Question about Canopus ADVC series

[Toogy]

I just got the ADVC-1394 and am trying to figure out some things. Does it convert to DV before it even gets to the computer? Does the computer just think it is receiving output from a Digital Camcorder.
I am wondering because I can't seem to open the avi's I am capturing in Virtual Dub.

Any ideas?

[oneref]

I really like the ADVC-1394, and yes it converts directly into the mpeg2 format. At this point I have only done our family vhs for archiving; however if it comes in through the rca plugs you should be able to capture anything (DVD player, but not sure about any macro issues if there are any) that will hook up to the cables. Newbie I am, so V-dub I haven't used, I just know it's captures realtime mpeg2. Good luck, and wish I could be of more help.

God Bless!

[Toogy]

How did you set it up to capture real time MPG2? Mine is capturing DV-AVI format

[oneref]

Used WinProducer3, and captured realtime to just about anything you want. MPEG2, DVD, avi etc. Use capture device dv cam, right click properties. I used realtime better 360x240 and saw that realtime best is 720x480.

Good luck, and God Bless!

[mlcarson]

I have the ADVC-100 but think I have a handle on the differences in the ADV series. The ADVC-50 is basically an internal input only verson of the ADVC-100 and the ADVC-1394 is an ADVC-50 with a built-in firewire card. But I think all of these cards convert analog video to AVI DV format and in the case of the ADVC-1394, it also passes straight DV. None of these cards do hardware MPEG 1/2 encoding.

Winproducer3 is what is doing the MPEG 1/2 encoding -- not the cards. I can say this with some confidence since the ADVC-100 is an external unit and has the same capability via Winproducer3. Using another program like Vegas Video only allows DV captures and then later software rendering to MPEG2. The output of the rendered MPEG2 video is significantly better but is nowhere near real time. If you want real-time hardware based MPEG2 encoding in the canopus line, the MVR-1000 is the way to go.

Within the ADVC series, I like the ADVC-100 since it can do both input and output, doesn't take up a slot/IRQ, and will work with any firewire card.