CompuServe Thread

Miro DC1 tv

8 messages in this thread
#1259From: MICHAEL E. ALLENDec 29, 1994 11:10 AM
I recently read your post in this forum and I thought I would ask some questions. I currently own a dc1tv card and your software. I have'nt used it much yet though. My question is what resolution and frame rate are you capturing for your demonstrations. I have a similar setup to yours (Pentium 90, 16 meg ram, Diamond Stealth 64 video card) and I would like to know what type of hard drives do you use? I have a Micropolis 1936av scsi with a future domain pci scsi adapter. I have'nt connected all the components yet and I'm wondering if there is anything special I would need to do as far as the scsi drive is concerned. I am also running windows for workgroups. Any help you could give would be appreciated…. Mike Allen
#1404From: Ulead SystemsJan 1, 1995 6:19 AM
MA>> I currently own a dc1tv card and your software. I have'nt used it much yet though. Hope you will like it. May I ask which our product they bundle with and what version? MA>> My question is what resolution and frame rate are you capturing for your demonstrations. I captured all clips in 320×240 30fps using miro's M-JPEG codec for that demo. Sometimes I capture them in a slightly larger size (328×248) and crop the border out to remove noise at the edge. I use a comercial VHS tape release from our gevernment about Chinese foods as my source. After capturing and editing, I print to video and also capture it to tape. I play the source to compare with my result side by side on two TV sets. I found there is little degration in video quality. But if I play the source and my result alone one by one, nobody can tell which is from the source tape and which is my work. I also found 320×240 30fps clips with "Zoom by 2" option of the Media Player turn on give me similar result on computer monitor for general usage. Most of the time when working on machines without a good M-JPEG board, I create AVI using Cinapak codec because it always gives me good result in playing back. MA>> I have a similar setup to yours (Pentium 90, 16 meg ram, Diamond Stealth 64 video card) and I would like to know what type of hard drives do you use? I encountered lots of problems in using Pentium/60 machines with various boards (including miro DC1 board), we can't even compile programs on them because it will hang. After I switched to Pentium/90, all problems are gone. If you want faster effects and editing, you may consider to add more RAM. If you do capture and play back most of the time with simple editing, then that's more than enough. I use two Micropolis 1.7G AV disks for each machine. There are 3G/4G disk from Micropolis and Seagate are rolling out 2G/4G/9G drives, however, they are too expensive. The 1.7G drive has the best price at that time. MA>> I have a Micropolis 1936av scsi with a future domain pci scsi adapter. I think this is the same disk that I connect to my Adaptec PCI SCSI card. MA>> I have'nt connected all the components yet and I'm wondering if there is anything special I would need to do as far as the scsi drive is concerned. I am also running windows for workgroups. I think you will not have big problems in doing that. Turn disk cache off (and 32-bit file access in WFWG) when you do capturing because it will slow you down in transferring data to your hard disk. If you like, turn disk cache back on when you do editing. If you don't do that, a litte bit more disk access will happen. –Vincent Chen PS: you may encounter this in WfWG 3.11 since you're dealing with big files now. ——————————————————————– The information in this article applies to: – Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.11 ——————————————————————– SYMPTOMS ======== When you try to open or copy a file larger than 2 megabytes (MB), you may receive one of the following error messages: Segment Load Failure -or- Insufficient Memory CAUSE ===== These errors occur if both of the following conditions exist: – You are using a permanent swap file without 32-bit disk access enabled. This causes paging to occur through MS-DOS. -and- – You are using 32-bit file access. Since 32-bit disk access is disabled, the real-mode mapper (RMM.D32) is used to provide 32-bit file services. These errors do not occur if the permanent swap file is on a drive with 32-bit disk access enabled or if 32-bit file access is disabled. WORKAROUND ========== To work around these errors do one of the following: – If your hard disk controller is WD1003 compatible, enable 32-bit disk access. -or- – Disable 32-bit file access. STATUS ====== Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.11. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Bases as it becomes available. MORE INFORMATION ================ This size of the file needed to trigger this error is not always 2 MB. The limit is 512 multiplied by the size of the allocation unit for the drive where the target file resides. The allocation unit size is commonly 4096 bytes, thus the apparent 2 MB limit. In cases in which the allocation unit size is different, the limit is also different. Additional reference words: kbhw 3.11 wfw wfwg errors out of memory vfat fastdisk incompatible incompatibility doesn't work not working ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.
