capturing - lousy quality or huge files

[xirurg]

hello.
I have problems with capturing from my NVGS-3 Panasonic dv camcorder. I use software like Dr. Divx, Ulead video 7 - but all I get is lousy quality files with squares in a full screen mode (even if i use the maximum quality in software's preferences). I know it is possible to make a good quality movie and burn it on a 700 MB cd (all of those movies I've downloaded from p2p programs...).

The question is - what should I do to get a good quality video file which will not exceed 700MB for 90 minutes of capturing? What software or cables or hardware should I use?
Thanks in advance for your reply.

P.S. i have P-3 1GHz, 256MB, 1394 port and windows xp pro.

[atifsh]

Re: capturing - lousy quality or huge files

Originally posted by xirurg
hello.
I have problems with capturing from my NVGS-3 Panasonic dv camcorder. I use software like Dr. Divx, Ulead video 7 - but all I get is lousy quality files with squares in a full screen mode (even if i use the maximum quality in software's preferences).

P.S. i have P-3 1GHz, 256MB, 1394 port and windows xp pro.

ur pc is not good for capturing full screen dv to mpeg in realtime try doing in non real time mode. that will need lotta harddisk space though but results will be better.

or get a hardware encoder card, dont require cpu speed.

u can get either a firewire card or both digital/analog card with hardware chip onboard.

[xirurg]

thanks for answering...
actually I've already tried it - it is gigantic sized file - but after decoding it, it still has squares and bad quality in general.
despite it's lousy quality after decoding - 10 minutes of movie=almost 200MB.
I'm interested in a software or any other solution which will decode the huge avi file into much smaller file, without losing too much quality.
I mean - there are svcd movies over the p2p comunity in good full screen quality which doesn't oversize 700 MB - why can't i do the same??

[atifsh]

u can use virtual dub or its variants to make good quality small files. or u may try tmpgenc to convert ur avi's to mpeg2. both these are free to use.

regarding ur other problem why ur getting blocks in ur video , can u provide with a image of it. also does capturing to simplae avi also hav those?

[rsquirell]

I've seen posters say they've correct similar problems by changing interlace to deinterlace ( or vice versa)...and some VS7 users saying they have to capture using "bottom field first" (Field B). The only pixcelation problems I've personally experienced has been when capturing at too high a kbps bitrate ( my capturing software allows adjustments...most don't.)

[videopnut]

>> 10 minutes of movie=almost 200MB <<

OK. Listen up. 9 minutes of DV results in a file size of 2,096,612K!! That's 2 Gigabytes!!

If you're crunching 10 minutes down to a measly 0.2 Gigs, it's not surprising the quality's bad.

[rsquirell]

That's when you are capturing DV in AVI format like you do using premier. I believe he's using VS7 capturing in MPEG2.

[videopnut]

>> I believe he's using VS7 capturing in MPEG2.<<

The mpeg quality setting must be too low for the content type. At a rate of 200 Megs for 10 minutes, a full length 90 minute movie would only take up 1.8 Gigs! I wouldn't expect very high quality from that, unless we're just dealing with talking heads from a stationary camera. But that's unlikely. My experience with amateur cameramen is that you can count on:

1) Can't keep finger off zoom button.
2) Don't believe in tripods, and can't hold camera steady
3) Wave camera around like a paintbrush
4) Don't understand depth of field limitations at full mag.
5) Over-reliance on auto-focus.

With these kinds of videos, ie. every pixel in the frame changes on practically every frame, I'd probably ~START~ with an upper VBR setting of 8000 and not be too surprised if I had to increase it.

[xirurg]

conclusion

Hi again. Thanks everybody for replying.
As I've understood - if I want to make a good quality movies out of my family's records - I'll need either a fast pc with lotta hd space (to capture to avi) or some professional capturing card, which will use it's hardware abilities to make a good quality "small sized" files - IS IT TRUE??
If it is - what kind of cards should I look for and what are the prices?
p.s. - i use a tripod and don't wave my camera or anything alike...

[atifsh]

Re: conclusion

Originally posted by xirurg
what kind of cards should I look for and what are the prices?

check cards frm www.pinnaclesys.com , www.snazzi.com
both makes some good cards, depending what u need price may vary from 60$ to 300$ or more.

[rsquirell]

It all depends on what you have. If your camcorder is a DV device you can capture thru the the firewire with the capture software that came with the device. If it is a VHS camcorder then you need a capture card or external hardware. Read the threads, find out what you have, research.

[xirurg]

I have a firewire, but I need something stronger - some card with hardware abilities which will help my PC to capture well and fast from my dv cacorder. - could you suggest me some?

[rsquirell]

By going thru the firewire you keep DV resolution (720X480) intact for a much clearer image. When you capture DV with a card or external hardware device (designed for and necessary for VHS capture) the video is converted by the hardware to VHS resolution (356X240)...which defeats the purpose of spending the extra $300 for a DV camera. If, however, you are confused about what you have....ie were sold a "Digital" Hi8 (which captures with 8mm VHS tape rather than mini DVD)...I've heard the high-end AllInWonder is a good VHS capture card, and I personally use a Pinnacle Dazzle DVC-150 external USB2 MPEG2 device to capture VHS. If your camera is VHS you must use a card or external device to capture.

[paul_999]

I'm a bit concerned reading messages about poor quality and frame skipping.

I want 100% DV quality capture exactly as per the camera tape with nothing lost. In other words a binary copy of the tape onto the PC.

Will this be ok?:
huge disk at least80Gb, 7200rpm
at least 2Ghz cpu
firewire port
capture direct to a .dv file NO compression
edit the huge .dv file in full DV quality
finally write to a DVD where I expect top quality, almost as good as camera playback

Of course good quality camera work is a pre-requisite.

[rsquirell]

Yeah...that should work...be sure to get a short GOLD 1394 wire to connect with and you should have no problems. Actually, by capturing with ULead VideoStudio7 you can make your capture in MPEG2 ( yeah...it's compressed....but I don't think you'll see a quality difference.)