connecting the VCR to the PC's capture card

Discussion in 'Video capturing from analog sources' started by wenling, Mar 3, 2004.

  1. wenling

    wenling Member

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    i just bought a Winfast TV 2000 XP Deluxe tv tuner and capture card. after a frustrating experience, i finally managed to install the card, the appropriate drivers and the Winfast PVR software.

    however, when i tried to hook up my VCR to the capture card, i realised that my VCR has no s-video 'out' to connect to the s-video 'in' on the capture card?

    on the bundled cable provided, there's an s-video female plug and a yellow RCA (i think) female plug on one side, and on the other side of the cable, it's a male s-video plug that, i presume, goes into the capture card (since it looks like the only place that it'll fit).

    i was wondering how do i connect my VCR's RCA composite 'out' jack to the capture card?

    do i need to use both the s-video female and the yellow composite RCA female plugs? or just one?

    also, if it's just the yellow one, which i think is the video, then what about audio? how does the audio connect to the capture card's "line-in"?

    one other thing, i plugged the capture card's antenna cable into the cable jack in the wall, but the reception's pretty bad still. anyone knows how to resolve this?

    thanks :)

    - a very frustrated newbie :S
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2004
  2. wenling

    wenling Member

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    okay seems like no one managed to reply to the post yet. anyway i managed to get the vcr hooked up to the capture card, but i still can't get the audio into the capture card. the video tape plays in the vcr and i get to see the video on the pc but no audio.

    probably because i can't plug the audio output from the vcr to the capture card in the cpu. because the audio output from the vcr is a rca composite kinda thing (like the yellow one) but the line in for the capture card is kinda like the earphone jack or the line out jack for speakers (the small gold-tipped jack).

    anyone know if there are 'converters' or any kind of cable that can convert the rca audio out from the vcr to the line-in jack on the capture card? thanks! :)
     
  3. aurgathor

    aurgathor Member

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    You need an RCA -> 1/8" adapter. If you're in the US, Radio Shack should have what you need.
     
  4. Minion

    Minion Senior member

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    The Audio doesn"t go into the Capture Card usually ...You need to Plug the Audio into your Sound Cards Line In Port...What I use is an adapter to go from the RCA/Composite outputs on the VCR to a Sterio Input Plug that Fits into your Sound Cards Line in Port...They are Pretty Cheap ,Probably under $5.....
     
  5. klnyc

    klnyc Member

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    I also have Winfast tv 2000 xp too. This was my 1st timer with video capturing things. I can caputre the video from my VCR, but I have no audio sound at all.
    So, what you guys saying I need a RCA to 1/8" adapter? I hope the R/S over here has it. So with the mini RCA to 1/8", I just need to plug into Line-In Port in my SB live card??

     
  6. wenling

    wenling Member

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    sorry i haven't replied here to post what happened after i bought the RCA-1/8inch jack converter. turns out my VCR only has mono output, so whatever i play on the PC from the VCR comes out mono. that's fine with me.

    the problem now is when i record no audio is recorded! is there some specific settings that i should set the WinFast PVR to? cos no matter what i do, it plays with audio but when it records, nothing!
     
  7. Minion

    Minion Senior member

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    Have you gone into your Windows settings and selected Line In as your Windows Recording Device??? To do this you Right click the Volume Icon in your taskBar and go to "Open Volume Controll" to "Options" to "properties" and click the Box next to "Recording" and then select the "Line In" Box below and then click "OK" and now click the"Select" box next to the "Line in" volume controll and adjust the Volume of the Line in to about 75% and then click it off and your done...Make sure you also select Line In as your audio port in the PVR software...Cheers
     
  8. klnyc

    klnyc Member

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    Wenling,

    My problem remain indentical like yours.
    It has sound when I record, but when it comes to play back...its mute(no audio sound)
    I have same captuer as you too.
     
  9. klnyc

    klnyc Member

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    Ok,I think I got it. If I select MPEG2, it wont have anysound. If I select PAL or NTSC i have sound.
    Weird sh$#.
     
  10. wenling

    wenling Member

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    klnyc, my problem's opposite of yours, not identical. when i play a tape or watch a channel from the tuner, there's sound, but when i capture it to a file, there's no sound.

    i haven't had the time to try Minion's method yet, but i'll post back here if i have success with it :)
     
  11. gonner

    gonner Member

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    Hi. Am also having the same problem.

    I’ve connected the cable (the one shown below) from the video to the pc. I can hear the video’s sound through the PC speakers whilst its recording but when I play the file back there is no sound??

    [​IMG]

    I am using 'WinTV-PVR 250' and i have followed Minion's idea but doesn’t seem to work.

    Thanks.
     
  12. wenling

    wenling Member

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    yeah that's the cable i bought but i still can't get the sound when i playback a captured file :(
     
  13. klnyc

    klnyc Member

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    Yeah, im using the same cable. Are you sure in the black end(single male) is plug into the "Line In"?
    The only thing is my Recording Play back was checked was the "CD-IN". Try checked the CD-IN and make sure in the PVR at the recording is LINE IN.
     
  14. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    You need to set the sound up in configuration.I have the Winfast 2000 XP Deluxe tuner. It's a great inexpensive tuner but the capture results are not all that great. I've since bought a capture device and the picture quality is only limited by the source quality.
     
  15. gonner

    gonner Member

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    what should the "audio mixer input" be set to?
    does this matter?
     
  16. klnyc

    klnyc Member

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    make sure line-in is checked.
     

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