Escar
09-01-2004, 02:10 PM
It's OT because it's not about LO-MAC. But just a bit OT, because it's about moviemaking and about sim community. Just not this one. SilentHunter II sim community. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
But to the point.
While being recently abroad in Germany I made a VHS movie of U-995, U-boot that's currently located in Laboe and preserved as "Technisches Museum". I promised guys from the fleet (www.sh2fleet.com (http://www.sh2fleet.com)) that I'll bring back this movie and digitize it for them when I buy new HDD's. Well, I did buy new HDD's. And for the past three days I've been trying to grab it with my tuner.
FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE!!
First I had lots of problems with drivers, none seemed to work. Some didn't work with the card at all, some worked with the card, but not with the software.
Finally I came upon www.iulabs.com (http://www.iulabs.com) and drivers I've found there worked and with iuVCR (a recorder utility found on the very same site) I was able to grab the movie.
But, there's a problem with the sound. :|
First of all, this is what I'm using:
PixelView Play TV Pro PV-BT878P+ w/FM with iuLabs tweaked WDM driver (only this driver works) and iuLabs lates iuVCR. My system specs can be found in the bottom of this post and as you'll see, my system is quite capable of grabbing anything without any problems. Besides that I have a Philips VR400 Video Recorder attached to my PC, but I suppose that this information is not so crucial. VCR is connected to the tuner with composite cable and to the sound card line-in with chinch-to-midijack cable.
I'm grabbing films in 768x576, YUV2, 25 FPS, video compression none, audio compression none, audio 48K, 16bit, stereo. No frames get lost in the process (lost frames count=0).
On this trip, besides the U995 film, I've made several other films. All were transferred to regular VHS tapes. Except one, that is still on tiny videocamera tape. Needless to say, the U-995 recording is on that little tape. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif I can't transfer this film to a regular tape as I did with previous films, because I don't have the camera anymore. I've attached my VCR to my PC via chinch and composite cables and I'm playing the mini tape through big-tape adaptor (mother-tape).
With these drivers and this recorder I've managed to grab several films already. No problems. All those films were previously recorded directly from the camera to a VCR (simple transfer, mini tape in the camera, camera conected to a VCR, press play on camera, press rec on VCR.) and now from the regular (big) VCR tape to my computer. No problems at all. Picture perfect, sound perfectly alligned.
However, it's not so when I play this little tape (with the U995 film) through tape-adaptor. :| Sound it's not where it's supposed to be. And it's not that it's too late or too early during the whole film. Skew is not constant. I could easily overcome this either by adding stream offset in grabbing settings or rerecording the whole thing with skew adjustment (plus or minus) in VirtualDub.
Problem is... at the beggining sounds seems to be perfect, or just a bit too early, in the middle it's sometimes lagging 3-3,5 seconds and in the end... it either doesn't lag at all or it lags 4-4,5 seconds or even 9 seconds (differs with settings, see below). Setting any audio stream offset only adds or subtracts to the existing skews.
As I said, the configuration of the iuVCR recorder is as follows:
film filesize limit none.
all localized settings set correctly (PAL-D or PAL-B for European equipment)
768x576, YUV2, 25 FPS, video compression none.
audio compression none, audio 48K, 16bit, stereo (48K because SB Live! with 46KB setting ALWAYS produces sound skew).
I've tried the following in the options settings:
1. Use standard Mux with Interleave: None
AVI Compatibility Index On
No master stream selected
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file which lags 3 seconds in the middle and is perfectly alligned in the beggining and in the end.
2. Use standard Mux with Interleave: Full
AVI Compatibility Index On
No master stream selected
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file that lags 3 seconds in the middle and 4-4,5 seconds in the end.
3. Use standard Mux with Interleave: Full
AVI Compatibility Index On
Master Stream Audio
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file that has a sound 1-2 seconds too early in the middle and is perfectly alligned in the end.
4. Use standard Mux with Interleave: Full
AVI Compatibility Index On
Master Stream Video
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file which lags 6!! seconds in the middle and 8-9 seconds in the end.
