Can any body suggest me which one is the good analog vedio capture card to capture from the VHS (VCR) to PC. The quality should be like as it is? I am a new one to this area so please guide me.

There are Basicly 2 Types of Analog Capture Cards One is Based in the Brooktree BT8*8 Chip and the other is based on the Rage Chip...Which is Better is Basicly Up to who ever you talk to , I personally use a BT878 Card and get Quite good Quality Captures from it and It was Very Inexpensive at $30-$75 depending on the Brand name,But the Thing you have to realize is when captureing Video to the Highest Quality you will need a Very Large Hard drive, I have a ata/133 7200rpm 120gb drive Just for Video capture and It only holds about 1-5 hours of Full resolution AVI depending on which Codec you use...Back to Capture cards, What you should do is Buy one and try it for a Few days and if you don"t like it Bring it back and try a differant one, I went through 4 cards before I settled on the Cheapest one I could find which actually produced the Best quality, it is a "ATI TV Wonder" but there are other that work Pretty Good like the "Pinnacle PCTV" or "ATI All In Wonder 128"...Whatever you do don"t get a USB interface Capture device Cuz the data Thurough Put isn"t high enough to maintain High Quality...Try this site" http://www.tv-cards.com/ ..it is a Good Capture card site...

Thanks...for your nice and detailed reply. Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe is USB supported. Is it good for quality? Please let me know. Can you tell me a few brand names which are good using BT878 so that I can buy it.

Hi friends,
After using TMPG I am getting good quality of picture. But the audio and vedio are not syncornizing. I am hearing the sound a little bit late (1 or 2 sec) after the lip moment of the picture. Can any body suggest how to rectify this please? Advance thanks!

HI, I had the same problem there seems to be 2 ways if u are writing a vcd/svcd then use a program i think is called AC Delay it can resync the audio. When i had this problem i used DVD2AVI and the audio said it had a 80ms delay. If u are writing a dvd then get the 2 file (M2V & MP2) the run IFO Edit 0.95 and create dvd in that. It fixed it for me

Thank you Mr.Tugless for your kind reply and please let me know where (Web site) can I get that AC Delay programme?

you can do this from within tmpg, just go into settings and double click on source range. there is a box called audio gap correct. you just enter the amount of msec delay or advance that you want. play around with a small sample first to get used to which way does what.

Thank you very much Slippy...good solution.

hi everyone,

I have an AVI that came from a DVD, and i am trying to convert it to VCD. Everything went ok, but it is no longer a widescreen picture, and is thus stretched out horizontally. Can anyone please tell me how i can keep the widescreen and therefore keep the picture looking normal?

thanx in advance

newbee

Sorry, I meant the picture is stretched out vertically, and i want to get it horizontal.

thanx

Sorry, I meant the picture is stretched out vertically, and i want to get it horizontal.

thanx

Hello!

I'm not sure, I think you should only set the movie aspect ratio (inside the conversion program) to 16/9 if it's a wide-screen (and not 4/3 as usually).

Hope it will be usefull,

bye!

You need to set the source aspect ratio to 16:9 and the output aspect ratio to 4:3. Set the 'Video arrange method' to 'Full screen(keep aspect ratio)'

ASHY

ok I'll give that a go, thanx alot guys =)

I was wondering if there was a way that i could get the YUV format to change from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2. I think i am supposed to be able to do that but 4:2:2 is not there. any help?

You need to set the 'Profile and level' to one of the 'High' or 4:2:2 profiles.

ASHY

Be aware that a lot of players/decoders (like WinDVD) do not handle 4:2:2. Ulead decoder works but I have never gotten Ligos to work without green squares near motion edges.

Use DVD2AVI to decode 4:2:2 profile whenever possible.

The extra effort should be worth it since 4:2:2 profile allows archiving with less loss (at least according to specs). This might make a pretty big difference on DV captures, which are 4:1:1. MP@ML encoding (4:2:0) is not great for DV.

I believe CNN uses 15Mbs 4:2:2P@ML for their digital archives.

i set it to the highest one there was and it still was not list.

Rubbish, of course it's there. Where r u looking?

