H.264 encoding/recoding

[suri]

hi all,

if , today, i need to encode/store/broadcast video (camera with analog s-video output) - is this the best option i have ? -

Blackmagic Design: Video Recorder

or are there better options?

TIA

 

[sam9s]

hi all,

if , today, i need to encode/store/broadcast video (camera with analog s-video output) - is this the best option i have ? -

Blackmagic Design: Video Recorder

or are there better options?

TIA

I am in to this A/V encoading n stuff like that. I read the article, but I am confused, what exactly your objective is.......
capture video from a source, encode (using h.264) and then publish/distribute......is that what you are trying to do. Need some clearification.

 

[suri]

I am in to this A/V encoading n stuff like that. I read the article, but I am confused, what exactly your objective is.......
capture video from a source, encode (using h.264) and then publish/distribute......is that what you are trying to do. Need some clearification.

hi sam9s-

i teach my work to students - and when i work a camera captures video of the way i do my work - this camera deck has s-video out, and i need to keep using this camera (cannot change it)

i need to

(1)capture and edit this video (about two hours long for one session) - must have non-linear access for viewing and editing captured video.

(2) broadcast this video over internet - real-time and also stored video.

TIA and regds
suri

 

[kapvin]

hi all,

if , today, i need to encode/store/broadcast video (camera with analog s-video output) - is this the best option i have ? -

Blackmagic Design: Video Recorder

or are there better options?

TIA

well, there are many ways to capture and encode video. mostly it's cost effective to use a PC / mac to do the editing.

the simplest way would be to use a DV video camera and capture the dv stream using a firewire input to your pc. you can then use a multitude of free or paid tools to manipulate and re-encode your video. (if you want to use windows there's windows movie maker for starters)

For analog capture, my solutions assume that you are not specifically looking for "Telivision broadcast quality". if you are; it may be simpler to improve the quality of your source (video camera)

however, since your mail specifically mentions an analog source, the first key (assuming that you are going to get it onto the pc) would be a A/D conversion of both the video and audio stream. a simple way of doing this would be with a capture card (most tv tuners have an s-video in and an audio in). again there are a multitude of freeware capture utiilities which convert the av stream to a multitude of video formats.

you could use amcap to capture the video from the s-video input of the tuner card.

what kind of personal computer are you using? Mac/pc? which OS?

cheers

 

[suri]

the simplest way would be to use a DV video camera and capture the dv stream using a firewire input to your pc. you can then use a multitude of free or paid tools to manipulate and re-encode your video. (if you want to use windows there's windows movie maker for starters)

For analog capture, my solutions assume that you are not specifically looking for "Telivision broadcast quality". if you are; it may be simpler to improve the quality of your source (video camera)

however, since your mail specifically mentions an analog source, the first key (assuming that you are going to get it onto the pc) would be a A/D conversion of both the video and audio stream. a simple way of doing this would be with a capture card (most tv tuners have an s-video in and an audio in). again there are a multitude of freeware capture utiilities which convert the av stream to a multitude of video formats.

you could use amcap to capture the video from the s-video input of the tuner card.

what kind of personal computer are you using? Mac/pc? which OS?

cheers

hi kapvin - thanks

the main camera has analog output - s-video

i have a sony DCR PC100E which accepts s-video input and has i-link (firewire) output - i have a toshiba with firewire input -

so, can i analog s-video - to sony - to toshiba for avi capture?

then, which software is good for h.264 encoding - for ipod, for ipad, sd video (different sizes including web)?

the OS is windows XP - i was earlier using powerbook G4 (Mac OSX) and final cut express but the powerbook motherboard died and i could not afford the purchase of a replacement macbook pro.

i will have to be with windows and the original analog camera.

regds and thanks

 

[sam9s]

hi sam9s-

i teach my work to students - and when i work a camera captures video of the way i do my work - this camera deck has s-video out, and i need to keep using this camera (cannot change it)

i need to

(1)capture and edit this video (about two hours long for one session) - must have non-linear access for viewing and editing captured video.

(2) broadcast this video over internet - real-time and also stored video.

TIA and regds
suri

By camera I suppose you mean, a Handycamm right, the best way to capture is using a firewire option (iLink for sony) called IEEE1394. You would need a PC with an inbuilt firewire option or buy a firewire card (if you have an older MB) and a fire wire cable.

