Advice On Best Capture Card.

[TheEverLiving]

Hi. I would like some advice on what the best video capture device is.

I would be using the device for Capturing Audio/Video from DV/MiniDV, DIGITAL-8 Camcorder(s) + VHS for DVD conversion.

My System:

Operating System: Win XP Pro + SP1
CPU Speed: INTEL PIII 1000MHZ
Harddrive space: 120GB MAXTOR
RAM Memory: 896 PC133
Video Card: NVIDIA 64MB GEFORCE

(If theres anymore information required, let me know.)

www.aria.co.uk << My Preffered shop.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
TheEverLiving

[nelson133]

What has worked supremely well for me is the Canopus ADVC100. I've used it for backing up videotapes and captures of all kinds. It locks audio and video and gives no synch problems. It's very easy to set up and use and will remove macrovision from commercial tapes. Do a search on this board for more and/or go to the capture card section and read the comments. Nyah Levi

[PIntag]

You only need a Firewire port for the miniDV and Digital-8 transfers (technically, not captures). For VHS capture, you may be able to use "DV-Passthru" if either of your camcorders supports this feature. You don't need a capture card at all if this is the case.

[TheEverLiving]

Hi. Thank you for your replies.

I'm thinking about either the:
Hauppauge WINTV PVR 250 (Model 983)
Hauppauge WINTV PVR USB2 (Mdl 958)
Hauppauge WINTV PVR 350.

Any thoughts on either of these Cards.

P.S. Firewire port? (I'm lost to what it is).

Thank you.
TheEverLiving

[Capmaster]

All three have gotten good hardware reviews and are good values and capable cards (boxes). Which model you pick depends on the feature set you'd like and the depth of your pockets.

As another poster pointed out, Canopus cards are also fine choices. Hard to go wrong there

[VERVE]

If u dont wanna pay lots of money and wanna do some editing for personal projects u might wanna consider Belkin's USB 2 converter. it has a vhs and svhs connecters from one side and a USB 2 on the other end to be hooked externally to ur pc. (no tricky installations, no headache) Ulead videostudio 6 comes with the package, but ur free to use other softwares.

I bought it before I actually got a good capture which is of course not cheap at all. As for this Belkin sweet gadget, it costs around $100. Really good way to start.

P.S: Belkin was identified by Ulead mediastudio and video studio , Adobe Premiere 6 and 6.5.... but NOT AVID xpress pro. It also works well with other softwares.

again, if ur not so sure how much money u wanna spend..I say go for BELKIN USB2 Converter.

VERVE

[sacajaweeda]

I get great results using those cheapo BT8xx cards you can buy used on eBay for like ten bucks.

[thecoalman]

P.S. Firewire port? (I'm lost to what it is).

You transfer video from DV cams via firewire, also known as 1394 and I-Link. I'll assume your familiar with USB cable, it's like that. Here's a pic, the ports to the left are USB the one to the right is Firewire.




You plug one end of a firewire cable into the cam and the other into your comp. You don't really capture DV footage but transfer it, just like copying a file from one folder to another. The only thing you need is a firewire port, firewire cable and capture software that recognizes the cam. You may already have a firewire port on your comp, if not you can buy a firewire pci card pretty cheap. Some DV cams can also use USB to transfer but I wouldn't recommend it because many people have a lot of trouble using it.

Edit: If your considering a USB device make sure that it is USB 2 and that you have USB 2 compatible ports on your system.

[fmctm1sw]

I get great results using those cheapo BT8xx cards you can buy used on eBay for like ten bucks.

Me too. And I've never had any issues with macrovision either.....

[twodogs]

TheEverLiving, as PIntag said you probably only need a firewire card for GBP12.34 at your aria shop. (search their site for firewire).

If you post the model numbers of your miniDV & Digital-8 cameras then someone will be able to confirm that firewire is all you need.

[Capmaster]

Moved to Capturing Forum