Capturing video... confused about some of the settings

[Cyber Akuma]

I have a Dazzle DVD recorder, I ONLY installed the drivers, not the included software.

I want to capture gameplay footage from my consoles (Wii, PS2, PS3, Xbox360, etc) and my handhelds (PSP, etc).

I typically use VirtualDub to capture, first of all, is there a better and free alternative to this for CAPTURING?

Second, I used to capture uncompressed, but now I use huffyuv, is this a good idea or should I be using something else? I want to capture in the highest quality available then worry about encoding it after the capture is complete.

What framerate should I use? Is 60FPS enough? Is it overkill? I remember hearing that the sampling rate has to be at least double the actual rate of the signal in order to sample it without losing much quality.... though that may have just been audio.

And I have no idea what these settings such as capture pin, preview pin, corssbars, etc are or what to choose.

Finally, I am probably just going to record 1-5 minute clips, max maybe 8-10 min, I set aside 1.5 gigs of my ram as a ramdrive for this, will this be enough for just the capturing part? Would the 5400RPM drive in my laptop be fast enough to capture and I don't need the ramdisk? If not, how about 7200RPM?

Is there any way to crop the capturing area or do I have to do this after capturing?

Would it even be possible to deinterlace while capturing or would it be best to do the deinterlating during the encoding?

Thanks

[Ghitulescu]

1. you should capture at the following fps: A. the default one of your capture device (if it's fixed), B. the output fps of the source if supported by the capture device. If your device cannot be set to (B) or does it from drivers (ie it cannot capture in hardware at the desired fps), then you have to use (A). Forcing a fps that is not hardware supported by any of your gear leads to artefacts.

You have to check the net and other fora to see if all the resolutions and fps of that Dazzle are really hardware supported and not artificially created by drivers. I assume you'll have no problems if you bought both/all gear in the States, they should support at least 30i (or 15p). It would be however clever to search the net.

Once captured you can always employ the good filters of vdub/avisynth to fit your clips to the destination (DVD, BD?).

[Cyber Akuma]

I can't find a listing of it's FPS anywhere. And what about what I asked about the sampling rate has to be at least double the actual rate of the signal in order to sample it without losing much quality?

And what about the other options I asked about?

[Ghitulescu]

I can't find a listing of it's FPS anywhere. And what about what I asked about the sampling rate has to be at least double the actual rate of the signal in order to sample it without losing much quality?

And what about the other options I asked about?

The Nyquist theory refers to something else.

You could actualy capture at double speed but you'd be forced to drop the identical frames during processing. Remember, you're not capturing real life with a varible fps camera, you're capturing a device that outputs a fixed fps (otherwise it cannot be used with a TV).

So, use 30fps for NTSC (or its default settings for NTSC) and be happy.

[Cyber Akuma]

Very well, that answers my question about FPS, thanks.

What about my other questions though?

[Ghitulescu]

Your 1.5GB RAM drive would probably suffice with Huffyuv for 10 minutes at FullNTSC.

Almost every Video Suite has a capture module. It's up to you if you like it or not.

You asked these questions several times in a row, the quality of capture depends on your intended target. It's overkill to capture 1920x1080x200p if your viewing device is a cellphone that could display only 320x240x15. I really suggest you do some readings and perform some maths yourself, maybe you can try some parameters etc. Don't ask people to do your job, try it yourself, if you cannot succeed for varios reasons, then ask punctual questions.

[Cyber Akuma]

My job? I am doing this for myself, if I needed to constantly ask on webforums how to do my job I would have been fired long ago.

And it was these two that I was talking about that I wanted advice on:

I typically use VirtualDub to capture, first of all, is there a better and free alternative to this for CAPTURING?

And I have no idea what these settings such as capture pin, preview pin, crossbars, etc are or what to choose.

I am well aware capturing above what the capture hardware can do is pointless, thing is, I have no idea what some of these settings (like the pins and crossbars) even ARE.

[Ghitulescu]

I meant that you shift all your responsabilities to us, instead of doing your homeworks before asking.

By the way, the specs for your Dazzle DVD Recorder appeared first in my simple google query: dazzle dvd recorder. If you looked into you'll also see that many people have problems with game capturing. Maybe you should have searched this before buying that product. Which makes me also wonder why you didn't ask the vendor what can that product do and what cannot, he's paid to explain things to you... As a buyer you also have access to their support forum, where you can ask specific questions related to your device, they know probably better which software goes the best with your gear.

How to capture, what softwares and what settings are used have been discussed here many times, spend some time reading some posts in this subforum -> http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=10

[Cyber Akuma]

I assure you, I DID Google it, as well as check the manufacturer's website, and did not find any useful specifications on it. At least not framerate.

I also did not find any mention of people having problems capturing gameplay video, in fact, I found many people recommending or or claiming this device is what they use to capture video. Were they talking about the same revision of the device? It was originally for some insane reason released as a USB 1.1 device then later upgraded to 2.0.

As for asking the vendor, it was on sale online when I got it. Its not like I can afford a $100+ capture card right now. Most times I ask any employee in a store about a product, especially video editing, *I* have to explain to THEM what the device is when I ask them about it and they just get a confused look on their face, I doubt he would have even understood questions about framerate or even heard of Virtualdub.

[Ghitulescu]

I assure you, I DID Google it, as well as check the manufacturer's website, and did not find any useful specifications on it. At least not framerate.

I also did not find any mention of people having problems capturing gameplay video, in fact, I found many people recommending or or claiming this device is what they use to capture video. Were they talking about the same revision of the device? It was originally for some insane reason released as a USB 1.1 device then later upgraded to 2.0.

As for asking the vendor, it was on sale online when I got it. Its not like I can afford a $100+ capture card right now. Most times I ask any employee in a store about a product, especially video editing, *I* have to explain to THEM what the device is when I ask them about it and they just get a confused look on their face, I doubt he would have even understood questions about framerate or even heard of Virtualdub.

If you googled it you would certainly find out the Pinnacle forum (Pinnacle aquired Dazzle some time ago) wherein there are such discussions. You can access this forum also from the manufacturer page.
Nice entries were also found googling for console game capture or similar.
Frankly, when capture cards not qualifying for professional use run for 200-500€ (software included), what can you expect from something worth 19,90$? I find it strange that one strives to keep the highest quality possible while buying one of the lowest quality cards...

Have you verified its aquisition features according to chapter 10 of the guide? http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/capture/start.html I don't think so ...
If you had used the time for reading the guide in its entirety, which is almost perfect and quite balanced as difficulty, you wouldn't be so confused.

All your questions were answered in that guide, except maybe the quality issues that cannot be answered, because quality is a matter of personal taste. Do your tests...