Matrox Mojito Max workflow for capturing?

[CvikoM]

Hi,
With this corona lock-down i finally have some spare time to transfer my Hi8 and DV tapes for archiving. Some of them are almost 30 years old.
At the moment no plans to do any editing. Some interesting parts i will capture to H264 for the family preview and that is it. Considering that i have about 60 Hi8 and 30 DV i want to be sure that i do choose the best possible way to do it.

I have :

Sony Hi8 CCD-TR3000 and CCD-TR3100 (for Hi8 tapes)
Canon MV-300i (for DV tapes)
Matrox Mojito Max
Kramer FC-4000 TBC (not FC-400)
dedicated computer (fire-wire,ssd,1Tb HD etc WIN 10)

The last couple of days i was fast learning technology and the practical ropes of this art, and testing software and hardware...
I would like to get the advice on what is the best workflow for above..i have no problem with hardware but software side is a different story .

What is the better choice:

1. Matrox MTX Utilities capturing to 10 bit uncompressed matrox codec
and then lossless compression to FFV1.
2. VirtualDub2 direct to FFV1

Or is there even better way ?

Regards

[lordsmurf]

VirtualDub 1.9.x using Huffyuv.

VirtualDub2 is NOT meant for capturing, and is simply fork/expansion of the final VirtualDub 1.10.x, which had problems capturing.

FFV1 not suggested, you'll find yourself alone/unanswered when seeking advice, as it's not a codec people have (or want) installed. It has poor long-term viability, destined for the dustbin of forgotten video formats. Ironic, since development was aimed at long-term. It's in the same boat as MagicYUV, Utvideo, and some others.

Lagarith is too CPU intensive, will cause dropped frames. Great for post-capture intermediary, however, smaller files.

Huffyuv is simple, based on Huffman (zip) encoding.

I'm curious to see how that FC-4000 works out. Kramer makes lot of duds (ie broadcast-only sources), and the FC-400 is nice (though somewhat weaker that DataVideo/Cypress, especially on nth gen and anti-copy). I've never been convinced that the FC-4000 is "the same" as the FC-400.

[nlongrie]

Hi CvikoM, I'm curious how your captures go. I also have a Matrox (but MXO2 mini). I can't get the component or HDMI inputs to capture from a combo DVD/VCR. What input do you use? If component or HDMI, what settings do you use in MTX Utils or VirtualDub ?

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nlongrie

Hi CvikoM, I'm curious how your captures go. I also have a Matrox (but MXO2 mini). I can't get the component or HDMI inputs to capture from a combo DVD/VCR. What input do you use? If component or HDMI, what settings do you use in MTX Utils or VirtualDub ?

You're not using the correct connections.
Use s-video.
Not composite, component, HDMI, or anything else.

[CvikoM]

Unfortunately temporarily distracted with this corona business, hopefully will start this weekend.
I have no problems using s-video from camera into Kramer TBC and then s-video into Matrox using splitter Y cable to two BNC connectors on the card. Nearly obtained Sony EV-S9000E, so i can try that option as well, but lordsmurf advice to other novices here made me stingy on eBay, so it went to somebody else...

[CvikoM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nlongrie

Hi CvikoM, I'm curious how your captures go. I also have a Matrox (but MXO2 mini). I can't get the component or HDMI inputs to capture from a combo DVD/VCR. What input do you use? If component or HDMI, what settings do you use in MTX Utils or VirtualDub ?

Still busy with this corona stuff, trying to save my business..but plan is that i start transferring this weekend.
I have no problems connecting to my Matrox..basicaly s-video from camera to Kramer TBC and then s-video to card using Y splitter to BNC input..works fine...
BTW lordsmurf is it wise investing in Sony EV-S9000E or Sony EV-C2000e ?
Nearly got one for €400..but then noticed that you are not particularly keen on them...

[latreche34]

No need to spend more on those, they are editing machines that's why they were expensive back in the day, they still hold the sentimental value since no one uses analog editing, For capturing all what you need is a camcorder with line TBC/DNR and S-Video output.

[hodgey]

Got a EV-C2000e here, wouldn't recommend it for capture, it doesn't have a TBC and I don't find the image as nice as the newer Sony camcorders. There are some threads discussing VCRs here on the forums, but the general consensus is don't bother with them unless you happen to have tapes with PCM audio on them which was only something certain very high-end professional camcorders and very high-end hi8 VCRs were capable of recording. Sony put some very good playback circuitry in their later hi8 and digital8 camcorders.

[cbehr91]

I have an EV-S7000, which I believe is the NTSC version of the 9000...I wouldn't recommend it for capture. The only reason I reason I have it is because I have some PCM encoded tapes. Yes, it has a full field TBC and has nice tape handling. However, the image it produces is much noiser and flatter than that of a TBC equipped camcorders I've used.

See posts #1 and #3 of this thread for recommended camcorders.

From what testing NJroadfan and some others have done, pretty much all TBC equipped Video/Hi/Digital8 camcorders from the late 90s/2000s had the same rather robust TBC circuit. I personally have used a DCR-TRV740 and CCD-TRV85. Both were excellent.

I, too, am curious how the Mojito handles analog captures. I have an MXO2 and I'd say it does decent.

[CvikoM]

Ok,
Managed to do some work. And it is a mixed bag of results..First noticed that if i do a transfer of the full tape after some time top 10-15 lines of the picture start to drift sideways..if i restart Kramer TBC, most of the time restart fixes that. So i connected two of them (yes actually i have 3 of them, seller wanted to get rid of them and i got a gooood price) in series and so far i have solid picture.. I transfer using VirtualDub 1.9.x using Huffyuv. And that works fine with no problems for storage. But then i use avidemux to convert into Mpeg4 AVC (x264) and AC3 (lav) no filtering, and i am not happy with the result, especially with fast horizontal movements when i have picture jumps.. i notice that uncompressed transfer has some jumps but not sure that is the result from transfer..will post some samples later...