When you connect using IEEE and switch on the camm either the sony bundeled softward will detect it (if you have installed) or XP would detect it giving you the option to open it with windows movie maker. Cancel everything. Now install a free simple and powerfull 38KB tool call WinDV. Google it and you will find the place to download. Run WinDV and play your movie on your camm. WinDV will start playing it as well on XP. Press the capture button and it will start recording the movie on to your HDD. Now mind you this is pure RAW format you capture with no quality loss what so ever so the captured movie will take HUGE amount of space on your HDD (250 MB per minute approx). But not to worry. Either you can compress it using Divx/H264 codecs (Use it with Virtualdub or xvid4PSP)or convert them in to DVDs and store it........Once compressed they would be small enough to upload on youtube for streaming.

If you need explicite details on capturing using WinDV and encoding using h264 let me know and I will try to provide as much information as I can.

 

[kapvin]

hi kapvin - thanks

the main camera has analog output - s-video

i have a sony DCR PC100E which accepts s-video input and has i-link (firewire) output - i have a toshiba with firewire input -

so, can i analog s-video - to sony - to toshiba for avi capture?

then, which software is good for h.264 encoding - for ipod, for ipad, sd video (different sizes including web)?

the OS is windows XP - i was earlier using powerbook G4 (Mac OSX) and final cut express but the powerbook motherboard died and i could not afford the purchase of a replacement macbook pro.

i will have to be with windows and the original analog camera.

regds and thanks

first, are you sure the dcr100 has a s-video input (not an output). if it's an input, you'll need to see if the DCR100 passes the s-video input through firewire. in it does nor.. it'll be a 2 step process.. record the analog to digital on the dcr 100 and then transfer using firewire.

windv/amcap will result in the dv stream being saved losslessly, which itself is a big amount (hope you have lots of space.)

you may still want to try windows moviemaker (which will allow capture, transcode to wmv directly from the firewire card) with scene change detection. it's also good for simple non linear editing. it's also free.. once you have the final WMV.. you can transcode it to whichever format you wish.

cheers.

 

[gobble]

I dont think you will get HD quality with an S-Video Input into a PC. Even if you convert to H.264, the quality will not be on par. But if you just want to encode into HD anyways any cheap video capture card like Pinnacle or ATI will do. You can use WMM as another poster adviced. No need to spend $350 when the true HD quality is missing. Then you can spend that $350 towards part cost on a new camera that supports hdmi out and get true HD.

Regards

 

[suri]

first, are you sure the dcr100 has a s-video input (not an output). if it's an input, you'll need to see if the DCR100 passes the s-video input through firewire. in it does nor.. it'll be a 2 step process.. record the analog to digital on the dcr 100 and then transfer using firewire.

windv/amcap will result in the dv stream being saved losslessly, which itself is a big amount (hope you have lots of space.)

you may still want to try windows moviemaker (which will allow capture, transcode to wmv directly from the firewire card) with scene change detection. it's also good for simple non linear editing. it's also free.. once you have the final WMV.. you can transcode it to whichever format you wish.

cheers.

hi kapvin -

the sony dcr pc100e has s-video input - i have been recording my videos onto mini-dv cassettes this way-

later, i get the camera home - connect thru i-link cable (sony to toshiba) - and download/capture video for editing -

this is cumbersome - i need a better way- and a need to broadcast- finally.

i also need - like 4 TB of external space!!!

i will be making money - so would not mind paying for the best option.

regds

yes - i will check (tomorrow) if the sony dcr pc100e has pass-through.

 

[kapvin]

I dont think you will get HD quality with an S-Video Input into a PC. Even if you convert to H.264, the quality will not be on par. But if you just want to encode into HD anyways any cheap video capture card like Pinnacle or ATI will do. You can use WMM as another poster adviced. No need to spend $350 when the true HD quality is missing. Then you can spend that $350 towards part cost on a new camera that supports hdmi out and get true HD.

Regards

hi gobble.. h264 / or AVC, really shines in low bitrate applications such as video streaming as compared to other codecs. (of course it's inherent efficiency means that is' also better for highrate applications, but the delta reduces) therefore suri's choice is bang-on. from the point of view of webcast etc.

Not sure where you got the HD part from, or did i miss something.

@suri- will you be looking at qvga or QCIF outputs?

 

[suri]

hi kapvin -

not sure about that - but i need from qcif (ipod?) to (full res) SD levels of output with ability to choose in between.

regds

 

[sam9s]

the sony dcr pc100e has s-video input - i have been recording my videos onto mini-dv cassettes this way-

later, i get the camera home - connect thru i-link cable (sony to toshiba) - and download/capture video for editing -

Where exactly are you capturing the video through i-link (PC??)........I am sorry bit difficult to understand the way you put....

