AVI files

[Woodcarver]

I bought Easycap to copy VHS to DVD using XP SP2.  It produces AVI files on Ulead, which run perfectly on the pc but I cannot process the files on Ulead or any other program.  Audio is there but not video when I transfer.  If I use Windows Moviemaker to capture video as Windows Media files I can then produce a dvd using Nero with reasonable results, but movement is a little jerky and not as good as the video tapes.  Final results may be better if I could get AVI files to work.  Any suggestions would be welcome.

[EZ-Fan!]

There are many different models of EasyCap, I assume you have EasyCap 108 as it seems to be the most common, if so do you have the DC60 or the DC60+?

 

[Woodcarver]

Not sure what model.  Bought from climaxdigital as EasyCAP USB 2.0 Adapter.  Leaflet refers to EzCAP 006 or 108 but I don't know which it is.  Computer hardware refers to USB 2861 device.

[EZ-Fan!]

Check on the disc that came with it, if it is the 108 then it will have either DC60 or DC60+ printed on it, once I know what model you have I may be able to help you further.


 

[Woodcarver]

The disc  states v3.1B for EzCAP 003/006/108.  No mention of DC60 or DC60+.  The hardware guide on the disc refers to EzCap006 and DC60+ but nothing about 108.  Makes no sense to me.

[EZ-Fan!]

The EasyCap 108 comes in 2 models the DC60 and the DC60+, my disc says "Model No: DC60" & "Version 2.1c", so seeing as yours is version 3.1b, I think it's safe to assume you have the DC60+ model.

Please click on the links below to confirm which EasyCap you have by looking at the pictures;


EasyCap 003

EasyCap 006

EasyCap 108

[Woodcarver]

Thanks for that.  From the pictures and dimensions it seems that I have a DC60+.  The leaflet says something about updating driver if using EzCAP108  -  is this the answer to my problem?

[EZ-Fan!]

Maybe, but it's not as simple as that if you are not sure which version of the 108 you have! The EasyCap 108 DC60 is the old one and the newer one is the EasyCap 108 DC60+, that little + makes all the difference you know! It should state somewhere on the packaging or the disc which one it is.


Here are a few possible solutions;

1) Capture a short piece of VT to AVI, do this 3 times using Video Studio. The first time round set the Color Space/Compression on EasyCap to YUY2, then try UYVY the second time and finaly RGB 24 the third time. Try processing each recording and see if the video is present or not. If this solution works it is because the video's are being encoded using different methods, not every AVI file will use the same Video Codec and not every program can read all codecs. I had a similar problem whereby Quicktime would not display video I captured as an AVI using EasyCap unless it was set to RGB 24, all I got was a white screen with YUY2 and UYVY, although the audio played fine in all three.

2) Click here and download the latest EasyCap 108 DC60+ driver. This next bit is VERY IMPORTANT, please follow these steps EXACTLY! Unplug the EasCap, remove the EasyCap driver "STK1160 or STK1150" from your PC, then plug the EasyCap back in. Run the installer while the EasyCap is plugged in, once it is finished try and use it, if it does not work then you have the EasyCap 108 DC60 model, you will have to install the original driver again on top of the new one, do not remove the updated driver/software yet! If it does work straight away, you have the EasyCap 108 DC60+, try capturing some VT and see what happens! I think this download updates the hardware on the EasyCap itself, that's why it must be plugged in when you run it, it's meant for the DC60+ not the DC60 which is the older version, that's why you might have to reinstall the original driver.

3) If you still have problems when capturing AVI's with Ulead Video Studio then try some different software. When you run the driver update it will put a new shortcut on your desktop called "New Shortcut" (rename it AMCap), this is an exellent video capture program called AMCap 9.02 and is especialy tailored for EasyCap and captures to AVI, it achieves very high quality results and is also very low on the CPU, I use this for all my capturing, see here for more info.

Let me know if any of this helps!


 

[Woodcarver]

Mixed results

1) No option here.  Could not find a way to change from YUY2 to any other setting.

2) Installed upgrade driver for DC60+.  Ulead now captures video and audio properly in AVI files but quality is poor.  Maybe a faster processor would solve that problem. (currently using AMD 1600 MHz processor)

3) Amcap 9.02 captures video and audio.  Video quality is good but audio is out of sync.

