VirtualDub Capture audio problem

[I B Spectre]

I have an ATI 9800 Pro All In Wonder card that seems to work well when using the native ATI software, but it saves the file as a .vcr format. I want to be able to transfer irreplaceable home VHS and 8mm camcorder footage to DVD and it looks like VirtualDub's ability to get around the 2MB MPEG-2 limitation would be handy.

I have configured VDub 1.6.17 and am able to capture video, but the audio is giving me a fit. I have tried every conceivable setting and combinations thereof, but the result is always silence even though the right-side panel indicates audio data is flowing.

The sound from the ATI card outputs to my SB Live card and I have ensured the source and volume settings for both record and playback are correct. The only success I have had with recording sound is if I click-on the "Enable Audio Playback", but then my video has regularly spaced micro-freezes. Deselecting "Enable Audio Playback" gives me smooth video. Right up until I click "Capture", I have good audio and good VU meter deflection. Upon clicking "Capture", it goes silent and VU meters drop to zero. Anyone heard of this before?

[CWR03]

Keep in mind that the audio out from the ATI card that loops back into your sound card is only for capturing from the ATI card's tuner. If you're using composite or S-video into the ATI card, you need to input the audio from the source device directly to the "Audio in" on your sound card.

[I B Spectre]

Thanks for the input. I will review the audio settings options again, but I believe I had tried every permutation of every setting VDub offers. Still, it's always possible there is something I may have overlooked, so I'll keep digging.

[CWR03]

The response I gave you is not about audio settings. It is about audio input. If you don't input the audio from the source device to the sound card, you will not capture the audio regardless of what settings you have in VirtualDub.

[I B Spectre]

A minor miscommunication...I meant audio settings as an umbrella statement regarding all audio selection parameters. What is confusing is how I can setup the audio prior to initiating capture and get VU meter deflection until I begin capture, at which time VU goes to zip, but audio data is being registered along with video data. It seems reasonable for one to think the audio is being saved along with the video, yet it is not.

In VDub Capture mode under the "audio" pulldown, I have three options: 0 Capture Device, 1 SB Live! Audio [C000], and 2 ATI Rage Theater Audio.

If I select the "0 Capture Device", then click on "Audio Input", all I have is a grayed-out "No audio inputs".

If I select the "1 SB Live! Audio [C000]", then click on "Audio Input", I get numer choices (No input, MIDI Synth, CD Digital, "What U Hear", TAD-In, Auxiliary, Microphone, Line-In, CD Audio, and Wave/MP3). I have tried them all without success.

If I select the "2 ATI Rage Theater Audio", then click on "Audio Input", all I have is a grayed-out "No audio inputs" (same as with the 0 Capture Device).

All three of the options listed above used in conjuction with the "Audio Source" give me the choices of "No source, Audio Line, Audio Tuner". Again, I've tried all three.

I posted this same issue over at the VirtualDub.org forum and the two respondents are mystified as well.

The attraction to using VDub is twofold:
1. Ease of converting ATI .vcr capture format to MPEG-2 for saving to DVDs.
2. Workaround the 2mb MPEG limit using VDub's multisegment recording capability.

I've tried AVI IO without success. It keeps telling me I have insufficient buffers (hardware specs are more than adequate).

[CWR03]

Did you actually try what I suggested? Again, I'm not talking about selecting any inputs, I'm talking about physically plugging the audio from the source device directly into the sound card's "Audio in" port. There's no good reason to route the audio into the ATI card just to have it route it right back out to the sound card, especially if you have such a problem that can't be easily explained, but may be easily solved in like one second if you'd try it.

[I B Spectre]

Sorry, your previous post said "The response I gave you is not about audio settings. It is about audio input", so I presumed you were talking audio input selection.

The ATI All-In-Wonder interface consists of a cable with a "block" on one end featuring an S-Video receptacle, one composite video and two audio (L&R) RCA "phono" plugs. The other end of the cable has a sort of DIN connector-looking plug that connects to the ATI card's A/V In receptacle.

The card's A/V Out connector has a miniature phone plug that the manual says "Must be connected" to the Line-In jack of the sound card. The A/V Out connector also has an S-Video connector, a composite video phono connector and a S/PDIF connector to hookup AC-3.

The SB Live! card does not have a phono (RCA) connection interface that I could try plugging the camcorder (source) audio line into. If I can locate a cable with a miniature phone plug on one end and a female phono jack on the other, I could try it. The real puzzler is that, until capture begins, I can hear the audio through the interface just fine as it makes its way from camcorder to ATI card to SB Live! card.