VirtualDub frozen and not capturing?

[david_n]

Hi,

I use Win 11 - 64-bit
I have usb pinnacle 710.
I have downloaded VirtualDub 1.9.11 and crossbar thing.
I have a VCR (secam L) connected to the pinnacle (RCA audio + RCA Video).
The tape in the VCR is OK (can be watched on TV).

When I select File > Capture AVI on VirtualDub, I select my video device (Pinnacle 710-USB).
The menu changes to a new menu "File Device Video Audio Capture Help".

When I click anywhere on that new menu, VirtualDub is freezing. The only way to exit is restarting my laptop.

I need help to go forward (capturing VHS tapes).

Thanks.

[lordsmurf]

- Under Video > Capture Pin, is it set to SECAM ?
- In the main capture window, lower right, is it set to 25 fps ?
- Under Video > Custom resolution, is it set to 720x576 ?
- Video > Preview mode, not Overlay ?

[david_n]

Hi,

With Win11, software is completely frozen (impossible to have access to menus).
So I went to my old desktop with Win10. Software is not frozen and I can have access to the menus below.

Firstly, Crossbar things : set to SECAM_L

Secondly, VirtualDub 1.9.11

- Under Video > Capture Pin, SECAM_L, Frame rate 25.00, output size 720 × 576
- In the main capture window, lower right, 25 fps
- Under Video > Custom Video Format, 720 × 576 - YUY2 - 4:2:2 interleaved
- Video > Preview mode

(new) error message: Enable to start video capture

[SHGMC_2]

I have a Win7 machine (Core i7 950, 12GB of RAM, GTX680) using an ATI TV Wonder 600 and I found that doing anything in VDub will freeze it for several seconds before coming back. For example, if I want to show the Volume Meter, it will freeze for several seconds before coming back and showing the meter. It's the same for capturing: it will hang for several seconds before coming back. During the time it freezes, it does not record anything. So, I make sure to only hit "Play" on the playback device when the capture duration starts after un-hanging.

I know this does not help you but VDub 1.9.11 was mainly coded for XP and the further away we get from those time, the more unstable it'll get... It is unfortunate that v2 does not work as well.

[david_n]

Thanks SHGMC2
Maybe the solution is to find a USB stick with Win XP on it. And change the OS Win10 to XP.
Did anyone try this solution?

I tried on an old laptop (with Win 10 too). It worked (why? not the same win10 version I suppose).
BUT... the voices are nasal voices, or sometimes very slow when playing the avi file (when motion is very slow as well). Despite the fact that on TV everything is ok.
A solution?

[SHGMC_2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by david_n

Thanks SHGMC2
Maybe the solution is to find a USB stick with Win XP on it. And change the OS Win10 to XP.
Did anyone try this solution?

I tried on an old laptop (with Win 10 too). It worked (why? not the same win10 version I suppose).
BUT... the voices are nasal voices, or sometimes very slow when playing the avi file (when motion is very slow as well). Despite the fact that on TV everything is ok.
A solution?

Recent-ish hardware will not work with Windows XP - unless you go through a Virtual Machine. The problem stems that XP does not support Trim for SSDs which will degrade their performance rapidly over time. That was added in Windows 7. No to mention to be unable to boot at all on GUID Partition Table ("GPT") formatted drives which requires a x64 OS. WinXP x64 exists but driver support is pretty bad.

For all the rest, no modern hardware has WinXP driver support at all.

In other words, you need archaic hardware of the time. The best bet is a Pentium 4 or Core 2 Duo/Quad or AMD Athlon 64. RAM is not important but I'd say to get at LEAST 512 MB. Regular spinners HDDs is what XP was made to run on. Thankfully, XP is the first consumer OS to support NTFS which supports... basically any drive size but because we can't use GPT, it stops at 2 TB which is already very good. There's no USB 3 support but, at least, USB is backwards compatible and, as long as you plug a USB 3 drive in a USB 2 port, it should work. Technically, plugging into a USB 1.1 port should work but I've had USB 3.0 drives refused to be detected in USB 1.1 but does in USB 2.0.

So, yeah, you may need a dedicated rig for WinXP. But getting a Win7 machine that still has decent hardware such as the Core i5 2600 with a motherboard with decent I/O and maybe even Firewire for those pesky DV/HDV captures can be a good option as well.

