Best capture choice-USB device or AGP Card (EZcap vs ATI All In Wonder) - Page 2

rlschoemer · #21 12-10-2010, 09:31 AM

Have been reading this thread. Also building a new capture PC. Was going to use a older Pinnacle Movieboard, well after reading forgeting that idea. Will buy something new or ??, is the AVerTV HD DVR a good board. I do not need a tuner, have a Tivo network right now for TV recording. Any thoughts or suggestions appreicated.

NJRoadfan · #22 12-10-2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlschoemer

Have been reading this thread. Also building a new capture PC. Was going to use a older Pinnacle Movieboard, well after reading forgeting that idea. Will buy something new or ??, is the AVerTV HD DVR a good board. I do not need a tuner, have a Tivo network right now for TV recording. Any thoughts or suggestions appreicated.

I own the HD DVR PCIe card. Analog capture quality is pretty good, no AGC issues that I can detect thus far. The main issue I had with the board is that it has a problem with weak/unstable/non-standard video signals. A TBC is a must with this card if you plan on doing VHS/Betamax transfers. The board does have a target market for video gamers wanting to record HD gameplay footage and thats what the majority of the capture demos show. I'm probably one of the only few people out there actually using this card for SD capturing. Note that the USB version is completely different from the PCIe card. The USB version has a built in MPEG encoder and lacks DirectShow drivers, while the PCIe card captures uncompressed and uses software codecs and has generic DirectShow capture device support.

rlschoemer · #23 12-10-2010, 09:26 PM

Thanks - I have the TBC-1000 and the elite BVP+. Prior setup went from JVC S-VHS thru devices to MP6000. Finally need to do some editing. Hence capture to PC. I am assuming that it is helpful to still use the TBC & BVP to do some pre-capture adjustment. Was planning on using Sony Vegas software, no problem with capture from HD DVR card I hope.

Eagleaye · #24 12-11-2010, 07:20 AM

Can anyone offer any advice on how to internally connect the AIW 9800 to the santa cruz sound card, I've found the guide on the forum for connecting to an AIW 9600 but have no idea on how the the connector on the 9600 correlates to the 9800, is it the line out?
Also I assume when connecting audio from the VCR it will be to the sound card inputs with just the S-Video going to the purple box?

admin · #25 12-11-2010, 07:59 AM

Ideally the audio card will link to the ATI AIW card internally, via the AUX cable, and then you'll use the purple break-out box / dongle for both video and audio. Did you see this? http://www.digitalFAQ.com/forum/show...-ati-2292.html

The 9600 and 9800 should be the same, as are all ATI AIW AGP cards.

admin · #26 12-11-2010, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlschoemer

Thanks - I have the TBC-1000 and the elite BVP+. Prior setup went from JVC S-VHS thru devices

All good gear.

Quote:

Finally need to do some editing. Hence capture to PC. ..... Was planning on using Sony Vegas software,

That's a good non-linear editor.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957

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I am assuming that it is helpful to still use the TBC & BVP to do some pre-capture adjustment.

Yes.

Eagleaye · #27 12-11-2010, 09:17 AM

So essentially the audio is "passed through" the 9800 to be handled by the TB Santa Cruz via the purple box.
I did see the very useful post you mention but just wanted clarification that the connection was from the the AIW to the sound card. On the 9800 the connector is labelled "line out" but unlabeled on the 9600. The 9800 also has an orange connector that I don't know the purpose of.
Another thought occurs, now I've put in a sound card do I need to remove any connections from the motherboard to case speakers that handled the built in sound?
After getting this far I just don't want to end up breaking something by connecting the wrong bits to each other.

lordsmurf · #28 12-11-2010, 11:17 AM

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So essentially the audio is "passed through" the 9800 to be handled by the TB Santa Cruz via the purple box.

Yes.

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clarification that the connection was from the the AIW to the sound card. On the 9800 the connector is labelled "line out" but unlabeled on the 9600. The 9800 also has an orange connector that I don't know the purpose of.

I would use the internal wiring method shown in that post, not the external loopback.

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now I've put in a sound card do I need to remove any connections from the motherboard to case speakers that handled the built in sound?

Disable on-board sound in the BIOS. Hit DEL or F2 or whatever, when the computer starts from a cold/hard boot, to access the BIOS screens.

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After getting this far I just don't want to end up breaking something by connecting the wrong bits to each other.

