Camcorder to Real audio/video

[Hunkorama417]

I have an audio/video clip recorded on my camcorder. What I'd like to do is take that audio/video clip and turn it into streaming Real audio/video or some streaming audio/video format. What hardware and software do I need? I could get Intel's PC Camera which just allows video, but I want sound too. I've visited Real's site too, only to find a mess of expensive confusing information.
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Andrew
56400814

[Drew]

First, you need some way to get your video into your computer.[nbsp][nbsp]If you have a capture card or a video card capable of video in, that'll do the trick.[nbsp][nbsp]You can also invest in a firewire, as that takes straight from cameras... is that just digital?[nbsp][nbsp]To convert video to RealVideo, you need Real Producer.[nbsp][nbsp]There's a shareware or freeware version if I recall correctly... I went ahead and bought it.[nbsp][nbsp]It's a pretty cool program, but you're right, it definitely was expensive.

Drew

[Justin]

Personally I'd go MPEG, using Xing MPEG encoder software... But Drew is right - you need some kind of A/D conversion, most commonly a capture card with composite or S-video input. Unless you are using an all digital camcorder (doubtful), you need a capture card capable of full motion video @ 30 FPS... not to mention a fast CPU, unless your capture card has a hardware MPEG encoder chip...

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Justin Nelson
FutureQuest (http://www.FutureQuest.net/index.php) Support

[Hunkorama417]

I'm thinking of getting http://gigabuys.us.dell.com/store/prodspec.asp?sku=759505 however, I'm not so sure on the quality. It says TV quality video and CD quality audio, but I don't think that device is capable of doing that.

[Drew]

If I have time later, I'll look and see if I can read about them... but if you've done the research and are just looking for a good place to buy that one...
http://www.us.buy.com/comp/product.asp?sku=10095008

Drew

[Justin]

At a quick glance, it appears that it may be what you're looking for. It is an MPEG encoder, and a hardware encoder at that - this is much better than any software encoder, as it does not require a fast PC or a high-bandwidth connection from your capture device to your PC (some external capture devices can lag if your PC can't keep up, even on a USB port). Hardware encoding is usually the best way to go unless you're on a PIII with a lot of RAM...

It sounds like it may be worth a try anyway - I'd look for more specs if possible, making sure it's USB (to transfer the MPEG to your PC), and making sure they have up-to-date software etc.

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Justin Nelson
FutureQuest (http://www.FutureQuest.net/index.php) Support

[Hunkorama417]

I might decide to buy this as I visited http://www.dazzle.com and the specs. looked pretty good.

[Justin]

Now I almost want one LOL - it does seem very nice, does Real Video clips automatically, connects via USB, and has a boat-load of features... Also note they're showing it with a really nice Sony monitor...

http://www.dazzle.com/products/vidcr.html

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Justin Nelson
FutureQuest (http://www.FutureQuest.net/index.php) Support

[Shalazar]

If you're looking to do streaming video, MPEGs simply won't cut it, unless you're using Xing's StreamWorks MPEG streaming server, which nobody uses anyway.[nbsp][nbsp]

Secondly, making streaming video clips off of already compressed MPEG files creates numerous artifact problems, like saving a JPEG over and over again.[nbsp][nbsp]Compressing compressed video causes them to become blocky.[nbsp][nbsp]It will happen. I believe current versions of RealProducer no longer accept MPEG as input as a result.

Personally, I would look for a video capture card that encodes uncompressed AVI video, with the ability to synchronize the sound with the video.[nbsp][nbsp]Often times, especially in MPEG encoders, you will find the sound and the video are digitized on two different tracks, and you'll run into synch problems.

I feel, for excellent capture quality, you should stick with a board that will allow you the flexibility of uncompressed AVI capture, like the ATI All-In-Wonder Pro card.[nbsp][nbsp]It's affordable, its incredibly flexible in its software and capture abilities, and it does excellent quality video and sound.[nbsp][nbsp]

And with AVI, you are free to convert it to whatever format you like.[nbsp][nbsp]Real Video, MPEG, Quicktime, etc. with any number of free softwarre conversion utilities out there.

