Capturing with USB device=frame loss?

[--Fragman--]

I bought an usb capturing device after having compatibility problems between my tv card and new mainboard.
When I now try to capture with VirtualDub and Divx compression, I always get frame losses, even on lowest possible settings.
With my old card this was no problem at all.
I can capture with Pinnacle Studio, but only in MJPEG codec or in mpg format.
Any idea why I can't capture with Virtual dub? Also tried other compressions in virtual dub even MJPEG, but no success.

[mic]

I'd suggest posting device make/model etc. in case someone has had success with different drivers/methods.

I know some USB boxes have hardware mpg2 encoding, send an mpg2 stream over the USB connection, which makes it a separate step to transcode to divx. Even if it sends an un-encoded video stream, depending on your CPU for compression, drivers might be set for mpg2. You want to avoid that step, sending video directly to divx software. If that isn't possible, might have to settle for a separate, 2nd encode to divx. That could give you better quality anyway.

Also, is the limitation in Pinnacle Studio & Divx because of hardware or because you have limited software?

[--Fragman--]

As far as I know Pinaccle isn't capable of encoding in Divx, correct me if I'm wrong.
On the label it says "Xpert DVD Maker USB 2.0", and http://www.kworld.com.tw/en/product/DVD-Maker-USB-2/DVD-Maker-USB-2.html is the product page.

[mic]

Giving it a quick look at the Kworld site and googling, the DVD Maker uses software encoding, so no chip to worry about. Thier FAQ lists this short doc on capturing divx http://www.kworld.com.tw/en/tech/How%20to%20use%20MPEG-4%20format%20to%20record%20media%20files.pdf

I saw one report of not being able to capture using V/Dub except at small frame sizes. Also saw a few reports of not capturing DVD compliant video, that the bundled PVR software worked, but wasn't very good. One report said the slightly higher end Cyberlink software worked well, but on the whole very few English search results using: virtualdub kworld dvd maker usb. Other then using the latest driver set, making sure they're working, can't come up with any hints besides using the Kworld or Cyberlink software -- Sorry.

RE: Pinnacle, they make several apps, and several levels of apps. I didn't see any specific mention of divx or mpg4 capture, though some versions do encode to divx once dvix is installed -- you might try posting or emailing at both the pinnacle and divx support sites to see if they have something that will capture divx using your Kworld device ... of course I might have missed something.

[--Fragman--]

I can encode in divx after recording with pinnacle, but I can also do that in VDub.
I mean, I don't mind that much recording in MJEPG as long as I have enough space left, but 20gb for 2 hours sounds a bit much to me, since I'm only doing this as a hobby.

[mic]

Easiest way to capture to divx seems to be to download the Kworld software & use that instead of V/Dub for capture per the Kworld doc. And at least if that works, you know your basic set up is sound. Or download one of the Cyberlink trials & try that.

If you do have prob., try to follow the suggestions in guides etc. to optomize your system for capture. Capturing direct to a format like divx can take most of your cpu's horsepower, & anything draining that, even stuff like AMD cooling & quiet software can have an impact.

"20gb for 2 hours sounds a bit much to me, since I'm only doing this as a hobby"

OTOH, and again as a hobby, lot of folks here will use up 100 gig without blinking -- I've got a 2 hr. *mpg2* capture on one of my drives now that tops 20. :)

[--Fragman--]

CPU power isn't the problem, it never reached 100% even on full tv resolution and about 90% quality in mjpeg.
I don't really trust that Kworld software, since it doesn't tell me about dropped frames.