With audio, the most that would happen is loud static. BZZZZZZZZZT!

Eagleaye · #29 12-12-2010, 02:18 PM

I seem to have everything connected now (after a bit trouble trying to find an internal audio cable, reinstalling the mmc and resolving a couple of audio issues) and now able to capture video.
My first impression as that the video looks cleaner than the USB device captures but I'll take a closer look at that.
One thing I've noticed when using Virtualdub to capture is that the video jitters in the preview window while capturing although the resulting file plays fine, is this normal?
It's certainly more straight forward to use the ATI MMC, but the expanded options available in Virtualdub appeals to me more.

admin · #30 12-12-2010, 06:45 PM

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the video jitters in the preview window while capturing although the resulting file plays fine

It can be. As long as the final file is okay, then I'd consider it a non-issue. Preview is quirky, period. The most important issue is watching to see if you have any dropped frames, and that the framerate stays where it is supposed to. Audio should also not lose sync for than a few milliseconds (or +/- ms).

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My first impression as that the video looks cleaner than the USB device captures

Most probable.

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It's certainly more straight forward to use the ATI MMC, but the expanded options available in Virtualdub appeals to me more.

True. But some of the VDub advanced features, while present, should not actually be used. Many of the video filters, for example, are not fit for live capturing (i.e. realtime filtering). Again, watch the frame drops and audio sync on the on-screen reporting.

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after a bit trouble trying to find an internal audio cable, reinstalling the mmc and resolving a couple of audio issues

And after your first DVDs (or whatever) are made, your first thought is going to be "Wow, that really was worth it!" -- just you wait and see!

Eagleaye · #31 12-16-2010, 05:08 AM

I'm now trying to do some further trials and comparisons and have some further questions I hoping to get help with.
Should I be able to capture with the Matrox codecs in Virtualdub?
I can't see were to select them, do I need to install them for Virtualdub. I recall being able to select them when capturing with ATI MMC, although I'm away from the PC at the moment so can't confirm.
Also am I right that in the UK PAL-I is the right standard to set options for?
Finally kpmedia says above that if capturing MPEG-2 only use ATI MMC, in what sort of instance would I be better using this? If I were transferring commercial VHS to a media player?

lordsmurf · #32 12-16-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Should I be able to capture with the Matrox codecs in Virtualdub?

Possibly. I recently tried this on my 9600 card, and it crashed. However, I could capture fine with my ATI 600 USB. It may be an error strictly on that computer, however, as I've not had time to test further.

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I can't see were to select them, do I need to install them for Virtualdub.

Did you install the Matrox VFW codecs? Those install system-wide. Then all you have to do is select the proper "compression" as it's called in VirtualDub, from the various settings options.

In not, install files at http://www.digitalFAQ.com/forum/show...html#post11937

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am I right that in the UK PAL-I is the right standard to set options for

If you're capturing PAL tapes from most of Europe or Australia, yes.

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Finally kpmedia says above that if capturing MPEG-2 only use ATI MMC, in what sort of instance would I be better using this? If I were transferring commercial VHS to a media player?

Any DVD-ready MPEG-2 is best capturing in ATI MMC. For that matter, I'd say any MPEG-2, period, is best captured in ATI MMC. The Matrox codecs are good, but are unassisted like the ATI MMC would be, meaning possible dropped frames on slower systems. I tend to only suggest the Matrox codecs on faster single CPUs (2.8Ghz+) or dual-core/quad-core computers.

That answer everything for you?

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Eagleaye · #33 12-16-2010, 01:59 PM

So there are no further install steps for the codecs then.
The Matrox codecs are installed but I can only see No recompression: YUY2 and Huffyuw v2.1.1 when selecting compression in the capture window of Virtualdub, although confirmed as being available in ATI MMC.
I've also just seen that the're available in the "viewer" part of Virtualdub, so looks like you just can't capture with them.

lordsmurf · #34 12-16-2010, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagleaye

so looks like you just can't capture with them.

That may be the case, for this exact card, on these exact drivers, using this specific version of the Matrox cards. Any variation thereof could change that. But you're probably best left to capture with ATI MMC for any and all MPEG recording. Use VirtualDub for lossless or compressed AVI.

As an extra note, Matrox MPEG writes into an AVI wrapper, which can be a nuisance anyway. I'd much rather have the straight MPEG files left as an MPEG file, and not wrapped.