Need recomendation..is the Canopus ADVC-1394 the one?

[mikestoyz]

I have been using cheaper capture cards for the past 2-3 years capturing a max of 320 or so resolution to do webvideos.

I want to buy a card(spend around 200 give or take 50$)that will capture DVD quality with no synch problems.

I have quite a bit of video to convert from VHS so I dont want one that will give me problems on a 1 or 2 hour tape.

My system is a 1.2 Ghz AMD with 256 non DDR ram and a 40 gig IBM HD.

I have Adobe Premiere 6.5

I havent bought the DVD RW yet, but will.

I dont have a firewire card, or any devices that require firewire, however, who knows I may have a firewire device eventually.

So with that being said, is the 1394 a good choice especially based on my relatively slow computer?

I believe it doesnt require a seperate firewire card and plugs right into a PCI slot, correct?

Or should I consider a ADVC-50 or -100?
I want to build a nice capture/video transfer system.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated, all feedback welcome!

[spectroelectro]

The Canopus ADVC 50 or 100 are superb choices. You might want to consider the Datavideo DAC-100. It's basically the same thing as the
Canopus ADVC-100 but for $100 less. (Street price $180)
Both the Datavideo and the Canopus ADVC units contain hardware sync that ensures the video + audio stay locked, so you'll have no audio/video sync problems.
One disadvantage of using an IEEE1394 device is that VirtualDub can't capture with firwire. The big advantage of firewire capture devices like the Canopus or Datavideo is that all the driver hassles just go away. Firewire video capture just works, no problems, period. Getting a PCI video capture card to work can be a real struggle.
If you really really _really_ know what you're doing and if you're lucky enough to have the right combo of chipset & motherboard & operating system, installing a capture card can give you options you won't get with the firewire devices. The firewire devices don't have accessible drivers you can swap in and out -- WDM drivers can be changed in the SETTINGS menu of the typical capture card, while a firewire capture device like the Canopus or the Datavideo gives you a fixed hardware DV capture with no options to change it.
To take a specific example, I use a Canopus ADVC-100 but recently spent $40 on a low-end PCI capture card just to see how many different video codecs I could get to work with it. Turns out I could download about 20 freeware video codecs like huffyuv and various DiVX codecs and most of 'em worked with the PCI card. As a result, the el cheapo PCI capture card gives some real-time capture options not available with the Canopus ADVC-100. This doesn't mean I use the PCI card instead of the Canopus -- the Canopus is clearly better for capturing video, and of course has no sync issues -- but if I ever want to capture to DiVX in real time, or use any of the oddball video formats like huffyuv I've got codecs for, the PCI capture card lets me do that. The Canopus doesn't.
You might want to get an additional hard disk, though. 40 gigs sounds small for doing 720 x 480 24-bit DV captures.

[mikestoyz]

Thanks, I may go with the -50 and get the firewire card then.
So the main difference is that the -50 and -100 capture through firewire
and the -1394 captures through the PCI slot?

I think I'd rather eliminate any problems with the computer by just getting it to capture through the firewire. I still have my cheaper card to capture like you were talking about.

I agree about the HD, I have seen some fantastic deals on 80, and 160 GIG 7200 RPM drives....that will be my next purchase after the card and DVD burner.

Any particular firewire card I should look at that is a good value and performer? I believe the -50 requires a internal firewire connector....

[Marco33]

Don't forget that even the DAC will have dropped frames with poor tapes.

[mikestoyz]

Don't forget that even the DAC will have dropped frames with poor tapes.

DAC?

[tonyp12]

Digital Analog Converter


Maybe you should just get a MiniDV camcorder
and use it to digitize, the Canon ZR even have instant pass-through.


I use my Sharp450U and always great result.

[Marco33]

Don't forget that even the DAC will have dropped frames with poor tapes.

DAC?

spectroelectro mentioned the DAC-100 or DAC for short.

[bobinga]

I recently Purchased the ADVC100 after much pondering over the dAC100 and the other Canopus products. I chose to pay the xtra $$ for the 100 for several reasons.
DAC100 does not do black and white ( uses color burst technology )

I liked the advc 50, but it does not have the ability to output VHS
With the 100 you can transfer you video to computer, edit and then transfer back thru ADVC100 to vHS

The cheapest price last month for a ADVC100 was at ebuyer.com. i had to wait 3 days to get it. No big deal> They have free shipping, but add a premium at checkout ( like a handling fee ), it was still cheaper.
At same time I puchased startech 1394 4 port card. thes 2 together were still cheaper than the going price for others aDVC100.

I recently purchased the newest emachine with the nEC +/- writer.
already had a pinnacle tv card and Pinnacle studio7.

thought i would upgrade to studio 8. It caused many problems on my system and i ended it reformatting harddrive and returning S8 to bestbuy.
Yes they accepted the return. I never did get s8 to burn and that was the biggest difference I could see between 7 and 8.
S7 does a great job for me as far as capturing and editing. I am currently experimenting with what to use to burn. so far I am leaning toward Ulead product that I got on 30 day trial. Not pleased with Nerovision Express but may try the newer version.

[lordsmurf]

Don't overlook the ATI ALL IN WONDER RADEON cards.