Kim Komando lied.

[AlecWest]

A lady calling herself Kim Komando (www.komando.com) is the host of a nationally syndicated radio program dealing with computer issues. About 3 weeks ago, I called her for advice. I told her I wanted to capture old camcorder tapes (some VHS) which I later wanted to burn to VCDs. And, I told her my system was an AMD K6-2 450mhz with 96 megs RAM running Win98SE. She told me my system wasn't powerful enough to do it and suggested I upgrade to a Pentium4 with at least 256 megs RAM. Yesterday, I bought a Pinnacle Linx cable ($49) which came with Studio7SE software. The cable has 1 video and 2 audio RCA inputs on one end and a USB connector on the other. Bottom line? Using the Pinnacle Linx cable and Studio7SE software, my system was able to capture flawless video and do an equally flawless conversion from 320x240 root AVI capture files to 352x240 VCD-compatible MPG files (which, burned as VCDs, play flawlessly on my Apex AD-1100W DVD player). So much for "impossible," hehe. I hate it when self-described experts B.S. the public. Maybe I should give her a 2nd call and tell her. Then again, I'll probably be too busy capturing videos. Later ...

[tigerwolf]

I would always hestitate to take the advice of a radio host. First because they get money from advertisers and for promoting products therefore they are biased. Your system is not ideal for capturing video, but that doesn't mean you can't do it. As you've already found. I don't know how often she is on the air, but also take that into account. Like a car radio show I listen to here is only on sundays, which means that more then likely they are true mechanics just making a little extra cash. While someone that is on constantly you have to wonder why they aren't out in the field. Especially dealing with computers, almost any computer job of any weight would more then likely pay more then a radio job, that is more then likely. I have no idea how much radio hosts make. Of course she'll tell you to buy a nice new p4 with 256mb of ram, its not her money.

just a thought. LOL. Well I better get off here, the power is flickering and a storm is coming in.

[AlecWest]

It's one of those damned if you do and damned if you don't situations. When I heard about the Pinnacle Linx, I sent email to their sales people telling them about what then was my recent call to Kim Komando. They assured me their product would do the job. But, a salesman would be expected to say that since they have a vested interest in the potential sale. I figured the call to Kim would be a disinterested third party opinion. But, I suspect (as you do) she's just one of those state-of-the-art promoters who gets money for product endorsements (like dropping the 'Pentium' tag) beyond what she makes hosting the program. Endorsements is where the real money is for broadcast celebs.

Incidentally, just as an experiment, I swapped the cable over to my DVD player to see if I could capture the DVD output of a movie I have (a heavily Macrovisioned movie, I might add). Flawless again, and without the Macrovision in tow.

Also, before I bought the Linx, I didn't even know what "DMA" was. My system didn't have it enabled. When I enabled it, everything started working faster. Even my VirtualDub software is saving DivX5 AVIs in half the time it took before. Looks like I made a smart purchase. And later on when I do upgrade to a faster system, I'll upgrade to the full Studio7 version which will allow for the larger display sizes I'd need to burn my own DVDs.

[Rich927]

So funny how people think you need Mega power, large hard drives, 64 meg video cards, 512 meg memory, $1,000 software etc.... I have an old pentium 160 with 32 meg memory, 4 meg video card, 20 gig hard drive with a Matrox RainbowRunner capture card. It captures very well. Resolution 640X480 and down. It's how you make use of what you have. Too many times I see people telling others to throw money at a problem. A good 20 gig hd can capture as well as an 80 gig hd. I agree that having more power, memory, etc.. makes things easier in some cases. You can always tell a good technician who really knows his stuff by what he suggest to do with what you have. Ever heard of Video toaster or Lisa? They were good video systems with far less power than what we have now. I listen to Kim too and I don't always agree with her.

[alucard2050]

one thing with radio hosts is when you call in the have to respond in a manner that makes them look good even if they don't know what their talking about.........

