How to capture using a Dazzle Capture Card
| How to make a good looking VCD | How to make a XVCD | Filters and TMPGEnc |
Hey whats up? When i was first going to type this up i was thinking it was going to be very long and detailed, i then realized upon typing it out, it is really very simple and only a few steps are required.
For quite a longtime now i have been using a Dazzle (dazzle usb) to capture and create my video cds. The main problem most people who are new to video cd making, and/or the Dazzle unit is how to make your vcds look good using a Dazzle. The problem is that majority of people are using the Dazzle's "video cd template" to make their vcds and if you do use this, your result will look horriffic.So to help you out below i will list some steps (and other stuff) you should use in order to get the most and best picture from your Dazzle device. This is mainly for mpeg 1, however mpeg 2 can still follow the same procedures. However i should let you know now that doing my method it can be VERY timely. It is always an issue of quality vs time. If you want quality you have to sacrifice a lot of time. I also wanted you to know that i did not list fine details in this for encoding. As everyone does things a little different and i want to keep this short and very basic so everyone can use the info.

Doug mazinz@aol.com

How to make a good looking VCD using a Dazzle Capture Card

STEP 1: The method i use.
First and foremost, i highly recommend using a small portable fan and have it blowing on the Dazzle. This keeps the device cool and helps stop frame dropping and/or possible audio and video off sync.
Next we are going to change some settings in the Dazzle software. Change the template to "movie quality" and change the bitrate to 2900 (or however many zeros follow) also making sure "high" is also checked. By doing this you are increasing the data rate(bitrate) at which the Dazzle will capture. If you have a slower pc, i would also check the "post process". What that does is after you record your clip it will put the audio and video together. Doing it that way takes a lot of stress off your pc and is mainly for those with a slower machine, this way you can capture long clips with no problems. If you can uncheck the "monitor while recording" this also helps the pc make a better capture. Once this is all done watch your captured clip and you will see a big difference then when you captured using the video cd template. I also never have the sharpeness set higher then "1" doing so will add extra noise and other artifacts to your clip. Trust me, "1" is high enough.

STEP 2:
Here is where the time factor will come in. In order to make your clip at vcd rate (ntsc bitrate for a video cd is 1150, I beleive Pal format is 1120, but i could be wrong about that) or Xvcd, etc, you now need to take your captured clip and run it into a program known as an "encoder". Encoders are programs that convert one format to another. Using an encoder ( i highly recommend using the TMPG encoder, it is very good and info as well as links for it can be found on the site you are on now), you would input your clip, play with the settings in the encoder(another story and issue all together, not it is not hard to do) and encode. THIS IS WHERE the time will come to play, your clip can take anyhwere from 2-16hrs depending on how long it is, the speed of your PC and if any filters or such are used. For most of my clips i use filters (this gets rid of virtually any and all noise from your clip). the TMPG encoder's filtering system is the best i have ever come across. Encoding time for me is on average about 8hrs for a 30min clip,(running 550mhz intel pent 3) but the result is very worth it.

STEP 3:
Once your encoded clip is done, you need a cd burning program that burns video cds. adaptec, Nero, NTI, winon cd, video pack 4, etc are just a few that allow this. For you nonstandard bitrate users (making a vcd with a higherbitrate then normal), NTI and nero, and video pack 4 allows this. Now take your burned clip and watch it onyour PC, dvd player or where ever you plan on playing it--enjoy. that is all their is to it.

Doug mazinz@aol.com

How to make an XVCD using a Dazzle Capture Card

Lets say you want to make an XVCD (bitrate 2500) but you do not want to encode it. YOU CANNOT simply capture at that rate with the dazzle and burn it (unless it is only going to be played on a pc). If you do, and you want to play it on a homedeck dvd player, the audio will skip horribly. the reason is that Dazzle does not give it the proper audio buffer rate for a higher clip.
to fix this, here is what you do: Using the tmpg encoder input your clip. Now on the right change the setting to "system audio only" (it has to be system and not just audio), and using your backspace key erase the info that is shown on the "video input" line for the Tmpg, this way only the audio part of your clip can be seen. Encode the audio clip. Tmpg encodes sound very quickly. Once this is done you take your sound clip and using the tmpg tools section, remux (remuxing is taking the video from one clip and the audio from another and putting the two together) the new sound with your picture (make sure the vcd nonstandard template is selected). Now you have your 2500 clip all set. Burn it have fun

In closing, using the methods described above you can make very good looking video cds with the Dazzle. I too do not like the time it takes to encode clips, but it is either that or having very bad/not so good results using Dazzle's vcd template.