#1467From: MICHAEL E. ALLENJan 3, 1995 9:11 AM
Thanks for your response. I got Video Studio 1.1a and iPhoto Plus 1.0 with the board. I have'nt used them much but so far they are great. I have a couple more questions about the Miro board and how you capture: What data rate and compression quality are you using? Also what audio quality? Do you ever have problems with audio/video sync? And last but not least, what kind of video equipment are you using? You mentioned that you would capture from a VHS tape, but are you using the s-video inputs and outputs or the composite? How much difference is there between composite & s-video? I assume you are using Windows 3.1. I was using that but switched to WFWG 3.11 because everyone said it was faster. Thanks Mike Allen
#1554From: Ulead SystemsJan 5, 1995 8:18 AM
I got Video Studio 1.1a and iPhoto Plus 1.0 with the board. I have'nt used them much but so far they are great. >> Glad you like them. As a side note, you'll like Media Studio 1.0 even better. It has Video Studio 2.0 plus 8 more program modules and more. However, if you do more capturing than editing, Video Studio 1.1a is for you. I have a couple more questions about the Miro board and how you capture: What data rate and compression quality are you using? >> I used Video Capture 2.0's recommended HD data rate (600K?) and 100% quality to do capturing. I forget what is the corresponding settings in VideoStudio 1.1a. I think they are the same across releases. Also what audio quality? >> I used 22.05K, stereo. 11.025K is too bad. I tried 44.1K on several capturings but can't hear out playback difference from my SB AWE32. However, I do see the file size increased. Do you ever have problems with audio/video sync? >> Since it is non-dropping frame capturing, the video/audio is in sync. If I want to adjust it, remove it, or mix it with other sound tracks, I used Video Editor 2.0's audio tracks to do that, so that I don't have such problem. And last but not least, what kind of video equipment are you using? You mentioned that you would capture from a VHS tape, but are you using the s-video inputs and outputs or the composite? >> I used s-video (Y/C) for both input and output since they all have this connector. How much difference is there between composite & s-video? >> At this resolution (320×240 with interlace), there should be no notificable difference. Some said there may be minor color shift. I assume you are using Windows 3.1. I was using that but switched to WFWG 3.11 because everyone said it was faster. >> I used both but I like Windows 3.1 better because it hangs me less. I can't see the speed difference regarding video capturing and editing works using our software. –Vincent Chen
#1556From: MICHAEL E. ALLENJan 5, 1995 8:46 AM
Hi Vincent, When outputting to tape do you see a difference between composite & s-video? Could I capture using composite, output using s-video and still get a good quality? Or should I go s-video for both? Thanks Mike
#1658From: Ulead SystemsJan 7, 1995 7:02 AM
When outputting to tape do you see a difference between composite & s-video? VC>> To my eyes, no. I've captured/output from/to several VHS and S-VHS recorders (both composite and S-video), from a LCD (s-video and composite), LD (composite only), and several Hi-8 (s-video and composite). Could I capture using composite, output using s-video and still get a good quality? VC>> That will not affect the quality. At this level of desktop video resolution (about VHS level) that the current board and system can handle (around 1M bytes/sec non-compressed data), the important things are the quality of the source, the tape, the recorder, and the combination of the capture board and the storage sub-system. The type of connectors doesn't matter that much. Capturing video alone (reducing the amount of the data to be captured), capture audio, then sync them together using a software like Media Studio will help to improve the quality of the captured video clips. Or should I go s-video for both? VC>> If you could, why not? I mean, just use the best of the ones that are available. The priority is like this: component, s-video (Y/C), and composite. Without going into details (which I don't understand either), the seperation of color signals and brightness signal help because the color signals are burst signals attached to (carried by) the brightness (black and white) signal. They uses phase angle (to the color sync signal at the head of each scan line) to determine the color of each color dot. In nature, they disturb with each other. So, seperate them is good, seperate the color and brightness is especially helpful. However, the transmission rate of each color signal are not the same, so you will need to add delay to adjust the color shift of separated RBG signal lines after long transmission distance. blah. blah. blah. (falling into sleep…)
#2007From: Arnold L. FinkelsteJan 14, 1995 10:36 PM
Hi I recently purchased DC1 TV board. I have Pentium 66-Micropolis, 1.75 GIG AV, Fast SCSI 2 Controller and 32MEG of RAM. My capture, with a SONY Hi8 Handycam and S video, is very good at data rate of 700KB/sec. My export to video is not good and my transfer to video tape of my saved movie is not the same quality as my capture. I can't seem to get Print to Video quality when I save movie using AVI compression. It is somewhat jerky and appears to be missing frames when it plays back (although all 30/sec are in saved file). When I export to video the jerkyness goes out to the tape. Can you help me with how you have been doing both or point me to someone who can help?: a) Print to Video b) Transfer to video tape. Please advise on the various settings and techniques you use for each. I would really appreciate your help. Thanks Arnie Finkelstein
#2012From: Arnold L. FinkelsteJan 14, 1995 10:52 PM
Hi I am having difficulty when I try to open an AVI file in Video Studio 2 that I have captured in Adobe. It grays out the file name and does'nt recognize any AVI file when I try to display (open) "ALL Files". Can you help me as I would like to use the software to edit. Tell me step by step if necessary. Thanks Arnie Finkelstein