Atari Win800plus recording AVIs problem

[oky2000]

Hey, I was trying to record some A8 games to stick up on youtube but I'm having problems.

 

The first one is it doesn't like using any kind of compression and refuses to use DivX etc.

 

The second one is whilst it accepts uncompressed AVI what it records is rubbish that not even the mighty VLC can't make head nor tail of.

 

So how does everyone here use the record video function (with sound) on win800plus. I'm on the latest version btw.

 

cheers.

[Rybags]

I think I got it to work nicely once or twice ever.

 

Can't remember the codec... might have been one of the MJPEG ones - they tend to be light on the processing load and heavy on disk space although nowhere near full-frames or RLE.

 

These days I just use the capture card which does MPEG-2, then just convert using VirtualDubMPEG2 to XVid, then upload to YT.

[MaPa]

I have no problem with it but I have to use small windowed mode (336x240). When I have large (double sized) it doesn't record any video just sound here at work. At home it behaves strangely too, I think it doesn't record anything. For compression I have ffdshow codecs installed and it work's just fine like some other codecs.

[oky2000]

I did manage to record with it but the uncompressed AVI (1.25gb for 5 mins!) was unrecognisable by either virtualdub or VLC so not sure what is going on.

 

Can I use the same FFMpeg codec that VICE uses? I have no problems with that really and the output is OK if you ramp up the bitrates.

[pseudografx]

I did manage to record with it but the uncompressed AVI (1.25gb for 5 mins!) was unrecognisable by either virtualdub or VLC so not sure what is going on.

 

Can I use the same FFMpeg codec that VICE uses? I have no problems with that really and the output is OK if you ramp up the bitrates.

Try AutoGK for compressing the uncompressed output. It works for me. Also make sure to install the lastest codec pack (I use K-lite), see http://www.codecguide.com/download_k-lite_codec_pack_full.htm

[Rybags]

I'd steer clear of K-Lite and most of the other "packs" around.

 

They often contain Codecs which conflict with what you've already got, and really, you're just better off with the essential codecs and players that cover most video types:

 

XVid and Divx. For playback only, one or the other will cover you. Encoding of course, you'll need whatever one you prefer. XVid is better for quality, performance is similar for encoding, but Divx has an easier to use Dialog.

 

MJPEG - such codecs are good for video capture if your computer isn't fast enough to encode to Divx/XVid without dropping frames.

Typically, increasing bitrate and reducing use of fancy options will improve performance... remember, low bitrates mean that more processing is required to create more compact files, but extremely high bitrates might impact due to excessive disk writes.

 

I use MediaPlayer Classic to play most files, and VLC for the rest. VLC has the advantage that many Codecs are built into it, so it'll handle most video types by default.

[flashjazzcat]

After having no luck at all with the video recording feature, I once read somewhere that someone got it going using the Microsoft RLE codec and it's worked well for me that way ever since. The files are rather big, but the quality is good and you can easily transcode the videos to make them smaller. The soundtrack (i.e. whether it shows up or not in the final video) can be a hit-and-miss affair, though.

[phaeron]

Ah, this is something my alter ego can help with.

 

The problem is that Atari800WinPlus writes video in 256 color (8-bit) paletted format. This is the native raw video format of the Atari, since everything that GTIA produces can be described by 8 bits (ignoring artifacting). Unfortunately, modern video codecs don't like 256 color input since it's not a direct color format; they want something a direct color format like 24-bit RGB or YCbCr. Microsoft RLE is one of the few codecs that can compress this format directly, another one being Microsoft Video 1. 8-bit video is getting very rare nowadays, so many programs will no longer accept it. Heck, I've broken support for it several times by accident.

 

Current versions of VirtualDub should read the 8-bit AVI files -- I just tested it with Atari800WinPlus 4.0 and it worked. This will then allow you to compress with XviD/DivX/MJPEG since VirtualDub can do the 8-bit paletted to 24-bit RGB conversion. If this doesn't work, let me know and I can do something about it.

 

Oh, and don't let the recorded video exceed 2GB. You will likely end up with an invalid AVI if this happens, since supporting AVI >2GB requires special code which A800Win may not have.

[+Cafeman]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/149623-atari800win-4-plus-and-video-saving/

 

I was messing with this a month ago and figured out how to get videos of manageable file size using the Microsoft RLE compression at 100%. That is one of the drop-down choices on A800win4.

[oky2000]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I used the Vista codec pack (otherwise nothing works anyway ) and also a separate install of DivX for encoding.

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/149623-atari800win-4-plus-and-video-saving/

 

I was messing with this a month ago and figured out how to get videos of manageable file size using the Microsoft RLE compression at 100%. That is one of the drop-down choices on A800win4.

 

What is the quality like for RLE? I've had bad experiences with that in the past (win 98/ME days)