What is the secret of a drop-free capture?

[egov]

Hi!
I want to optimise my system so I can capture drop-free.

Currently I have:
Windows 98 optimised for linear editing according http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/fa.../video4.cfm#33

PIII 800MHz running on ASUS CUSL2-C motherboard with ATA100 harddisk, 256 MB RAM, Matrox G200 TV AGP, SoundBlaster PCI 128.
The Matrox CD benchmark rates the hard disk ~20 MB/sec
The best I could squeeze with AVI_IO and VirtualDub is a constant 2 dropped frames per minute rate. As a source I use Hi-Fi VCR with original tape. The video driver is V5.55.022, the tools are V1.52
I tried different capture frame rate. Even at 15 fps it still drops frames, so it does not seem to be a bandwith problem. I use YUY2 with HuffYuv, latest version.

[hippie91]

ummmmm... don't you mean non linear editing? linear editing is the old-school 2 VTRs and a control deck.

[egov]

huh... anyway, you know what I mean.

[Dr Mordrid]

Use BX or AMD chipped boards. Treat VIA like the plague. i815 is OK for DV, but may have problems with high datarate analog.

P4 boards are actually slower than fast PIII's or TBirds, so avoid them and their overpriced and underperforming RAMBUS memory

Use peripherals with low latency drivers (sound, NIC's etc.). Creative PCI audio and 3COM NIC's need not apply. Linksys and SMC 100 mbps NIC's are good at the low end. I'm trying a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI audio card and it looks good so far, but I'm not done testing yet. It sure does sound nice.

Fast drives (7,200 rpm or RAID or both)

If RAID use Promise or 3Ware. HighPoint still has problems, especially on VIA boards.

ALWAYS use separate system and capture drives.

Where ever possible use a separate controller for the capture drive (PCI IDE, RAID or SCSI).

Optimized OS's (avoid ME)

If you have only a single OS installation then use an editing ONLY profile with NIC's and other unnecessary hardware disabled

or better yet....

Use a multiboot setup with an OS installation JUST FOR EDITING. No extraneous stuff like net plugins, games or other resource hogs. All previous rules also apply.

Disable any unused ports in the system BIOS (COM1 if you use a busmouse etc.), COM2 if empty....

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 03 April 2001).]

[egov]

That's why I replaced my MSI 6309 AVI chipset for Asus CUSL2 with Intel 815e chipset. The Hard disk is ATA 100, 7200 rpm, 2MB cache (20mb/sec according to the Matrox benchmark) used ONLY for video capture, connected as a SLAVE to the main drive. I have a multiboot WIN98/2000. 98 is optimised for editing.

[huzoo]

Are you trying to capture at 30 fps? Two frames a minute is the difference between 30 fps and 29.97. I used to get the same dropped frames trying to take in a NTSC signal at 30 fps.

[lotuseatR]

Dr Mordrid:

Although Via chipsets have their problems, I would not condemn all of them.

With the right drivers/mobo, there have been good results with the apollo 133A chipset.

Via's initial drivers were garbage (as usual?), but at least one later version of drivers has delivered good performance and stability, relative to the SDRAM alternatives.

[This message has been edited by lotuseatR (edited 03 April 2001).]

[wkulecz]

What exactly is the "right" motherboard and driver versions for success with Via chipset motherboards for NLE?

--wally.

[Dr Mordrid]

The VT133a chipset and the latest 4-in-1. Avoid the 4.25 4-in-1 and the HighPoint RAID chipset if at all possible.

That'll take you up to 70/30 sucess.

Dr. Mordrid

[KRSESQ]

Egov:

Have you tried running your capture drive as the primary drive on your secondary controller? This is how I have my rig set up (FIC VA503+ with AMD K6-2 @ 330MHz, 128 MB). It doesn't have the yarbles to do Huff-YUY but at least it doesn't drop frames.

Kevin

[Dr Mordrid]

Or the method I use for my non-RAID setups: a Promise Ultra IDE controller with the video drive on its primary master. Works great.

Dr. Mordrid

[lotuseatR]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by wkulecz:
What exactly is the "right" motherboard and driver versions for success with Via chipset motherboards for NLE?

--wally.</font>

Couldn't say what exactly all the right Via mobo/driver combinations are. Will comment on an apollo 133A chipset combination, as referenced previously.

The VT6X4 with the Via 4.24 drivers and the BIOS flash of 000828 works well for vid. cap. There must be other stable combinations.

Don't know any Via chipset/driver combos for AMD processors that work well for vid. cap. If someone does, maybe they could advise.

[egov]

Could be there a problem because I use a PC100 memory on my memory?

[wkulecz]

Doc, egov,

Thanks for the info on Via chipsets. 70/30 is not good enought for me. I'll look for a deal on a slotkit and 800/100 to upgrade my PIII-500 ASUS P2B, or most likely stay with what I have until after XP is released.

I passed on the 1GHz PIII and Abit MB deal at Fry's last weekend as I've no faith in Via combined with Abit. Judging by the lack of replies to my thread asking, VH6-II as an Abit model number must be a "typo" in Fry's ad. Not worth the drive to find out.

--wally.

[Dr Mordrid]

Just for the record;

VIA = Apollo = VIA

This is why back in the Super7 days they both had pipeline cache issues that required it being disabled in the BIOS. No coincidence. They were designed and fabbed in the same facilities with a lot of shared code.

So, if you think you can avoid VIA's problems with Apollo chipsets....

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 04 April 2001).]