Success with RR-G and G400Max Combo with Windows XP

[black88mx6]

After a year or more I have just moved to Windows XP myself (well I have been on XP but have not used my RR-G + G400Max Combo other than for Video Display and TV) and have had the nice surprise of finding out that this combination works great now on my System.

Specs SOYO Via Motherboard with AC97 Sound
1Ghz P3 Processor
G400Max
RR-G
40 Gig Maxtor 7200 HD
120 Gig WD Special Edition HD
Pioneer A104 DVD Burner
Windows XP with SP1
NTFS file system

The software combination that I have used is as follows in the correct load order.

Unload Current Video card and VT Drivers (reboot)

Video Drivers 5.86 (5.86.032) ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/archive...2/2kxp_586.exe
VT version vt_210a (2.10.010a) ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/archive...01/vt_210a.exe
MV-vtools-2.10.010a-eng-2K-XP (disables macrovision) http://forums.murc.ws/attachment.php?s=&postid=233142
rr update for 2.10.010a.zip (patches for XP) http://trancexx.myip.org/matrox/soft... 2.10.010a.zip
PICVideo MJPEG Codec Loaded ftp://ftp.pictools.com/picvideo/PICVIDEO2.EXE
HUFFYUY2 Codec Loaded http://math.berkeley.edu/~benrg/huffyuv.html
yuy2w2k.exe loaded to enabled or disable YUY2 if needed http://digitalvideo.8m.net/yuy2w2k.zip
I use NTSC

(all software above besides the Codecs can be found here in different places ) ** I have provided links to all the above ** PICVIDEO Codec requires registration.

I have done minimal testing under Matrox PC-VCR other than watch some TV; I mainly use VirtualDub 1.4.10 to do all my captures.

I capture in MJPEG mostly; but have done a few tests with HUFFYUY2 also. I have just finished processing over 4 hours of video to MPEG2 using MJPEG using the following software.

Captures VirtualDUB 1.4.10
Encoding TMPGEng Plus 2.58.44.152
DVD Authoring DVDit Pro 2.5.2 (still waiting to get/put the 2.5.4 patch on)

Issues

One issue I have noted is that it is best to capture in the highest MJPEG resolution of 704x480 as in the lower ones glitches in the video can cause the capture to stop.

Another is that I don't do any editing on the capture system. I do it all on another system that also has the above video codecs loaded on it. Some of my captures have gone to 5-6 gig and for some reason the system with the RR-G combo does not like to edit the large captures but my other system will, both systems use NTFS file system.

Overall I have noticed MUCH better captures on my RR-G than I was getting on my Nvidia GForce3 with VIVO. The sync on the GF3 card was so bad that at times I would get chroma bleed from the white scenes all over the screen, from some of my sources. The RR-G is so much better in that it locks on the signal and produces a MUCH better original capture.

Anyways just wanted to report my findings. You can email me at black88mx6@yahoo.com

[Will Hay]

Hello.
I'm having trouble finding the video tools drivers you mentioned. The only 210 on this site seems ro be for the RR Studio.
I can't find anything relating to either the macrovision (other than version 2.02) or RR XP patch.
Could you assist with links?
Many thanks,
Will

[black88mx6]

Some thoughts and hints on the software packages that I use.

VirtualDUB 1.4.10 http://www.virtualdub.org/

Audio

-Set Audio format to PCM 48.000 kHz, 16 Bit Stereo 187 kb/set - this will set you up for direct import to DVD format w/out conversion.

Video

-MJPEG Settings 704x480 NTSC Full MJPEG High Quality best capture available with minimal stops

-No Video compression as I mainly use MJPEG

Capture Settings

- Use standard capture most of the time as it seems to provide the most robust and compatible .avi file

- Settings; lock audio to video; frame rate 30.00 to match source capture rate; Video buffer limit 25; Auto buffers at 0

- Preferences; Initial display mode "overlay"

- Timing; check it to Adjust video clock to match audio


TMPGEng Plus 2.58.44.152 http://www.pegasys-inc.com/

- Do not use the wizard; mostly a waste of time

- Load for DVD NTSC (NA only)

Settings Video

- I use 2 pass VBR 3000 min, 6000 average and 8000 max; best size and video that I have found so far.

