ADVC-100: End-to-end Shopping List ? (VHS to SVCD/DVD)

[Laura]

Found this site 7 days ago and like a good Orson Scott Card book, can't stay away from it. First of all....this site completely rocks and the users here seem to be of equal quality and intelligence....sooooooo here's my question. I'm trying to fill in the gaps of the *minimum* items I'll need to use the ADVC100 to get VHS to a SVCD and eventually DVD down the road. Additionally I like having the option of going back to analog (vhs)

Reading the forum site still leaves blanks to be filled in. (minimum also means least amount of additional investment and freeware advice is absolutely welcome! )

First, I *will* have a beefy machine (once Dell gets their act together and sends me the *correct* one) Basics: 80G HD, P4 2.4 Ghz, 512MB RAM, GeForce4 mx420 v-card, WinXP -- no issues there except maybe OS compatibility

I have a JVC Camcorder that *get this* records in DV but ouputs to analog (s-video/composite hookups). DOH! bought this sucker one version too early- next one came with a firewire port. too much investment there so I have to back-engineer my capture device....kind of like trying to find the right outfit for the perfect pair of shoes (a girl thing)

I have an unopened box from CompUSA for ATI AIW 8500 128Mg that after rebates will cost me USD$150 (not too shabby). After reading the forums, I am hesitant to keep this as I think the tweaking necessary to make this product work with the quality I know I will expect (720x480) might be worth the extra $$$ to move to the ADVC (I'm not a gamer or a TV slave...and the remote???? paaleeezzz one more remote in my house and I'll scream. I know it's a way-cool toy and you boys seem to love that kind of thing :P ) But I think you guys have convinced me to make the switch -- I didn't even know about ADVC until this site.

OKAY, let's begin. According to this site, here's what I think this will take to set up my end-to-end solution using ADVC100, please be so kind as to fill in the ** blanks

- Beefy machine/CPU/HD (will have this soon)
- ADVC-100 (to hook up av camcorder or vhs) both have s-video out and composite audio out (don't have ADVC yet)
- Firewire Card (non TI chipset, OCHI compliant) someone mentioned $30 card from CompUSA works. (don't have this yet) any other recommendations? starting from scratch so I don't have any pre-owned bundled software/card
**Capture card Everyone keeps mentioning this but I can't tell if it's because it's required or they already owned one? Is this just the same as saying FireWire card? If capture card is necessary, what least expensive solution will work with this setup?
**Editing utility - is this necessary? I mean, if you don't want to edit and go straight from vhs to your computer to encoding process (ie. TempGenc), is it still necessary for some factoid I have missed? if so which one works best for this setup for least $$(Currently I have none)
**Step just before Mpeg2 encoding process - am I missing a step here? Cannot tell this from the other forum posts as folks mention various steps. Once it's in DV on my HD, can I go straight to using TempGenc?
- Mpeg2 tool/codec to convert to SVCD (and eventually to DVD) TempGenc seems to be tool of preference here. (don't have yet) any reasons why this would not work with this setup? Can I also do mpeg1-to-VCD?
- CD burner and authoring software for SVCD (will ship w/my computer) DVD burner not in immediate plans...

I'm real fuzzy about the capture card/editor thing so any clarification is really what I'm looking for.

AUDIO--I'm also very concerned about what I've read about the audio issues with ADVC with regard to editing flexibility etc. I'm hoping there are postings here to resolve that. Does anyone know if I'll be able to edit or add sound with ADVC100 and what tweaking is required ? My ultimate goal is to do something with MP3 but that's Phase 2.

Hopefully my posting here and any related responses will someday help someone else in my shoes. You guys rule and I am a devout fan!

Sweden rocks!

[ajp]

Firewire card, I use the FW connection on my SB Audigy card and it works fine. Haven't tried any other type...

Capture card, nope don't need one. The firewire card does that. You need an app that does the capturing though, the edit app you use will probably do fine for capturing.

Editing app, you really don't need one if you don't intend to edit at all. You will need something that captures though. Scenalyzer Live is good for capturing and it's only 30-something bucks I think. For a simple editing app that captures as well you can try Mainconcept EVE ($49) or Pinnacle Studio 8 (not sure what it costs).

No other steps are needed before encoding and Tmpgenc will do fine. I'm also quite fond of the new Panasonic encoder but it's slower and a bit more expensive (~$70).

Not sure what you mean with the audio, the only thing I know is that the audio volume from the advc-100 can be a bit low.

Hope this makes sense, had to keep it short because it's bedtime here in Sweden...

[LanceSteel]

I use the $30 Firewire card from CompUSA and it works great. Since It sounds like you are getting a new computer be sure that the Mobo doesn't already have On-Board firewire (just so you don't waste money on a card that you don't need.)

The 'capture card' you hear everyone talking about does the same thing that your ADVC-100 would do (So you don't need one.) Usually these types of cards are for watching TV on your PC (which can capture video/audio too.)

You will need some sort of Editing/Capturing utility. I think the ADVC-100 comes with a watered down capturing utility but I can't remember for sure. Everything AJP listed are good programs. Personally, I use Pinnacle Studio 7 and that works great for both capturing and editing.

Use TMPEG for SVCD/DVD encoding. Its free (or the 'plus' version is only $49 which is well worth the money) and its works great for SVCD/DVD.

You shouldn't have any issues with the captured audio. The ADVC-100 will capture the audio (along with the video) that you put into it from the VCR etc. Whatever capturing software that you use will output the video/audio to an .avi file. You can use the freeware program VirtualDub to demux (extract) the audio to a .wav file. You can then do mp3/mp2/ac-3 etc on the extracted .wav file. You can add more audio using Pinnacle Studio 7 and/or virtualdub.

