output to videotape

[novice]

I am a newbie to this video editing. Can someone help me with the following questions? Your valuable advise and assistance will be deeply appreciated.

I have a Marvel G400-TV video card installed in my Windows 98 PC (PIII 600MHz).

1.) How do I output anything (video clip or powerpoint presentation) in my computer monitor to a video tape? Do I need to run any software? Or after connect my VCR to the Marvel G400-TV box, when I press record button in my VCR, anything display in my monitor will get recorded to the VCR?

2.) How's the output quality in the video tape, as good as computer monitor? What is the best resolution to output to video tape (640x480)?

[Dr Mordrid]

If you set up the display drivers to use Dualhead/DVDMax almost anything played in MediaPlayer will go to the vidout.

If you use Dualhead/Clone you can output the entire desktop to the vidout. Check your manual for details.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 26 June 2000).]

[Brian Ellis]

Hi!

The output to the video tape will be as good as displayed on the monitor, but the tape itself will lose you a packet. A super VHS tape will hardly resolve better than about 300 horizontal equivalent lines (nor will a consumer TV, for that matter). The higher the input resolution, the better the results, even when the tape cannot resolve more. For ex., if you use the bizarre 320 x 480 format, the end result will be marginally poorer than 640 x 480, but, visually, you may have a hard job to see the difference from the tape. If you have difficulty with disk space, you may prefer this format. (I haven't tried this as I use PAL with 704 and 352 HR).

------------------
Brian (the terrible)

[Dr Mordrid]

To get the absolute best output to VHS tape consider getting a video preprocessor. This can be used to clean up signals both at capture time (prevents dropped frames & improves quality) and to get the best quality on the tape when outputting.

I use the Elite Video BVP-4 Plus, which is a tad expensive at $700+. A less expensive alternative is the SIMA SCC. It runs $129 at VideoGuys.com.

Of course not using department store video tapes helps a lot too. Look for high end VHS tapes that state they are suitable for mastering or have broadcast quality. They'll run about $8-20 each.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 27 June 2000).]

[This_Idiot]

Wow, getting powerful here. While all the above comments may help to achieve the best possible output, it isn't necessarily necessary.

I've tested both G200 and G400 Marvels (and a number of RR's of various flavours), and the benchmark I prefer to use is against a straight copy from either my camcorder (or one of my VCRs) to a second VCR. Granted that most of my equipment isn't the latest and best, but on a test of normally recorded homebrew camcorder footage (using composite connections from an aged S-VHS camcorder), the difference between direct recording and recording via the PC via Matrox MJPEG and editing in the majority of cases is negligible. Results vary tremendously from person to person, based on the efficacy of their camera work (especially in low-light or high-contrast conditions), their base PC and peripherals, and the condition of their recording VCR. Oh, and I forgot to mention their expectations. Some folks expect that running footage through a PC will somehow miraculously clean up dodgy footage whereas the opposite is probably true. Others suffer from genuine problems with either the capture or output stages. Some of us have realistic expectations and manage to gain acceptable results.

Needless to say I expect to be targetted as a pro-Matrox afficianado that doesn't recognise shortcomings, but I should point out that I also run a DC30+ and DV capture, and that my expectations remain the same whatever kit I'm running.

So before buying extra kit or taking everyone elses word for it, please get to know your equipment and experiment as often as you can to try and pinpoint the circumstances when it works well (or not)

Chris

[novice]

Dr Mordrid, thank you very much for your first reply that has already solved my first question.

For the second question, it seems that to get a good quality output, it is not as straight forward as I initially think. There are a lot of hardware, software, and most importantly the skill involved. Nevertheless, thank you for all your valuable suggestions and advices.