Capturing Video using VirtualDub, Codecs?

[Imbecile]

Hi

I'm trying to capture video from a VHS tape but can't fiqure out which codec to use.

Using MS MPEG-4 i get not to bad quallity but in areas of motion it become pixelly.

can anyone recommend a codec?

Sorry if this has been asked before?

Thanks in advance.

[UncasMS]

you would normally capture with very high bitrates first and afterwards recompress this file again with settings resulting in smaller files but still decent quality.

you could therefor capture with some sort of lossless codec like huffyuv or maybe mjpeg picvideo2 or use divx5 with 1 pass and set to some 6000-10000kbps.

this file should then be copnverted into a small version and in most cases deinterlaced.
using 2 passes with divx or xvid should be fine for step two.
an easy way would be to load this avi from step one into tools like gordianknot or dvx and deinterlace and recompress with those tools.

are you familiar with any of them?

[kimomakano]

I have a related question. I recently switched to using Virtual Dub for capturing analog video. Along with this I downloaded the huffyuv codec since I was told it had zero frame loss.
However, when I do the captures I do experience some minimal dropped frames. Is the concept of "zero loss" just symbolic for very few dropped frames, or do I need to adjust some settings somewhere in VirtualDub to activate zero loss?
Thanks

[setarip]

The indication of "HuffyUV" being a "lossless" codec is a reference to its ability not to lose any pixel information as a result of compression - as opposed to other codecs being "lossy"...

[Imbecile]

Codecs

I ve tried using the huffyuv codec hearing how good it was and it was. but the file size was to big i thought. I realize that the first encode will have a big file size but it was about 100meg for about 15 seconds if i remember correctly. how will i encode a 1 and a half hour program?

Maybe it's my settings. what is a good frame rate? I was using 20 with a resolution of 640 by 480 i think it was.

[benderman]

Res, framerate and codec depends on the input-quality and the quality you want for the captured video.

For PAL (768x576 25fps). I capture with 384x288 with 25 or 12,5 fps. If you only capture with half the hight (width can be any size) you will have no problem with interlaced video. If you want a higher res you should always capture with a hight of 576 (for PAL) and deinterlace and resize the video while or after the capturing.
For exxample you capture with 640x576. Then you deinterlace and resize to 640x480. That should give better quality than directly capturing with 640x480. Its the same for all other resolutions with a hight between 576 and 289.

Huvyuv needs a lot of space. If you still want to use it, VD allowes you to split the file at a selected filesize. So you get multiple files with the same size, that can also be captured to different drives. If you don't have enought hdd-space, use a lossy codec like DivX with a high bitrate (>4000kbps for full res).