Video Settings Menu
This menu will vary slightly depending upon the type of video capture device you are using. Some have more features than others and they should all be accessible through this menu. Here is some more information about some of the more common settings options that you may see.
Connect to video: This menu option is available no matter what kind of device you have. Clicking this menu option will connect you to the video capture device and initiate the video preview window.
*Note: Some devices may require that you "activate" them by using the software that came with the device. This is especially true of external USB devices. Just run the software that came with the device, then close it without disconnecting the video, and then choose Connect to Video from Log This®. This is also a good way to make sure that you are actually getting video to your capture card.
Frame Rate: Use this option to change the frame rate that is displayed in the preview window. This can sometimes make the video "clearer" but may also give it a bit of a stuttered look. The options are 10, 15, 25, and 30 fps.
Video Display: When available, this option usually allows you to set such things as Closed captioning, meta data display, or other "display" features of the capture device.
Video Source: Usually gives you the controls for such features as color, contrast, brightness, video input (composite, S-VHS), Video overlay settings, and video standards (NTSC, PAL, SECAM, etc..)
Video Format: Usually gives you the controls for image size, image format (YUV, 16bit, RGB, etc.,) and other "data" features that the card may have. Use this to control the actual size and resolution of the thumbnail images you capture.
Video Compression: At this time, this is simply a way to look at the various "codecs" or compression algorithms that are installed on your PC. We may at some point in the future add the ability to capture streaming video and this would be where you would choose the compression scheme you wanted.
Video Size: This option lets you choose the size of the preview window. You have three choices; small, medium and large. Use these settings in combination with the Video Format to optimize the best "efficiency vs. image quality" for you PC.
Close Video Connection: This actually disconnects you from the video source by terminating the video stream within the video capture device. This should not be confused with the Close Video Window option, which simply hides the window but doesn't effect the video connection.
Close Video Window: You can use this menu option, click on the X button in the upper right hand corner of the window, or choose Hide/Show video window from the Tools menu of the main logging screen to achieve the same result... closing the video window on your PC screen. This does not disconnect the video connection so it still allows you to continue grabbing thumbnail images from the video.
*Note: if you are having problems with the TC display being erratic, or deck control being less than accurate, try closing this window and it should vastly improve things.