Question about TV capturing.

I have the TVBJ channel and I was wondering if there was a tutorial on TV or cable capturing. I would like to fansub some of the series airing on my cable but I have no idea how to capture them.

Thank You in advance

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:07 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I'm not really sure how satellite TV works. If you call the company you subscribe to, they should be able to tell you what the specifications are.

There are two solutions I'd look into... Capturing via PC, and capturing via a DVD recorder. Capturing via PC is a lot more convenient in that all the captured content is already sitting on your hard disk, so editing is really easy. DVD recorders require you to burn the content onto a DVD writable disc, and then copy the content to the PC for editing. You "can" edit directly on the DVD recorder, but the editing features are limited, and a lot more cumbersome because you have to do it via the remote control.

One solution for capturing to PC is the ATI line of video cards. The ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 is a really nice one. I currently use the 9600 on my captures. The card is limited to 720x480 resolution. The video can be brought into the card via either regular cable TV coax or S-Video. Audio is analog-only, and are RCA left/right connections. When capturing via PC, captures to MPEG-2 will eat up about 2.5GB for every 60 minutes of content.

DVD recorders... I use both the Panasonic DMR-E80H (80GB) and the DMR-E85H (120GB). Both write to DVD-RAM, which is what I use exclusively with these units. If you do the same, just make sure your PC's DVD drive can read DVD-RAM.

As for editing software... I use VideoReDo and Womble mpeg-vcr. One plus with VideoReDo is that it will edit MPEG-2/AC3 muxed files (Panasonic uses AC3.) The ATI software captures in either MPEG-2/PCM or MPEG-2/MPEG-2. I usually capture using PCM when audio modification is of an essence (adjusting volume or taking out hiss/other noise.) For audio edit, I use Adobe Audition 1.5. Other people use Sound Foundary 7 which is also very good.

So again, the satellite TV's output specifications is really important.

--- groink

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 11:32 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 3:09 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Hi, I'm not really so good with computers but I've been capturing a drama series here in the Philippines for two months now. You just need to install a tv tuner with capture card that would meet your needs. There are tv tuners specifically for digital or satellite cables. You could set the program or timer and the channel so that even when your not at home you can just leave it open and it would automatically record. That's what I usually do.
I think you would need more harddisk space for I'm sure that there are other programs and files in your computer. How long is the tv drama? If you have a lot of time to edit and burn it then 40 gb is okay but if it would take you a couple of days or weeks to do it then a larger harddisk is advisable. I also use a 40gb harddisk but the recording time is around 2 hours per day so I had to edit it after 4 recordings or I won't have enough space in my pc.
Prior to having a tv tuner I also used my sony videocamera. The new models have nice options wherein you could automatically burn the movie without transferring the file in your computer but I still transfer them since I have to edit them before burning.

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:22 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

One great thing about the ATI solution is that it includes sheduling of recordings, with the ability to choose the input on each recording (analog TV, S-video, and compositie video.) If the satellite TV set-top box is capable of outputting S-video, just make sure the channel on the set-top box is the correct one, and then schedule the record on the PC.

Most satellite TV companies may also offer a DVR solution. A DVR is basically an appliance with a built-in hard disk drive. The good thing about DVR is that they usually record even the premium channels (HBO, NGN, Showtime, etc.) This way, you don't have to record to the PC in real-time. PCs do crash from time-to-time, so you really don't want the PC to be the ONLY recording solution. It would be better to record the show on DVR, and then at your leisure record off the DVR to the PC. In Hawaii, I use a DVR when recording NGN programs, such as TV Champion you saw me upload. DVR also allows me to record multiple channels in case there is a schedule conflict. For example, Yoshitsune airs on KIKU-TV at 8:00pm, while FIGHT airs on NGN at 8:15pm. I can record Yoshitsune on my PC, and record FIGHT on the DVR. And then when Yoshitune ends, I can then re-play FIGHT on the DVR and record it to the PC.

That's the thing about capturing TV shows. You should never rely on just one solution. It is always a good idea to have a backup solution in case the primary solution fails. It really sucks when you want to record a 12-episode series, but have one or more episodes missing due to a technical mishap.

--- groink

Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:07 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Thanks for the help guys. After my exams finish tomorrow, I'll be able to look into things more carefully but I still have to buy the equipment so it might be a while before I can start tv capping. Sad

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 11:54 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Well I haven't been able to look into any capturing because of studies, visiting relatives over-seas, computer breaking down and illness.

The first step in starting to fansub for me would be buy a Tv tuner card along with all the other parts to rebuild my computer.

Is that what I need to capture dramas, a TV Tuner card or is it called something else.?

Also, what brands or specific cards are preferable.

Thank You

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 1:27 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I'm fairly new to the area of tv capturing too. I too wanted to start recording dramas so I could sub them. I bought an Asus tv capture card. It's a cheap one but can capture nicely. The brand doesn't matter because all the companies use specific chipsets.

But to learn about capturing from TV I read a lot at doom9 forums.
http://www.doom9.org/capture/start.html
That should help you.

Many people say it takes experimentation because there was so many different ways to capture and encode.

When you're setup and ready here's some info to get you started:
For me I capture at 640x480 (When I go higher the picture gets distorted)
I capture and compress the video in real-time with Huffyyuv codec. (this is a lossless codec)
Oh and to capture I use a program called iuVCR by iuLabs.
For editing and encoding I use virtualdub (freeware).

And the hard part, encoding... (encoding and compressing mean the same thing FYI)
I only deinterlace my video and compress is in xvid.
Use 2-pass encode for highest quality, 1-pass for average quality and speed.

Many people do other things other than deinterlacing but I haven't had any luck with the many other filters you can run on video.

Hope that helps. I look forward to some brilliant captures from you. salut

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:27 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 11:35 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Another question is do I need a good video card to be able to capture in better quality ?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:40 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 3:11 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I'm going to go capture card hunting this afternoon or tomorrow. Smile

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:22 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0