Also tried Ulead to capture from VHS and save as a WMV file with the video & audio option setting at ‘Ulead neptune good quality’.  Audio is in sync and video quality is almost as good as Amcap but slightly jerky. Writing to disc gives end result similar to WMV files using Moviemaker and Nero.  Seems this is as good as it gets.

Many thanks for your help. I have learnt a lot and without your advice I would still be struggling.

[EZ-Fan!]

In my experience this may not be as good as it gets, there are still more things that you could try!


1) The options are there, but are burried in user "unfriendly" menus! Go; Capture/Capture Video/Options/Video And Audio Capture Settings/Capture and you will finaly see Compression! Always best to set it to YUY2 as it gives better quality results (with file sizes a third smaller than RGB 24 when capturing to AVI). Set the Frame Size to 720 x 576 for the best quality resolution.

2) There is a way to tell if a faster processor may help. Right click on the grey tool bar at the bottom of your screen and open the "Task Manager", put the window in the top right of your screen and keep it open when you are capturing. If the CPU Usage meter is in the high 90's and maxing out then a better processor may help with that program. In my experience though it is more to do with the program being badly written and using up to much CPU in the first place! I have a Pentium 4 - 2.8Ghz and can only manage to capture at half res (352 x288) with WMM and Nero, I get jerky files too, it is because the stupid bloated programs are capturing, displaying and compressing the video at the same time maxing out the CPU and dropping frames! I cannot even capture at all with Video Studio!

3) The audio in AMCap may be out of sync if None is not ticked in the Capture menu! Go; Capture/Master Stream and make sure None is ticked, if Video is ticked this might explain why it was out of sync. Here's a neat trick to free up some more CPU power when capturing with AMCap! Open the Task Manager and capture some video, note how much CPU is being used, then minimise the AMCap window, you will then see the CPU drop as AMCap is no longer using it to display the image while recording! This might also help with the audio sync problem. I have found no way of doing this with WMM, Nero or Video Studio! If you want to capture with AMCap and compress the video at the same time, try Noels AMCap 9.20 (scroll down), it has many new features added and enables better MPEG-2 recording.

By the way, did you find out whether you had the DC60 or DC60+?



All The Best!


 

[Woodcarver]

Results, after many hours of trying, but not how I expected.

1) This is the path that I have been using but the drop-down Compression box only has the YUY2 option.  Same with the options using AMCap.

2) Checked the CPU usage and it runs at an average of about 65% with a maximum just below 80%.  That would rule out processor speed.

3) All the right boxes are ticked using AMCap.  CPU usage is below 40% whether the window is maximised or minimised.  Also tried Noels AMCap but it is even worse, all stop & start with audio further out of sync.

It seems that I probably have a DC60+ but the disc supplied has the latest drivers anyway.  The files are all the same as those on the latest download and performance is the same whichever drivers I install.  (Lack of information from makers   -   no gold stars here).

However, your mention of half resolution unwittingly led me to the answer.  I found that Ulead was defaulting to 720x576 instead of 640x480.  (no mention of resolution in the Ulead users manual   -   no gold star here either).  Set to 640x480, both video & audio captured properly and edited properly but when burned to disc the video had disappeared, leaving just audio.  Tried to use captured clip again in Ulead and error message said “files cannot be read”.

Then tried Nero.  Clip captured on Ulead read ok, edited ok and produced perfect dvd on disc.  Problem solved.  I find Nero hit and miss at times and it would not capture video from EzCap properly but did the rest of the job well.

With a fair knowledge of computers I have struggled and without your help would have got nowhere.  I can understand users with less experience consigning this lot to the scrap bin.  Shame because it is basically a good piece of kit.

Thanks again for all of your help.  I have learned a lot.  Hope it helps other users.

Cheers

[EZ-Fan!]

However, your mention of half resolution unwittingly led me to the answer.  I found that Ulead was defaulting to 720x576 instead of 640x480.

Sorry Woodcarver, my bad!  I assumed that you were Brittish as this is a ".co.uk" forum and I myself am English, in future I will try and remember to ask people what region they are from aswell as all the other stuff! Glad you've found a work around to your problem, thanks for sharing that and contributing, I am sure someone will have a similar problem and find this helpfull.