Drops....

[Rob100]

AndrewDV,

Been playing some more and found any "AGP intensive" activity caused lock-ups. I couldn't complete a standard 3D mark 2000 benchmark without it locking.

I then read that adjusting the AGP driving value could solve lock-ups with Nvidia cards. I have been experimenting and found that lowering the default (DA) makes things much better. How is your set, Auto or Manual and if Manual what value?

[Rob100]

Reply to my own post...

CC was good for capture, but 3D mark still bombed out. Decided to go the other way and cranked it up to EA and 3D mark completes and so far AVI_IO hasn't locked on me ;-) Looking promising...

[update]

10 minutes after posting, AVI_IO locked...

At this rate the KK266 will become a games machine, gonna try a GF2 in it tonight. Back to Intel I think - f***in VIA chipsets. Never again...


[This message has been edited by Rob100 (edited 30 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Rob100 (edited 30 April 2001).]

[AndrewDV]

If it's not too late, try disabling 'Dynamic Burst' and 'Delay Transaction' in your BIOS.

Just a FYI, but I moved a Promise FastTrack controller to the KK266-R. The scores under Win2K are much nicer so I can use that. However, I must mention that I am using a WinTV-Radio to capture.

[Rob100]

Andrew,

Tried your suggestions and still problems. I have now pulled the G400 from the KK266 system and replaced it with a GF2MX. System is now solid as a rock, been playing Q3A and UT @ 1280x768 (wanna make the AGP scream) for the last 2 hours and not a single crash. This was strictly for test purposes of course ;-)

I put the Marvel back into my old BF6/Celeron 600 (o/c to 900) system and capture is great again. Had to twiddle with the bios to achieve good sync on playback when capturing/playing matrox mjpeg but no flashes (esp with matrox mjpeg), corruption or any of the crap I was getting before.

Funny thing is that I can quite happily capture @ 480x576 using huffyuv using this system to a UDMA33 drive (IBM 30 gig) and seem to only get about 2 drops per hour.

Unfortunately the Celeron can't play these files back in "real time". However I have my capture drives in removable caddies and can easily remove them and put them in the KK266 system for editing and MPEG encoding - the tbird can play the huffyuv files back no problem - make you appreciate how powerful it is!

Rob

[AndrewDV]

Great to hear!

Can you give me some info on the GeForce's video out? Is it as good as the Marvel's?

Thanks

[hippie91]

i dunno.....

i just captured 2.5 hrs of dv (2 tapes on lp mode) with premiere and have not dropped a single frame so far. i'm using win2k and with premiere 6's improved dv support i'm finally able to get some real work done.

also, a single frame is rather visable in film since there are 24 fps, and each frame has an 80% stay time. i've done experiments when i worked as a projectionist, adding a blank frame, blacking a frame out etc..... everytime i could point it out. i suppose, if the opverall contrast of the added frame is extremely similar, then it might get by without people noticing, but the frame has to be very well chosen.

[Rob100]

AndrewDV,

>Great to hear!

Well not an ideal solution, but as long as I don't need more than 45gb (largest single drive I have) at any one time I will be okay.

>Can you give me some info on the GeForce's >video out? Is it as good as the Marvel's?

My GeForce doesn't have a TV out. What I will have to do is use the Marvel with MJPEG on the BF6 for work I want to output to tape (VHS), but for work I want to convert to VCD/SVCD/AVI etc I will use Huffyuv and bring over to the KK266 for editing/encoding. I guess I can always capture and edit in huffyuv and if I want to output that to tape I can encode (using say VirtualDub) as MJPEG and use the Marvel to output that way.

Shame as the reason I bought the KK266 was to make life easier!

[AndrewDV]

FYI, did you happen to notice the new KK266R BIOS at Fullon3d.com? I gave it a go last night. Under Win2K, the results were good.

[Rob100]

Yeah tried the latest BIOS and it seems better. I've actually discovered that my locks when capturing (and 3D mark) with ME were due to the 416 bios. 307 and 426 both seem fine, except for the fact that I get green flashes no matter how much I twiddle. I've gone back to 307 for now. The 686 IDE2 issue shouldn't be a problem as both my CDROM and CDRW in this machine are SCSI. My SBlive seems to be behaving also (no crackles as I've read some ppl are getting)... KK266 is definately now just a games and MPEG encoding box. Having the T-Bird behind my GeForce 2 really makes it come to life and having played it at 1152x864 and still getting 70 fps I couldn't go back to 800x600 ;-)

I'm now messing with the Marvel and Santa Cruz on my BX133. So far not a single green flash. I know Dr M says the High Point raid isn't so good, but I'm gonna give it a go before I fork out for a Promise FT.

