Hi Can anybody recommend a good piece of software that will allow me to capture footage direct to interlaced MPEG2 DVD files without deinterlacing? Preferably one with preset templates which will allow me to capture about 3 hours into a 4.7GB DVD size and capture using Variable Bit Rate. Thank You
Ive tried VirtualVCR before but had no luck with that because whenever I set the resolution height higher than 288 it would crash when I press record and recording at a height of 288 is progressive not interlaced which is what I need. Also it only captures in AVI format where as I need something that can capture direct to DVD compatible MPEG2 format at a variable bitrate. Do you no of any other software which can do this, or anything close enough? Thanks for your input.
I think the mpeg-2 conversion done in the PC is extremely CPU intensive and It's probably beyond most PC's. It's liable to produce dropped frames. That's why huffy or pegasus avi full field is used and then it's converted to mpeg later. Unless you've got some way to offload the mpeg conversion (add-on card of some kind), I don't think it's going to work. I've used Virtualvcr myself in the past and it captured full field (NTSC 480) without any problem. Don't know why yours would crash. Did it give an error message? Secondly, how are you connecting the source to the PC?
What card? What software came with it? I use WinTV 2000, but that's because my capture box is a Hauppauge USB2 PVR. Usually the software that came with the capture device is the best choice.
OK nevermind guys, ive found a good piece of software which does it for me, its called pinnacle instant dvd recorder and it also allowed me to capture straight to a dvd disc without using any hard disk space at all so thats a bonus. xD No error message at all, just froze up and then the windows error reporting box came up with the two button, send and don't send. Im connecting a VCR to the PC via composite as the VCR doesnt support S-Video. Its not CPU intensive, ive got a 1.6GHz CPU and using this software ive got a perfect interlaced DVD with no dropped frames. Anyway thanks for your help guys, much appreciated.
You still didn't mention what card/device in the PC is the VCR connected to. IS there an mpeg encoder on that card?
Well I dont no what cards in there :S It was already in there when I got the computer, but it capture both AVI and MPEG 1/2 perfectly so for it to capture MPEG2 perfectly might mean it has an MPEG encoder on it? Im not sure i've never actully checked.
AT least you got it working that's the main thing. I'm not an expert at capture - a few years ago, with an old ATI Radeon graphics cards with video in, I hooked up my Hi8 video camera and captured some footage. In that case the chip on the card provided some assistance with the encoding. Sounds as if you have something similar happening. Here's a USB solution, for those without a capture device in the PC. This one also uses the Pinnacle software: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4088245&Sku=P121-8196