Doug mazinz@aol.com





Filters and TMPGEnc

OK, I have recieved a lot of email asking about this, so although i will try to keep this as brief and to the point as possible, in the end it will still be up to you as to what to set the filters to and what works best for you.
The main filter i use in Tmpg is the noise filter, as this can virtually wipe out any video noise you may encounter, making your clip look that much better. Although be warned using the filter on too high a setting can cause your picture to get blurry and may add noise to the picture instead.
Here is the settings i generally use, as i have done quite a bit of testing clips over and over with filters. My main PC was destroyed so i have not made anything in a while. The last version of Tmpg i had, had the noise filter broken into 3 small sections (still, range, and time axis). I am assuming they are still going by these names, if not then the "still" was the top setting, "range" was the middle setting, and "time-axis" was the bottom setting. Whatever number i made the "still" setting, i kept the "time axis" setting the same, with the range being the variable. Also their is a "high quality" box just under the 3 settings-- make sure you check this off to give it that extra boost for your picture. AND make sure the "enable filter" box is checked as well
OK, Breaking this down a little more--
1: if your clip is extremely good quality(aka dvd rip or somewhere in that area--NO filters are needed
2: if your clip looks pretty good-very good, i would set the filters to the following: STILL-between 1-8, RANGE-1, TIME AXIS-between 1-8
3: if your clip looks half way good-decent, i would set the filters to the following: STILL- between 1-8, RANGE-2, TIME AXIS- 1-8
4: if your clip looks ok-poor: STILL 1-4, RANGE-3, TIME AXIS -1-4
5: if your clip looks fair-below: STILL 1-3, RANGE 3-4, TIME AXIS -1-3

Again that is pretty much how i set the filters in a nutshell. What i noticed happens when you make the filters too high(lets say for still/time and making them 20 or higher) It caused more noise in my picture and it can "soften" the pic too much that it will make it look worse. Also in darker lit scenes when the filter is sometimes too high it will show up highly in the background and this is something you do not want. The RANGE pretty much is the main setting. If you set that high, you will not need to use a high number for the other filters as the "range" will now cover more of the area using a stronger filter.

THE TMPGENC MACRO BRICK NOISE SETTING(aka soften block noise setting)

This setting on the TMPG(and it is found under the "quantize matrix" tab of tmpg) will and can reduce the "block noise" commonly associated with video cds(mainly at normal rate, but not all the time).
Again i have found with a lot of testing that if you have this feature on, i keep the intra and non intra blocks the same number. Older versions of TMPG kept the setting at 35 for both. This is a good rate to use, actually 35-40 was ok. Going higher (at least from what i found) resulted in extra block noise that i did not want.
ALSO while under the "quantize matrix" tab, click on the "floating point dct" box, this will help produce a better picture for you.
FOR HIGRATES/XVCDS/SVCDS - i never really use the soften macro noise filter, as the bitrate is high enough to compensate for any brick noise that would have been made using the normal rate vcd setting.
ALSO i did not use this filter for anything with the quality of a dvd rip.

TMPCENC AND ANIMATED FEATURES

This is pretty interesting, for this section take everything i have mentioned above and throw it out of the window!!! For some odd reason on more bland drawn cartoons with not many details(ex GI.JOE, The Simpsons,
the older Transformers cartoons, etc) if you come close to blasting each of the noise filters, it actually made the picture look 100 times better then what i ran in!!! I could not believe it. I would set the STILL and TIME settings anywhere from 80-100, and the range 3-4. Macro blocknoise close to 100(but its still ok to leave this at 35, as i found out later the close to 100 setting isnt needed for it). My clips became very vibrant and rich in color, some minor detail was lost, but it made the picture look as if i just taped it from a high source and not taken from 14-16 year old Beta/ex rental tape--to put it simply, it looked better then the original!!! Again blasting the filters like this only seems to benefit older cartoons.
ANIMATED features with a lot of detail (ex Akira, ghost in the shell, heavy metal,etc) i would follow the settings i mentioned above that i use for movies, as blasting the filters with these types of animated cartoons will cause it to look like havoc.



Have fun!!! Hope this helps some of you out, remember despite it being a hassle, constant testing will let you know what settings are right for you. thanks again!!