Iomega Buz

Video capturing is not so easy, not so hard...

...as far as using a Buz

Those page won't be updated anymore, as i got rid of the buz... Sorry.

(02 Sept. 1999)

(25 may 1999)

(04 June 1999)

Those pages are intended to provide simple yet useful information to the average buz user. here you'll find some useful and detailed tips to work with buz and Premiere 4.2 or 5.

Those pages will grow up, it's an early stage... (build in 1 hour... so...)

Read first computer system if you don't own the buz. Read also the other points because they are also useful for other hardware capturing system.

1. Update your drivers to 1.3 unofficial release !

2. Get a software mjpeg codec

3. Configure premiere 4.2

4. Configure premiere 5

5. Computer system to use ?

1. Update your drivers to 1.3 unofficial release !

Download them from there : http://www.egyptian.net/~raymacke/Buz/Buz13.htm

Note : you are leaving my site. Use those at your own risk.

I've just tested the new version of the buz drivers. They are pretty good I think. But there is a problem : those are unofficial release, which were probably not intended to be distributed by Iomega, or maybe are those drivers the work of someone else... I don't know, and don't care. Try at your own risk. (but it looks to work). You obviously have to back up your old drivers. The main files are h22capt.DLL and h33.DLL. (copy them to a temp directory before installing)

If you have the oldest drivers (1.1 : see in control panel / system / multimedia devices / buz...) download the new ones right now, they will improve your buz quite a bit.

Another way to get better results is to download the modified drivers by J. Beukemas. Those drivers will add NEW features to your capture driver. Those are the ones I use.

***NEWS***

On the J. Beukelmans site http://www.inn.nl/~jbeukema/buz/codec/results2.htm he says Iomega will release totally new and better drivers : some kind of real ones !

New features announced :

	brightness / contrast problem solved when recompressing (they added a new mjpeg software codec for recompression)
	Better AGP and TNT cards support
	Minor bugs removed...
	With the major problem of premiere compatibility still there... We'll see...

This one is not released yet, as well, but whenever I'll get it, I'll made it available, or I'll place a link here... Be patient they said...

NEW:

1.3 drivers released : go to http://www.inn.nl/~jbeukema/buz for more info

2. Get a software mjpeg codec

Instead of using the paradigm matrix codec, use the Morgan mjpeg codec, which is faster, better, and easier to use : http://www.morgan-multimedia.com/

Note that Iomega will release new drivers with software codec support directly....

Note : please read the install information, else you won't be able to use your buz hardware codec anymore. Basically, backup you system.ini file. Edit it and change/add those in the [drivers32] section:

vidc.MJPG=m3jpeg32.dll
vidc.HJPG=h22capt.dll

	vidc.MJPG is the new software driver provided by Morgan multimedia
	VIDC.HJPG is the hardware buz driver

This soft is shareware I think, so think about it. I'll try to register too.

Note that it expires on July 1999.
A new version is now available, which works until 1st january 2000... This one is better.

This is THE solution for every buz user.

2.1 Discussion about advantages and disadvantages of software codecs :

good things :

	It's faster with a good PC ( PII, bunch of ram)
	You don't have the brightness / contrast problem with the buz when rendering only portions of video
	You never have to recompress your unchanged data in premiere, and you don't have to supply the exact KiloOctet / frame setting to disable entire recompress. This because the codec allow varying data rates in the same stream. (buz also... but does not use it)
	You can always switch back to buz codec to output to video tape
	you don't have the overlay problem with your graphic card
	Preview with titles, effects,and so is perfect in premiere, without the need to render your movie first.(the buz previews at 1/2 frame second which is bad)

bad things :

	You need a fast PC to get the best results (my : PII celeron 300 boosted to 450, 64 mega)
	You loose signal output to tv monitor, because you don't use the buz hardware. (can be switched back)

3. Configure premiere 4.2

	Create a new preset so you don't have to change this every time.
	Disable 'optimize stills' in 'compression' (very important)
	Disable 'recompress'
	Choose the exact screen size : 720576 or 352288 in PAL and ???*??? in NTSC
	in fact, always use the same parameters you've used to capture.
	NTSC users should use 29,97 frame rate as well.
	Never recompress : choose the same k/frame value for rendering and for capturing. If you've forgotten this value for your clips, open 1 of the clips choose 'movie info' : you'll have the exact number. Type this number in the compression properties dialog box. (this usually ranges 50-150 k / frame)

4. Configure premiere 5

disable directshow (see buz faq for help)

See the buz faq for more info @ trix.com

5. What computer system to use ?

This depends of your needs : if you want simple non linear editing for personal video footage or if you want true pro results...

Two factors are importance : quality of video image and duration of your video clips.

You have to know this before upgrading or buying any hardware...

	The processor : PII Celeron is a good start (AMD K7 seems to be a real challenger). Frequency : more than 266 MHz for perfect results. More power means faster rendering times.
	Memory 64 or better 128 Mb ram (64 is enough, 128 is not that useful...)
	Hard disk : the MOST important choice :

- 7200 rpm is not luxe (5400 works also, but you'll have drops)

- Udma 33 is a need (my config doesn't work very well with this enabled but... it's a driver related problem)

- SIZE : to know which size you need, look at the table bellow :

Minutes of video to edit*	Lo quality : 30 Kb/F	Med quality : 60Kb/F	Hi quality :100 Kb/f
(600 sec) 10 min	1 GB	2 GB	3 GB
(1200 sec) 20 min	2 GB	4 GB	6 GB
(1800 sec) 30 min	3 GB	6 GB	9 GB
(3600 sec) 1 hour	4 GB	8 GB	12 GB

* this number X 2 to get the real capacity of your disk. You need HD place to capture your rushes and the same amount to compile the movie.

	Lo quality : limited vhs output : capture at quarter screen resolution (typical : 320240 30 fps NTSC or 352288 25 fps pal)
	Med quality : perfect vhs output / medium HI8 editing (typical : 640480 30 fps NTSC or 720576 25 fps pal)
	Hi quality : perfect VHS and S-VHS - HI8 editing (720576 / 640480)

You'll normally never need more than 100 kb/frames.

Kb / frames are the common unit to mjpeg codecs. This one is easy to memorize to avoid premiere recompressing by giving it the same kb-frames for making the movie

Those numbers do not include windows installation and other software's requirements.

So, it is highly recommended to have a separate disk for video editing.

Yet, See the buz faq for more info @ trix.com

Contact me for any other information.

Note 1 : Sorry for the poor quality of my English. And remember : if you kiss the ground, you are the pope.

Note 2 : Lecteur francophone : ces pages ne sont pas traduites en français dans la deuxième partie du site. Si tu es interessé par une traduction, demande ici.

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