[AlecWest]

Rich927 -- Exactly ... making do with what you've got. This is slightly off topic but true. Years ago during the heyday of the Commodore 64 (I owned 2 of them at the time), I was driving around town and listening to a computer "expert" on the radio. A videotape rental store owner who didn't own any computer at all called in. He'd decided to take the 'plunge' and buy one ... but wanted the cheapest thing he could get that would do accounts-payable, accounts-receivable, and payroll functions for his employees. Immediately, the 'expert' told him he needed an AT-compatible AT LEAST ... and started running off a list of peripherals and software that he'd (ahem) NEED in order to do what he wanted, all with a hefty pricetag attached. I was pissed, hehe, and took the next freeway exit ... driving to the nearest payphone to call the 'expert' myself. When I got on, I reminded him of the store owner and his request for a 'cheap' system ... and asked why he hadn't recommended the Commodore 64. He (and the show host who invited him) chuckled ... and the 'expert' said Commodores couldn't handle AR/AP/Payroll. I replied, telling him of software called SILENT BUTLER ... a C64 program that could do AR/AP/Payroll for up to 256 employees and even had a 'checkwrite' function to boot ... and mentioning a popular magazine at the time devoted to businessmen who used Commodore computers. The host clicked me off the air almost immediately, hehehe, said something smarmy about how the owner's future needs might not be served (as if a mom-n-pop video store owner would have more than 256 employees) and went quickly on to the next caller.

Anyhoo, back on topic, I wanted to ask you a question on your Matrox RainbowRunner card. I just went to their website and the current model captures 704x486 video ... but said it used MJPEG compression (which I'm not familiar with). Using the Pinnacle Linx, which can only capture uncompressed video/audio, I'll inevitably run into the 4-gig/18-minute brick wall. How many minutes of video/audio can you capture with the RainbowRunner before you reach that brick wall (or do you reach it at all)????

[AlecWest]

P.S. to Rich927 -- Incidentally, I suspect the reason you get such good capturing with your P160 system with 32 megs RAM is because the RainbowRunner card has its own resident buffering capabilities, taking a lot of strain off the CPU ... which only goes to show that pronouncements like those of Kim Komando are further off the mark and unreliable. Surely, in the process of capturing video, the only way to fairly judge capabilities is to weigh in the abilities of the "entire" system (card included).

One more question on your Matrox card. Does it have 3 RCA-type inputs (1 video, 2 audio) like my Pinnacle Linx cable ... or does it use a coax-style input?

[Rich927]

The Matrox Rainbow Runner uses MJPEG hardware compression. Thats why it can capture as good as it can. You can also adjust the resolution and compression quality. It has SVideo in Svideo out, Analog in Analog out RCA plugs. Stereo in Stereo out is to your sound card. My card is about 4 years old. I have seen them on EBay for $39.00. I paid $189.00. It will capture up to 4 gig in 98. It will also capture in uncompressed mode however the files are large. I have captured up to 30 minutes. I also have firewire and the LINX USB. Don't understand why you can only capture 18 minutes. I can get around 35 minutes using Best quality with a 20 gig drive and XP.

[AlecWest]

Rich927 -- I don't understand the 18 minute thing either. All I know is that, using the Linx, the resulting AVI file in "Best" mode hits the 4 gig mark after approximately 18 minutes of capturing. But, I don't have "firewire" like you do (and I don't know what firewire is). Perhaps that's the difference.

Anyhoo, getting back to the Matrox card and MJPEG compression, is your 30-minute capture file 4 gigs? If so, that answers my question ... that the compression allows the cramming of more data into that 4-gig space.

Still, I'm interested in exactly how you can squeeze 35 minutes into 4 gigs using the Linx. This "firewire" you speak of -- is it some kind of "capture drive" ... and does it do its own stand-alone compression?

