Please Help Me With AVI Capture Problem :(

sfxwe wrote on 8/15/2002, 8:31 PM
Ok, hopefully I can explain this properly. I have used some ulead products that I have purchased.....Media Studio Pro to be exact. When I would capture my video through Ulead (AVI, as there is no other setting), the AVI files were huge (about 1.2GB per minute or so) and the video was crisp and very clear.

I would then take the video and do my edits and convert them to MPEG's for DVD authoring on my DVD+RW. Well I have installed some freeware software and a demo version of SF VV 3.0, as I hear it kicks ***...and so far I love it, but here is my problem, which bothers me alot. The AVI files that I have captured with SF VV, are alot smaller in size and to me the video looks like it has been compressed, as it looks like mpeg video at a lower quality when played at full resolution on my screen (where as the AVI files prior didn't have this problem). The video is not crisp and clear like prior avi captures, and the file size is alot smaller. I don't see any settings I can change in the capture mode, to me it seems like a codec has been replaced with another codec with poor quality or different spec's :(.

I am running Win XP Pro 1.8 PIV, 1 GB of Rambus 800, a 60GB and 80GB 7200 RPM HD's, Firewire capture card and a sony DV Cam, 64MB GeForce 3. Again SF VV seems to be a really nice program but if I can't get good quality during AVI captures, it won't do me any good :(. BTW there is no frame drop or loss. How can I change, if possible at all, the default AVI codec, or do you guys think thats not the problem? Help me please, lol....

Thanks A Bunch
Kezef

Comments

sfxwe wrote on 8/15/2002, 8:34 PM
PS...The RAM View kicks $$$ :).......
jthor wrote on 8/15/2002, 8:48 PM
I will be looking with interest to responses to your question. I am a beginner but also am searching for Capture information. Why only to avi and I still have not located where you tell it to capture too (folder). It is going to c:\Mydocument which is not my dedicated drive. Somme very sharp users out there, so hang tough and read a lot of this forum.
sfxwe wrote on 8/15/2002, 9:01 PM
I really do think it is a codec problem from what I can see on sites like vcdhelp.com and forums like this. I am capturing the video to my 80 GB hard drive which is my 2nd drive, just for video only. BTW I am a total newbe too :)....but I am really having a blast doing this video stuff.......family loves me for it too....esp the kids, lol.
Tyler.Durden wrote on 8/15/2002, 9:06 PM
Sfxwe,

Sounds like your prior system was perhaps capturing uncompressed. Were you capturing thru a 1394 card?

DV captured native, will yield approx. 4.5 min/GB drive space. This may account for the file size and compression your are seeing. (DV is by spec 5:1 compressed.)

Jthor, you might try setting the capture drives in Vegas Capture: Options>preferences>Disk Management. Set temp-files folders and recording files folders in Vegas Project Properties and Preferences, respectively.

HTH, MPH
sfxwe wrote on 8/15/2002, 9:21 PM
Yes sir, the prior files were uncompressed AVI files from what I can tell, cause they were huge, but quality was great, and yes I was using my DV cam and ADS Tech firewire card to capture the uncompressed video through my Ulead program. Now my captured AVI file seems to be compressed as it has a compressed mpeg look it in, and is no longer crystal clear like the uncompressed. This AVI now has artifacts around moving images like MPEG would have at a lower compression rate :(.....please help. Where can i get a codec for full uncompressed AVI file capture?

Thanks again guys :)
Tyler.Durden wrote on 8/15/2002, 9:33 PM
Well, this is a puzzle. If you were coming off a DV source, thru a DV card, yer footage was compressed... altho it sounds like MSP was saving uncompressed files. Mystery.

The artifacts you are seeing may be due to settings in Vegas... you might check prefs to "ignore third party codecs" and verify that "use MS DV codec" is not checked.

How are you viewing the files... WMP, Vegas or other... that may make a difference.

Regards, MPH
sfxwe wrote on 8/15/2002, 9:49 PM
Um, I don't see where to make those adjustments anywhere in the capture preference settings.....I don't have a choice of any settings other than frame rate :(. I use multiple programs to view it, IE WMP, CyberLink which came with something I bought at one time or another......I still think it is a codec problem and I need to reinstall something, lol......

Thanks Again
sfxwe wrote on 8/16/2002, 9:09 AM
Ok, I finally found those settings, lol, they were in the main preferences. But they are set like you guys say they should be. So now what, should I change those around and try to use the third party codecs? Or use the MS codec?

When you guys capture video from your DV Cams, is the picture crisp and clean without any artifacts from compression?

Thanks Again
Tyler.Durden wrote on 8/16/2002, 9:24 AM
Well, better minds than mine may have to sort this out, but here's a thought...

While I haven't used MSP, it must have been doing some de-compressing of the DV data to save your big AVI files. I might be way off here (it's just a guess) that MSP was de-interlacing at the same time.

You might not be seeing compression artifacts... you might be seeing interlacing artifacts, as NTSC and PAL DV are interlaced natively.

Like I said, I'm just taking potshots here. In any case, you can render your footage to Mpeg1, mpeg2, progressive avi, real, QT, winMedia or whatever you want using Vegas. I would be suprised if the results do not meet or exceed MSP's level of quality. If it didn't we'd be hearing about it. Perhaps some former MSP users will chime in.


HTH, MPH



sfxwe wrote on 8/16/2002, 11:46 AM
Ok, I will try it, and convert it to mpeg and burn to dvd and see what happens....I will try it this weekend and then update ya.....thanks again for all your input :). Please let me know if ya come up with anything else....

Thanks