5. Standard MUX disabled (internal mode)
Short Audio Samples
This produces a file that lags 1 second in the middle but 8-9 seconds in the end.
Other films record ok with settings number "2". Only this film doesn't record ok with any of the above settings. :|
I've tried lowering resolution to 640x480 thinking, that somehow tuner can't keep up. Didn't help. I've tried adjusting the sound in Virtual Dub, but since those lags differ in each part of the film (25 minutes 30 seconds long), whenever I alligned the sound in one part, it wasn't alligned in the other. I've tried setting maximum file size to split the recording and then combine it in VirtualDub, but when I try to do this I get information that files have diffrent FPS settings (don't know how, since it's set to 25 FPS in). I've tried recording the film with stock drivers and stock capture device and no luck either (even worse, with stock programs skew is present in all recordings http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif ). I've tried using various drivers and various recorders, none work except for the drivers from iuLabs and iuVCR (and I don't mean that other programs produce skew... other programs don't record picture at all, even VirtualDub fails, with most drivers it records only static, with iuLabs drivers it records only lower half of the picture).
So... what am I supposed to do? Do I have to split it into several parts with VirtualDub and set diffrent skew adjustment for each part and then recombine those files? Or do I have to record 5 minute parts and then combine them (I'm affraid that I'll get this FPS mismatch error again, since it's not so diffrent then setting maximum file size and splitting the material this way. :| )?
What to do? I mean, this is all thinking about correcting the problem. Is there a way to eliminate the source of the problem? Some sort of settings that allow for perfect capture? And if there is non, if the source of the problem is uncorrectable, how to correct the problem? Split the video and audio streams and then recombine them?
Help. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I've wasted couple of hours trying out the above settings and nothing. And since no-one's doing my work for me, I can't dedicate any more time for this and I'd sure love to release this film someday. :|
Two funny observations:
At the beggining of the recording statistics show average FPS 16, then it quickly rises to 24 FPS and then slowly crawls up to almost 25 FPS (24.9x something). This and the FPS mismatch error reported by VirtualDub (when I tried to connect files splitted automatically by "limit file size" function) puzzle me, since FPS for recording is set to 25 FPS in the iuVCR configuration. Is this the source of the problem? How to overcome it? Also, there's a line of static in the bottom of the screen (probably because the tape is a bit worn-out, but maybe it's because of the mother-tape my Philips VCR is not playing the tape at proper speed?).
Any comments, or especially a walkthrough of what to do with this problem, are welcomed. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
My configuration is as follows:
AMD Athlon 2500@3000 XP+ (Barton) 1826 @ 2167 MHz (stable)
Gigabyte K7Triton Series GA-7VT600 1394 VIA KT600 Motherboard 166&333 @ 197&394 MHz FSB
768 MB DDR PC-400 KingMax CL 2.5 RAM 200&400 @ 197&394 MHz
Leadtek Winfast A360-TDH256 nVidia GF FX 5700 256 MB DUAL 425GPU&500 @ 500GPU&615MHz / 78MHz AGP 8x BUS
LG Flatron 900B @ 1280&960 85 Hz
VT8237 RAID0 64 KB cluster / 2x Maxtor DiamondMax 9 Plus 120 GB (228 GB useable total) 7200 RPM SATA-150 / NTFSx1 partition (boot)
Maxtor DiamondMax 9 Plus 80 GB 7200 RPM UATA-100 / NTFSx1 partition (spare)
Sound Blaster Live! 1024 Player (The Original Series) & Dolby Surround 4.1 Cambridge SoundWorks
Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 / DirectX 9.0c / MediaTech MT168 Tomahawk / 350 W Enlight PSU
160/640 kbps ADSL
ps:
Also, recording with the last settings (internal MUX) produces a very poor quality sound. :|
Jan "Escar" Hytry
Out from the shadows for a longer time.Smbd lend me some sun block. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
http://republika.pl/escar/lf.jpg
My missions (http://republika.pl/escar/lomac.htm)
System specs (http://republika.pl/escar/specs.htm)
[This message was edited by Escar on Sun September 05 2004 at 09:27 AM.]
