Capture Card Recommendations...

[OldMonk]

Right now I am in the process of finding a new capture card so I can capture vhs and transfer to dvd. I am curious no know what cards you might recommend.

As far as price range, I am looking to spend under $1000 (for the complete package of capture card with software).

Thanks for any help.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Start here:

https://www.videohelp.com/capturecards

It's found on the left side <-----

Plenty of good choices there.

Kevin

[thecoalman]

$1000 budget leaves quite a few options. Personally I would go with one of the Canopus ADVC units. I don't have one but will shortly, seems everyone that has one is happy with it.

Doesn't come with software but you can pick up Ulead Quartet for about $600 which will give you the most bang for your buck IMO. Includes Media Studio Pro for editing, DVD Workshop for authoring, Cool 3D prodution for 3D animation and Photoimapct for image editing. Seperately they retail for over $1200.

Might want to look into getting a card with a hardware encoder with that kind of budget. I see many of those cards going for a little more than $1000 but they come with software. Matter of fact if I could find one without the software for a better deal I might consider one myself.

Edit: actually $522 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=285495&is=REG

[lordsmurf]

Don't blow your full wad on the card. A good VCR, wires, TBC .. all items to go for a complete "package". With $1K, you can probably get all of this, if you shop smart.

[thecoalman]

Don't blow your full wad on the card. A good VCR, wires, TBC .. all items to go for a complete "package". With $1K, you can probably get all of this, if you shop smart.

You might also want to not consider my software suggestion too. That's a full blown editing package that will do just about anything you can think of. If you needs for editing and authoring are basic you might want to consider spending less on software and more on hardware.

[lordsmurf]

Yeah, definitely buy cheap software now (or use freeware) and then upgrade later when you can afford it. It's MUCH better than starting with bad hardware.

[SatStorm]

1K? Hmmm....

For capture device, I suggest Datavideo or Canopus (about the same device, Canopus seems to be the original...).
For capturing you can use freeware software solutions. Programs like virtualdub and virtualvcr works excellent on this.
For direct to mpeg 2 capture, the solution is only one: Mainconcept 1.4.2
For editing I suggest womble's mpeg2vcr. For more creativity, womble's video wizard is a good choice.
TMPGenc 2.5 is also a welcome addition. You can do various things, including offline encoding, multiplexxing, filtering during the encoding, etc. There is a freeware version of TMPGenc, that included a demo (one month) use of mpeg 2 encoding, which you can "expand" if you live in the future, during the installation...
The rest or your money are enough for a good VCR and probable good wires (you need good cables for this hobby)

[OldMonk]

Thanks for all of the input.

So far I have mainly been looking at the Matrox brand. In particular, Matrox RT.X10 and Matrox RT.X100. Both come with good software bundles and offer many good features.

One odd thing is that when I looked on VideoMaker's specs for capture cards, it didn't really look like there was a huge difference in features between the two. Also, some reviews said that the .X10 captured to MPEG-2 in realtime while others said it didn't.

Any thoughts?

[DaveS]

oldmonk - what are you looking to do? the only reason I ask is that the matrox will give you some pretty powerful editing capabilities, but the thread started w/ a discussion of capture...if you're doing some serious editing, you may have more source coming off DV than analog, in which case your capture is pretty straight forward...on the other hand if you're going for best quality analog capture then you'll probably invest more there on that side, e.g. good vcr, cables, tbc, analog/digital converter, etc.

on the mpeg side, if you have some $$ to spend, and are going for great capture of analog, then you may want something that will give realtime hw based mpeg creation like canopus amber, etc....

when I started w/ some of this stuff on the hobby side, I was hoping to spend more on editing, dual monitors, etc. but found my $$ going more into the capture side since my collection was all analog (vhsc, etc.)

you may have all of this already decided, but I was just curious given some of the things in the posts...

[ZAPPER]

I ain't no expert. But being that you asked for opinions I got to say that for $1000. Matrox would get my money for the card and soft ware bundle. A killer PC is desired for this. I have looked at the specs and requirements in the past, if you have top notch equipment already then this is the way to go. (I would have to spend $2000. to get a PC that could work this card.) I don't have any Matrox expierence myself, but I have been looking at their products for a couple of years and reading the reviews and such(hoping for the day that I could afford to buy) From what I read this is a top dog card and soft ware that requires top dog equipment to work like it should. I think that I have read more than once that it works best with Intel components. (I told you once already that I ain't no expert) If you have been looking recently you know the specs better than me. If you got the system that can handle it and the cash to buy it go for it!

Actually I have heard of some soft ware problems like not reconizing some equipment or file types at one time or another but I also think that these problems can be worked around pretty easy if they even exist any more. There is no perfect hardware or soft ware.

