Hauppauge MPG -> AVI. Computer Freeze. Heelllp :P

[Ahnteis]

I've got a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250. Has a great hardware MPG2 encoder and it seems to work great. I've got latest drivers, etc. Windows 2000.

I am attempting to digitize some old VHS cassettes. I record the video using WinTV software and can watch the .mpg file in media player no problems. However, when I try to convert the .mpg -> .avi my whole computer will freeze partway through. I've tried everything I can think of and still no go.

VirtualDub (MPG version) and XMPEG both show this behavior. Any idea what I can do? I just need to get this stupid thing into .avi format. Thx.

[setarip]

1) Have you successfully PLAYED the MPEG-2 file, from beginning to end, on your PC?

2) How big is the MPEG_2 file?

3) Load the file into VirtualDubMOD (different than standard VirtualDub), scan for bad frames, then mask bad frames, if any

[Ahnteis]

Not beginning to end, but through the frames it freezes at. Of course, media player tends to do well at skipping stuff.

I assume the MOD version you are talking about is the MPG version I have. (It's not the standard version, that one doesn't like MPG files much at all).

The file is just under 4 GB.

[setarip]

1) "I assume the MOD version you are talking about is the MPG version I have."

No - The exact name of the program version I am suggesting is "VirtualDubMOD"...

Load the file into VirtualDubMOD (different than standard VirtualDub), scan for bad frames, then mask bad frames, if any

2) "The file is just under 4 GB."

A) Standard .AVI (which, if I remember correctly The Flask-derived XMPEG is limited to using) is limited to a maximum filesize of 2Gigs. (Open DML .AVI can create FAR larger files)

B) If you're running Win98, your filesize (due to the FAT32 system employed for writing to/from the hard drive)for anything is limited to 4Gigs


I'd suggest you use TMPGEnc to split your MPEG-2 file into two or three pieces, as follows:

TMPGEnc>>File>>MPEGTools>>Merge&Cut

[Ahnteis]

I'm not trying to make a 4 GB avi. I have a 4 GB .mpg I want to convert to a 600 MB avi.

I'll try the MOD labeled version. (The version I have does work fine for other .mpg's - just not these ones.) The version I have loads the video fine and I can preview, crop unwanted stuff off the end, etc. (In otherwords, it appears to load the .mpg without trouble. It just freezes partway through the "save as avi" process.)

I specifically stated that I am running Windows 2000 although I failed to mention that I am using NTFS. Of course, if I weren't would it even be possible to record a 4 GB file?

I suppose I could split it into multiple files. I'll try that if I have to.

EDIT: From the v.dubmod page, looks like it incorporates the mpg2 version into itself so I'd guess same thing.

EDIT2: Since this thing seems to play with media player without problems, should I consider frameserving it to virtualdub? I have only used a frameserver once and am not very familiar with them.

EDIT3: Hauppauge includes the "nanoMPG editor" which is a very simple cut/copy type editor. I'm trying smaller segments now.

[setarip]

"so I'd guess same thing."

Last time - It's a DIFFERENT program, with ADDITIONAL DIFFERENT capabilities...

[Ahnteis]

Ok - Let me clarify, I'd guess it's the same thing as far as MPG2 support goes. In any case, I'm taking your recommendation to try it AND I'm going to split the files and try smaller size.