need some information, ( tv capture card) how do i capture divx ???

[jamieuk]

I am a total rook when it comes to using the tv capture cards, i have just orderd the Hauppauge wintv pvr 250 from ebuyer.com....... I was just reading on a forum some were that the Hauppauge pvr 250 can only capture in mpeg 1 + 2. (vcd, svcd)

This realy bad news to me as i have a kiss dp-450 dvd player which supports divx video files, so obviously it would be much better if i could capture the programe as a divx file straight away, for qaulity reasons + beeing able to burn it on to a dvd-r straight away..... Is my only option, to capture a programe from the tv in mpeg 1 or 2, then re-ncode it to divx >??? is there not any other programe i can use which will capture a programe DIRECTLY!! to divx first off all, with out any reincode?????.

As you will problay no, every time you reincode a video file you loose some qaulity, the last thing i want to do is capture it in svcd, then have to convert it again, loosing some qaulity to finaly get my desired out put DIVX.

Can you capture a programe with no compresion, so you get the original then use virtual dub to do the first encode (divx) >????.


thanks to any 1 who helps me out realyu do apreciate it!!!.

cheers jamie

[jggimi]

Vdub supports MPEG-1, and, as far as I know, VdubMod supports MPEG-2, though I've not done that with VdubMod myself.

When I was capturing in MPEG-2 to create DivX encodings, I used Gordian Knot by creating a .d2v project of the MPEG-2 captures with DVD2AVI. I preferred it because I could use the [] buttons to set start and end points, and it was easy to demux LPCM soundtracks to .wav files. It's probably even easier these days, because recent releases of Gknot now allow for automated transcoding to .mp3.

DVD2AVI by default will use .vob or MPEG-2 elementary stream filetypes, but you can set it to "all files" to select .mpg files.

[Owen]

The pvr 250 is not a good choice for you. It is hardware Mpeg encoding only as far as I know.
Normal TV cards without hardware compression can capture direct to Divx if your PC is fast enough, using VirtualVCR, FlyDS, IUVCR WDM capture applications.
You can even use the Radium MP3 codec to compress audio to Mp3 format in real time.
I don’t know if the Kiss player will handle Mp3 audio.

I use the ffvfw Mpeg4 codec. It is better quality and gives much better compression then Divx for real time capture. I capture PAL 720x576 with 192kbs MP3 audio and get a combined data rate of about 2-2.5 Gig per hour with almost original quality.
Since ffvfw is Mpeg4 it may play on the Kiss if you use the DIVX FourCC.

Regards,

Owen

[ppera2]

jamieuk:

First: Capturing in DivX is not recommended - this codec is intended for storage with low bitrate, and isn't good for capturing.
But, if you want it, some basics: use Xvid or Divx5.xx with 1 pass bitrate based, for 720x546 you need real beast of machine, over 2 GHz, and bitrate aprox 6000 Kbps (it's like DVD bitrate :) ).
Max keyframe ratio 25 (1 sec).
This doesn't make much sense - same place hungry as Mpeg2.

If youw'd read some nice guides about capture here, youw'd know how it should be done best: capture with Virtual VCR or Virtual Dub VCR in Mjpeg codec or huffyuv codec, and then recompress to DivX, 2 pass - need some time, but result is good quality and low space consumption at storage. Quality loose by this way is much less as by direct Mpeg4 capturing, even less than by Mpeg2 capturing.

[Hylas]

Hello,

Originally posted by ppera2
and bitrate aprox 6000 Kbps (it's like DVD bitrate :) ).
[...]
recompress to DivX, 2 pass - need some time, but result is good quality and low space consumption at storage. Quality loose by this way is much less as by direct Mpeg4 capturing, even less than by Mpeg2 capturing.
Of what bitrate are you thinking for the 2-pass encoding? What bitrate is needed to reach the quality of a 6000 Kbps 1-pass capture? What bitrate is needed for a reasonable quality?

Thanks!

[ppera2]

Originally posted by Hylas
Of what bitrate are you thinking for the 2-pass encoding? What bitrate is needed to reach the quality of a 6000 Kbps 1-pass capture? What bitrate is needed for a reasonable quality?
Thanks!

Bitrate depends very from output resolution, from video content, and especially from noise level. Therefore, good noise filtering is essencial. And this is another reason why direct capturing is no good idea - noise removal is slow, and can't be performed well by capturing.
For average res of 640x320 without much noise 1000 Kbps is pretty good. But it's best to make some test before final encoding - try with different bitrates some short average part of captured video...

[Hylas]

Originally posted by ppera2
For average res of 640x320 without much noise 1000 Kbps is pretty good.
320? I assume you meant 480 (or do you mean for non interlaced material?).

So 1000 Kbps on a noise-filtered 2-pass encoding is comparable to a direct 6000 1-pass capture? :confused: I'm still experimenting, but I don't get a difference nearly as huge as that.

[ppera2]

Originally posted by Hylas
320? I assume you meant 480 (or do you mean for non interlaced material?).
So 1000 Kbps on a noise-filtered 2-pass encoding is comparable to a direct 6000 1-pass capture? :confused: I'm still experimenting, but I don't get a difference nearly as huge as that.

That res. is for movies with black bars at top and bottom. No much sense to make 640x480 or 576, better lower res. - 512x384 or something like that. Movies are usually noninterlaced in PAL world.

6000 Kbps by capturing is needed because of: big noise, high motion scenes. You can try at lower bitrate, it can be good for some materials.