[lordsmurf]

The card is only part of the battle. Don't forget the playback aspect.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/newbiesguide.htm
The "best setup" is listed on this page right now.

[OldMonk]

oldmonk - what are you looking to do?

I am currently in the process of examining what my startup costs would include for starting a corp. which would include transferring vhs to dvd as a service. I know that the mpeg2 realtime capture will save me lots of time so I'm curious about cards with these features.

I uesed to just have a dc10+ card, but it recently broke down, and I decided that if I wanted to do this commercially it might be best to just buy a nice capture card.

As far as the editing software that comes bundled with the cards, I do a considerable amount of video making which requires lots of editing. Better software will help.

[NightWing]

If you can find it. The Sept 2004 issue of Digital Video has an article on creating a budget with some hints and tips.

Remember a lot of Supermarkets and local targets have a conversion service aready...

[DaveS]

Remember a lot of Supermarkets and local targets have a conversion service aready...

true, but alot of people also don't want to drop off their only copies of their kid videos at the supermarket...(I've never actually seen this offered at a supermarket)...target (US) does have this service...do a good job and your rep. will spread locally by word of mouth..

on the capture card, one way to go would be a realtime mpeg hardware card (if you go w/ any of the canopus prods, maybe you could post your results in the equip section .. they have a $500 pci card that is real time capture and also real time mpeg generation from your avi files, e.g. edit your vids, save to avi and then real time encode)..also for consideration is get a dvd recorder and then rip the recorded disk to the pc for addt'l editing / authoring..that's also what people do - you get a decent real time mpeg2 process w/ a recorder to boot - ripping takes a little time but can run unattended...downside for you on this is that it doesn't help you at all w/ realtime effects or output to mpeg2 for all your editing, but you do get a machine w/ decent noise reduction, mpeg encoding, etc. if you don't do a lot of composting, effects, etc. it may be something to consider..also, if you're buying a new pc, some of the editing programs don't really rely on cards for effects rendering, etc, and I think the trend, from what I read in the mags anyway, is away from proprietary boards towards software rendering of effects w/ generic vid cards b/c the processor power of new machines is high enough to support that..chech computer video online for some articles (I think it's computervideo.co.uk).

also, some hold the opinion that software encoding to mpeg2 gives better results than realtime hardware encoding at hobby levels of spending for cards, so that is also something to consider

[qlizard]

I know your subject is "capture card", but don't forget about analog-to-digital passthrough on your camcorder. If you don't mind capturing to DV, and if your digital camcorder supports it, you may already have what you need to get started, leaving $ for other toys.

[vhelp]

oldmonk - what are you looking to do?

I am currently in the process of examining what my startup costs would include for starting a corp. which would include transferring vhs to dvd as a service. I know that the mpeg2 realtime capture will save me lots of time so I'm curious about cards with these features.

I uesed to just have a dc10+ card, but it recently broke down, and I decided that if I wanted to do this commercially it might be best to just buy a nice capture card.

As far as the editing software that comes bundled with the cards, I do a considerable amount of video making which requires lots of editing. Better software will help.

If you're planning on doing this for business, I wouldn't recommend going the
real-time route. Maybe (perhaps) for a little while or season, some people
wont notice the poor quality, but given time, after people get used to DVD
titles (those commercial ones) they start to notice (and complain to you)
and ask can you make it better

You might get away with the Hardware MPEG cards (those that do MPEG-2)
But, for the real deal you'll never beat the slow process of Capture
to AVI and Encod to MPEG-2 - There's just no contest (from what I've seen
so far) But, then again, I'm a quality freak.

Here's the order of quality, from Excellent to Poor:

* A - AVI (capture; edit; and encode to MPEG - slow, but excellent results, if
... in the hands of an experienced user, including if the source is as poor as VHS)
* B - Hardware (capture and encode to MPEG on the fly)
* C - Real-Time (capture and encode to mpeg) - software

If the source is VHS, I would not recommend (C)
You might get away with (B) on VHS, but I doubt it, only because none of
(B) and (C) will do on-the-fly IVTC !!

If you end up processing a DV from those that do home footage, (C) would not
be recommended for sure.

The most important thing in your business though, is time. If you ain't got
the time, then (B) Hardware is the only route to go. And, I would guess
that most businesses are using (B) Hardware in their investments. Perhaps,
for now, they are getting away with their results. It takes time to figure
people out, and how to minipulate their jugements as to aspects of quality.
But some may be quick to be wise. Anyways.
Those, I would save for the (A) route. Or, specials that would brign in
lots of cash (ie, weddings and special parties)

OT storey..

