Green Field how would you build it.

[Guest]

I will slowly be upgrading my system, but I want to start now. I will be using it for 3d gaming and recording my family home movies.

What hardware would you use, what software and what video format? List my top 3 options. I was considering a GF3 TI 500 with vid in/out options, a gf3 with vid in/out. Someone suggested the ATI AIW Radeon.

Any help would be great.

 

[lakedude]

You can't beat nVidia for gaming and you can't beat ATI AIW series for video without going to a semi pro card. The big question is what type of camera are you using for the original recording?

If you are using a "DV" style camcorder you will need a firewire port and some software. If you went with DV you could get a nVidia video card and a seperate firewire card and have the best of both but it would be expensive.

If you go with a non-DV camcorder then you will need a capture card. You can get a All In Wonder solution from ATI that will have good gaming performance and good capturing ability. Or you could get a regular video card and a seperate capture card like a Pinnicle or Dazzle board. The cheapest way to go would be an ATI AIW and a non DV camcorder. Do you already have a camcorder?

Remember if you ain't Muslim you ain't Shiite.

 

[Guest]

Lakedude,

Sounds good. I do have a Sony non-DV camcorder. So the cheapest option does indeed sound like the ATI AIW Radeon 8500 for both gaming and capture.

I'm very new to all this, but what about formats? You input the signal capture it but in what format? I read about DIV x and other codec and I'm really not certain what to use? MPG2 MPG4? Does it depend on the software that come with the radeon? If I record MPG2 can I convert through somesort of software to another format? Is this software available on the net to anyone?

Thanks for the help

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<b> If it beeps, It's still alive </b>

 

[lakedude]

I have an ATI AIW Radeon and I think you are on the right track with the 8500. I do not have and 8500 (wish I did) so I can not speak for it but I can tell you about its older brother the AIW Radeon. BTW the 8500 will also work if you get a DV camcorder. Ok when I use my AIW to capture video I capture in MPEG2 format because the system is not fast enough to capture to MPEG4 video and MP3 sound in real time. After the capture is done in MPEG2 I use freely available software (flask or nandub) to convert to MPEG4/mp3 offline later. The one biggest problem I have is that about 1 hour of MPEG2 video in high quality mode takes up 4G at which point windows ME cannot handle any bigger file then 4G so it just stops recording (but it does not indicate that it has stopped). You should get on OS that allows for files bigger then 4G if you are going to be recording/capturing for over one hour. Check out <A HREF="http/www.doom9.net" target="_new">http/www.doom9.net</A> for downloads and guides on how to use MPEG2 to MPEG4 conversion software. At this point Fair Use will not work with rips or personally recorded video, it only works if you feed it an original dvd so for your use Fair Use will not work. Flask/xmpeg is the easiest to use check it out first. Also if you are talking about short clips you don't need to bother with the conversion. Longer videos will take up tons of Hd space so they are worth converting.

Remember if you ain't Muslim you ain't Shiite.

 

[knowan]

Here's the list of file types:

Mpeg1 (or VCD): good conversion ratio (makes small files) but it is a lossy format. You'll get a file that can fit on a regular blank CD, but the quality won't be that great. As an added bonus, most DVD players will also play mpeg1. Mpeg 1 can be captured in real time.

Mpeg2 (or DVD): Standard DVD, will work in all DVD players. Very good quality pictures but a very large filesize. You cannot fit more than a few tens of minutes onto a standard blank CD. Mpeg 2 can be captured in real-time.

Mpeg4: Very good quality pictures, very small file size. You can fit about 2 hours of video onto a blank CD. This will not play back on any current DVD player, so you're limited to watching it on your computer only. Mpeg 4 cannot currently be captured in real-time, so you will need to capture the origional clip in mpeg2 and then convert it to mpeg4 at a later date.

AVI: a very old format. Small file size, poor quality, lots of trouble syncronizing the sound to the picture. Only very few DVD players will play it back.

There's a few others as well, but these are either legacy or else not popular enough yet.

Bottom line: If you're not worried about portability (say going to your friends house and sticking it in his DVD player) then go for mpeg4. If you are worried about portability or if your source is of poor quality then go for mpeg1.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

 

[lakedude]

knowdude

Good advice over all, sorry in advance for the following nit picks.

"Mpeg2 (or DVD): Standard DVD, will work in all DVD players." This is only kinda true. True, dvds are Mpeg2 so all dvd players need to be able to read Mpeg2 but not all dvd players can read cdrs or cdrws. See <A HREF="http/www.vcdhelp.com" target="_new">http/www.vcdhelp.com</A> and check out the compatability list.

"AVI: a very old format. Small file size, poor quality, lots of trouble syncronizing the sound to the picture. Only very few DVD players will play it back." AVI is not actually a format but a container. You can put an audio video interlaced file in a *.avi file but you can also put other codecs in a *.avi file. I code to divx 3.11 which is a Mpeg4 style codec but the files say avi when I'm done. They are not audio video interlaced files they are divx files but they fit into a avi container. Basically not all files that end in .avi are the AVI you are talking about.


Remember if you ain't Muslim you ain't Shiite.

 

[Guest]

Mpg1 -
There is much more to Mpg1 then VCD.
VCD uses Mpg1 with strict spec to be compatible with about 70% of setTop DVDs. you can get much better then that quality but you will not be able to use it on a set Top DVD player.

Mpg2 - larger files but quality is much better. also it can capture in Full quality when Mpg1 capture in qurter.
Also there is more to mpg2 then DVD.
DVD again uses quite strict Mpg2 specification.
Unless you get a semi pro card Don't expect to be able to capture in real time directly to Mpg2 and get good quality.
You will also have problems editing in mpg2 native and resnoble editing speed.

Mpg4 - uses more new compression then Mpg2. Not compatible with Set-top DVD players. to get good quality you will have again to go to software encoding.

AVI -
If it's video on a windows based computer then you can call it AVI.
Mjpeg use .AVI
YUV, Mpg2, DV, uncompressd, Indeo, all are AVI.

the standard AVI is calld MS Type 1 and is generally not compressd. Quality is the best when done correct but file size is Huge. I get 42MB/Sec.
MS Type 2 AVI is also calld "DV".
This is a compressd format but in high quality. higher then Mpg's. File sizes are also larger.

modern Semi Professional cards normaly useing DV (MS Type 2 AVI) for capturing/encoding (also from analog sources) and enable you various exporting formats with Mpg2 leading.

Capturing to DV can be done without a problem even if you have a PIII 500Mhz. So is Editing.
you might be interested in looking at a Analog/DV conversion card that will enable you to capture and edit in DV, while still exporting to any format you choose.