SONY VAIO PCV-RZ22G: Capture in AVI? Please help!

[ChachiFace]

Hi. I have a Sony Vaio PCV-RZ22G with a built in capture card in the front with s-video & rca input jacks. The software used to capture is called Gigapocket. This software only captures in MPEGII (to my knowledge). You cannot capture in AVI with this software. The software will only allow you to capture in MPEGII then covert to AVI if desired (this will cause quality loss).

My question is: Is there a software out there that will recognize the capture card in the Sony Vaio that will allow for capture in AVI?

I want to capture in AVI so I can edit then encode to MPEGII. Instead of captureing in MPEGII converting to AVI to edit and then encoding (more quality loss than the original way).

Any help appreciated,

Thanks,

Chachi

[ZAPPER]

I ain't no expert (my standard disclaimer)
But I have a couple of questions or comments
First off what is your source, I mean what device are you hooking up to your PC (Cam, TV, VCR what have you)? Here is the deal, In most cases, and most people agree that, the best way to get video into your PC is with "Firewire" a IEEE 1394 cable and a place to plug it in to. When you send video via firewire from one device to another like a cam to your PC it is called a transfer not a capture (no big deal on what you call it, but alot of folks around here like to beat the war drums about it) Anyhow if you can get your video into your PC via firewire already in the DVAVI format you got it whooped because it is ready for most editing packages as is. (Firewire can transfer other file types as well but that is a differnt story.) If your source is not say a DV cam with firewire abilites it can start to get a little trickier. I would suggest that if you have a DV cam with a pass thru function, that you hook your device to the cam and then the cam to the PC and be on your way. If you don't have a cam I would say buy one or one of the converter boxes that are out there (I have no experience with the boxes and think that the cam route gives you more options or at least serves more purposes) In any event if you can get the video into your PC as DVAVI that is the best route.
If you can't get your video transfered as DVAVI then things really start to get a bit more tricky (at least for me) Go ahead and capture as MPEG you can still do trimming and sorting and joining fairly easy with a few of the programs to the left but adding effects and such are beyond my skills for mpeg. My one peice of advice for mpeg capture would be capture only what you need to help save time and frustration when you do try to edit.
Sorry I got to go I'll check back

[ChachiFace]

Hi. My source varies from Hi8mm video, VHS video, and digital cable. I already capture in AVI with my Canopus box but I've had it for a while and it's it's starting to flake out on me so I was wanting a back up solution (just in case). Since I have the RCA inputs on my Sony desktop already, I was just wondering if there was a way to capture in AVI using those inputs instead of MPEGII.

I seen a couple of posts from others saying they have a similar Sony Vaio as myself and they were not able to capture in AVI either so I guess that answers my question. I was just hoping there was a work around with a shareware program out there that would allow capture in AVI using this Sony proprietary capture card that seems to only capture in MPEGII...which is not my preferred format for editing. Transfering from MPEG to AVI to edit then back to MPEG is not something I would like to do either.

Thanks,
chachi

[ZAPPER]

Sorry to hear about your Canopus (maybe it can be fixed) As I stated before I ain't no expert and I know even less about your setup than mine. I tried to search around about Sonys awhile back when I thought that I might buy one of their laptops. I was thinking from what I read that Giga pocket was sonys PVR and that DVgate was for capture. Don't get your hopes up but I was thinking that DVgate could save your video files as DVAVI even from another source. It may be a software reencode or something or I may have missed the whole boat. At any rate it may just be time for a new Canopus