[Owen]

jamieuk, like myself, does not want to re encode.
He wants to capture and copy to a DVDR for storage.
This is a whole different ball game to compressing for storage on CDR.
When you can use DVD bit rates, Mpeg4 capture works very well.
There is almost nothing to be gained by capturing to HUFFYUV and re encoding in two pass if high bit rates are used. As long as you have the CPU power to do it.
Ffvfw works MUCH better then Divx or Xvid for this purpose.
Like I said above, I capture 720x576 PAL with MP3 sound using ffvfw at about 2Gig per hour. Or 2 hours of video on a DVDR.
Picture quality is so close to HUFFYUV that it just does not matter. Even when displayed on a large calibrated rear projector.

Why spend hours re encoding video to fit on obsolete CDR’s and still get worse quality, even with only one hour of video per CDR ??

Regards,

Owen

[ppera2]

Owen:

You are partially right. Reencoding is not something what is mandatory. If you want to record to DVD, high bitrate is OK.
But I think that it's better then record to Mpeg2, standard DVD format. On the other side, I don't want here discuss about what is better - I just answered to question about capturing with DivX codec.

Btw. there is lot of threads about it in this forum.

Question: which version of Ffvfw you use? I tried couple months ago it, and quality of video was miserable...

[Owen]

Ppera2,

I am using ffvfw-20030927 Mpeg4 one pass Quality 95% (Mpeg Quant).

IMHO Ffvfw gives the smooth, macroblock free image of DIVX combined with the sharpness of Xvid. And it does all this at about HALF the data rate of DIVX or Xvid, when used for real time encoding.
A very impressive peace of work by Milan.

Regards,

Owen

[gotaserena]

As far as I know there is no way of capturing raw video from the PVR-250. That will leave you with either:

1) record MPEG-2 with carefully chosen bitrate.
2) reconvert.

I used to reconvert for my captures of formula one races. I used to use the highest setting allowed (CBR 12Mbps) and:
1) Demux using DVD2AVI
2) Open in VirtualDub using AVISynth filters. My script is:

MPEG2Source("C:\minute.d2v",iPP=true,idct=5,cpu=4)
KernelDeint(1,threshold=2,sharp=true)
Crop(16,0,-12,-16).LanczosResize(640,480)
VagueDenoiser(threshold=1.5,method=1,nsteps=6,chroma=true)
UnDot().UnFilter(2,2)
Levels(0,1.15,255,0,255).Tweak(Cont=1.04,Hue=0)

3) Use XviD to save the AVI file. DO NOT use GMC or q-pel.
4) Wait for a good 20 hours for the 2-pass to be done.
5) Process audio using beSweet
6) mux in vdubmod.

I've found that the reconversion only really worked quality-wise for videos which are more than 2h-2h-30min long. With that or less, your are better off with MPEG-2.

[ADLANCAS]

@Owen

Could you put your capture/ffvfw settings?
I was just trying to use and it was not possible. IUvcr didn´t start to record!
Maybe I put wrong parameters!

Thanks,

Alexandre

PS. I had the same problem trying to use Xvid. DivX works ok!

[midelic]

For Xvid capture I,m using the settings from here:
http://www.divxhouse.com/manuales/xvid/capturar.htm

[Owen]

ADLANCAS,
I use FlyDS for capture.
Ffvfw is set to Mpeg4, 1pass, Quality 95%
Quantization= Mpeg
All other setting at default.

Sound is captured using Radium Mp3 codec at 192kbs

Hardware is,
Leadtek Winfast TV2000 Expert, (Conexant CXxxx chip)
P4 2.8c at 3.5Gig, 1Gig front side bus.
Asus P4p800 Deluxe main board with on board sound.
1 Gig Corsair PC4000 DDR RAM at 250Mhz


Regards,

Owen

[ppera2]

Owen:

I tried capture with Ffvfw codec. Never version gives better quality, but CPU load is much higher than by XviD or DivX, It's good only for very fast machines.

[ADLANCAS]

@Owen
Thanks a lot!

My PC isn't big like yours (1,8Ghz) :(

/ @midelic
Which version are you using of Xvid ?


I use a Pinnacle WDM 5.5 driver.
Do you know if oder drivers are faster ? (Iulabs, BTwincap)



Regards,

Alexandre

[midelic]

@ adlancas
I'm using the last Koepi Xvid version and the iulab drivers(don't like btwincap drivers)
I agree whith owen there is not so much diference of visual quality if you capture in Xvid instead of huffyuv.(but requires a lot of CPU).My settings: iuvcr(no preview), rez.704/576, 1-pass quality 95, Msp 3-medium, minim I-frame -2, max.I-frame- 75,the rest default.(dropped frames, around 1 to 10000).Btw I have Amd XP 1600+.I think whith your 1800,you'l have no problems capturing at 720/576 whith no dropped frames.

[Owen]

ppera2,

I never suggested that ffvfw was good for slow systems. But if you have the CPU power it is the best quality and lowest bit rate real time mpeg4 capture solution at the moment.
Versions newer then ffvfw-20030927 are to slow at this time.

Xvid is the next best solution if you CPU can’t handle Ffvfw encoding.
I just tried the new DIVX but rate control in 1pass quality mode is STILL broken.
Fast motion scenes look very blocky. Will they ever fix this problem?

Regards,

Owen

[ADLANCAS]

@midelic

Thanks for your attencion,

Alexandre