"ADS USB Instant DVD for Mac" Output to DIVX

[bwh1248]

I am considering purchasing this unit with the goal of getting all my video tapes digitized into DIVX format for use on my Eyehome unit.

Before purchasing though, I wanted to see if anyone had any experience converting MPEG2 output from this unit into DIVX movies. From reading the forums, its seems like people are generally happy with the unit, but that there are sometimes some wierd things that occur. So I just wanted to check.

Thanks in advance for your insights...

[Exousia]

I bought that unit for a similar purpose. I found that it proved to be unstable and would switch from analog input to digital input at random times while I was capturing. I tried several workarounds and contacted ADS support. I received one quick response that did not solve the problem, then no further communication from them in response to my emails. I returned the unit for credit and bought an ADVC-300 by Canopus. That has worked flawlessly for me. There is a cheaper version ADVC-100. I hope you find this helpful to you.

[AntnyMD]

The standalone ADS Instant DVD box for Macs has no digital input so the previous response may be referring to a PC version (or is just in error).

What I would recommend, bwh1248, is you use the box to capture your videocassettes with the intent of making DVDs of your tapes, then once you've archived to DVD, convert them to DivX.

Once you've captured and authored the DVD content, you can open those VOBs in MPEG Streamclip and export to 3ivx, or even Xvid (there is a QuickTime codec for Xvid floating out there). You can also use ffmpegX to make great looking conversions.

I havent had any problems out of my unit until the software crashed just the other day. I realized that I'd somehow corrupted the software when I tried to force the box to capture from a high definition channel my set was routing to the box. It simply couldnt handle it.

[terryj]

Just an FYI: The ADVC-300 will handle HD channels,
as I've seen it record HBOHD and I was, to say quite
envious, as my advc-100 will only record regular digital cable.

[mhar4]

Yep, AntnyMD is right on with his advice. For me, I use Diva to convert the MPEG2 to 3ivx's MPEG4 movs. It does automatic 2-pass encoding with de-interlacing and cropping (if necessary) and delivers good results.

[bwh1248]

Thanks for all your help and advice! I will likely pick one of these up and give it a try! I've been using HandBrake with great success in converting my DVD collection to DIVX. But I'll give Diva a try for the MPEG2 movies coming out of this unit.

Thanks again...