I'm recording videos and what is this BS?

[Keiji Dragon]

Does anyone here have good experience in video-making?

I'll get straight to the point, there is thing I am hating right now and its this horrible "shadow" or "ghost" effect that you see on these screens. Look at Jill and the zombie.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8623/vlcsnap2012041221h58m44.png
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1684/vlcsnap2012041221h59m07.png

What is this crap? What can I possibly do about this? Help would be appreciated.

Extra, hopefully helpful info:
I bought this AVerMedia AVerTV HD DVR MTVHDDVRR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100049) card a few months ago, and so far it does nearly everything right except the aforementioned issue I'm having now. I use the dongle included to record in S-Video, H.264 codec, in the .mp4 format (I've tried with AVI as well, and I get the same issue), Entropy mode: CAVLC, Level: Automatic (I don't even know what this means), at video size 640x480. The video I record on are encoded in H.264/MPEG-4. I've tried using Avidemux's options (all dozen of them) to no success, it's useless.

This is my current recording setup. I have my Sega Saturn hooked up to a VCR via S-Video, with cables outputting from the VCR to the dongle. Here are photos, if anyone wants some idea:
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9035/65827103.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/195/65827103.jpg/)http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9576/segasaturnbackofvcrsetu.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/segasaturnbackofvcrsetu.jpg/)http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/6179/theconnectors.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/theconnectors.jpg/)http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/6131/backofpcwithdongleattac.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/268/backofpcwithdongleattac.jpg/)

[Borman]

You shouldn't be having ghosting issues. At first I thought it would be an interlacing issue, but that seems a bit severe. Have you tried removing the VCR from the setup? And try deinterlacing the footage for the heck of it.

[la-li-lu-le-lo]

Definitely due to deinterlacing. PSX video doesn't need to be deinterlaced because it isn't interlaced (most games aren't, anyway), but most capture cards can't recognize 240p video and automatically try to deinterlace it. Not much you can do other than get a different capture device, and there aren't many that can recognize 240p video.

I haven't researched this subject much in recent years, but there might be programs you could use in order to capture the video correctly. It depends on whether the device itself is deinterlacing the video or if it's being done by the software. I'm not sure about that.

[Borman]

Im still surprised it is that bad, Ive never had it be quite so severe.

[la-li-lu-le-lo]

It usually doesn't look as bad in motion. A video would be helpful, though.

[Keiji Dragon]

That's Resident Evil on Sega Saturn, if that means anything.

I took the VCR out of the equation, and recording directly from the console in S-Video and I still have the same issue.

It seems the issue is non-existent when I record with games that let you enable progressive scan such as Viewtiful Joe, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Zelda:OOT Master Quest. Basically, previous and current generation games.


It usually doesn't look as bad in motion. A video would be helpful, though.You got it, la-li-lu-le-lo! I'm on it right now.

[karsten]

have you considered recording from an emulator?

[Keiji Dragon]

have you considered recording from an emulator?Not for PS1 and above generations. Maybe SNES because I've actually done it before in the past only for certain projects like a Star Fox 2 run (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWhme7lkKx0) (which only makes sense as that's an unreleased prototype in a non-physically available format, like a cartridge), and so I'm familiar with setting up the codec for that.

Other than that, I don't see the need to resort to emulation for recording when I have the games, consoles and appropriate capture equipment for it. I've never had a major problem playing a game while using a capture device. This ghosting is just a hurdle I've come across that needs to be addressed.

Also, I aim for authenticity.

[Borman]

So have you tried deinterlacing it yet?

[Keiji Dragon]

So have you tried deinterlacing it yet?
I've tried all of Avidemux 2.5's deinterlacer options. No luck. =/

That video is still coming, so you can see what's up.

[Borman]

You dont happen to have a composite cable for the Saturn, do you? Or another Svideo cable for that matter. If I remember correctly, Dot50Cal had a heck of a time getting a good RGB cable for the Saturn, lots of the 3rd party cables were just no good.

[karsten]

my saturn rgb cable was darm cheap and good. got at lik-sang long ago :P nice good old rgb scart!

[Yakumo]

As I'm someone who captures many different formats of games each weeks I can tell you that those ghosting issues are all down to interlace problems. Take a look at this screen shot of Fighting Vipers 2 running on a Dreamcast.

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2323/retrocore3vol16wmvsnaps.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/32/retrocore3vol16wmvsnaps.jpg/)

As you can see it has the same problem that your video has. You don't notice it when the video is in motion though. This is because the Dreamcast signal via S-Video is interlaced. Even setting your capture card to de-interlace will not fix this issue.

This is my setting which still gives the ghost problem when using a real console.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2305/captureimage.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/captureimage.jpg/)

I even have the same problem with the Saturn via S-Video (look at the trees.)
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2323/retrocore3vol16wmvsnaps.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/retrocore3vol16wmvsnaps.jpg/)

This image below is taken from the same show as the images above however this Mega Drive game was recorded via Emulation running to the capture card via HDMI. PC's don't interlace the image so there's no ghosting.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/2323/retrocore3vol16wmvsnaps.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/retrocore3vol16wmvsnaps.jpg/)

Yakumo

[Infrid]

Keiji Dragon, your software/capture card is responsable of doing this, it's not a problem (or a bug :D), it's a feature.

[Keiji Dragon]

Sorry for taking too long. This is video that is suppose to show off what recording looks like for me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdwCD_L6Y5A

The software I use that came with the Capture Card is called AverMedia Center 3D.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2883/avermediacenter3d.png

[karsten]

can you send me or upload somewhere 30 seconds of "ghosted video"? i want to try if i can fix it in software.

btw the problem can arise when recording at a wrong framerate (like recording a 50fps video at 60 or the opposite).

[geluda]

Try using VirtualDub to deinterlace the video, it's a video editing software that while a little cumbersome is free. It has a whole load of cool filters including deinterlacing filters, just google deinterlacing with VirtualDub and you'll find some tutorials. However try and record the video raw without any unnecessary compression (MPEG-2?) and see if it helps with the ghosting issue, as the picture you posted already looks like it's been deinterlaced, as ghosting can be a side effect of blending two interlaced fields together. That's not to say your hardware/software is deinterlacing the video but keep it in mind.

[Yakumo]

can you do any HDMI recording? If you can, try that and see if the ghosting effect is still present. If it is then I'd say it's the capture cards software causing the issue.