Video -> Set Custom Format
In the frame size box you have to choose the appropriate resolution depending on your card (704-768 * 576). In my case (ATI Radeon) I choose 720*576. For Data format choose YUY2.

Which data format you choose depends on your hardware. If YUY2 doesn't work, try another.

Capturing from VHS tape you will ALWAYS see few lines on the bottom that
a) look weird (looks like they don't belong there) and have some noise... or
b) have same color ( green or pink) in a case when capture driver tries to hide this "headswitching noise" so you don't see it. If you don't see anything of this from VHS source,better check your input resolution, as you MUST see these if you're capturing complete signal (480 lines for NTSC and 576 for PAL), funny, but something is wrong if you DON'T see these lines from VHS. The lines (or greens field) will be treated in the Post-Processing section of this guide. If your computer drops frames during capture you can also try to cut these few lines off when capturing. e.g., use 572 instead of 576.

If you want to directly capture at SVCD resolution, then you have to choose a resolution of 480*576 in framesize. If you want to have the advantage of higher quality at Full PAL capturing, just leave the settings as described above.

Choosing the Capture Codec

No matter which resolution you chose earlier, this is the next step:
This is the moment you should have finally decided which codec you want to use for the capture process:
Video -> Compression -> choose desired capture codec:

Now you can either choose Huffyuv (leave defaults)

If it is possible to choose more than one Huffyuv codec, make sure you choose the one for the data format you just entered in the previous step (e.g., YUY2). You should start with "Predict median (best)" from the "YUV2 compression method" drop down menu and if that doesn't work, because of a lack of disc space or dropped frames, you should gradually step down the quality ladder, by choosing a lower quality setting in from the drop down menu.

If it is possible to choose more than one HuffYuv codec, make sure you choose the one for the data format you just entered in the previous step (e.g., YUV2).

or Pic Video MJPEG
set the quality to 18 or 19 and in advanced Luminance Quality to 2 and Chrominance Quality to 3.

Saving your settings

If you are done with your settings, it is time to save them to avoid having to go through the whole process every time:
Capture -> Preferences
now you have to save the "Default Capture file" in the same directory as you have saved your spill drives, in my example D:\capture\
now just check all boxes next to 'save'
set up "Initial display mode" the way you need it (WDM drivers Overlay, otherwise No Preview)
The options to enable channel switch depend on your hardware. If your card is one of the below mentioned, you can check it otherwise you should leave channel switch disabled.

Noise Reduction

Note: Real Time NR is not always best. If you have problems or this method doesn't satisfy you (ghosting, too blurred images), you can turn it off, and try some NR filters during Post processing (as mentioned afterwards in "Postprocessing the video; using Virtualdub"). Real Time or post processing - your choice once again.

Unfortunately the following setting cannot be saved:
Noise Reduction. The worse the source is the more disturbances you'll have in your capture, this is so-called "Noise". VirtualDub can reduce the amount of noise, which is often also responsible for dropped frames. Unfortunately this also softens the picture and needs some CPU power too.

You can switch on this option under Video -> Noise Reduction -> Enable.
You can set it up to your liking in Video -> Noise Reduction -> Threshold.

If you've chosen this option (which I only do when dealing with bad VHS tapes), the rule "more is better" is not true. From my experience the slider should not exceed 5 dots, I usually stay between 2 and 3.

Now you are finally done with the important settings and can proceed to the actual capture process.

Next step: CAPTURE: <NEXT>

BACK to the Index: <HOME>

Last edited on: 01/13/2003 | First release: n/a | Author: BaronVlad | Translator: SteVe(killingspree) | Content by Doom9.org