Current capture device recommendations?

[lollo2]

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If you can explain the "no drops with AmaRecTV, but drops with VirtualDub",

Are you serious? Nobody ever said that sillness, because it would be false.

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What we don't know is what AmaRecTV is doing.

What we know is that AmarecTV was able to keep audio/video in synch where VirtualDub failed in the examples that have been posted. The rest is "your" crusade.

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Perhaps.

For sure!

[lordsmurf]

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Originally Posted by lollo2

What we know is that AmarecTV was able to keep audio/video in synch where VirtualDub failed in the examples that have been posted. The rest is "your" crusade.

But how, why? Again, lack of drops can be a mere lack of reporting drops. It needs detailed analysis, both the captured clips, and the software itself. At this moment, I see zero reason why VirtualDub would drop, and AmaRecTV not. I would run these tests myself, but simply lack time. Hence my warnings that it's not magic, and that it needs further vetting and understanding -- aka, proceed with caution. Test, verify, don't just capture blindly, assuming all is well. That's not nonsense, mere good science.

If you see no drops on your captures, great!

But others may not have that same experience. So again, test, verify.

[lollo2]

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I see zero reason why VirtualDub would drop, and AmaRecTV not

Same here; again, nobody say that.

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So again, test, verify.

The results from others users in the last days have been properly reported.

And on my side, you can be sure that on my capture I check frame by frame, step by step, what's going on in all different test cases, with VirtualDub, AmarecTV or GraphStudioNext. And remember that for some of them I can also compare with a dvb-s dump of the same program, so I know exactly how many frames should be in the capture, without relying on false VirtualDub reporting. Yes, VirtualDub sometimes does not report dropped frames, even with the proper setting, known issue, the same for other capture software; but that's another story

[lordsmurf]

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Originally Posted by lollo2

without relying on false VirtualDub reporting. Yes, VirtualDub sometimes does not report dropped frames, even with the proper setting, known issue, the same for other capture software; but that's another story

I've never seen that with v1.9.x, not once (that I can recall) ever, in 10 years of use. Other versions, sure, especially the FM/2 forks and 1.10 official. VirtualDub has issues, but that's not one of them.

Now, drivers, hardware, for various cards, would not doubt it.

[lollo2]

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I've never seen that with v1.9.x, not once (that I can recall) ever

Because you have nothing to compare with

[autephex]

I'm clearly no professional and its unlikely I will ever dive as deep into understanding all the nuances of video that you guys have a solid grasp on, but I have been working with video on a amature/hobby level for a while - mainly assembling rare old movies from various sources. I've only just started out really trying to do my own captures from VHS (although I have done some basic DVDR recordings in the past) and the USB Live2 has given me drastically better results than any other device I've tried.

There are a lot of barriers in 2022 to having a proper setup to capture video from VHS. Finding the necessary gear is quite hard and quite expensive if you can find it... I certainly do not have the income to justify spending what it would cost to get a TBC, high end VCR, a good hardware proc amp, etc..

So for someone such as myself, the USB Live2 is really quite the find, even if it may have some potential flaws and AmarecTV is working great for capturing for my needs. Although I'm not examining my captures to same levels as you all are in regards to dropped frames and whatnot, my eye is a bit obsessive about more noticeable issues with bad frame motion, and low quality issues that are pretty common to bad captures. The captures I'm getting from the USB Live2 w/ AmarecTV are excellent in this regard - I can watch the full recording and not have any issues that really distract me from the movie. Comparing the recordings to other captures I have of the same VHS source (done by others, not by me), the detail improvement is quite noticeable..

Anyway, just chiming in with my perspective which maybe isn't so useful to professionals or more high end users, but to a user like me, this is really quite an appreciable setup for what I have access to

[lordsmurf]

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Originally Posted by lollo2

Because you have nothing to compare with

No.

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Originally Posted by autephex

I'm clearly no professional and its unlikely I will ever dive as deep into understanding all the nuances of video that you guys have a solid grasp on, but I have been working with video on a amature/hobby level for a while - mainly assembling rare old movies from various sources. I've only just started out really trying to do my own captures from VHS (although I have done some basic DVDR recordings in the past) and the USB Live2 has given me drastically better results than any other device I've tried.

There are a lot of barriers in 2022 to having a proper setup to capture video from VHS. Finding the necessary gear is quite hard and quite expensive if you can find it... I certainly do not have the income to justify spending what it would cost to get a TBC, high end VCR, a good hardware proc amp, etc..

So for someone such as myself, the USB Live2 is really quite the find, even if it may have some potential flaws and AmarecTV is working great for capturing for my needs. Although I'm not examining my captures to same levels as you all are in regards to dropped frames and whatnot, my eye is a bit obsessive about more noticeable issues with bad frame motion, and low quality issues that are pretty common to bad captures. The captures I'm getting from the USB Live2 w/ AmarecTV are excellent in this regard - I can watch the full recording and not have any issues that really distract me from the movie. Comparing the recordings to other captures I have of the same VHS source (done by others, not by me), the detail improvement is quite noticeable..

Anyway, just chiming in with my perspective which maybe isn't so useful to professionals or more high end users, but to a user like me, this is really quite an appreciable setup for what I have access to

Dropped frames really have nothing to do with "being professional" or needing a "deep dive". It's essentially what you state: noticeable issues, even to grandmas and amateurs.

However, details matter.
- Are the frames being dropped, and not reported?
- Are the frames being duped instead of dropped?

Those issues are not visible at a glance, but can be with an actual watch, or edit.

So it's why you must proceed carefully, as this software is still somewhat of a mystery, even to those who suggest it.

Do you know how many times people have hastily transferred lots of video, without properly vetting the results? Too many to count. The quality sucks on watch, and people often opt to redo their mistakes. I try to save others from that fate. Do it once, do it right.

I've been consistent in my posting here. Proceed carefully, test, verify, vet. Do not assume, and realize software isn't magic. I don't think that's controversial whatsoever.

If you've truly have gotten good results, and do not later have regrets, great!

[autephex]

For what its worth in regards to my comments here, I spend quite a lot of time looking at the results of my captures and experimenting with applying filters in Avisynth/VDub for any issues... including taking many smaller clips to test settings on. I generally spend many hours just checking my settings and trying to get everything right, and always watch the entire movie after doing the final processing to check for problems.

Sometimes I kinda hate the fact that I obsess about these things so much because I end up looking at the scenes so many times that it kind of ruins the movie for more, or at least changes the viewing experience...

[lordsmurf]

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Originally Posted by autephex

For what its worth in regards to my comments here, I spend quite a lot of time looking at the results of my captures and experimenting with applying filters in Avisynth/VDub for any issues... including taking many smaller clips to test settings on. I generally spend many hours just checking my settings and trying to get everything right, and always watch the entire movie after doing the final processing to check for problems.

Excellent.

It's that sort of experience that makes it even more curious, and important, to understand why AmaRecTV is working when VirtualDub is failing. Because that would mean VirtualDub can fixed, as both are just software.

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Sometimes I kinda hate the fact that I obsess about these things so much because I end up looking at the scenes so many times that it kind of ruins the movie for more, or at least changes the viewing experience...

Yep, that's the downside of this.

Imagine working on something like Marvel or Star Wars movie (or tv series). You'd be ruined to its enjoyment. There are some actors, like Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp, that never even see their own flicks, don't care, enjoyment was already ruined for them, just a job. When I worked for studios, I saw some neat stuff, but watching it after working on it almost felt like a chore.

So for home movies, you often end up doing it for the enjoyment of family, not necessarily yourself.