[This message was edited by Escar on Mon September 06 2004 at 01:26 PM.]
But to the point.
While being recently abroad in Germany I made a VHS movie of U-995, U-boot that's currently located in Laboe and preserved as "Technisches Museum". I promised guys from the fleet (www.sh2fleet.com (http://www.sh2fleet.com)) that I'll bring back this movie and digitize it for them when I buy new HDD's. Well, I did buy new HDD's. And for the past three days I've been trying to grab it with my tuner.
FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE!!
First I had lots of problems with drivers, none seemed to work. Some didn't work with the card at all, some worked with the card, but not with the software.
Finally I came upon www.iulabs.com (http://www.iulabs.com) and drivers I've found there worked and with iuVCR (a recorder utility found on the very same site) I was able to grab the movie.
But, there's a problem with the sound. :|
First of all, this is what I'm using:
PixelView Play TV Pro PV-BT878P+ w/FM with iuLabs tweaked WDM driver (only this driver works) and iuLabs lates iuVCR. My system specs can be found in the bottom of this post and as you'll see, my system is quite capable of grabbing anything without any problems. Besides that I have a Philips VR400 Video Recorder attached to my PC, but I suppose that this information is not so crucial. VCR is connected to the tuner with composite cable and to the sound card line-in with chinch-to-midijack cable.
I'm grabbing films in 768x576, YUV2, 25 FPS, video compression none, audio compression none, audio 48K, 16bit, stereo. No frames get lost in the process (lost frames count=0).
On this trip, besides the U995 film, I've made several other films. All were transferred to regular VHS tapes. Except one, that is still on tiny videocamera tape. Needless to say, the U-995 recording is on that little tape. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif I can't transfer this film to a regular tape as I did with previous films, because I don't have the camera anymore. I've attached my VCR to my PC via chinch and composite cables and I'm playing the mini tape through big-tape adaptor (mother-tape).
With these drivers and this recorder I've managed to grab several films already. No problems. All those films were previously recorded directly from the camera to a VCR (simple transfer, mini tape in the camera, camera conected to a VCR, press play on camera, press rec on VCR.) and now from the regular (big) VCR tape to my computer. No problems at all. Picture perfect, sound perfectly alligned.
However, it's not so when I play this little tape (with the U995 film) through tape-adaptor. :| Sound it's not where it's supposed to be. And it's not that it's too late or too early during the whole film. Skew is not constant. I could easily overcome this either by adding stream offset in grabbing settings or rerecording the whole thing with skew adjustment (plus or minus) in VirtualDub.
Problem is... at the beggining sounds seems to be perfect, or just a bit too early, in the middle it's sometimes lagging 3-3,5 seconds and in the end... it either doesn't lag at all or it lags 4-4,5 seconds or even 9 seconds (differs with settings, see below). Setting any audio stream offset only adds or subtracts to the existing skews.
As I said, the configuration of the iuVCR recorder is as follows:
film filesize limit none.
all localized settings set correctly (PAL-D or PAL-B for European equipment)
768x576, YUV2, 25 FPS, video compression none.
audio compression none, audio 48K, 16bit, stereo (48K because SB Live! with 46KB setting ALWAYS produces sound skew).
I've tried the following in the options settings:
1. Use standard Mux with Interleave: None
AVI Compatibility Index On
No master stream selected
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file which lags 3 seconds in the middle and is perfectly alligned in the beggining and in the end.
2. Use standard Mux with Interleave: Full
AVI Compatibility Index On
No master stream selected
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file that lags 3 seconds in the middle and 4-4,5 seconds in the end.
3. Use standard Mux with Interleave: Full
AVI Compatibility Index On
Master Stream Audio
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file that has a sound 1-2 seconds too early in the middle and is perfectly alligned in the end.
4. Use standard Mux with Interleave: Full
AVI Compatibility Index On
Master Stream Video
Short audio samples
(all other things turned off)
This produces a file which lags 6!! seconds in the middle and 8-9 seconds in the end.
5. Standard MUX disabled (internal mode)
Short Audio Samples
This produces a file that lags 1 second in the middle but 8-9 seconds in the end.