Under the 'Video' tab go to wher it says 'Profile & Level' then click the drop down box and change the level to '4:2:2 Profile & Main level(422P&ML)'

Now click the drop down box where it says 'YUV format' and change it to 4:2:2

If it isn't there then TMPG has a problem.

ASHY

P.S. make sure u r using TMPG Plus and not the free version.

ASHY

I was wondering if there was a way that i could get the YUV format to change from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2. I think i am supposed to be able to do that but 4:2:2 is not there. any help?

Not with Tmpgenc.....

First off, this is for MPEG2 (not mpeg1). Cannot create a high qualioty SVCD in Mpeg2 format compatible for DVD...

Long story, with all the details so you can help me out:
I capture video clips thru the Studio DV (1998-2000 version 1.2.6.0). I captured a 1-minute video clip in AVI format. Ok, done.

Now I use the "make movie" in Studio DV to create an Mpeg2 SCVD format of video 480x480 2400kb/sec, sound 44.1khz 224kb/sec.
So far so good.


Then use TMPGEnc software to create a DVD compatible file.
[Here is the trouble...]
What are the settings to create a SVCD from an Mpeg-2?
I tried the faking out Mpeg-1 VCD heder file like this:
http://www.vcdeasy.org/modules.php?name=_Guides&id=VcdTrick
>By changing the "Header" of a SVCD MPEG-2 video file into the one
>of a "VCD2.0 MPEG-1 non standard" file and by using it as
>standard VCD2.0 file, you may be able to play MPEG-2 files with
>your home DVD player. (Note: MPEG2 has a much better video quality
>than MPEG1...).
Here is MY attempt:
http://www.dariusrudis.com/dvd/dvderror1.jpg

NOTICE THE VIDEO SETTINGS! Mine are 480x480 29.97fps 2400kbps
Their example is much different with 480x576 25fps 2520kbps

WHAT DO I DO TO MATCH THAT SETTING? (IN STUDIO DV?)

Then I move on to TMPGEnc and keep getting a "5982 s packets cause buffer undcerflow. The Mpeg file might cause error when it played" error.
This is every time I try. Then it wont be compatible for creating the
SCVD 2.0 as it flags all these errors as invalid formats:
http://www.dariusrudis.com/dvd/dvderror2.jpg



Ok, thats enough detail. Help me figure this out. I've spent 20 hours researching and trying and burning CD-R's, and I _NEEED_ the SVCD quality to capture all our home movies to archive them to CD forever. Thanks for listening!

480+480 29.97fps is the NTSC SVCD Standard, 480+576 25fps is the Pal SVCD Standard...From here on In you Post is Totally Confuseing..If you are Creating the AVI file in Studio DV and encodeing it to SVCD in Studio DV then why are you Encodeing it Again In Tmpgenc??? OK...I Get it, Your a Bit confused....What you want to do is Use Tmpgenc To Change the Header to Fool your DVD Player...OK...You have done everything wrong here if you want any sort of Quality..What you should be doing is Captureing to DV/AVI in Studio DV and expert the File from Studio DV as a DV-AVI File not a Mpeg2 file, Cuz the Pinnacle Mpeg2 encodeing Sucks..Take the DV-AVI file and Load it into Tmpgenc and encode it to SVCD, you Choose either the NTSC Template(480+480) if you live in North America, and the Pal Template(480+576) if you live in Europe, and encode it..Now when the Encodeing is Done it is Time to Change the Header, go to the "Mpeg Tools" to "Merge & Cut" NOT MULTIPLEX, load the SVCD File into the "Merge & Cut" choose the "Video-CD NON-Standard" setting and choose an out put name and Click "RUN"..Now it will Put a VCD Header on the File without Giveing you the "Buffer Underflow" Error...Now Burn it to Disk as a VCD and Hopefully Your Player Will Play it....And whatever you Do Don"t let Studio DV encode to Mpeg2 for you.....Good Luck....

