What software Codec is best ?

martinmacca · #1 (**permalink**) 03-10-2005, 10:17 PM

Hi, im currently trying to capture VHS video footage onto my PC and want the best quality so i can edit it & burn it onto DVD. Im trying Media Studio Pro 7 to capture the video, is this ok or would you recommend another piece of software? Also as ive said i want the highest possible quality so whats the best software compression codec to use? Heres whats currently on my options

mrlipring · #2 (**permalink**) 03-11-2005, 04:00 AM

Got a beefy CPU? Use xvid at HIGH bitrates.

Got loads of space? Go download huffyuv.

Shock · #3 (**permalink**) 03-11-2005, 05:38 AM

When I use the Xvid mpeg4 for the video and mp3 for the audio I
can get about 2 hours of very good quality video at around 700 megs.
thats at about 640 X 480. it will vary depending on your rezolution.
I would just play with it and see what you like the best.

reboot · #4 (**permalink**) 03-11-2005, 02:23 PM

Although you don't mention what capture card (or chip) you have, I had the best luck (and quality) with the picvideo mjpeg codec. I found Xvid too slow for large resolution captures on my computer. Picvideo mjpeg (which I got quite by accident with Showshifter) allowed me to cap full D1, which nothing else did, not even huffyuv nor lagarith.

mrlipring · #5 (**permalink**) 03-11-2005, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by Shock

When I use the Xvid mpeg4 for the video and mp3 for the audio I
can get about 2 hours of very good quality video at around 700 megs.
thats at about 640 X 480. it will vary depending on your rezolution.
I would just play with it and see what you like the best.

That'll be 2-pass though. You can't do 2-pass while capturing

Iirc, capping at top quality, unrestricted up to 16mbps ended up averaging at about 6mbps or something. From there, you can edit etc. That's only really for people with fast processors and not much drive space though, it's not ideal to capture with a lossy codec.