Capturing equipment recommendation?

[Chip718]

I am a serious newbie who is going to attempt capturing video from a VCR to a 128MB ATI Radeon 9600G with TV out and DVI. Since I dont have a firewire connection on my VCR I was told I should buy something along the line of a Pinnacle USB TV tuner w/ video capture. I was hoping to get some feedback on this product. I am not planning on doing a lot of capturing and didn't want to spend the $200 that the Pinnacle costs, but if that was my only option, than I would have to do it. If anyone else has any other recommendations on other equipment options I would really appreciate it. TIA

[g_shocker182]

Whoa whoa whoa. You don't need an analog capture device...just buy a firewire card for $10-20 at BB or CC.

That is only if you have that firewire connection on yoru vcr. What model is it?

[musher70]

Sampo Usa gonna release a dvd+r recorder
this month for less than $300....

http://www.area450.com/

they make all the good multi-region
dvd players, always top of the line...

[Tommyknocker]

Whoa whoa whoa. You don't need an analog capture device...just buy a firewire card for $10-20 at BB or CC.

That is only if you have that firewire connection on yoru vcr. What model is it?

I agree. And make sure you have a lot of hard drive space (at least 80 GB). You are so fortunate to have a fire wire VCR.

[Chip718]

Thanks for your replies.

g_shocker182, I made a mistake in my first post. I meant to write that I dont have a firewire connection. Does that change my options now? Sorry for the confusion.

[Tommyknocker]

'Fraid so. Since you are just starting out, may I suggest a simple capture card. The Hauppage WinTV Go card for about $50.00. It accepts only RCA (composite) inputs and audio, but will get you started on the right track.

[lordsmurf]

I am a serious newbie who is going to attempt capturing video from a VCR to a 128MB ATI Radeon 9600G with TV out and DVI. Since I dont have a firewire connection on my VCR I was told I should buy something along the line of a Pinnacle USB TV tuner w/ video capture. I was hoping to get some feedback on this product. I am not planning on doing a lot of capturing and didn't want to spend the $200 that the Pinnacle costs, but if that was my only option, than I would have to do it. If anyone else has any other recommendations on other equipment options I would really appreciate it. TIA

Best setup:
JVC S-VHS VCR -play
TBC (I like DataVideo TBC 1000) -correct
ATI AIW Radeon card (7000-9800, pick one) -capture
ATI MMC (comes free with card) -capture software
Womble MPEG VCR -splice video footage
Premiere -high end editing
SoundForge -audio editing
TMPGEnc DVD Author -dvd authoring and burning

That's what I use, and my results are better than anything than I have seen to date. I'd actually be tickled to death to see a better capture than what I do. But none has come my way to date.

Intro setup:
JVC S-VHS VCR -play tapes
ATI AIW Radeon card (7000-9800, pick one) -capture
ATI MMC (comes free with card) -capture software
TMPGEnc Plus -splice video footage, 30 day trial
TMPGEnc DVD Author -dvd authoring and burning, 30 day trial

Stripped-down setup:
ATI AIW Radeon card (7000-7500, they go for about $75) -capture
ATI MMC (comes free with card) -capture software
TMPGEnc Plus -splice video footage, 30 day trial (cheap to buy)
TMPGEnc DVD Author -dvd authoring and burning, 30 day trial (cheap to buy)

Some other cards work, sure, but study them carefully. Many of them have bad software or no software (3rd party). Other are bad hardware. As of last month, ATI has the largest market share of home capture cards, and there's good reason for it (report I read in a financial magazine not too long ago). And the cheaper the card, normally the more problems it will give you. I learned that the hard way, having pinched pennies only to spend hours.

[darkstar127]

Best Capture card I've seen to date is the Canopus ADVC-100 device. It hooks up to your computer with firewire and you have a range of options for input video capture. Composite S-Video or normal auxillary cables for video.

[Chip718]

Can anyone recommend a capture device, either external or internal card? The Canopus ADVC-100 seems sweet, but kinda pricey for me right now.

Does anyone recommend the Pinnacle USB TV tuner w/ video capture or know how the video quality is? I heard the video quality on the Pro isn't that hot. TIA

[vhelp]

@ Chip718,

I would suggest looking into the DC10+ card. If you can fine-tune your
current pc system and setup.

This is a Hardware MJPEG (.avi) card. Quality is excellent, pending upon
your source of course, however. If your source is VHS for instance, you
can't go wrong, since card exhibits zero noise in captured source files.
Most tipicle Analog capture cards exhibits to some degree, noise. That's
one major reason I suggest the DC10+ capture card. And, it does a very
good job on VHS source to. But, if you have issues w/ tape or older tapes,
then that's another issue to.

So, if you can factor in a good working system, the DC10+ card will probably
be the answer to you, else in addition to the others mentioned above

Good luck,
-vhelp