>480+480 29.97fps is the NTSC SVCD Standard, 480+576 25fps is the Pal SVCD Standard...From here on In you Post is Totally Confuseing..If you are Creating the AVI file in Studio DV and encodeing it to SVCD in Studio DV then why are you Encodeing it Again In Tmpgenc??? OK...I Get it, Your a Bit confused....What you want to do is Use Tmpgenc To Change the Header to Fool your DVD Player...OK...You have done everything wrong here if you want any sort of Quality..What you should be doing is Captureing to DV/AVI in Studio DV and expert the File from Studio DV as a DV-AVI File not a Mpeg2 file, Cuz the Pinnacle Mpeg2 encodeing Sucks..Take the DV-AVI file and Load it into Tmpgenc and encode it to SVCD, you Choose either the NTSC Template(480+480) if you live in North America, and the Pal Template(480+576) if you live in Europe, and encode it..Now when the Encodeing is Done it is Time to Change the Header, go to the "Mpeg Tools" to "Merge & Cut" NOT MULTIPLEX, load the SVCD File into the "Merge & Cut" choose the "Video-CD NON-Standard" setting and choose an out put name and Click "RUN"..Now it will Put a VCD Header on the File without Giveing you the "Buffer Underflow" Error...Now Burn it to Disk as a VCD and Hopefully Your Player Will Play it....And whatever you Do Don"t let Studio DV encode to Mpeg2 for you.....Good Luck....

Well, I tried and it didn't work. I have Sony NS315 DVD and I've already found some explanations how to fool the DVD by using the VCD header trick (didn't work).
This explanation is the first one that doesn't give me the underrun error. Unfortunately, when I play the "fooled" MPEG file on my DVD I have the audio, but no video at all (black screen).
I use Ulead video studio to produce avi file (I even tried to convert it to type 2, but no luck).
After that, I encode with TMPGEnc (I am newbie, so I suppose it is the dialog I get after closing the wizard). I select my video source and audio source (the same) and the output file and load SupervideoCD NTSC template. Click on start and that's it.
So far, so good. Then, I go to MPEG Tools... Merge & Cut, press Add to select my SVCD file, select output and change type to MPEG-1 Video-CD (non-standard).
On some other forums guys said that it works, but they used simple multiplex (I always have underrun). Wasn't able to contact them.
Then I use Nero to burn as VCD. And, when playing, the screen is black and audio is ok.
With this explanation, I fell I am not far from the solution, but probably something is missing in my procedure. I wonder what.

I create an MPEG2 file DIRECTLY from Premiere 6 using Avisynth, thus skipping the AVI file creation. Next, I use the "Header Trick" as described (I have used "Simple Multiplex" tab with SuperVCD up to now and gotten an "underun error" message which I have ignored, without any problems developing. I'll try the "Merge & Cut/SVCD non-standard" tab/selection the next time to see what happens.)

So far, your method is identical. However, I use VCDEasy to burn a CD(using VCD 2.0).

The SVCD plays flawlessly on my Sony DVD NS315 player.

First of all DO NOT worry about 'buffer underflow' errors. This will almost always happen when using the VCD header trick. I don't want to go into detail why, but because of the different packet sizes and muxing rates of VCD and SVCD this is simply a warning and WILL NOT affect playback.
Using the Merge & Cut feature produces exactly the same effect except TMPG doesn't report the error, trust me.

Always use 'Non standard VCD' and get rid of that crap software you are using to burn your VCD.
Use either Nero(preferred) or VCD easy.

If non of the above works then try the method below:


Rather than attach a VCD header to your SVCD just leave it as normal.

In Nero choose the SVCD option then under the 'Video CD' tab click the 'compatibility' button and change the 'Video directory' to 'MPEGAV'
Click 'Ok' then 'New'

Load your MPEG2 (make sure your MPEG2 file has an SVCD header or Nero will complain and the file won't play)
Burn as usual.


ASHY

I did it with Header-trick :)
It was neither my MPEG2 nor TMPGEnc. It was Nero :(
As I used Nero Express, there was no indication that the file was non-standard. So, every time Nero encoded my file once again. The quality was awful.

Then I tried as Ashy wrote.As I could not find the button Compatibility as Ashy indicated, I switched to Nero "classic". SVCD wasn't recognized by my DVD player, so I retried the Header-Trick.
In Nero I selected VCD and unchecked "Use CD-i application" check box. In Windows Media Player the screen was black, but my DVD recognized this fooled SVCD. It is quite good quality, not too much fuzzy, better that ordinary VCD.

