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| chrome307 |
| Posted: Aug 25 2002, 05:01 PM |
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Hi there, I have only just started using Virtual Dub with my old tvcard and it's great capturing programs.
Are there any freeware codecs avialable for me to download?
Thanks in advance!
chrome ;0) |
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| ChristianHJW |
| Posted: Aug 25 2002, 05:18 PM |
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Advanced Member
Group: Moderators
Posts: 1768
Member No.: 2
Joined: 7-July 02
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Very briefly :
- divx 5.02 from www.divx.com
- MPEG4V2 from Microsoft : should be on your machine already
- VP3 from on2
- theora from xiph.org ( based on VP3, to come soon )
- Indeo ( also on your machine already )
- XviD from www.xvid.org : only for educational use, you're not allowed to use it for real encodings, as no licenses were paid to MPEG-LA
- the hated SIGMA codec ( i dont point to there ), being stolen XviD, but with licenses paid
Ok ?
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Visit the unofficial Virtualdub support forum on http://forums.virtualdub.org - help to reduce the big number of emails Avery Lee is getting every day !!
Support matroska as container and Gstreamer as the only truely open, x-platform multimedia platform .... |
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| binarydreams |
| Posted: Aug 26 2002, 02:19 AM |
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Also huffyuv is a very good free lossless codec. |
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| chrome307 |
| Posted: Aug 27 2002, 03:33 PM |
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Thanks very much for the info!
chrome ;0) |
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| BaronVlad |
| Posted: Aug 27 2002, 07:08 PM |
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Terrorhörnchen
Group: Moderators
Posts: 335
Member No.: 28
Joined: 12-July 02
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If you want to capture you should use a lossless codec (Huffyuv or an MJPEG - Pic Video for example, but I am sorry it is not freeware) and compress afterwards, for a how2, please read the FAQ in the capture section of this forum
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Hochachtungsvoll
BaronVlad
Deutsch >> Capture FAQ - Capture Guide
Englisch >> Capture FAQ - Capture Guide |
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| chrome307 |
| Posted: Aug 28 2002, 10:05 AM |
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Hi there, Baron Vlad, I've now got the PIC Video Codec as suggested but when I try to use it I get the following results all based on 1 min recording of avi:
PIC Video Codec = 78mb
against
Microsoft Mpeg-4 3688 V2 =28mb
can this be right???
chrome 
By the way, I found some freeware codecs at:
http://nimo.everwicked.com/
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| ChristianHJW |
| Posted: Aug 28 2002, 11:23 AM |
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Advanced Member
Group: Moderators
Posts: 1768
Member No.: 2
Joined: 7-July 02
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chrome,
PICvideo will for sure result in higher file sizes, as it is a lossless codec, means it will preserve full picture quality, but at the cost of higher bitrates/ file sizes. It is best use during the capture process itself as it doesnt require as much CPU power during capturing compared to any lossy codec , like M$ MPEG4V2 .
The recommendation is to use
- lossless, fast codecs for capturing ( PICvideo, HuffYuff )
- lossy, slow codecs afterwards in 2 pass mode to compress the movie further
Clear now ?
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Visit the unofficial Virtualdub support forum on http://forums.virtualdub.org - help to reduce the big number of emails Avery Lee is getting every day !!
Support matroska as container and Gstreamer as the only truely open, x-platform multimedia platform .... |
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| phaeron |
| Posted: Aug 29 2002, 03:30 AM |
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Virtualdub Developer
Group: Administrator
Posts: 7773
Member No.: 61
Joined: 30-July 02
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Pegasus has at least three PICVideo codecs -- MJPEG, wavelet, and lossless JPEG. The first two are lossy. Lossless codecs are not necessarily that much faster if at all, because the simpler algorithms are offset by additional CPU and disk I/O load from the higher output data rate. At full-size video, where compressed data rates are often in excess of 10MB/sec, it is possible for a fast Motion-JPEG codec to be faster than a lossless codec due to better compression.
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| chrome307 |
| Posted: Aug 29 2002, 10:32 AM |
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Hi there, I have the Pic Video Codec Product 2.10.0.0 Library 2.0.0.162 installed on my pc.
The Mjpeg Settings are set at:
Compression....Quality :20
Luminance Quality: 0
Chrominance Quality: 0
Checked options 2 Fields If More Than 240 Lines
Subsahmpling: 4/2/2
Checked option Codec Enabled
Is this okay to capture with for PAL settings?
Lastly, my rough calculations tell me that a 2hrs recording would use around 9GB is that kinda right? Secondly, will this figure reduce significantly with TMPGenc Plus so I can record to VCD format or would I be better off using a codec like MPeg4 V2 as this would compress to less?
Thanks in advance!
chrome ;0) |
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| bobsobol |
| Posted: Sep 17 2002, 11:05 PM |
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I use two other free & open source codecs, just for experimentation as they are quite slow at the moment. Gpeg & GLZW.
To the last post, I say you can do whatever you like. The "is this okay" comment or so would have to be responded, if it looks okay to you it probably is. Should you use TMPGenc to make a VCD or use M$-MPEG4 depends on your target. Are you going to keep these files on a Hard Disk, CD, DV, DAT/QIC or other Digital Tape, DVD etc. how high a quality do you want/need and what will play it back. Medical photography of keyhole surgery needs to be "lossless" the preservation of old haulacaust film in a digital form may require that the flaws and imperfections are preserved also as to "correct" this would destroy it's authenticity as a true (if incomplete) record of history. It would actually be a digitally enhanced version of history, which once you start enhancing you could put the hair back on the victims and paint the nazi uniforms pink? Maybe whiten everyones teeth and give them a big happy smile?
