DV camcorder/firewire/capture stuff.

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canton_kid
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DV camcorder/firewire/capture stuff.

Post by canton_kid »

I still am looking for firewire card. Not one in town :(
Well what do ya expect, Baby Wallmart and a general dollar store :)

I am for now capturing from the Canon ZR60 to the pc using the analog output and ATI AIW. Course this is not what I really want to do, but it'll work for a couple days. I'll check the bigger wallmart this weekend or order one some where.

I have noticed though that the little video I have shot so far has artifacts and trails sometimes. This is viewing durring capture, not after, so it shouldn't have anything to do with settings on the computer I think. Not alot of action either, just someone on stage moving thier arm fairly quickly will sometimes leave trails it seems. Mostly on smaller items like arms too, but not so much on the full person.

Heres the scoop. I shot a theatre play rehersal. I had turned off digital zoom and only used optical. I was zoomed in at about 3/4 and above (varied) with 18x. Sometimes full zoom. I think all settings we're on auto. The room was not bright, but not dark either, maybe dim. The stage was lit well.
This is a small theatre. I was in SP mode. 16bit sound,stero (I think thats what it said.)
What I was recording for picture varied with depth of zoom. Sometimes just the set on the stage (zoomed in for a certain area), sometimes when I needed full stage side to side then I got some seats and a person or two (sort of wide screen).

Although I consider it better than the VHS I shot a few days ago, it seems more like a fair or low quality VCD. As I say, this was viewing on the PC durring capture, not the captured file so settings shouldn't matter and I think they were high enough for good VHS anyway.

Any Ideas what I may have done wrong and how to improve this? I may try again tonight.

Has anyone tried neodvd, supposed to be a trialware but couldn't find a link to download from the website. Supposed to be an all in one, capture and burn program. Sounds good for a simple fast project and might do more advanced stuff too, but does it work? Cheap enough, about $50.
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RaT
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Post by RaT »

i have the same dv camcorder as you. i never thought of "Capturing" video via firewire because i've always been using my Dazzle DVC capture card back when i had an analog camcorder. i capture straight into mpeg2 format and i can say results are pretty good.

as you mentioned is is common to see certain artifacts and trails during fast-action scenes. i believe this can be minimized depending on the capture software you use, computer specs and the settings you use, like bitrate, etc.

i'm not familiar with ati video cards "capturing capabilities" so i can't really offer you suggestions on this one. btw, when you capture, what format is it saved as? avi, mpg??
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

Super Walmart here carries Belkin firewire cards, but they vary store to store.

The quality of a capture via firewire will be superior to that via analog.

Additionally, most analog video capture cards only capture at 320x240. With DV you can capture at full resolution 720 x 480.

Also, I'm not familiar with ATI's capture program, but if it didn't capture it directly to a raw AVI file then it's probably suffering from compression artifacts.

Your capture is only as good as your hardware and software.

You will almost certainly need a new capture program and video editor since I doubt that ATI's capture app will work with anything but the ATI card.

I'd recommend Ulead Video Studio for a reasonably priced video capture / editor.

I use both Ulead and Vegas Video (very pricey, but I have friends in the video business).


If you don't care about editing and just want to dump DV video straight to a DVD then MyDVD is a decent program. It does also come with an editor, but I don't know how good it is.
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canton_kid
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Post by canton_kid »

I gotto go away in a minute, but basically I capture directly to mpeg2 files. I vary my bit rate so the file will be a total of 4 gig normally. I do this because of low bit rates being lower quality but I don't want 2 disks either. So if it will look good for the time duration of the movie and fit on one disk I use that rate. But I figure no since in having a half burned disk, so a shorter movie I do up the bits for better/best quality. I have cheap 1x DVD-r disks and have heard some have problems near the outer edge at times, so to play it safe I try to limit them to 4gig, also if I end up with a slightly larger file than I planed for after capture I have aloughed some extra room at 4gig so it's not a problem If I get a 4.1gig.

The artifacts were while viewing though, not after capture. That is not a problem from the VCR, so it is not in the computer/software I'm sure. Only used the camera 2 or 3 times so far, so I am sure I most likely have something wrong with the way I recorded. Would not be a problem normally, but tonight is my last shot at getting what I want to record, in about 30 minutes from now :rolleyes:

Was kinda hoping I might get a click the ??? button for that type of shooting type answer today.
Well goto go and shoot something.
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Post by canton_kid »

Thanks FP.
You posted while I was psoting the other message, wasn't here when I started.

The Ati MMC 7.7 has a ton of settings I can use, but my VHS captures don't have the artifacts. I am pretty sure I just recorded wrong for the setting I was in. Any advice on that. I'll be gone in a few minutes for a last try. The actual play starts tommorow night. But If I can I plan to give opening night a shot too, but not sure if I can. Will be in a fairly dark small theatre with a lit stage. Not sure on how the stage will be lit, the lighting crew is comming in tonight. This is just people moveing around alot, no real action (like in the movies)


I got a couple things to do, and will pop back in again in a few minutes to check for anymore replies.

Thanks.
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

Most cameras have an automatic mode and that works fine for most shoots. However a lot of cameras have problems in low light conditions. Common problem.

When making your MPEG2 there IS an ideal bitrate setting for DVD (most DVD burning software won't let you use anything but that setting and will have to reprocess your videio if you used a different one). I don't remember what the bitrate is.

I capture all my videos in Vegas Video which has a preset for DVD captures that sets the bitrate and all the other settings automatically.
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Post by canton_kid »

Thanks.

Well last night was the last night I think I will be recording that play! Was dress rehersal, tonight it starts! I had a little problem last night with people and noises getting in the way. Think I'll skip tonight, with an actual audience I dought I would get anything usable! Time to relax and enjoy it.

I think for this final run I will capture it as AVI for editing latter, and also mpeg2 to make a fast dvd out of it nearly as is.

2:45 running time or there abouts. Nearly 3 tapes.

I did the shooting alittle different last night, my sound is better and so far I don't see as many artifacts in the recording. Though last night was first night for lights, stage was dimmer, and left/right side more white light and the center red tint. As they move around they go from alittle washed out in the white to red and pink in the center :(
Didn't notice so much in person, but on the tape it shows worse. Are there filters in some of the programs that will compenstate for this without messing up everything else? Also airconditioner and some talking in the background from behind me, any way to filter some of that out without losing the actors voices at the same time? For the raw avi editing fo course. Mpeg2 I'm just doing a little cutting and using it as is, want that done next week and I don't plan to use all weekend to get it. Just one disk for the actors to pass around and watch themselfs.
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Post by RaT »

i think on the ZR60 itself the ideal setting for "shooting" a lit stage would be the "spotlight mode". unfortunately one of ZR60's greatest weakness is it's poor quality under low-light conditions.

ulead video studio has a bunch of video filters. but i don't think they would help in improving your video capture, it can probably mask it.

i've been using ulead videostudio eversince and would definitely recommend it!! i even have the "professional" mediastudio but never had the time to adapt to it's advance features :)
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