XP -- FAT32 or NTSF Which is better to use for video capture. Does it make a difference.

chuck1948 wrote on 3/15/2002, 11:19 AM
Just installed XP on my system. Which is the better format for capturing video. Thought I heard somewhere that NTSF is a slower write speed and can cause capture problems. Anyone have any experience. Am running an athlon 600 with 320 of memory if that would make any difference. Am still using FAT32 but wonder if I should convert to NTSF.....


Thanks all..........

Comments

ANDREMIKE wrote on 3/15/2002, 1:44 PM
I would convert to NTFS. The biggest reason is you will NOT be able to capture and produce movies greater then 4GIG/20minutes. FAT32 does not allow you to have file sizes greater the 4GIG. I converted and have not noticed any problems with capturing.... Maybe someone will respond who has..
HeeHee wrote on 3/15/2002, 4:14 PM
Ditto what ANDREMIKE said.

I went to XP Pro just for that same reason. It makes it much easier to capture large files since you don't have to sit there and watch. I had 98SE before and have noticed a performance increase with XP loaded with NTFS.

FYI - If you didn't get it already, make sure you get the Pro addition. The Home addition does not have NTFS support, only FAT32.
chuck1948 wrote on 3/15/2002, 4:35 PM
The 4 gig size is not the issue. VideoFactory bridges the file size anyway. Plus I believe the largest avi file size limit is 4 gig. Why would you want any avi file larger than that. Even that size can be a nightmare to edit. I have heard that the ntsf is slower to write to the drive than fat32 and it can create video capture problems. Oh, I have the Pro version......
HeeHee wrote on 3/15/2002, 4:46 PM
The 4gig limit is not a limit of AVI files, it's a limitation of FAT32. With FAT32 you are limited to 4gig files period, no matter what format. As far as I know, VF does not bridge the gap, but VV does when Printing/capturing to/from DV tape. I do not have a DV device yet, so all my video is captured from analog using an ATI All-in-Wonder. I do not use the VF capture utility. I capture hours of tape at a time in uncrompressed AVI on my NTFS drive and have no performace problems capturing or editing. I couldn't imagine sitting there thru the whole capture having to save a file avery 4 minutes. Where you get into problems editing is when you use compressed formats like MPEG.
chuck1948 wrote on 3/15/2002, 5:00 PM
No I understand. VF 2.0 bridges avi files if you use their capture program. Also have an all-in-wonder but DV camera Sony trv17 will let me input through it and output by caputuring with the VF instead of the all-in-wonder card. Isn't those large avi files large to edit. Have you been having any audio sync problems with those size of files. Would have to figure a 2 hour home movie would be a 20 gig file. Seems kind of large to work with.

I have fat32 now and know if I convert I am done forever unless I reformat. Don't want to even consider that. Thats why I am open to all opinions. Thanks.....
Former user wrote on 3/15/2002, 5:53 PM
AVI's that are VFW based are limited to 2gig. But otherwise, the limitation is based on the OS and the harddrive formatting. DV is not VFW based, nor are many other captured files. NTFS is, for all intents and purposes, unlimited. The VF capture will create individual 4gig files while capturing if capturing to FAT32, but you are still limited to creating files no larger than 4gig. Under VF, it will automatically created individual 4gig files during make file if necessary. But if you are using an external program to create an MPEG or DVD file, then you need to join these files in some sort of MPEG editor.

NTFS seems to be quite effecient at handling large video files. I visit other video forums and people who are using NTFS seem very happy with it. It does seem to be showing some limitations in cameras. Specifically, Canon digital cameras seem to have some audio sync problems that show up in large captures. No one seems to understand why yet, but it is causing some concern. You see less complaints about Sony cameras.

Dave T2
Clyde200 wrote on 3/18/2002, 4:36 AM
***FYI - If you didn't get it already, make sure you get the Pro addition. The Home addition does not have NTFS support, only FAT32.***

Ummm ... I have XP 'Home' and I record everyday to my NTFS drives. Save a $100 and get the Home edition.
HeeHee wrote on 3/18/2002, 5:08 PM
You're right! I was thinking about EFS (Encrypting File System ).
HeeHee wrote on 3/18/2002, 5:14 PM
I use an AIW and an older Canon Camcorder. I do get sync problems, but it is more or leass related to analog capture more than the size of the file. I have no problems editing the the large files (I have edited as large as a 14GB file) and have solved the sync problem by ungrouping the audio from the video and moving the audio stream over a bit to sync it up.

I guess it is personal preference, but you do get more options like individual file security that you don't get with FAT32. Also, Microsoft recommends NTFS for drives over 32GB.

Check this page out:
http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWSXP/home/using/howto/gettingstarted/guide/newinstallation.asp