Thanks guys cause you gave me very important indications and the rest was my curiosity and playing with Nero.

I doubt it has anything to do with unchecking the "Use CD-i application" check box why your SVCD is now playing.
You were obviously using the wrong method in the first place.

As a note, even though Mediaplayer wont play these files you can play these MPEGs fine with WinDVD.

ASHY

If it wasn't CD-i Application parameter, then it was "Turn off standard compliance and continue" button that allowed me to burn good "fooled" SVCD, but this button is not visible in nero Express. I also unchecked "Set for US TV Standard". Probably it was the above mentioned button.
In fact, I always used the same (S)VCD files. But I noticed that each time Nero Express encoded before burning. That's was caused veeery baaad quality of my regular VCDs (encoding encoded files :( )and did not allow me to use fooled SVCD. Now, it's OK.
I am 100% newbie in this kind of job. I am IT wizard, but I am dummy in video.
Conclusion: My Sony NS315 works fine even with fooled SVCD, but I didn't know how to burn correctly (never tried VCD or SVCD before).
Bye bye Nero Express, welcome Nero Classic :)

Your assumption is correct. Disabling the compatibility option means Nero will allow you to burn Non standard VCD/SVCD files otherwise the mpegs would be re-encoded by Nero. An SVCD with a VCD header will be seen as an illegal format by Nero and will complain.

As you have noticed ignoring this allows you to burn anyway.

Stick to Nero classic and you won't go wrong.

ASHY

I was using TMPGenc to convert a large AVI file to MPEG-2 however it crashed out with an exception error. Anyoone else has experienced this problem? Is there are any input file size limit?

Sorry forgot to attach the error message the error message is

"External Exception C000001D"

That is Not a Large file...And there is No File size limitation in Tmpgenc, I encoded a 87000 MB AVI file last night,

I am encoding a 641MB avi file to Mpeg. This is not going to fit on a single 700 MB cd-r. Is there a program to split the mpeg file into two files? Or is there a way to do it before you encode the avi file? I am stuck here. Thanks

From what I know, you can split it after you encode the movie by going to the "MPEG Tools" menu in TMPGEnc. Last time I did it, I had some trouble with getting the seconds and minutes..

You can split it beforehand with VirtualDub.

The original AVI must be very compressed if you are expecting the MPEG file to end up being larger. If this is the case, the MPEG encoding will probably degrade the quality a lot more - perhaps you should just archive the AVI straight onto the CD?

Minion, I tried your suggestion on having a 1596-kbs as the CBR for the first part of my movie but the outpit file was over 800MB! The source file is 682MB I think. So what bitrate should I use?

Well It shouldn"t...What you need to do is Download a Bitrate Calculator so you can Calculate the Bitrate your self,

Hi,

I've encoded short AVI clip to MPEG-2. When I playback the clip in WinDVD, it goes very fast (fast forward speed) for a couple of seconds, then slows to a crawl (a couple of frames/sec), then back to fast-forward-like speeds. It seems like frames are skipped when it's playing slowly. The overall quality of the video looks great.

The encoding process worked flawlessy producing a 16MB MPG2 from a 98MB AVI. I used the settings provided on this website: http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0165394101/Compression.html.

The source video is DV NTSC progressive scan.

My PC has 256MB DDR RAM, Athlon XP 1600+, and a Nvidia Gforce 3 Ti 200 video card.

What am I missing here? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I messed up the link above...there shouldn't be a period after the "html". Here's the correct link, I hope:

http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0165394101/Compression.html

Anyways, I seemed to have partially solve this problem. I was encode with the "ES (Video Only)" option before. I figured I'd try "ES (Video + Audio)", and now it works. So, I guess my question now is why can't the MPEG2 without the audio stream playback correctly, and is there any way to view video-only streams?

Thanks.

It should But I guess Just not with You...

Is it possible to convert avi's or other formats to better or higher quality mpeg when you convert the files on this program?

Is it possible to convert other type video files to mpeg other than avi files to mpeg? I was thinking maybe a wmv file or any other file if possible or is it jus for avi conversion?

Well Of Cource..Tmpgenc Supports WMV/ASF/Asx/Mov/Mpeg1/2/AVI.....