As for streaming, I have to back Microsoft on this.[nbsp][nbsp]Their ASF streaming format is far superior to RealNetwork's.[nbsp][nbsp]I've managed to compress a 320x240 full-motion uncompressed 900 meg AVI to under 5 meg and still maintain its visual clarity, motion, etc.[nbsp][nbsp]I've rarely been impressed with anything I've created with RealVideo, which is why I no longer use it for my websites video gallery.

However, there are certain drawbacks to this.[nbsp][nbsp]The ATI card is also a graphics card, so I had to build a second station from which to do my video editing.[nbsp][nbsp]And as a result of the sometimes large file size of uncompressed video, bigger harddrives may be required if you're doing lots of lengthy clips.

My links for you to check out would be:

www.atitech.com (http://www.atitech.com)
www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/create/default.asp?LNK=1 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/create/default.asp?LNK=1)

[Hunkorama417]

Shalazar, thanks for your info., but no where on ATI's site did I find any specs. that said the All-in-wonder-pro syncs sound w/ video. Also, wouldn't I need software to caputre the audio/video?

[Justin]

About the ATI card being a video card, you can add another video card along with it - Windows 98 and 2000 support multiple displays (I have had 3 at one time, all at different resolutions/color depths, but now I run 2 identical monitors and very similar cards).

I also wanted to chime in that I agree about ASF - unfortunately it requires some server-side software to use it, and it requires NT :( (from what I've heard anyway - don't quote me on that).

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Justin Nelson
FutureQuest (http://www.FutureQuest.net/index.php) Support

[Shalazar]

Well by default AVI synchs audio and video, as it is an interleaved format.[nbsp][nbsp]That means that each video segment is followed by a cooresponding audio segment.

And the great thing about ATI's software, is its an all in one package.[nbsp][nbsp] Everything is in one utility -

Video capture/edit
TV viewing
Teletext viewing
Media Playback
CD Audio playback
All options

It's very easy and intuitive to use as well.

And, it comes bundled with several more types of software, including VideoWave MGI nonlinear video editor if you need something that eludes the capabilities of ATIs basic video editor.

You really don't need any additional software unless you're going to convert between formats, of encode for streaming.

And CompUSA runs deals on this all the time.[nbsp][nbsp]I paid 119.00 US for mine, and still consider it a deal.[nbsp][nbsp]But I've seen rebate deals as low as 69 bucks on this.[nbsp][nbsp]Its an excellent card, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to do video capture.

[Hunkorama417]

And the great thing about ATI's software, is its an all in one package.[nbsp][nbsp] Everything is in one utility -

Video capture/edit
TV viewing
Teletext viewing
Media Playback
CD Audio playback
All optionsq
Maybe it's just my ignorance, but I don't see anywhere in that list that says ATI captures audio along w/ sound. If it doesn't capture sound, I have no intention of buying it as I want sound n'sync :) w/ video.

Also, is the ATI a good video card as right now I have a 16mb 3dfx Voodoo3 3000D AGP? Since my current video card is AGP would I need to get the AGP ATI?

[Shalazar]

Yes, it captures sound along with the video.

As Justin said, if you're running an O/S that supports multiple views, you can run the two video cards in the same machine.[nbsp][nbsp]However, if you want to run both cards in the same machine, one will have to use your AGP slot, and the other will have to go somewhere else.[nbsp][nbsp]I know they make an All In Wonder 128 PCI card, and you can probably find more about it on the website.[nbsp][nbsp]

[Hunkorama417]

Kewl! I might pick one of those up and put my Voodoo card in another system or store it. Also, does ATI offer the All-in-Wonder Pro w/ more memory like 16 mb or 32 mb instead of just 8 mb?

[Shalazar]

The ATI All In Wonder 128 Pro, which is the successor to the All In Wonder Pro, comes in two flavors:

16Mb and 32Mb

I saw one, not sure which version, on sale today at Best Buy for 149.00.[nbsp][nbsp]Worth every penny IMO.