On Sun, 6 Aug 2000, gameouji wrote:

> --------MPG Capture--------
> I am currently having a shelves full of VHS tapes and would like to
[snipped]
> consuming process, is there anything out there that will allow capturing
> of mpg directly??

I think there were one or two boards which captured direct to Mpeg-1 video
compression. But they cost in the range of $499+... I think the
Voodoo5(high end version) can capture to mpeg-1. not sure about the
quality though.. or the sound syncing it can achieve.

> doi> Software encoders require some "real" CPU power, which I don't have. (^_^;

> doi> Also whenever I do something with software encoders, things go out
> doi> of sync (maybe because of lack of CPU).

This has more to do with latency between the sound device and that of the
video device. It may appear synced in one format on playback, but during
translation, the syncing goes slightly out due to different time
blockings. I could be wrong though.

The CPU issue only comes into play when you are trying to capture realtime
to a particular format. In which case, unless the sound and video capture
units are integrated and tightly coupled as one source for the on-board
mpeg compression.. you will almost always encounter sound sync issues.
This isn't really so much a CPU issue as a hardware design one. ^_^; Or so
I've been informed.

> I am on a PII333 Dual w/ SCSI HDD/CDW here, but I am looking for some
> way that I can record the video directly onto VCD. Capturing video in avi
> and then converting avi->mpg takes up too much time and HDD space.
> Looking for alternatives, anyone has suggestions??

Mpeg1/2 involves lot's of analyzing and compression. Doesn't matter what
CPU you have now.. (except perhaps in the case of the 1Ghz + 1Gigram
systems)... a dedicated DSP/CPU combo is what's normally used to do
Mpeg1/2 video compression. Some are realtime, others take longer. On a
computer without hardware Mpeg compression, it will always take longer.

> doi> That box only does video.
> doi> The one I used is
> doi> http://www.iodata.co.jp/products/video/mpgboxp.htm

Doi, that's the reason for your sound/video syncing problems. Any system
where the sound and video aren't synced in hardware like the video-sound
capture systems will encounter a certain amount of latency from either the
video capture device or the sound capture device. This can be in
milliseconds or whole seconds. ^_^; I use a io-mega buzz capture card. (It
sucks, but it runs under Linux. And I can script it to convert from the
movtar mjpeg format to mpeg-1/2. But sound sync issues also happen here
because the Buzz and sound are not coupled directly. But the buzz does
have mjpeg compression built it. ^^)

> doi> It connects with the parellel port.  There is a USB version, but that
> doi> costs more..  (but then I would be able to use it on my libretto.)
> May be I need this one ^_^

Go with the USB or internal card... I was under the impression that if you
wanted the quality setting above a certain level, it would exceed the
bandwidth of the parallel port?

When I'm capturing at max quality I tend to suck up 4-5meg/second
bandwidth on the hard drives.

> doi> It comes with Ulead VideoStudio 3.0SE.
> doi> Is this any good?

It's okay, but the interface tends to be a bit overly done. ^_^; Too much
pictury stuff. But when it works, I like the overlay function as it helps
with recording. The sound/video syncing still is dependant upon your
hardware's latency though. ^^; And most sound cards these days are
fast.. but sometimes, because of driver issues, not fast enough to start
at the same time as the video capturing.

A good test is to record a 15-60 minute clip and see if it remains in sync
during the whole of that time period.

Prolly doesn't apply to a windows machine, but with the buzz and a SB pci
sound card(generic), I've been able to tune it so I can record about 2
hours without going out of time sync between video and sound. But then
again, whether it will convert to mpeg without losing that sync is
entirely another matter. ^_^;;

But if you want it to go to mpeg directly without sound and video going
out of sync, I think one would be stuck with either a digital camcorder +
firewire -> pro capture card/mpeg compression card or a capture card that
uses mpeg compression as default internally with both video and sound
input on the same card.

Otherwise, sound/video syncing will almost always be an issue.

Wing.