This should be easy. I just tried it myself, just to make sure. I am in NTSC-land, but I am certain this will work for PAL.

I took my FX1 and set it up for analog passthrough. I connected to my DirecTV analog satellite output and connected the output of the FX1 to my computer via a Firewire cable.

I then opened Scenalyzer and did a quick capture of some of the presidential inauguration coverage. This was DV AVI, which I understand is NOT what you want to do, but I did this first just to make sure my analog to digital capture via the FX1 and Firewire was working.

It was.

Next, I opened my MainConcept MPEG-2 encoder. This is an external application which you must purchase. However, you can download the trial and see if it works. Since you won't be using the MPEG-2 encoder itself (because you want to encode to MPEG-4), the trial may actually work for you without needing to purchase it. I'll explain in the next paragraph.

I chose Tools -> Capture. I then set the capture parameters to make sure that I was capturing the same resolution (720x480 in my case) as the native video and the same frame rate. I then chose the DivX codec. I could have chosen any of the over two dozen codecs that were offered. I captured, and while capturing made sure that I wasn't dropping any frames. I then stopped the capture and verified that I had a good capture.

I also dropped the captured file onto to GSpot in order to verify that the resolution, framerate, etc. were what I expected.

The only real question is whether you will drop frames, and that is entirely up to the encoder and the speed of your computer, not on what capture application you use. Since this worked on my six-year-old computer (which I plan to retire this week), I assume it will work on your computer as well.

"However, capturing DV to AVI files (25mbit/s) would be insane, due to the very low compression level and huge files."

The most common complaint about DV25 is it's HIGH compression levels.

Bob.

1.Buy a big HD
2.Capture in DV
3.Batch process to output (anything)

Much more efficient...

The capture to DV and then batch processing does have the distinct advantage that it is almost foolproof. The solution I posted will work, but as I said, as soon as you use any sort of software encoder, things tend to get a little "touchy," and dropped frames can be a real issue.

I've never had a dropped frame (other than when analog source material loses sync) when capturing DV, even on a 450 MHz Windows 98 PC with a 4,500 rpm drive. It is amazingly robust.

Thx to you all for the good ideas & advice,

Howewer, capturing from SD DV over firewire to MPEG4 files in real time - is not a problem on a modern PC, with a suitable encoding SW. Such software exists. The first I have now tested is Atific Video Collection, that can be found at:

http://atific.fi/en/

It just happends that it is written by some fellow citicens :) Well, it does not make it better, nor worse, I just only realized the funny fact...

However, I am not sure if this application is what I want, since it seems that the MPEG4 files it generates are progressive. I would like to keep the clips interlaced with no deinterlacing induced loww of quality.

Doesn't MPEG4 support also standard definition PAL 4:3 - as interlaced?

DV is failry compressed yes, but taking into account the fact that it does not use temporal information, the compression IS actually lousy, compared to MPG2 or even MPEG4.

DV 25Mbit/s to MPEG4 compression at 4...5Mbits/s final data rate should not compromize the original DV25 quality, since the algorithms are excellent and block artefacts (or mosquito noise) are non-existent.

My search continues... If only this software could do interlaced I would probably would use it... The beauty of it is that there are NO huge temporary file storage needs, neither no batch processing. Converting on the fly is not such a bad idea after all...

Christian

When you consider all the time needed to verify your captured files, and recapture in case of problems, the most stable tool is always the best one in a professionnal context. You don't want to have delivered material bouncing back on your desk. Software encoders has always proven to be unreliable for me, as tempting as they could be.

In a past big archive project, i finally decided to go with the following workflow :

1.Recording straight to a stand alone Pionneer DVD-R recorder for simple transferts.
2.Capture with the wonderfully stable Scenalyser in DV and edit/color correct/render with Vegas for other situations.

BTW, with the major switch to tapeless workflow in the video industry, you can count on zillions of CF/SDHC/HD HD recorders (Firestore style) comming in the next years, preserving your computer from being used for such unproductive task.

Hi,

Just to let you all know, my experimenting with Atific Video Collection resulted in the following:

- the application is easy to use and produces excellent quality MP4 files
- capture from a DV-cam works like a charm (no dropped frames)
- the output is ALWAYS progessive, even if the input is interlaced
- the software is not anymore actively developed

Since producing MPEG4 progressive was not what I wanted (not to loose temporal information), I never downloaded other than the trial.

The seach continues.... There MUST be somewhere a software that does this direclty...

Christian

The solution I posted in my first post above works. I tried it. Any reason it doesn't work for you?

John, can the free Windows Media Encoder create the same DIVX files? If so then I think you could do this through that encoder.

We have a digital rapids card that does this sort of transcoding (in our case it was SDI out of a mac based Media100 because at that time it was the only reasonable way to make wmv files). Digital Rapids uses the WM encoder and it always seemed to me like the card added little more than an SDI interface and some preprocessing.

In this case you don't need special hardware.

Rob Mack

Rob,
I think WME can only encode to WMV. I couldn't find anywhere to change that.
Tom

I give up. Did anyone read my post?

Here, I'll even make it easy to find:

My First Post in This Thread

What I posted works, and it does exactly what the original poster requested.

I need to find something else to do while waiting for renders to finish ...

"I need to find something else to do while waiting for renders to finish ... "

John,
Here's what not to do, and no reference to this thread:
1) Have a drink, and then another . . .
2) Video not rendered yet? Get back on the forum.
3) Get irritated over some repeated annoyance in a thread, and make a foolish response.
4) The next day, retract your stupid post and apologize to the recipient.

I should know, I've done it a couple of times this week . . .

Eating humble pie for dinner tonight, without the drink.

musicvid

musicvid,

Good point, and very well said. I agree. However, another alternative is to just not bother to spend time here. I really need to spend more time on other things anyway ...

Yeah, I really need to get out more, too. Can I buy you a beer?