FIRST of all this post only refers to those who capture with the dazzle and then re-encode to something else (such as panasonic)

Sometimes after capturing with the dazzle your file may look fine, However after you re-encode (to a normal or high) vcd, you may have had the mysterious problem of your sound/video sync being off. This has happend to me a few times, and for whatever reason only happens to certain tapes i try over and over. So from that im assuming something might be screwy with the tape. Either way HERE is how to fix this problem:

Take your original file you captured with the Dazzle and DEMUX the file (this will seperate the sound and picture into 2 seperate files).I use a demuxer the Xing corp told me to dl off their site. Now once this is done use the VIRTUAL DUB program (its totally freeware kids) and load in your video file from the demux. Now under the "audio" menu in the program, click "no audio". Now under the "video" menu, click "compression". i use the Intel 5.01 because it makes the pic look nice. YOU CAN KEEP THE QUALITY setting at 100!!! (i just did a 41min file captured at a 2900 bit rate and it encoded fine to avi keeping under the 2-4gig limit). Also while in the compression menu on the bottom check the "keyframe" box and put a "1" for keyframe insert. Once this is done go the "file" menu and select "save avi". once you do this it will start to convert your video file into an avi file. Once this is done and you now have an avi video file. Use your favorite encoder (i use panasonic) and insert this avi video file, along with the origianl sound file you made from the demux. Encode these 2 together and your sync problem will be bye bye. Also if anyone can answer, how much of a difference is it between "uncompressed frames" and using quality set at the full 100%??. Hope this helps some users who have had theis problem out there.

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), March 31, 2000

Answers

This is a question aimed at the answers above. The Studio 9 software that comes with Dazzle 150 video capture device is really BAD. What other software package can you folks recommend to work with the Dazzle 150?

-- Ed Newbold (enewbold@myway.com), January 27, 2005.

Virtualdub will work, but I've never been able to get it to capture without losing a lot of frames.

Mainconcept PVR and IUVCR come to mind, and there are a number of freeware or cheapware capture programs, but you'll have to look for those. Search Google. Irregardless, a USB capture solution is a stopgap measure at best and the quality and useability is going to be limited.

I personally use IUVCR for capturing. It's cheap (Under $30) and it works well enough using a Huffy codec. Just have a decently fast machine and lots of HDD space.

-- Bryan (gryps-innocens@gryphon.zzn.com), January 28, 2005.