Radeon AIW8500DV & MPEG-2 Files

[SteveC]

I picked up an AIW8500DV card this week, and I've spent way too much time trying to get this thing to work. Everything is fine except playing and recording MPEG-2 files. It installed the Ravisent Cinemaster MPEG-2 codec, but whenever I try to play an MPEG-2 file in either Windows Media Player or ATI's player, the video stutters & flickers. If I play the same video through PowerDVD, everything is fine. When encoding in MPEG-2, it skips a tremendous amount of frames and stutters. I had a BT8x8 card, with which I could cap at 640x480 in MPEG-2 with no frame drops, so I know my system can handle it. I've tried everything I can think of, including doing a clean install of Windows, and I still can't get it to work. Does anyone know how I can get rid of this codec, and install another MPEG-2 encoder that will work with ATI's programs?

Steve

 

[blakerwry]

in win2k/XP codecs can be removed in the stupidest of all places... the device manager.


under sound, vid, and game controlelrs double click on video codecs and goto the properties tab. From here you can view all installed vid codecs, cahnge their properties(if supported by the codec), and remove them at will. muhahahaHHAhahah.


I don't remember of having to install an MPEG2 codec other than installing winDVD (which i guess would probably have one)... how about trying the nimo codec pack, it is filled with tons of legal and less than legal codecs... easy to do a custom install as well.

try: http://www.btinternet.com/~nimosiro/
or use http://filemirrors.com and search for: nimo50build8.exe

 

[blakerwry]

a player I have found to work well when playing MPG1, 2, and 4 files is bsplayer.

The website should be http://www.bsplay.com but is often down >8- (

 

[SteveC]

under sound, vid, and game controlelrs double click on video codecs and goto the properties tab. From here you can view all installed vid codecs, cahnge their properties(if supported by the codec), and remove them at will.

It's not listed there, but all other installed codecs are.

 

[blakerwry]

hmm... not listed? oh wait... hehe.. now that I'm at home I can check my computer and see..... and see.... that I don't have MPEG1 or 2 listed either....

maybe these things are decoded by the programs themselves?

I guess the next best place to look on removing an mpeg2 codec you isntalled would be the add/rem programs icon in the control panel.

Is the Ravisent Cinemaster MPEG-2 codec an encoder/decoder? or just a decoder? from a little searching it seams that this is a decoder only, so it shouldn't effect encoding... but may harm playback quality/speed.

 

[Mercutio]

The machine I'm sitting in front of right now has a AIW7500 in it, running 2000, and there don't appear to be any MPEG2 codecs on the machine in device manager, despite the fact that I also have PowerDVD4 installed.

Just capped 20 minutes of MPEG2, 720x480, 30fps, 5Mbps, while playing a game of Freecell and running a low-priority FlaskMPEG session. I dropped 18 frames, all during the switches to my freecell game. Playback was just spiffy in PowerDVD. Machine is a 1700+ on a GA7VRXP. Hard disk is a 60GB 740X connected to the onboard controller (via 4.43 driver).

Are you using AV software? Do you have newish drivers for your disk controller? Are you fooling around on the machine while capping?

 

[SteveC]

Are you using AV software? Do you have newish drivers for your disk controller? Are you fooling around on the machine while capping?

What program are you using to cap with? I'm trying to use the ATI programs so I can use the remote with it. This is a clean install of Windows, and I don't have AV software installed, turned off all the unneccessary services and indexing, system restore, etc. Nothing is running in the background. All updated drivers.

I just tried capping with HuffyUV & Virtualdub (640x480), and everything is fine. I also tried it on the ATI program, and I got 15fps with the same settings! Something is definitely wrong. Their program doesn't seem to like my system. Any ideas? I'll try using PowerVCRII tomorrow, since I'm too tired right now.

Steve

 

[SteveC]

I should also add, this is XP. I'll install 2000 this weekend if I'm still having problems.

 

[SteveC]

PowerVCRII works just fine with it, which is good enough for me. It's what I was using for my other card, but there was a patch for it to work with ATI AIW cards.
Now to go dig out my car...

Steve

 

[blakerwry]

personally, I prefer virtual dub anyway... there is also another program I came across that is very basic and will work with any WDM capture source...

it's simply called vidcap comes as "vidcap.exe" I think it was made by microsoft. If you cant find it in a www.filemirrors.com or a www.google.com search let me know and I'll email it to you.

 

[SteveC]

personally, I prefer virtual dub anyway...

I like VirtualDub, but (1) I don't have unlimited disk space and (2) I'm not always home when I want to cap something. MPEG-2 gives a good compromise between filesize and quality. If it's something I want to keep, it's fairly easy to convert it to any other format I want. With PowerVCR, I can set it to record anytime I want and not have to worry about being there to set it up.

