VirtualDub settings for new ATI AIW rig?

[DoddsieFox]

Hey y'all,

I've been a lurker of the site for some time, preparing for the time that I'd have the hardware necessary on hand for transferring tapes, and I'm basically there now, but would like some advice from some of y'all that really know what you're doing.

For starters, the hardware I'm working with:
- Windows XP SP2 32-bit install
- Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.0Ghz
- 2 GB RAM
- 500GB SATA drive
- ATI AIW 9600

I'm mostly looking to transfer Video8 tapes for now, as I've got dozens upon dozens of tapes on hand from different family members that recorded events and such in the past, and for playback I got a Sony DCR-TRV840. I'll worry about external TBC later on when I can actually afford it, but until then I at least want to iron out the rest so once I'm ready with everything, I can fire away and get all these transfers done. I also got a JVC HR-S9800U for VHS once I'm done with Video8, but for now I'm just focused on Video8.

I worked with a friend yesterday to complete the PC build, then today I've been working on the software side of things. I followed the guide here to acquire and install the VirtualDub software and codec which went fine, and the guide here to configure it.

I'll attach a sample video so y'all can let me know what you think, I don't know that I have the trained eyes to judge accurately. One of my main concerns was that switching between Overlay and Preview in VirtualDub, it makes sense that Overlay is the direct feed and that Preview is the preview output to the file, but the Overlay to me looks a lot better, Preview shows a lot more jaggedness from the interlacing and seems to playback at a slower framerate, but maybe that's normal. I'm also curious if there might be any recommended filters to apply, or any settings to adjust to improve the output. I pretty much followed the second linked guide to a T, and I'm using the Huffyuv codec, but I can answer any questions for sure.

Sincere thanks for any and all help!

[DoddsieFox]

Hope it's okay if I bump this, I'm gonna be headed back up to the friend that helped me with the build tomorrow (two hour drive), as they wanted to test transfer some VHS and Video8 tapes. I'm certain the hardware is fine, I just wanna check if the setup guide I followed is still accurate today, or if there's anything more/different I could be doing in VirtualDub to get the Preview feed to look more like the Source feed. If anything, I'd like to know how others go about their settings/filters for their ATI AIW rigs. Thanks again for any and all help.

[traal]

It's a pretty good capture. The black level is set a bit high, but that's better than it being set too low. The audio levels are low, but that's also easily fixed in software. There's surprisingly little head switching noise--only 6 rows--and the picture seems to go right up to the left and right edges. It looks like there might be some frames missing between the first frame and the second but maybe that's just camera shake.

[DoddsieFox]

Very much appreciate the response! I'll tweak the video levels in VirtualDub to see if I can lower the black level a bit, and see if I can raise the audio a bit. I'll try a different portion as well with a bit less shake to it, probably tomorrow. I'm saving up til I can afford a proper TBC to do these transfers in full, but getting the rest figured out I'm happy to hear I wasn't too far off from a good capture