 

[suri]

Where exactly are you capturing the video through i-link (PC??)........I am sorry bit difficult to understand the way you put....

hi sam9s -

the video is captured from sony (in playback mode) to toshiba laptop (on external (scratch) disk) via firewire ( with on-screen controls)

the toshiba has the same i-link interface as the sony vaio laptops.

regds -

i will post a picture of the different components tomorrrow-

 

[sam9s]

hi sam9s -

the video is captured from sony (in playback mode) to toshiba laptop (on external (scratch) disk) via firewire ( with on-screen controls)

the toshiba has the same i-link interface as the sony vaio laptops.

Thanks for the clearification...........and yea that how it should be done, firewire is the best way to capture a recording over a mini DV. What exactly are u missing here then, the encoading part???........Also Which s/w are you using for capturing?? WMM.........try using WinDV

 

[kapvin]

hi kapvin -

not sure about that - but i need from qcif (ipod?) to (full res) SD levels of output with ability to choose in between.

regds

sorry, should have been clearer.. these are just output resolutions..
qvga- 320 x240 -quarter of vga (640 x480)
qcif(pal)=352x288- quarter of CIF (704 x576)

if your dv camera is pal.. it'll most probably be outputting 704 x576

so for you needs, do your editing in SD, and then re-encode to qcif/qvga for streaming.. all the more reason to use wmm..

 

[partymonger]

A lot depends on conversion options, getting a raw file and then converting it to h264 with high bit rate is the best option..with max quality..

What you are currently doing is the best, when you simply copy files, there is no loss of quality, when you go digital -analog - digital there will be great loss of quality..

Copy file to your computer, use SUPER or Handbrake to convert it to mkv(h264)..

How do you intend to broadcast it? If you use something like vlc to broadcast, this method will work very well..

 

[partymonger]

There are many app available that you can use to broadcast video.. Try and see... Download.com is a good place to start..

 

[pnreddy]

I have been trying to rip my dvd files (.vob) to h264 format using Super. My present PC configuration is a Pentium 4 with a 2.33 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, a GeForce 62xx card. The conversion is taking about one hour per 1 GB. I feel that the only way to improve the ripping speed is to go for a faster processor, more RAM and a better GPU. On other threads for HTPC, I had seen somebody using an Intel core 7 processor. But I find that too expensive. Can any of you doing the ripping suggest a VFM PC that can rip a movie (about 6-7 GB) in about 2 hours.
Thanks

 

[sam9s]

I have been trying to rip my dvd files (.vob) to h264 format using Super. My present PC configuration is a Pentium 4 with a 2.33 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, a GeForce 62xx card. The conversion is taking about one hour per 1 GB. I feel that the only way to improve the ripping speed is to go for a faster processor, more RAM and a better GPU. On other threads for HTPC, I had seen somebody using an Intel core 7 processor. But I find that too expensive. Can any of you doing the ripping suggest a VFM PC that can rip a movie (about 6-7 GB) in about 2 hours.
Thanks

First the size does not make the CPU tax, the bitrate does. You can have a 2 GB rip with higher bitrate than a lower bitrate 5 GB which would take less time to encode than the 2GB file.

Second its not only the CPU that needs to be addressed for a faster conversion rate, but the OS (64bit) the application (like Super, is it 64 bit version), I used to use Virtual DUB MOD, but I made sure that it was 64bit. Is the application using both the cores (if using a dual core cpu). Also encoding using a physical drive or a virtual drive also make a difference in the speed. etc etc

In your case with P4 the above is not applicable, but that does not mean you have to go straight for Core i7. Go for any Quad Core or even a Dual Core, increase RAM to atleast 2 GB 800Mhz (very cheap these days) and keep the GPU same, GPU does not do much in the actual encoading.

However if you are able to encode 1 GB file in an hour, that pretty fast if you ask me for a P4. I would suggest complete the encoding and see if you are satisfied by the quality. I am not sure if you are fiddling around with the bitrate and all ( both for audio and video)

 

[shredder]

I have been trying to rip my dvd files (.vob) to h264 format using Super. My present PC configuration is a Pentium 4 with a 2.33 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, a GeForce 62xx card. The conversion is taking about one hour per 1 GB. I feel that the only way to improve the ripping speed is to go for a faster processor, more RAM and a better GPU. On other threads for HTPC, I had seen somebody using an Intel core 7 processor. But I find that too expensive. Can any of you doing the ripping suggest a VFM PC that can rip a movie (about 6-7 GB) in about 2 hours.
Thanks

The GPU has nothing to do with the speed of encoding. And yes, the processor is outdated. Being a P4 it will also run very hot and noisy. Since you want a VFM solution you should go in for a quad-core AMD processor. Even if you choose to go the intel way you are still going to have to upgrade your motherboard and RAM and GPU.... in short you are going to need a complete overhaul.