Capture problems

[paul baker]

I have a G400-TV capture card which I use to capture at MJPEG format
from a VHS source and convert to a VCD. The process takes a long time,
but the results are pleasing when played back on my DVD player.

A couple problems I am encountering are:
1) The PC-VCR remote for the Matrox card will capture fine (not too many
dropped frames) but when it reaches the 2GB limit, the seam between
files is not perfect. There is a 2-3 second gap before the next file
kicks in. I've tried numerous drivers and I'm running the most recent,
I'm wondering if it's just a limitation of the software?

2) I'm now using VirtualDub to capture, and I guess I'm not quite sure
how to best use it. I enable the spill system and the files are
seamless, so that elevated the above problem with the Matrox software.
However, the dropped frames are not acceptable when I use VD. They seem
to come in bursts where I will capture fine for a few minutes and then
all of a sudden I'll drop 5-7 frames in one second. This results in a
huge glitch in the playback file (whether it's the MJPEG file or
converted MPEG file). Sometimes I get lucky and can capture a full hour
with only dropping 1 frame every couple of minutes. I can live with
that, but it seems that for me to get that result (or better), it's very
touch and go. One day I can get good results the next day I drop way too
many frames.

3) I just got a new larger Hard Drive. 40GB Maxtor - 7200 spindle speed.
The Matrox HD benchmark shows I'm only getting 7MB/sec transfer speed on
this drive! That's way low considering the drive it was supposed to
replace gets 17-18MB/sec. I have the DMA checked in device manger
(without it I only get 4MB/sec). Why is this new drive not performing
like I thought it would (17-18MB/sec)?

I'm hoping someone can give me some suggestions of answers about these
problems. I'm looking to capture video with as few dropped frames as
possible, and with seamless multiple files.

Thanks--
Paul B

[Mike_wdf]

Hi Paul,
you are not alone. The Marvel is only a big disappointment for me. I have exactly the same problems.

ad 1) there is 'only' a 10-12 frames gap in my system, but it is still unusable. With the original software is the marvel only a very expensive toy.

ad 2) The file splitting with VirtualDub or AVI_IO works better, but with more lost frames - you are right. But 5-7 frames in one second is too much. Your soundcard is still ISA, not PCI, am I right?
Try to capture with 'no audio'. You'll see the difference. Buy a PCI one. (I did it last week :-))

ad 3) I have two Maxtors Max+ 40GB in one stripping RAID on Fasttrak 66. The Matrox HDD bench gets 17-24MB/s and I find it realy 'not too much'. Without RAID and with a UDMA33 controller you cannot get more I think.

Cheers Mike

[paul baker]

Hi Mike...

Actually, I do have a PCI sound card (which is another part of my problem... I have too many PCI cards in my ssytem and none of them like to share IRQ's very well).

I just used AVI_IO to capture over and hour of video and to my surprise I only dropped 7 frames! I guess I found my capture software!

The hard drive delema I was having was solved by DL'ing a UDMA utility from Maxtor's site and "flashing" the HD. Now I get t-fer rates of 18MB/Sec on my mainboard uktraDMA 66 IDE channel! Not too bad...

The PC_VCR software is still useless in my system (drops frames and gaps between files splits). VirtualDub is a great program, but if I could get it work consistently well on my system, I would use it more (again, dropped frames).

Thanks--
Paul B

[joefox]

where can you get the avi-io program from?

[paul baker]

You can get AVI_IO from this site: http://www.nct.ch/multimedia/avi_io/

Well worth the $25!

Good luck!
Paul B