When using Windows 11, imo, analog capture can be done but you'll need to use software like OBS which is not ideal even though it's much more flexible in the formats you can record in. Not ideal... why? Because it captures the screen instead of capturing the signal of the capture card. Usually, this isn't much of an issue especially with digital capture cards but I found with my Win7 setup that it creates micro cuts in the sound so I stopped using it. But, if you are a purist, getting the unadultered signal is the best capture method and only the ATI Wonder All-In-One's MMC and Virtual Dub.

If you want to get a solution for analogue capture under Windows 11 that uses OBS, I'd suggest in looking into RetroTINK. It's targetted at retro gamers but works also fine on old media such as VHS, Betamax and Hi8... etc. That being said, of course, that's not a LordSmurf approved setup. It's more of a "I don't want to deal with old hardware and software at all" kind of deal. Even then, I think if you dig enough and have some cash to burn, you could find a capture card that's decent with Windows 11 drivers, even Mac and Linux if that's your thing.

My 2¢.

Cheers.

P.S When I refer to "USB 3", I refer to *ahem* USB 3.2 Gen 1 aka the one that maxes out at 5gbit/s. (so f'ing confusing - I had to look it up to make sure).

[BW37]

Actually, the last Intel chipset to officially support Windows XP is Ivy Bridge. Apparently, people make it work with later chipsets too, but that might not be a good idea for a capture PC.

The issues with SSDs and USB3 support are still there of course, but a real USB2 port is recommended when using a USB2 compatible capture “card”.

My
BW

[Gary34]

Quote:

I have a Win7 machine (Core i7 950, 12GB of RAM, GTX680) using an ATI TV Wonder 600 and I found that doing anything in VDub will freeze it for several seconds before coming back.

You can save your settings so that you don’t have to change some things like overlay to preview every time. That is the one that really freezes everything up for me. After you get your timing settings for your card setup and everything else under device settings press save current mode as default.

Quote:

the voices are nasal voices, or sometimes very slow when playing the avi file (when motion is very slow as well). Despite the fact that on TV everything is ok.
A solution?

In the timing options if you click Sync audio to video by resampling the audio to a faster or slower rate it will speed up or slow down the audio to prevent audio de sync when you have timing errors during capture. I don’t check that box but I have a frame TBC and I don’t have the problems that come with a messy analog signal. That option is activated in Sanlyn’s guide and I know capture guide uses that option also but it’s best if you don’t have to use it especially if you don’t have anything to prevent dropped frames. https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vid...-settings.html

Quote:

If you want to get a solution for analogue capture under Windows 11 that uses OBS, I'd suggest in looking into RetroTINK. It's targetted at retro gamers but works also fine on old media such as VHS, Betamax and Hi8... etc. That being said, of course, that's not a LordSmurf approved setup. It's more of a "I don't want to deal with old hardware and software at all" kind of deal. Even then, I think if you dig enough and have some cash to burn, you could find a capture card that's decent with Windows 11 drivers, even Mac and Linux if that's your thing.

Everything I’ve seen from the Retrotink is really bad. I don’t get the appeal of those devices. They are kinda high too for what you get. A non TBC svideo VCR, ES 10/15, and a good capture card would be a lot better.

[Aya_Rei]

They appeal to gamers, as it is seemingly the best upscaler for playing older game consoles on modern TVs, or record gameplay from said consoles onto modern hdmi capture cards.

Ain't the right device for digitizing tapes, since you'd be stuck with whatever it gives you, butchered video

[david_n]

Now, it works...

VirtualDub is not frozen anymore! Don't ask me why!

Settings:

Under Video > Capture Pin, SECAM_L, Frame rate 25.00, output size 720 × 576 (thanks to Crossbar things.exe //why: my tape are French Secam).

On my VCR, I have a green button "Digital TBC" that is ON.
In the menu Capture > Timing, I chose the option:
> Resync mode
> Do not resync between audio and video streams

Video > Preview (not overlay)

Capture > Capture video
If it doesn't work (error message: unable to start video capture), I start it again and it works (but with no preview, only information on the right saying that frames are captured). Once again, do not ask me why when I start again, it works (without preview).

Thank you all.

[Gary34]

With the Pinnacle clicking to automatically disable resync is a good idea. Forcing the audio clock when preview is enabled keeps your audio from being choppy while previewing the audio. Disabling DirectX can help with Vdub freezing up. https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr...usb-510-a.html