We're using a Matrox RT.X100 card to capture from a Hi8 tape player, through Adobe Premiere Pro, and can only cature to .M2V or .AVI format. Because of the file size (20 - 30 gig) we're having to run these files through WinDVD Creator to convert them to MPEG format which greatly reduces the size, however, it's a 1-for-1 convert time which adds another hour or two to the process. Does anyone know how to capture directly from the Matrox card to MPEG format?
The M2V file is already a video only MPEG-2 Video file. There should be a corresponding audio file that you're muxing with it when you create the MPEG file later. It's also important to understand that in order to create a high quality MPEG capture you will always waste bits because a high bitrate is the only way the card has to ensure the level of quality on just a single pass.
I remember that from some reading I did. I guess I should've asked the question, using the equipment we have, how do I capture in .MPG format and have one file (audio and video together) at the end of the process? Right now we're running the .M2V and .WAV files through WinDVD to put the two together, but that adds time to the project and things are only going to get worse in the near futher if we don't stream line the process.
Why are useing use Such a High end Capture Card to Capture to Mpeg?? The Native Format for your device is DV AVI format which will produce much better quality than Captureing to Mpeg Plus "WinDVD Creator" is totaly Crappy Software when it comes to Mpeg Compression, you would achieve much better quality encodes at a Smaller Fil size if you use a real encoder to encode your Files... I suggest that you capture to your devices Native DV AVI format and then use a High Quality Standalone encoder to encode the Captured files to Mpeg-2/DVD format...It takes Longer to do than Captureing directly to Mpeg-2 but the Quality is Much Better and Captureing directly to Mpeg-2 defeates the whole Purpose of Haveing a High Quality hardware DV Encoder Card....(By the way "M2V" is Mpeg-2)
I guess I didn't realize our capture card was a high end card. Anyway, where I work, they purchased three of these cards and they came bundled with Adobe Premiere Pro. The cards were spec'd out and purchased before I ever gained employment here, so I'm working with what I have. Yes the native format is .AVI, but the video we're capturing range from 20 minutes to 2 hours; our file sizes range from about 800 meg to about 28 gig. Capturing the video to M2V allows me to get more videos captured on a hard drive before I have to render them. Plus, the smaller sized files move across the network quicker. Quality is a concern, but not as if it were a video clip of a family vacation. It just needs to be clear enough to view the event, so size is a little higher on the priority scale. I realize now the M2V is an MPEG file, but the audio and video are seperated into two files. I know the idea is that if the audio file is in the same folder as the video file, you'll get both on playback, but we've found out that isn't always the case. To avoid any problems the none computer savvy management will run into when they need to view these videos, we decided it was best to render the files into a single MPEG file so it always works. This is were the extra time is coming in. I'd like to find a way to capture directly into an MPEG format as a single file rather then an M2V format where I have to put the audio and video back together. Any ideas?
Well there are Plenty of Mpeg Capture programs that use Software Compression to Capture to Mpeg...You can Probably Capture to a single Mpeg file with the Capture software you are useing if you select "Mpeg-1 layer-2" as the audio format, If you select "LPCM/Wav" as the audio Format in Most capture programs It will capture to a seperate Audio and Video file but to a single Mpeg file if you select "Mpeg-1 Layer-2"..... One of the better Mpeg capture programs is called "InterVideo WinDVR 3.0" which also has the Option to Capture the audio in dolby Digital Format...There is also a Plugin for Premier Pro that will allow you to capture to Mpeg-1/2 within Premier ,It is called the "MainConcept Mpeg Pro HD" Plugin which also adds native Mpeg editing to premier pro.... If you want to capture to a Compressed Format Like Mpeg-1/2 then maybe you can Talk your Boss into Selling the MatriX Card and getting a Good Hardware Encoder Capture device which will use Hardware Compression to Compress the Video which Produces Much Better quality than Software Compression and would Make your Job a Bit easier..... Cheers
