being compressed properly) or it can't be found to decode the resulting file.

[454Casull]

Hm, now that I've installed the .inf file (and restarted), the only option that comes up in Device Settings -> Video Capture Pin -> Color Space / Compression is HCW2. Looking at the doom9 guide for VirtualVCR, that's where YUY2 is supposed to be, right?

[454Casull]

I got recording to work!!!

I followed the instructions here:

http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=6403.0