Newbie capturing problems, need some help

[Chainmax]

I recently got hold of an old capture card (FlyVideo98) and wanted to start capturing some VHS tapes, but I have a problem. The bundled TV application only recognizes the card if the WinNT drivers are installed (I have WinXP), and the only program that can capture is iuVCR, other programs don't even recognize the capture card. When I capture with iuVCR, I get tons of dropped frames, even though the machine has recently been defragmented and is powerful enough (XP 2600+, 1GB RAM, ~40GB free HDD space). Also, when I hit the "Capture format" button in order to specify fps, colorspace and so on, I get the following error:

ERROR: UNKNOWN VIDEO_STREAM_CONFIG_CAPS VERSION

I tried downloading the WinXP drivers from the LifeView official website but they don't seem to work.

[DrP]

From memory that card is an old BT based card, so you could try giving the BTWincap (http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/) generic driver a go.

[Chainmax]

It is a BT878 card indeed and I tried the BTWinCap drivers but it didn't work either: after installing them and rebooting, WinXP detected individual components (like WDM video capture, etc) instead of detecting a FlyVideo98.

[Revgen]

Have you tried using Dscaler?

[Chainmax]

For capturing? Isn't DScaler only for watching TV?

[DrP]

To see individual capture components like that is fine with the BTWincap driver. Try starting up a capture app like Virtualdub or VirtualVCR, see if they will now operate your card.

[Revgen]

Dscaler can capture too.

The new 4.1.13 version does a pretty good job as long as you use the CCESP patch version of Huffyuv instead of the ffdshow version.

[Chainmax]

You mean huffyuv_ccesp-patch_025, right? Can I use PicVideo MJPEG too?

[Revgen]

Pic Video should work too.

[Chainmax]

I'll try it then, thanks for the advice.

mmm...the latest version available here (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=7420) is 4.1.12 :confused:.

[Revgen]

They removed it because of the ffdshow issues.

I can send one to you via www.yousendit.com.

Just PM me your email if you want it.

[Chainmax]

What are the ffdshow issues? Shouldn't I be better off using a stabler version?

[Revgen]

When recording with ffdshow, dscaler records an avi with no video and only audio. The devs should fix it when they release 4.1.14.

You could get the 4.1.12 version if you want too. The recording function on that version isn't as robust as the one in the 4.1.13 version because the 4.1.13 version can record in YUY2 colorspace while the 4.1.12 version can't because it converts YUV to RGB internally. Recording in YUY2 colorspace results in less dropped frames and a picture that is more true to the original YUV source since no RGB conversion takes place.

Bottom Line:

Try the 4.1.12 version first. It should work with your card.

If the recorded video drops too many frames and/or the picture doesn't look right, then I'll send you the 4.1.13 version to try.

[Chainmax]

Ok, send it to me then. By the way, does it resample audio dinamically like VDub/VirtualVCR?

[Revgen]

The link should be in your inbox now.

It records audio at 44khz 16-bit. Which you can't change. But it shouldn't effect you too much if you have a 40GB hard drive. It should only add about 500mb to every hour you record.

[Chainmax]

I was hoping to be able to capture @48Khz since I'll be converting to DVD...I guess I'll just have to use SSRC, no big deal. In any case, I was asking about dynamic resampling becasue I read on the capture guide that such feature was the main reason why dropped frames don't occur anymore. 4.1.12 seemed to work fine in that regard anyway, though I have a few more questions which will be posted later. Thanks for all the help :).

[Revgen]

Sure. Let me know if you need anymore help.

[Chainmax]

Someone offered me an ATi TV Wonder VE PCI for $30+ shipping, is that a good deal or should I search for a Hauppauge WinTV DBX 401 or Compro Videomate Ultra instead?

[fccHandler]

Someone offered me an ATi TV Wonder VE PCI for $30+ shipping, is that a good deal?
I bought the same card in a store for $30 + sales tax, so your deal is no better than retail. I love this card because it has a BT878A chip (perfect for DScaler) and it ignores Macrovision. I don't like that it only has composite input (no SVideo jack), but for me it's OK since I'm mostly capturing VHS.

[Chainmax]

I'll decline the offer then, thanks for the advice. By the way, how can I find what tuner my card uses? I sifted through a couple of threads in the DScaler forum and found no answers.

[fccHandler]

If you don't have the specs, or can't find them on the web, you might be able to tell by looking on the card itself. The tuner will be a rectangular aluminum box with an antenna/cable connector on the back.

[CWR03]

You won't like the tuner - I have the same card, and even with a clean, filtered and amplified cable broadcast signal it has ghosts and diagonal lines coarsing through the video, and the audio is MONO only. The last part I understand the least, since I had used it on an old, outdated machine with older drivers and included capture software, and even though it would only capture AVI, it had stereo. Adding MPEG-2 stripped it of stereo sound. I find it an adequate card for VHS capture, and since it captures sound with your audio hardware and not its own, stereo isn't an issue.

[Chainmax]

You won't like the tuner - I have the same card, and even with a clean, filtered and amplified cable broadcast signal it has ghosts and diagonal lines coarsing through the video, and the audio is MONO only. The last part I understand the least, since I had used it on an old, outdated machine with older drivers and included capture software, and even though it would only capture AVI, it had stereo. Adding MPEG-2 stripped it of stereo sound. I find it an adequate card for VHS capture, and since it captures sound with your audio hardware and not its own, stereo isn't an issue.

I see, I'll try to see if I can buy a Compro then. By the way, what do you mean by "since it captures sound with your audio hardware and not its own, stereo isn't an issue"?

[fccHandler]

He means plugging the composite video from your VCR into the TV Wonder, and plugging the VCR audio into your sound card. I capture that way also. (In fact, I've never tried using the tuner on the TV Wonder...)

[Chainmax]

But DScaler needs to know the tuner of the card. Are you sure there's not a software way to knwo what tuner is in the card? While we're at it, the capture guide recommends to use the tuner of the VCR, how would I go about doing that?

CWR03: which card has such a nasty tuner, the FlyVideo or the TV Wonder?

By the way, where can I find easy starter guides for watching TV and capturing with DScaler?

[Revgen]

Look at the card. The big metal thingy is the tuner. The manufacturer and the model # should be on it.

Mine is a Philips NTSC.

[CWR03]

CWR03: which card has such a nasty tuner, the FlyVideo or the TV Wonder?
The TV Wonder VE.