 

[blakerwry]

i see

 

[SteveC]

It turns out that the cause of my problem was ATI's DVD player. I could have sworn I unchecked that box during the install (*knocks self in head*). Once that was uninstalled, everything works fine, including capturing and playback with ATI's programs. So I'm happy now, and ignoring the problem I had, I'm quite pleased with the quality of the card.

Steve

 

[cquinn]

Which version of the DVD player were you running?

Most of the time the suggestion I see at rage3d.com is to install
a newer version of the DVD player.

 

[blakerwry]

how much did you pay for the AIW 8500?

I was thinking about getting either that card or the AIW 7500... the 7500 is getting older by the second so I am really not sure if I will ever buy it.

The reason I want it is because I want video in (I don't neccesarily need a tuner though), HD15 analog monitor out, and TV out(preferably I would like the option of S-vid out and then composite out through the use of a "break-out" cable).

And I want to use all theese features simultaneoulsy.

I could care less about hardware MPG encoding... I am just fed up with ATi never realeasing a fixed version of the MMC for my TVwonder card in winXP... I would rather purchase a non-ATi card, however it seems that ATi currently has the best all-in-one solutions available right now.


Do other ATi cards offer vid in, out, and monitor out (without all the extras of the AIW)? If so, I would be more intersted in these cards.

 

[SteveC]

Which version of the DVD player were you running?

The version that was on the CD, which is also the latest.

how much did you pay for the AIW 8500?

It was $150 at Best Buy after rebate. I'm not sure what other ATI cards come with video in, but I think it's limited to the AIW line.

 

[Pradeep]

When I capture at DVD rez with my AIW7500, I don't drop frames unless I do something really strenous. Capturing to a non-OS disc helps as well. Oh yeah and the dual XP1700s.

 

[blakerwry]

I usually just put my capture app at high or above normal priority... I won't drop frames on my xp1700+ of course I don't think my card can cap at high resolution... I usually cap at ~ 320x240

I don't think I am able to cap at 640x480...


BTW.. that reminds me... I have an entire anime series (2 seasons and an OVA) on VHS(EP mode)... and I want to get the series to digital. What do you guys recomend?

I was planning on capping as high of quality as possible(either a lossless codec or ultra high bitrate MPG2/DIVX with quantitizer at 1), then cropping, resizing, smoothing and finally compression using DIVX 5.

The source is pretty crappy... it is EP VHS dubbed from rented SP VHS tapes.... so there are a few minor tracking/sound problems in a couple of the episodes because of damage to the original tapes... and then there is always the low quality you get from using EP VHS.

 

[Mercutio]

I'll bet if you asked Fushigi really nice, he could come up with a better source tape for you.

One thing I don't like about the 8500DV, compared to the other ATI capture cards, is that the interface to its breakout box detaches from the PC VERY easily. Anyone else having a problem with that?

 

[SteveC]

One thing I don't like about the 8500DV, compared to the other ATI capture cards, is that the interface to its breakout box detaches from the PC VERY easily. Anyone else having a problem with that?

Hmm. I have just the opposite problem. I had a hard time getting it off when I tried it.

 

[Fushigi]

BTW.. that reminds me... I have an entire anime series (2 seasons and an OVA) on VHS(EP mode)... and I want to get the series to digital. What do you guys recomend?

Probably better to just scan the binary news groups & ask for a report. Just about anything from the past 5 years will be available digitally. Beyond that, availability will be spotty.

What's the series?

- Fushigi

 

[blakerwry]

hehe.. It's Fushigi Yugi

 

[blakerwry]

can you help me out, ya know?


ahahahahaha hahaha.... Chichiri is so cute.


But my gf likes Tasuke better... that traitor

what do you think of her fan art? representative of the series?

 

[Fushigi]

FY? If you can't afford to buy the DVDs, just rent them & rip 'em. <pulls box sets from the wall-o-anime>
Season 1 .. eps 1-26 .. 4 discs
Season 2 .. eps 27-52 .. 4 discs
FY The Mysterious Play (redundant title) a.k.a. the first & second OVA series .. 2 discs
FY Eikoden a.k.a. the latest & probably final OVA series .. dunno; haven't bought yet

Back when we distributed fansubs, we offered TV volumes 10-13 & some of the OVAs. Vols 1-9 were in the personal collection but weren't master grade so we didn't offer then. While I may still have my master tapes, I don't dupe things that have gone commercial.

Lessee .. I also have the original FY manga, art books, some shitajiki (pencil boards), and a couple of CDs.

Some FY links: http://www.anipike.com/fushigi.html

- Fushigi