PS -- Totally unrelated ... but a friend in the U.K. sent me a PAL-VCD mpg file of a 29-second TV ad for John West brand canned red salmon. It's the funniest ad I've seen in a long time (the Brits have a great sense of humor). He sent it to me because my son's name is John West and thought he'd like it. Anyhoo, I converted it to NTSC-VCD format and burned it to a VCD -- which my son loves. If you have the spare time and need a laugh, you can download it from my domain here:

http://www.mysteryvault.net/jwntsc.mpg

[Shabubu]

I only had a bit of contact with firewire video using my mum's computer (a packard bell with WinME *shudder*). As this was using DV avi's it hit the 4 gig limit at round about 18 mins. I'm assuming all firewire transfer methods use DV avi (as all the hardware MPEG caping type things seemed to use USB when I was last on a shopping spree ).

Don't know for sure if that's the situation, but I guess it is.

Just on a side note, there is a driver that retails for about $30 that allows you to use NTFS volumes on win98, might be worth a look, I only saw the cracked version knocking around so I don't know all the details of the software.

[Shabubu]

das

[DVantrease]

AlecWest, I came across this while searching for info on the Pinnacle Linx, as I am considering getting one. How has your experience been with it? Are you happy with the quality? Do you drop many frames due to USB bottleneck? Also if anyone knows, I'm curious if it's possible to capture at a higher resolution then 352x240, if you used different capture software with this device.

By the way, does anyone know Pinnacle's webpage? I tried several guesses but no luck.

[Plant_Guy]

AlecWest,

I am curious about your selection of this USB device. I got a stereo AverTV card for the same price, and I can capture and watch TV . Why didn't you opt for a TV card? To answer another question in this thread, you cannot capture more than the 320x240 or so resolution uncompressed b/c of USB 1.1 bandwidth restrictions unless you are using a device which does compression in real time (expensive), reducing the bandwidth requirements.

TomG. - aka Plant_Guy

[macleod]

the pinnacle site is www.pinnaclesys.com (don't you just love how they make the site just a little off so people can't find it, LOL).

I really like ready this entire post because it shows that you 1) don't have to spend a billion dollars to do something you can do for a cheap price. I'm one of those tech geeks that tells people that you don't need to buy the latest and greatest (a.k.a. buy a top of the line computer to type a damn letter). 2) the experts CAN be wrong (good lord, an expert wrong?!?!?!

As an FYI, I bought the pinnacle DMc-100 or whatever the hell it was for analgoue video capture on my XP system. WOULD NOT WORK worth a damn. The XP drivers did not work either. As one of the people mentioned, you might be much better off with a TV tuner card instead of a USB type product. I went through the process, bought the dazzle 50,80, pinnacle, video card with capture ability, etc. and they either didn't work at all or the quality blew chunks. I finally "settled" on the ATI TV card for about $50-$60 at best buy and it is GREAT for my VHS capture.

Good luck!

[macleod]

the pinnacle site is www.pinnaclesys.com (don't you just love how they make the site just a little off so people can't find it, LOL).

I really like ready this entire post because it shows that you 1) don't have to spend a billion dollars to do something you can do for a cheap price. I'm one of those tech geeks that tells people that you don't need to buy the latest and greatest (a.k.a. buy a top of the line computer to type a damn letter). 2) the experts CAN be wrong (good lord, an expert wrong?!?!?!

As an FYI, I bought the pinnacle DMc-100 or whatever the hell it was for analgoue video capture on my XP system. WOULD NOT WORK worth a damn. The XP drivers did not work either. As one of the people mentioned, you might be much better off with a TV tuner card instead of a USB type product. I went through the process, bought the dazzle 50,80, pinnacle, video card with capture ability, etc. and they either didn't work at all or the quality blew chunks. I finally "settled" on the ATI TV card for about $50-$60 at best buy and it is GREAT for my VHS capture.

Good luck!

[macleod]

the pinnacle site is www.pinnaclesys.com (don't you just love how they make the site just a little off so people can't find it, LOL).


FYI. Have an XP system and bought their DM-10 whatever card and it WOULD NOT WORK on my system. "Settled" on the ATI TV card and love it! for analogue capture.

