New Video Tools

[LuisG]

Thanks to Haig for his efforts. These new VT's 2.04 work in my 400MAX/RR-G system with flawless YUY2 capture and great TV watching features (the video desktop is particularly nice).

One word of caution: messing with the skins (or color schemes), caused the only reboots I saw in my first run. Would stay with Matrox Blue and no border.

[dj911]

I am using Windows XP 2486, and couldnt get the previous 2.00 Video Tools to shutoff properly...What I mean is the sound from the TV channel I was watching would still be on even though I have closed the program and the video was off...Odd...I just had to restart my system each time...Anyhow I tried to just install these new leaked video tools and regret to inform all you great WinXP testers that they dont even let you install...A msg comes up saying something prevented it to install, try again later...No matter if you try to use compatibiltiy mode, nothing works...Ugh, I sure hope one of these video tools can work on the upcoming final WinXP or alot of hearts will be broke, cuz WinXP is one hell of an OS I must say...Its VERY fast and stable overall...Anyhow, if anyone finds a way to get these new leaked video tools to work on WinXP , let us know...Take it easy

Deej

[BryceMan]

I enjoyed the skins "feature" too. ;-) Ok, so now I have a TV-watching card for Win2K. But what about recording video? The MJPEG seems to still be there, but it's horribly buggy and YUY2 is for someone with much more HD space than I. Is there some way I can set it up with one of these software MJPEG codecs? What are my options? Forgot to mention that it's a G400/RR-G combo.

[Indiana]

Use VirtualDub for capturing, it's free. And as codec I'd recommend PicVideo MJPEG (was free, costs a small fee now). This codec is VERY fast and has highly configurable settings to adjust the file-size/quality tradeoff. So it should fit the needs of most people, (nearly) regardless of HD-space.

[Technoid]

Do these have to be Macrovisione patched?

BTW:
Do these (2.04) work better than 1.55?

[LuisG]

Indiana, how exactly does one use the PicVideo codec? I have installed it but when I capture, the dialogs are those of the Matrox vidcap driver.

[Dr Mordrid]

In VirtualDUB or AVI_IO;

Under "Format" select "YUY2" and select a frame size.

Under "Compression" select "PICVideo MJPeg".

Also in this dialog you can open its settings to set the quality and other options. 19 pretty much equals the Matrox codec. 20 captures at ~5 mb/s if your system is fast enough.

The other options can usually be left alone.

Dr. Mordrid

[leech]

The only skin that I've had a problem with is the marble one, it crashed the PC-VCR and I had to reboot, then modify the set-up so that the marble skin wouldn't load. Other than that, I got all of them to work, with no problems. Laters.

Leech

[BryceMan]

Dr. Mordrid: You're talking about in "capture avi" mode, right? When I choose "Video->Format..." I get a dialog titled "Matrox Vidcap" and the options I have are 3 RGB options with different color depth and an MJPEG option.

[Fred H]

Technoid,
PD 6.27 + VT 2.04 is a fine looking version, BUT it is buggy as hell on my Win98SE.
I installed them 5x after uninstall any prev. PD/VT reboot etc.
Installed PD6.27 Swedish 3 times + VT2.04
The damn thing PD 6.27 changed and blocked my Desktop icons.
Installing the English ver. and the VT2.04 I could start PC VCR only ones. For second time get different error messages, like "...unrecoverable ...error" or something like that.
AVI_IO was a hell to configure with VT2.04.
The best I've got was only the video without audio.
The TV channel seeking is something different from earlier VT, and the layout is very fine.
The PC VCR capture layout and info is nice. Captures exactly 25 fps PAL.
The skins? Changing the skin for second time locked the computer.
What am I doing wrong?
Should I install them over an existing PD/VT ? Or is it right to uninstall any earlier combination?
Just now I'm back with 5.55/1.55 settings and I am happy with them ...in the same computer and OS and all settings.

Fred H


[This message has been edited by Fred H (edited 24 June 2001).]

[Fred H]

Finally
I've got PD6.27/VT2.04 to work.
They like sex.
I mean the sixth time installation is success.
PD6.27 installed over PD5.55 without uninstall 5.55.
VT2.04 installed over VT1.55.
Now I can enjoy both 1.55 and 2.04.
AVI_IO works fine, no need the FD YUY2 patch. PC VCR does capture YUY2.
System: Win98SE.

Did someone install these tools as a clean installation, no other PD/VT in the background?

Fred H

[kkfong]

I did install that latest Vid Tools onto my Win2K system (it is an experimental system, so I have nothing to lose. Besides, all previous VT install has been hell, what's one more), and I have to say it works quite well. I can finally use PC-VCR without having it crash on me when it quit. I can also capture using PC-VCR or avi_io without it crashing on me. The only odd thing is anything I capture is without audio. And yes, I've checked to make sure my line in is not muted. Anyone else having this problem?

Here's my system
Win2K SP2
VT 204, with Display 5.37
PC-VCR or avi_io using WDM capture device, capture using MJPEG, and make sure both program is setup to capture audio
capture drive is 36G SCSI cheetah, hook up to 2940UW, with 23 Gig free
SB 5.1 Live mp3, with WDM sound driver installed from web
test clip is 1 min. Source is cable TV

Since I never capture in Win2K, I don't know if my system work at all in the first place.

Any info you can share on my missing audio problem is greatly appreciated.

K.K.

[Fred H]

kkfong,
Yes I've had problem with audio. Read my post here above.
Now it works fine in Win98SE. Had just one crash in PC VCR.
To enable Audio/Video capture go to General Setting and click the Audio Input Control. It should be set for Line Input, not the CD-audio. Regarding the audio setting in the earlier VT I found it confusing to set CD-Audio. It is NOT CD audio quality. It IS an input FROM CD. Check it to be set to Line Input.

Note, 5 clean installations didn't help.
An installation OVER an existing PD 5.55 and over an alredy installed VT 1.55 solved the initial trobles.

In my PC VCR 2.04 can't capture RGB and YUY2 only with 704x576 (PAL). I'm not able to set 352X288 YUY2, but it's fine in AVI_IO. RGB too.

Fred H

[Fred H]

Other fancy setting in VideoTools 2.04:
Video/TV as Desktop background.

And, do you know what?
I started MSP6 with PC VCR running in the background. Inserted an .avi file, edited and rendered it WITH the PC VCR running.
It wasn't possible before.
So, I chage my mind about these new toys.

Fred H



[This message has been edited by Fred H (edited 25 June 2001).]

[BryceMan]

How exactly is that "live video on desktop" option supposed to work? I've tried changing the option, but have seen no results. Am I missing something?