nvidia vhs to dvd

kmb

Hi all,I am trying to link my 6600gt to my video to copy old family movies onto dvd.
Basically i have a composite to s video cable to my capture port onthe pc.
I am using intervideo windvd creation software and it does pick up the video but not the film.
Its only showing the desktop on it.

What am i doing wrong?

I am using wdm-vivo software d/loaded from nvidia and latest nforce drivers.


Any help appreciated.


regards kieran

djmarkus

have you got the proper nvidia capture drivers(not the ordinary geforce drivers)?

EDIT: sorry didnt read the post properly, i dunno, it works fine on my 5900xt, tho thats not what i use to capture

kmb

Hi ya,What do you use to capture?Different software?Can you give me any idea of your way to do it as i was chancing my arm.

regards kieran

DonkeyStyle \o/

Try out VirtualDub, it's free (GNU) and does an excellent job of capturing.
I find with my 6600GT some programs don't let me select which ViVo input I want... I've found virtualdub very good.

Endurance Man

Okay, i am also looking for help in this area . Just wanna try get this straight in my head.
So you would plug the vcr into the pc via the many cables that i have found out about. Then install VirtualDub. Put a tape in and start playing it. VirtualDub will pick up the signal (or u would tell it where to look) and it then saves the video to your harddrive, is that about right ??
Thanks

DonkeyStyle \o/

Endurance Man wrote:

So you would plug the vcr into the pc via the many cables that i have found out about. Then install VirtualDub. Put a tape in and start playing it. VirtualDub will pick up the signal (or u would tell it where to look) and it then saves the video to your harddrive, is that about right ??

That's the gyst of it alright.
The biggest question here is how you connect your VCR to your PC... the most straight-forward way is to get a video capture card if you don't already have one.
Most PC's won't have video capture capabilities unless you've added hardware for that purpose.

kmb

Do you mean so that my graphics card
http://www.msicomputer.co.uk/Products.aspx?product_id=703575&cat_id=78

wont work unless i get a pinnacle card or something?

regards kieran

I am only getting a black screen in intervideo and powerproducer gold.


DonkeyStyle \o/ :is yours a msicard and which in put did u use?Composite or s video?

DonkeyStyle \o/

kmb wrote:

Do you mean so that my graphics card
http://www.msicomputer.co.uk/Products.aspx?product_id=703575&cat_id=78

wont work unless i get a pinnacle card or something?

Ooh, no sorry I was talking to Endurance man there.
Your setup should be just fine.
It's just off-the-shelf setups by pure odds won't usually have analog video capture facilities.

DonkeyStyle \o/ :is yours a msicard and which in put did u use?Composite or s video?

Actually, by strange coincidence, we have exactly the same card
I've captured using the composite and svideo (not at the same time obviously!)

I am only getting a black screen in intervideo and powerproducer gold.

Yeah I've had this problem aswell... I think the problem here is that the program you're using to capture is using the wrong input on your card, or not able to make up its mind... like you know the way the MSI card comes with what they call a "cable whip" which splits off into a number of different connections.
Where I've gotten capturing to work, I've always gone into the options of the capture program and told it to use either s-video or composite... in programs where I can't choose an option I find I get that black screen.
As I mentioned above, VirtualDub lets me select which one, and it works fine.
Also Windows Movie Maker (that comes with windows xp) lets me capture, but not at full resolution. (FYI virtualdub captures in full res)
If you've no joy with either of these programs, I'd try installing the original capture drivers from the CD that comes with the card.

DonkeyStyle \o/

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

I think the problem here is that the program you're using to capture is using the wrong input on your card

Actually, just to expand on that...
The capture drivers have their own little control dialog ("a shelf" (I think they call it))... where the options can be set... sometimes a capture program will use this one and everything goes well, other times the program will use whatever generic built-in one that comes coded into it... and whatever way they've put these together, it's not capable of interfacing properly with the capture device on the 6600gt and you just get the black screen.

So ideally you'll want a capture program that'll ask Windows what shelf to use for your capture device, so it'll use the right one... some capture programs just won't work because of that.
That's my understanding of it anyway.

kmb

Thanks for the info i will try that tonight.I am using a scart to svideo and a 2 phono cable ,joined by a 3.5mm to phono adaptor.

Maybe i should try scart to phono lead which is somewhere at home,or was!

so you are using the orange comp in lead on the whip.What color s video are you using as forums are saying msi labeled them wrong?White or black?

Kind Regards kieran

zarquon

Try downloading gordian knot. All in one package

DonkeyStyle \o/

kmb wrote:

so you are using the orange comp in lead on the whip.What color s video are you using as forums are saying msi labeled them wrong?White or black?

I can't remember which composite connection I was using... (I assume the one labelled "comp. in", which is orange on mine), I just had a look at the whip there which I've still got my s-video lead connected to, and I'm using the white one (labelled "s-vid in") and it worked fine.
Maybe it was just certain batches of the card, or I'm actually mistaken and we have slightly different cards

kmb

Hi DonkeyStyle \o/,just got through composite the signal at long last thanks for your help.I suppose mpeg is the best way to save or what format is best to be viewed on dvd player?


regards kieran

DonkeyStyle \o/

It depends really, I'd say capture it at the highest quality you can in whatever format, and then let the DVD burner program re-encode them for the DVD if needed.
Some DVD creation programs will let you add what ever media type you want (more or less) and convert it for you into a format DVD players can read (.vob mpeg4 I think)... others might bitch and moan about what files your trying to put on the DVD, so mpeg might be a better idea from the get-go.
I'd say experiment... if capturing in mpeg yields crappy results due to scaling down the footage below full resolution (720x576 pal) or it's using a really low bit-rate (think over-compression and crappy quality), then you could try capturing with DivX or Xvid with a high bit-rate specified (these you will definitly have to re-convert unless your DVD player supports DivX, which most don't).
Like I said though, experiment with capturing using different codecs and see what works best for you... just make sure the program you're using to create the DVDs will convert the footage properly, and that you're not just burning a DVD full of useless video that the DVD player can't read.