[tomreedtoon]

MacLeod said:

"I finally "settled" on the ATI TV card for about $50-$60 at best buy and it is GREAT for my VHS capture. "

If you don't mind, exactly what are you using to get great captures on this card? Since the forums are down, and everything else is in a state of confusion, I can't figure whether the ATI TV-Wonder is a capable card, the best thing since the invention of a hard drive or the spawn of Satan.

I am using a 1000 mHz Athlon with 512 meg of 266mHz memory with the card. I've used the MMC software (the 7.5 from their web site) and the results are only so-so. (Also, what are you using to edit your captures? VirtualDub will load the captured mpeg2 files, but won't save as them, using up ridiculous amounts of hard drive space.)

[pacoreguenga]

O.k. I'll try to be brief, because the draft for this post was a 2 pages long essay on computer history and I don't wanna bore anybody.

First: The 18 minutes limit lies on your filesize as everybody figured out. - - A 4 Gb .avi file corresponds to a 18 minutes DV stream at aprox. 5 Mb/s, and it is just as it is recorded on tape. When you record DV material to your computer, you are actually copying a straight digital file. Its size is only determined by your OS and filesystem. Fat32 limits filesize to 4 Gb or so. NTFS does not. I can't remember fat16's filesize limitations.
- Same goes true for the Lynx cable. You are copying to disc a 5 Mb/s digital stream originated on your external little box, which in turn takes your analog signals and digitalize them. At such data rate, you could be easily capturing at 720 x 480 dv quality. But the hardware itself limits it to less than half so you have to buy a more expensive solution to get more quality. I have seen mpg2 R/T capture hardware costing thousands. And there is an economical version that plugs into your usb port costing $200 dollars. Obviously the expensive hardware is used on high-end dvd authoring facilities. It takes SDI, RGB component video, or HDTV signals. And it can be genlocked to all your studio equipment. Now for the 200 bucks solution, you can capture straight from ANY analog source. And at a very good quality, let me say. BUT to be used on a semi Pro environment it needs a TBC. Period.

To capture from analog sources I use at home a Iomega Buz. They are discontinued by now, and they are a pain in the ass. Bu it's SOOO cute. It has two parts: an internal PCI card which includes a MJPEG real time Compressor and an Ultra SCSI controller, and a nice purple external box featuring A/V RCA and S-video inputs/outputs. At highest quality the results are almost as impressive as the Betacam SP original tape.

But it only runs on win 95/98/Me. So I got the same problem with time limits. Except when capturing for VCD, when I can lower the quality and can capture an hour or so. Unfortunately it's been discontinued and driver development stopped. So there are no XP drivers, which forces me to have 2 different Operating systems and a FAT32 filesystem.

My advice for you all is to try with Pinnacles's own Studio DC10. It features the same chipset as the Buz, but It supports Win XP and NTFS so you can capture at DVD quality (720 x 480) at a really low cost and at lower or same data rates as DV.

Just remember something: Capturing at DVD quality does not mean your VHS tapes will look like an original DVD. Well captured shit looks like well captured shit.

[pacoreguenga]

I forgot to tell:

The Iomega Buz runs fine even in a 200 MHz MMX Pentium.

Mine did it for 3 years until I put it into my new P4 based, Pioneer 103 DVDR equipped Compaq.

[ironwood321]

For amusement call the radio station back and tell this lady you have a linux problem and explain a complex problem or one which requires a simple answer and ear her squirm on air.

[thegig]

They have screeners, I don't think she'll set herself up for that.

[tigerwolf]

well even if you made it sound plausable then popped the question after getting past the screener they normally have delay, so therefore depending on the delay they use, they might shut you down before you get the question out.

though sometimes you get lucky. hehe.

hmm

"well I was playing with my kernel and you see somehow I messed something up and now I can't mount anything and I really want to mount something, its been so loooong since I've mounted something, can you help?"

LOL.