Introduction

So, you say you've just found the long lost Sailor Moon Z episodes while rooting through the dumpsters behind the Hello Kitty factory in Japan?  Or perhaps you've recently uncovered your old Transformers video tapes, buried beneath 5 feet of sand in your old sandbox?  Now that you have these treasures, you're probably wondering how you can store and share these masterpieces with others.  Well, that's what this guide is all about.

Over the years, I've seen video become increasingly popular on the internet.  People have been capturing and encoding video clips and making them available to others.  However, when it comes to the particulars of doing such a thing, many people are left without a clue.  As a result, the videos they produce are of low quality and have a large file sizes.  To correct this, I have created this video guide.  I have run hundreds of tests to find what (I think) is the best way to capture, process, and encode video on a PC.  Now I present this information to you so that you won't have to spend weeks trying to figure it all out yourself.  It is important to mention that my method is neither the quickest nor the most straightforward way to create a video.  Rather, I describe how to create the highest quality videos with the lowest file size.

This guide may be a bit confusing at times; working with digital video is not an easy process.  However, I have taken great care to present this information in the clearest manner possible.  If there is still something you can't quite understand, feel free to ask questions in the Message Boards.

Please note that this guide is intended for the capture of cartoons, not real life video.  Although the guide will still be useful to those wishing to capture from real life sources, I cannot guarantee that you will get the best output by following my methods.  Specifically, the settings I use to smooth video will probably create a loss of detail in real life video, making it appear less, well, realistic.

If you're an experienced video capturer, you can also benefit by reading this guide.  You might find a trick or two that you have missed.  Although I have tried to minimize the technical jargon so that anyone can follow this guide, you are free to discuss any technical issues in the Message Boards.

And here's a suggestion for the experienced video capturers among us:  read this entire guide because there's always something more to learn.  

With all that being said, you are ready to move on to the guide.  Use the menu on the left to navigate through the various portions of this site.  For a complete picture of the video production process, read every section in order from top to bottom.