Just want to manually record Colossus capture while watching - how do I do it???

[AlanMintaka]

Hi,
I want to do something very simple with this software but I can't seem to find the basic functions in the large number of recordings features. I've already configured NextPVR to recognize my Hauppauge Colossus card, and I've defined one channel for the component video/analog audio input. I can watch LiveTV successfully. It's managing recordings manually that's the problem

All I want do do:
Start NextPVR
Define an output folder for captured files
Enable LiveTV
Manually Start and Stop Recording while I'm watching without having to start and exit NextPVT every time I want to start and stop a recording. Obviously I don't want or need to use the NextPVT recording service, because I'm not going to schedule anything in advance.

That's all. I take care of all tuning with the source video device, a DirecTV Series 3 HD receiver which outputs component video and analog audio to the Colossus.

Most of the other capture programs I've been trying with this card have very simple start-stop recording controls while watching live TV. The closest I've been able to come with NextPVR is to start the program when I want to start recording, exit the program when I want to stop, then copy the live TV recording buffer file to another folder for permanent storage as a recorded program. This seems like the long way around.

Isn't there a Live TV view that has start-stop recordings in it that I can use independent of any external tuning I'm doing with the DirecTV receiver?

Please excuse my stupidity here.

BTW: the reason I don't use those "other" capture programs is because the few that can recognize the Colossus can't capture 1080i video without dropped frames. Users in the Hauppauge forum reporting similar problems with this card said that they got better results with NextPVR .

Thanks for your time,
Alan Mintaka

[Jaggy]

While watching live TV Ctrl-K starts it recording Ctrl-S stops it recording from thiswiki link http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...dReference

[johnsonx42]

NextPVR isn't designed to do that, and there's really no method to accomplish it. I suggest you try Capture4ME: http://www.capture4me.com/.

[sub]

NextPVR is the wrong sort of app for that goal. Try Capture4ME (http://www.capture4me.com), which is another app I develop, and is based on the same components as NextPVR.

Capture4ME does pretty much what you're asking for. ie, doesn't use a background recording service, you just start watching the device, and can click 'start recording' and 'stop recording' to capture what youre watching.

[sub]

While watching live TV Ctrl-K starts it recording Ctrl-S stops it recording from thiswiki link http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...dReference

That wont work him with a Colossus, since it can only be writing to one stream at a time, ie either recording or watching live tv, but not both at the same time.

[johnsonx42]

lol, 3 simultaneous posts

[AlanMintaka]

I had been using Capture4ME without success for 1080i captures - the files it produced had the same missing frames problems as those produced by WinTV and ArcSoft Showbiz.

In addition Capture4ME tended to create two identical files for every capture. One file was placed in the folder designated as output for captured files. The other was evidently a PVR "Live TV" buffer file used for pause/rewind/fast forward while viewing programming. At least, that's what I think it was. Whatever the case, the second "Live TV" buffer file was not deleted when I exited the program. Each time I captured video with Capture4ME, I had to delete the extra duplicate file that was created.

Since Capture4ME also produced files with dropped video frames, I thought perhaps the problem might be related to the real-time capturing of two files at the same time, which was completely unecessary for what I was trying to do.

Unfortunately, Capture4ME stopped recognizing the Colossus card before I could debug that first issue with duplicate capture files. Now Capture4ME doesn't recognize the Colossus at all, even though WinTV and Arcsoft can still see the card and capture video from it. I don't know what happened there.

Looks like I'm out of luck with both programs then. I'm not surprised, with this card. It's junk.

[sub]

I had been using Capture4ME without success for 1080i captures - the files it produced had the same missing frames problems as those produced by WinTV and ArcSoft Showbiz.

At the end of the day, recordings from all these apps are just going to be digital copies of whatever the device's hardware encoder produces. These apps don't deal with frames, so wont be responsible for dropping any frames.

That said, I've never noticed dropped frames when using a Colossus. Where are you seeing these problems? Maybe the captures are fine and it's an issue with the playback software you're using, or editor software you're using? or maybe your machine isn't fast enough for smooth playback of H.264?

I'm happy to help you work out why Capture4ME doesn't recognize your Colossus. Just let me know if you want help.

[AlanMintaka]

That said, I've never noticed dropped frames when using a Colossus. Where are you seeing these problems? Maybe the captures are fine and it's an issue with the playback software you're using, or editor software you're using? or maybe your machine isn't fast enough for smooth playback of H.264?
I'm happy to help you work out why Capture4ME doesn't recognize your Colossus. Just let me know if you want help.

I managed to get Capture4ME working again by installing the latest version. 1.0.9. However, it still records 1080i with "dropped frames", or what I've also been calling "stutter" - jerky, erratic playback in both audio and video. Recordings made at lower resolutions, e.g. 720 X 480, do not have these problems.

Over on the Videohelp forum I uploaded a TS file captured by WinTV 2.6 which had the same problems as the files captured by Capture4ME and ArcSoft Showbiz. The users there verified that the erratic playback was a problem with the captured file.

It seems that I just cannot capture at 1080i with the Colossus on this system. We went through a lot of debugging steps in the other forum and never came up with a solution that worked. Although I had tried Capture4ME in the past without success at 1080i, I saw a reference in the Hauppauge forums to NextPVR, from forum users who had fixed a similar problem with XBox video captures. Unfortunately it didn't help me with component video capture at 1080i.

I don't think it's a problem with Capture4ME. It's this Dell Dimension 8400 with the Colossus that can't cut it. Trust me, we've been through the mill at Videohelp: arguments pro and con for 32 bit vs. 64 bit machines for capturing, different cards, different formats, encoders, the whole enchilada.

I basically have to start over with a different PC and a different HD capture card. NextPVR was a last grasp for the Holy Grail.

[sub]

I'd totally understand if you've lost the enthusiasm for investigating further, but I'd be interested to see one of those 1080i captures with dropped frames. If you could upload a short .ts recording to somewhere like rapidshare or dropbox or similar, and let me know the url, I'll download it and try playing it here. This would at least tell us if your problem is a capture problem or a playback problem. (recording while viewing has both going at the same time, so it can be hard to tell which side is having problems)

What high is your CPU usage during capture? Remember, the Colossus produces H.264 video, so can require a pretty decent CPU for playback, or a video card that is offloading most of the hard work with hardware acceleration.