A question about Firewire Cards and ULead software

[Mister Mike]

I purchased a Comp USA 3 port Firewire card last night. Cost $30 It included card, cable (PC to Camcorder) and ULead Software Ver 6 (May be ver 7) This morning I check out Newegg and find a SYBA PCI to Firewire 1394a 3+1 ports controller card (NEC) Model SD-NEC-4F Cost $8.99 plus $4 ship. It comes with card, cable and ULead Software DV. What is the difference in the Ulead software versions? Should I return the Comp USA unit? Its about a $15 savings I can use else where. Is the SYBA card ok?

[thecoalman]

I'm pretty familiar with Ulead and I never heard of Ulead DV, Do you have a link?

Most likley what you have is the SE version of Video Studio 7 or 8. A fully functional but stripped down version of the full program. Nearly all software shipped with hardware is stripped down versions of the full program.

Edit: found it, that looks like a older version, Says 5.0 on the disc, at least that is what it looks like. Version 7 and 8 of VS are newer. They probably incorporated it into what you have now, regardless VS 7 or 8 will have more features than that DV version.

[Mister Mike]

CoalMan Thanks again for your help. I don't remember if the one I bought at Comp USA was ver 6 or 7. But I guess for the hassle of returning it I might as well keep it and use the newer version of ULead. Although you never now what version I would get from the Newegg order. They are pretty good. $15 bucks is no big deal but a little extra here and there and before you know it you wasted $100. I will be installing the card in the next few days. I will let you know how I make out. How long should I expect a one hour video tape to take to download into my pc? I have heard everything from 4 to 10 hours? Is that correct? My PC info: Dell 8200 2.0 Ghz, 80 Gig Hard Drive, Ram 512?? I don't know. It was a top model when I bought it about 2 years ago. I guess that mean's it is today's POS

[thecoalman]

How long should I expect a one hour video tape to take to download into my pc? I have heard everything from 4 to 10 hours? Is that correct?

From cam to PC is real time, it can't be done any other way. It's the encoding that takes so long. The file from your cam is going to be in AVI format. It has to be converted to DVD compliant MPEG. For a PC like yours I'm guessing about 4 to 6 hours per hour of footage.

Video Studio can do everthing from capture to burn. Use the templates. Get some DVD RW's and make some short test files to acquant yourself with it.

You can always upgrade your version of VS to the newest one pretty cheap or purchase something better if you outgrow it's capabilities.