[AndrewDV]

I have not tried out the SBLive with the new BIOS. When I get done some editing, I'll give it a go. Right now, my SBLive is just collecting dust on the table (not too lively looking <grin> ).

Just a FYI, I've been capturing very nicely (no drops at all) with a WinTV-Radio under both WinME and Win2K. With the new BIOS, Win2K performance is good enough that I might ditch WinME all together. The stability is outstanding.

I am saying this in case you need to get captures done. Pairing it with the G400's TV Out is a real nice combination.


[This message has been edited by AndrewDV (edited 03 May 2001).]

[Rob100]

Andrew,

Despite all the problems ppl seem to have with the SBlive, I always seem to get on okay with it. I always prefer to use it in a "games system" as it seems for compatable than Santa Cruz with 4 speaker setups.

However I really like the Santa Cruz's mixer panel, so for DTV and audio work I prefer the Santa Cruz.

What you are saying about the WinTV-Radio is very interesting. I've had a look and they are pretty cheap. Thanks for the tip.

So ATM, is you system something like...

KK266R with Tbird (bios 426)
FastTrack ATA100 Raid
Onboard audio
WinTV
Marvel G400

Anything else in the system?

What codec are you capturing with using the WinTV? Can you capture at 704x576 and still get no drops?

Personally I'd prefer to use nothing but Win2k - I only consider Win9x good for games and these days Win2k isn't bad TBH...

Rob.

[AndrewDV]

Here is what I am using:

KK266-R (4.26 BIOS)
1.1Ghz Athlon
CM8738 onboard audio
128MB CAS3 Corsair
Marvel G400-TV
WinTV-Radio
1-20GB WD (non-RAID)
1-20GB Maxtor (non-RAID)
2-45GB IBM 75gxp (RAID0)
Promise FastTrack ATA100 RAID
Creative Dxr3 Decoder
WinME/Win2K dual boot

whew...

I can capture up to 720x480 (NTSC) with 0 drops (svideo). I am using YUY2 and PIC MJPEG for the current project, but have used Huffyuv as well.

This is something really interesting. Doc M mentioned captures at 352x480 awhile ago. Since then, I've noticed how nice those files translate into VCDs and SVCDs. In a lot of ways, they look better than capturing at 480x480. Still, I'd use 720x480 for outputing to tape.

[Rob100]

Andrew,

Forgot to ask before...

Does the WinTV have any macrovision protection like the Marvel? If so, are there patches available to remove this (for when working with unstable sources?).

Rob.

[AndrewDV]

To be totally honest, I have no idea. There is nothing in the documentation about it nor have I hit any problems with it (I used to get a macrovision alert on some video sources with the G400). Maybe someone over at the vcdhelp.com forums could answer that in detail.

The PVR model may have it for MPEG captures, but I definitely do not recommend that for PAL users. Too many issues with the current hardware (the next iteration is reported to have been fixed).

When buying a WinTV, purchase only what you really need. It just saves you money. There are different versions. The biggest difference I noticed has to do with the BrookTree/Conextant chipset. This may change, but the WinTVs that have s-video have the more powerful bt878a Fusion chipset while the lower end has the bt848 chipset.

The difference between the 2 is really nice. I noticed it when playing with AVI captures on the PVR. After learning that the new WinTV-radios have been upgraded to the Fusion chipset, I purchased one.

You can get one with all of the bells and whistles (HD TV, Dolby Surround), but you pay for it. The capture quality is exactly the same. All of the extra add-ins are more for watching video and listening to the radio.

Because I wanted to capture stereo sound + svideo, I bought the WinTV-Radio. It was under $100 and has the bt878a fusion chipset. The other features (remote control, FM tuner, etc.) are more 'fun' items to me.

[Rob100]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for info on the WinTV's. I had a look at the specs of all models and the "radio" version does seem the best bet for what I want. In the UK this is about £70.

I've already piled enough money into this, but what the hell... I will get one (and a FastTrack) and set my KK266 up similar to yours, except I will use SC instead of onboard audio. Failing that I've also got a 2nd hand P3B-F on it's way to me, so if I still get problems with the KK266 I'll set my system up like Dr Mordrid's. However having 1400mhz of Thunderbird powering the system would be nice. One day I will get this sorted - however it might be a few weeks as I'm off to Jamacia next week to get married (argh...).

Rob.