These notes apply particularly to anyone using the 9700/9800 AIW card and AMD processors, but are also relevant to P4 systems:
Are you looking to capture video content from TV/VCR, want to clip out the adverts and record to DVD? Well I've done this quite a bit and wanted to pass on / exchange information about this process.
I tried ATI's Mulimedia Centre, Cyberlink's Power Director Pro, Pinnacle Studio 8.5, Ulead Studio and several other demo packages. Here's what I found:
For the best compromise between quality, compression rates and speed, ATI's video capture program works better than anyone else's capture routines. The most demanding test I've found involves capturing formula 1 racing. With MPG2 encoding, and with DVD resolution capture, most of the packages create hesitant or jerky captures. The cars seem to 'spasm' as they run down a straight. Setting to a lower resolution or lower quality fixes this problem. Only ATI's video capture was able to 'keep up', possibly because it makes best advantage of the AIW card. I don't know for sure, but the evidence is compelling.
The best editor for this particular application is an easy choice. Power Director Pro 2.5 or 2.55 loads projects faster than anyone else. It also loads and manipulates clips quickly and easily. And when it comes time to encode the 'production copy', a smart renderer joins the advert-removed sections quickly and easily. In fact a 1hr 20min race typically takes five minutes to render on an AMD 2200!
PowerDirector Pro also comes with an optional MPG4 plugin (like $10 extra) and has a Disc Wizard so cutting DVDs is easy. However this is not the best Disc Wizard on the market. Until 2.55 it didn't even recognise my Sony DRU500A and it still could not recognize it's 4X capabilities!
PowerDirector Pro is an effective package for capturing AND EDITING MPG2 video, but for some reason 2.5 seems to create less MPG artifacting than 2.55. In particular I recommend turning off the 'smooth' and 'de-interlace' options during capture. For final rendering you can always set the 'quality' bar to '7' (top) and go to bed while your computer does the final render.
None of these packages seem good at cutting of typical VCR distortion at the bottom of the screen. I can't remember the technical name for this, but it's very annoying. Anyone got advice on this issue?
For DV input (camcorder etc) I use either Pinnacle Studio or Ulead Studio. Both get better capture over firewire using the non-realtime capture mode. Special effects and multi-channel manipulation are better on these packages although Director Pro is still quite effective for simple stuff.
Overall I think the low end video capture / editing packages still have quite a long way to go before they are truly simple, fast and effective to use. However we can now do DVD authoring for not a lot of money - just wish DVDs held something like 16GBytes rather than a lame 4.7GBytes (single sided)!
In a nutshell I use ATI video capture for DVD authoring with Power Director Pro for editing and production. It works and it's an incredibly cheap solution. Just have to love the AIW's video capture chip!
Please add contrary opinions and advice because I'm eager to learn! Thanks.
Are you looking to capture video content from TV/VCR, want to clip out the adverts and record to DVD? Well I've done this quite a bit and wanted to pass on / exchange information about this process.
I tried ATI's Mulimedia Centre, Cyberlink's Power Director Pro, Pinnacle Studio 8.5, Ulead Studio and several other demo packages. Here's what I found:
For the best compromise between quality, compression rates and speed, ATI's video capture program works better than anyone else's capture routines. The most demanding test I've found involves capturing formula 1 racing. With MPG2 encoding, and with DVD resolution capture, most of the packages create hesitant or jerky captures. The cars seem to 'spasm' as they run down a straight. Setting to a lower resolution or lower quality fixes this problem. Only ATI's video capture was able to 'keep up', possibly because it makes best advantage of the AIW card. I don't know for sure, but the evidence is compelling.
The best editor for this particular application is an easy choice. Power Director Pro 2.5 or 2.55 loads projects faster than anyone else. It also loads and manipulates clips quickly and easily. And when it comes time to encode the 'production copy', a smart renderer joins the advert-removed sections quickly and easily. In fact a 1hr 20min race typically takes five minutes to render on an AMD 2200!
PowerDirector Pro also comes with an optional MPG4 plugin (like $10 extra) and has a Disc Wizard so cutting DVDs is easy. However this is not the best Disc Wizard on the market. Until 2.55 it didn't even recognise my Sony DRU500A and it still could not recognize it's 4X capabilities!
PowerDirector Pro is an effective package for capturing AND EDITING MPG2 video, but for some reason 2.5 seems to create less MPG artifacting than 2.55. In particular I recommend turning off the 'smooth' and 'de-interlace' options during capture. For final rendering you can always set the 'quality' bar to '7' (top) and go to bed while your computer does the final render.
None of these packages seem good at cutting of typical VCR distortion at the bottom of the screen. I can't remember the technical name for this, but it's very annoying. Anyone got advice on this issue?
For DV input (camcorder etc) I use either Pinnacle Studio or Ulead Studio. Both get better capture over firewire using the non-realtime capture mode. Special effects and multi-channel manipulation are better on these packages although Director Pro is still quite effective for simple stuff.
Overall I think the low end video capture / editing packages still have quite a long way to go before they are truly simple, fast and effective to use. However we can now do DVD authoring for not a lot of money - just wish DVDs held something like 16GBytes rather than a lame 4.7GBytes (single sided)!
In a nutshell I use ATI video capture for DVD authoring with Power Director Pro for editing and production. It works and it's an incredibly cheap solution. Just have to love the AIW's video capture chip!
Please add contrary opinions and advice because I'm eager to learn! Thanks.
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