** just yesterday, I was buying a portable washer for my apartment, by Haier.
** During the selling conversation, the women tride to sell me a service plan.
** I must admit, she caught me off guard, and I was actually going for the plan
** for an extra $100 dollars. Then, an impatiant customer insisted on some
** help with a stove, and the women asked to be excused, but be right back.
** Well, long story short, if it weren't for the impatiant customer, and the extra
** time allowed me, (I came back to my senses) (I really wanted/needed a portable
** washer) I'd of ben suckered out of an extra $100 dollars (but I wasn't) It's so
** easy to minipuate people who are in need (or greed, as in my case) of something.
** Because they they want, want, want.., right away, and think that they are
** getting something extra good - - oh, but they are not

Anyways. That was my true story from yesterday. Oh, and I can't wait to get
my portable washer. I hate washing my shirts/sock and pants by hand.

Those are just my thoughts on the subject of owning a business in this field.
But, good luck in any case.

-vhelp

[snafu099]

Another 2 cents worth

First, I'm just a lazy consumer, not expert.

I use the ADS usb InstantDvd-2 and the Compro USB VideoMate Live
Both are hardware encoders and both come bundled with Ulead software

Both are in the $100/150-us price range.
As for quality of capture, both are not just good, but excellent to surpurb. I can't imangine anyone complaing about the quality, period.

The Ulead software is adequte for most users, but is better out there for those that have the mony and need more sofistication.

The ADS IDVD-2 has a true direct to disc option that is a real time saver for those that are only interested in converting/achieving to dvd.

I got the Compro just because it has tv tuner as well.

PS: I got over the need to drive a Caddy a long time ago just for prestige

[NightWing]

As been stated various ways. Always remember this simple fact.

Do the utmost in quality and service for your customer. It does pay in the end.

Offer a quicky like the rest just in case. But basically offer quality to generate and keep your business.

[lordsmurf]

Why would you want IVTC on VHS? No point.

[racerxnet]

I can vouch for the Canopus Amber card and its capabilities to capture and encode to MPEG on the fly with great results. Sure its an older card, but it is nice that when no editing is nessecary, I can burn to disk right after the capture. The Amber and ADVC 300, 500, series devices have some nice filters and settings to improve the picture quality of analog souces. I cannot speak for the Matrox products, but hear they are good also. The DVRex I own can be configured to encode/decode in either hardware or software mode. Hardware settings reduce the load on the CPU when editing with 5 or 6 layers of audio/video for a customer.

As for RT capabilities, they certainly speed up the process of editing and special effects for the customer with no detrimental effects on quality. RT capabilities have absolutely no effect on the final product to the customer when done in the 4.2.2 color space.

Software encoders such as ProCoder can encode faster than realtime with a powerful system such as a P4 or the AMD 64 bit CPU's. The quality is also top notch and the flexibility is great.

You could look on Ebay for a used set-up that would certainly fit within your 1000.00 dollar budget and still have room for other needed items.
Most important is to have fun and read the forums.

MAK

[vhelp]

Why would you want IVTC on VHS? No point.

Why ??

Because, some may have been Movies recorded to VHS.

Anything recorded to VHS is NOT necessarily Interlace. Here are some
examples of scenarios, after recording to a VCR's VHS tape and recorded
in EP or SP (though it doesn't matter) mode:

* VHS-C / DV CAM footage to VHS tape = Interlace
... (unless your CAM has 3:2 features or 24 full frame record mode)

* Cable/Satellite/Antenna pure MOVIE (ie, Terminator) = Film
... (or, Telecined.., and can be IVTC'd)

* Dubbed wedding from another VHS = Interlaced

* DVD = Film
... (unless the DVD title was Sports; Concerts; News; Games; Workouts,
... then will all be Interlaced)

* Commercial VHS Movie = Film

* Commercial VHS Tape (ie, Sports; Workouts; News/Interviews) = Interlace

Note, some Commercial VHS tapes may have a mixture of Interlace and
Film.

So, in the cases of those sources that were from Movies, an IVTC process
would be in order. No hardware type MPEG card offers this to date (that
I'm aware of)

Cheers,
-vhelp

[pchan]

OT storey..

** just yesterday, I was buying a portable washer for my apartment, by Haier.

-vhelp

Where are the Whirlpool or the Westinghouse ? Big & tough !

[vhelp]

OT storey..

** just yesterday, I was buying a portable washer for my apartment, by Haier.

-vhelp

Where are the Whirlpool or the Westinghouse ? Big & tough !

Just a little more OT...

Go here:
** https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1041933#1041933

I just got one. For me, this is all I need. And, it beats washing my clothes
by hand, which I've ben doing for the last 8 years or so. Just doing one
t-shirt by hand, can ware you down, not to mention your hands and skin.
Try washing a pair of dress pants, or worse, a pair of blue-jeans.. it's murder.
and they take longer to dry because you can't truely wring them out dry
enough for hanging. But that's what I did for so many years. Now, I don't
have to - any mores

I'm so happy,
-vhelp