SVCD can be played back on almost any DVD player. If this is your target then this is your choice. A modern PIII + machine will play MPEG4 AVIs well, the quality is good and the file size is small. Older machines especially those shipped with 3.1 to 98 and bordering on SE/ME time frame PII/Celeron/Pentium Pro around 300-400Mhz max would prefer some Indeo AVI or MPEG-1 VCD. Also if you are outputting to TV or want to use a CD-i or Playstation (not PS2) VCD is the way to go. None of these formats are "losless".
The question of wether to encode as losless or not dosn't have so much to do with dropped frames (IMHO) as what you plan to do with the media before putting it to press. (releasing on the web/ftp/dcc/p2p/usenet etc or burning to CD/DVD e-mailing to granny or WHY) If you intend to perform NO further processing and can capture at the bitrate you intend to publish at then by all means do so. However if you intend to enhance the image, many VirtualDub filters will also enhance "artifacts" introduced to the video by the codec you captured it in, this in turn will make the output of your processed video harder for the codec to encode and degrade clarity for your chosen bit rate.
My advise is if you intend to sharpen the image, de-interlace it, resize it, remove spots / salt and pepper marks, de-jitter or any of the other things we know and love about VirtualDub, always always always use lossless encoding to capture, with as high a compression as you can get away with without dropping frames. But LOSSLESS!!! Only use lossy compression if your source is soooooo clear you don't want to do anything else with it other than capture. And even then make sure you are not destroying the truth with the compression.... Don't use lossy compression on your security camera fe or your burgler/shop lifter could claim the compression algorythem has destorted someone elses face to look like theirs. 
Uncompressed YUV/YUY at 1/2 Pal 382x288x25fps will occupie about 18Gig without sound. A decent lossless compressor will work out about a half to 4 sixths or this size just like a Zip, or rather Rar or Ace archive as these too are lossless compression. So this would match you 9Gig quite nicely. Mpeg or the Wavelett M-Jpeg will do much better, and could come close to that 9Gig at full PAL 754x576x25fps with little noticable artifacting outside fast-motion sections. Get a good Bit-rate calculator and try as I don't tend to produce this kind of media. Most DVDs (here in the UK) are 4Gig a film at that kind of res. |
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| Sarreq Teryx |
| Posted: Sep 18 2002, 02:22 AM |
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VirtualdubMod Alpha tester
Group: Vdubmod Alpha Testing Team
Posts: 175
Member No.: 41
Joined: 16-July 02
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Are there any absolutely free (not like PicVideo's "free") lossless codecs about with better compression than huffyuv, and still able to capture in real time or better? I love huffyuv, but it make monster sized files, so I tend to only be able to use it with short videos, but I'd like to be able to capture something longer than 10 minutes (that's how much space I have available), I am using my ATi AIW's MPEG-1 for capture at the moment, but it ain't the best in the quality area, even at it's full 15mb/s, and being MPEG, it's lossy.
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And as I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Lord, thy balls and shaft, they comfort me, you annoint my head with oil, some salt, a dash of pepper, a sprigg of parsley......Lord?............Lord??? What dost thou intend to do with that fork??? |
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| bobsobol |
| Posted: Sep 18 2002, 09:58 PM |
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I've not seen such a free product and haveing been doing Video capture for some few years now I have to say I disagree that "huffyuv makes monster size files" for on the fly capture it produces output that is only a bit bigger than lossless MJPEG from the definatly not free PIC-Video codec which are much easier to work with after the fact.
I suggest a bigger drive, or a graphics card with a decent hardware encoder. Matrox are supposed to produce cards with good quality MJPEG compression in hardware, though they are a propriatory MJPEG which you will need to re-encode before distribution.
I, for my cost efficiency, will stick with huffyuv.
The fact of the matter is that we either need a solid GPU designed for capturing compressed video or +- 8GHz computers. A multi-processor affair with a codec designed to utalise multiple CPUs in encodeing may do it, a silicon graphics workstation (I hear) is ideal, or maybe some sun server utalising distributed processing to do the compression in real time. Remember the Encode part of a CoDec must work out the best way of encoding, typically by trying many different methods to see which works out the best, the Decode part only needs to implement the single algorythem that the encoder decided was the best. Realtime encoders by definition on current processor technology will be large file producers. Notice that your choice of codec probably has more effect on the time taken to encode AVIs in VirtualDub than the filters you use.
You could try an old Indeo or CinePak codec set to very low compression factor, as these were designed to be "real time" playback on older generation CPUs the encode time is also quite short, but the quality to file size ratios on these forms of compression is absolutly appauling.
You pay your money and you take your choice. Perhappse video capture has not matured enough for you yet? Take heart the leaps and bounds it has taken since I started with a "screen grabber" attached to the parallel port, where I had to set my source to less than 5 fps to get full frame playback of my captured media has astounded me. |
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| greenval |
 Posted: Oct 4 2002, 02:58 PM |
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I have installed the huffyuv and PIC drivers but still nothing comes up in my choices of compression....what am I doing wrong??
(I currently have DivX in there or uncompressed...) |
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| ChristianHJW |
| Posted: Oct 6 2002, 09:13 AM |
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Advanced Member
Group: Moderators
Posts: 1768
Member No.: 2
Joined: 7-July 02
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lossless codecs like HuffYuv are only good for capturing intermediately to your HDD, they are no good for archiving on CDs or even DVDs......
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Visit the unofficial Virtualdub support forum on http://forums.virtualdub.org - help to reduce the big number of emails Avery Lee is getting every day !!
Support matroska as container and Gstreamer as the only truely open, x-platform multimedia platform .... |
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| Ookami |
| Posted: Oct 16 2002, 02:43 PM |
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Freeware codecs:
http://ookami.videoxone.de/elist/codecs.html |
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