- Motion search; highest quality (very slow)

Settings Advanced

- Field order; Bottom field first (Field B)

- Source range; do most of my editing here

- Noise reduction

- Simple color correction

- De-interlace (odd field (adaption)) ** DEINTERLACE FILTER REQUIRED **

SPECIAL NOTE - Environmental settings; sometimes VFAPI plug-ins at the top of the list will interfere with those lower on the list; as the list is processed from top to bottom. If you have problems loading in your avi or whatever into TMPGEnc then you may have to disable the top ones to load the file.

DVDit 2.5.2 http://www.sonic.com/

- Get the latest version; SAVE your work ALOT!!! Authoring for DVD still needs a lot of work

- Get the PRO version; convert all Audio to Dolby Digital 2/0 Stereo

- I am overall most disappointed in DVD authoring software; it crashes a lot, is incompatible with many formats, has a high learning curve and just doesn't do what it advertises. I recommend that if you can to DL and test them as much as you can before you buy. Some that I have used are Pinnacle Studio 8, DVD Workshop 1.3 and a few others.

[black88mx6]

Links have been added to the above post that you can easily find/download the required drivers.

[Will Hay]

Many, many thanks - that's a great help.
I will download these tonight.
I was very worried I'd have to revery back to Win98se, the desktop machine I intend to install these drivers on is simply for vide capture and editing so this was kinda inportant.
One other thing, after removing the origignal drivers/vt's, I take it I should reboot, yes?
Many thanks again,
Will

[black88mx6]

Yes, I would reboot after the uninstall of the old drivers.

As I stated above one of my issues is that I am unable to edit the larger files correctly on the capture system; and I do not recommend that approach. Loaded the PICVideo MJpeg drivers on another system w/out the Matrox board allows the editing of files up to 6 gig (the largest mjpeg I have created so far).

I suppose that there is a way to get it to work correctly on the capture system, but since my other system is so much faster to edit and process mpeg2 files on I never bothered to figure it out.

[Will Hay]

Hello again.
I have everything now except the RR XP patch.
The link you gave me:
--

http://shellzone.la/~nicram/matrox/software/rr%20update%20for%202.10.010a.zip

--
Doesn't appear to work.
Would you be so kind as to e-mail me the file directly?
I would be very grateful.
Will

[black88mx6]

I edited the link again for one that works today.

[Will Hay]

Thanks again, your time and effort is appreciated.
I had a quick play around with the (new) Matrox remote last night, there doesn't seem to be a record facility?!?!
I noticed you use Virtualdub for capture rather than the Matrox remote, have you noticed a significant improvement in doing this?
Thanks again,
Will

[black88mx6]

Once you put in the patch the Matrox Remote will have a record option, but I don't use it. VirtualDub does everything the matrox one will, but better. Also you must use a 3rd party capture if you want to use YUY2.

[Peter Rusling]

Would this combination work with a Marvel G400TV under XP?

Thanks, Peter

[black88mx6]

It is quite possible as the G400max and Marvel G400's were similar.

[Will Hay]

Thanks for the links.
Everything has worked except the record facility on the matrox remote, very strange!
Anyway, I took your advice and tried virtualdub to capture and am more than happy with the results.
I haven't installed any codecs yet, I'll try the ones you suggested in the next day or so.
I have a back-up hard drive with Win98se on and after re-installing that I had two crashes in half an hour, hence my desire to upgrade to XP which I've found much more stable (I have it on my laptop).
Thanks to you I can now do this on my desktop 'authoring only' computer.
Thanks, I'm very grateful.
Will