Other films record ok with settings number "2". Only this film doesn't record ok with any of the above settings. :|
I've tried lowering resolution to 640x480 thinking, that somehow tuner can't keep up. Didn't help. I've tried adjusting the sound in Virtual Dub, but since those lags differ in each part of the film (25 minutes 30 seconds long), whenever I alligned the sound in one part, it wasn't alligned in the other. I've tried setting maximum file size to split the recording and then combine it in VirtualDub, but when I try to do this I get information that files have diffrent FPS settings (don't know how, since it's set to 25 FPS in). I've tried recording the film with stock drivers and stock capture device and no luck either (even worse, with stock programs skew is present in all recordings http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif ). I've tried using various drivers and various recorders, none work except for the drivers from iuLabs and iuVCR (and I don't mean that other programs produce skew... other programs don't record picture at all, even VirtualDub fails, with most drivers it records only static, with iuLabs drivers it records only lower half of the picture).
So... what am I supposed to do? Do I have to split it into several parts with VirtualDub and set diffrent skew adjustment for each part and then recombine those files? Or do I have to record 5 minute parts and then combine them (I'm affraid that I'll get this FPS mismatch error again, since it's not so diffrent then setting maximum file size and splitting the material this way. :| )?
What to do? I mean, this is all thinking about correcting the problem. Is there a way to eliminate the source of the problem? Some sort of settings that allow for perfect capture? And if there is non, if the source of the problem is uncorrectable, how to correct the problem? Split the video and audio streams and then recombine them?
Help. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I've wasted couple of hours trying out the above settings and nothing. And since no-one's doing my work for me, I can't dedicate any more time for this and I'd sure love to release this film someday. :|
Two funny observations:
At the beggining of the recording statistics show average FPS 16, then it quickly rises to 24 FPS and then slowly crawls up to almost 25 FPS (24.9x something). This and the FPS mismatch error reported by VirtualDub (when I tried to connect files splitted automatically by "limit file size" function) puzzle me, since FPS for recording is set to 25 FPS in the iuVCR configuration. Is this the source of the problem? How to overcome it? Also, there's a line of static in the bottom of the screen (probably because the tape is a bit worn-out, but maybe it's because of the mother-tape my Philips VCR is not playing the tape at proper speed?).
Any comments, or especially a walkthrough of what to do with this problem, are welcomed. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
My configuration is as follows:
AMD Athlon 2500@3000 XP+ (Barton) 1826 @ 2167 MHz (stable)
Gigabyte K7Triton Series GA-7VT600 1394 VIA KT600 Motherboard 166&333 @ 197&394 MHz FSB
768 MB DDR PC-400 KingMax CL 2.5 RAM 200&400 @ 197&394 MHz
Leadtek Winfast A360-TDH256 nVidia GF FX 5700 256 MB DUAL 425GPU&500 @ 500GPU&615MHz / 78MHz AGP 8x BUS
LG Flatron 900B @ 1280&960 85 Hz
VT8237 RAID0 64 KB cluster / 2x Maxtor DiamondMax 9 Plus 120 GB (228 GB useable total) 7200 RPM SATA-150 / NTFSx1 partition (boot)
Maxtor DiamondMax 9 Plus 80 GB 7200 RPM UATA-100 / NTFSx1 partition (spare)
Sound Blaster Live! 1024 Player (The Original Series) & Dolby Surround 4.1 Cambridge SoundWorks
Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 / DirectX 9.0c / MediaTech MT168 Tomahawk / 350 W Enlight PSU
160/640 kbps ADSL
ps:
Also, recording with the last settings (internal MUX) produces a very poor quality sound. :|
Jan "Escar" Hytry
Out from the shadows for a longer time.Smbd lend me some sun block. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
http://republika.pl/escar/lf.jpg
My missions (http://republika.pl/escar/lomac.htm)
System specs (http://republika.pl/escar/specs.htm)
[This message was edited by Escar on Sun September 05 2004 at 09:27 AM.]
[This message was edited by Escar on Mon September 06 2004 at 01:26 PM.]