It sounds like you have everything under control. Good luck!

[The village idiot]

Hopefully I won't add to any confusion you have had. Both of the previous suggests are excellent, as usual, but I'm going to throw in some other options so that you can have a range of things to consider.

For capturing you can use a freeware called DVio (sorry, don't have the link at work with me). Just do a search of these forums, and you will find it. You can then use the TMPGEnc method if you are comfortable with that. You will (I think) need a DV codec in the VFW (video for windows) format. You will also need the VFW codec to use VirtualDub.

You could also get Ulead's DVD Movie Factory. It will capture, edit, convert to mpeg (1&2), author menus, and burn the disk. It is about $50. The mpeg converter is not the best in the business, but it does provide "decent" results. For a start, it would be a good investment.

As far as your firewire card needs go... I'm using onboard firewire, so I can't really help you there.

The only other thing you will need to do, is make sure that your hard drive is formatted as NTFS. It should hopefully come to you that way. The NTFS format will allow you to have files that are over 4 Gigabytes (an hour of DV video is approx. 13 GB). If it isn't NTFS, you should be able to convert it to NTFS (not sure of the specifics, but if you ask I'm sure someone will help you out).

Other than those, it looks like you already did all your research, and should have an easy time with your projects. If you have any other questions, I'm sure one of us here will have an answer.

[dazed women]

I was under the impression that VirtualDub doesn't work with DV stuff. Am I mistaken?
Maybe it doesn't work to capture? Any clues?

[LanceSteel]

I was under the impression that VirtualDub doesn't work with DV stuff. Am I mistaken?
Maybe it doesn't work to capture? Any clues?

You are right. You won't be able to capture with it but you can edit Pinnacle DV streams with it (other 'brand' DV codecs may be editable as well.) I've tried editing DV video with it and works sometimes. When I went to edit and convert a Pinnacle Studio 7 captured DV stream to Mjpeg, virtualdub edited it fine but the resulting stream had as many minutes of 'black screen' at the end of the video as minutes of video that I cut out.

[SidtheSparkie]

Following good advice on this website and no bad reports, I too bought the ADVC 100. I had already tried other devices eg Dazzle and Pinnacle USB devices and Nvidia Personal Cinema. PURE HEARTBREAK, and a waste of money. The great thing about the Canopus Encoder is that the work in encoding to DV is done outwith the computer so very little resources used. I have had no problems with low volume sound. It does however react to Macrovision. Pal settings do not allow neat trick to overcome this, as documented elsewhere.
I use a Belkin Firewire card with Lucent chipset. Works fine but initially had problems with interrupts and PCI slots, due to large number of USB hubs on motherboard and poor documentation for it.
Output is standard DV at 3.5Mb/s. This only needs to be recorded to the hard drive. I use Pinnacle Studio 7.($60, I think).Up to now this should be easy for even an old computer to manage.
As soon as recording is finished, I use TMPGEnc Plus for encoding. Pinnacle MPEG2 output not as good, also editing, cutting done at encoding stage. Costs $49 online from Pegasys and well worth it. I now have all movie files in correct format for burning. TMPGEnc supports encoding for SVCD as well as DVD. And apart from burning that's it. Note also comments about NTFS filing system from other users. Good Luck.

[Tommyknocker]

Hey Gurus, just one question: If she has a camcorder with analog out (read her specs), how is she going to get her video into her firewire card? I do not own a firewire card, so I am hoping it has analog input connections for her JVC camcorder.

[SidtheSparkie]

Analog to Digital conversion is what ADVC100 is all about. Has firewire output to PC.
Couple of other things I should have mentioned with respect to this device. sound and video remain in sync as audio also goes through same device. If using separate video and audio capture devices, then sync becomes a problem. The digital output contains both sound and video together and there is no adjustment possible. The recorded file is AVI format, but as explained I do editing, sound adjustment etc., at same time as encoding to MPEG2.
It is when encoding, that your new PC will shine. Wish I had a 2.4 GHz processor. With 1.8GHz Pentium 4 takes about 3.5 times length of video clip ie film of 90 minutes takes about 5 hours to encode.
Also when scrolling through video to find specific points newer ATA100 harddrive which you will no doubt have, gives smooth scrolling. Older ATA 33 system used to lock up.
Lastly from Pinnacle Studio 7, once the file has been captured there is an "output to tape" preset. As the ADVC100 appears to Pinnacle Studio as a Digital camera, apparently the output would then be sent back to the "camera" through the firewire and if it was a camera would then be recorded on digital tape, but there are also analog outputs for VHS connection. I haven't tried this.

[guitard]

As the ADVC100 appears to Pinnacle Studio as a Digital camera, apparently the output would then be sent back to the "camera" through the firewire and if it was a camera would then be recorded on digital tape, but there are also analog outputs for VHS connection. I haven't tried this.

Just in case anyone is going to send AVI from the comp thru the ADVC-100 to a VCR...

It works great. Just remember, the output on the ADVC-100 has to be set to "digital" to do this, however. When I first tried this I set it to analog because the VCR is an analog device. Don't ask me why, but it needs to be set to digital. Of course, this is all in the manual.

Randy

[twen]

Forgive me to side track a little bit: can't ADVC-100 capture to MPEG-1&2 besides DV? If ADVC1394 claims so on Canopus's site http://www.canopus.com/US/products/advc-1394/pt_advc-1394.asp is ADVC-50 & 100 will capture to DV only? That's why such a big file size? I thought avi file size always smaller than mpg?

If I want to just capture from VHS tapes to MPG-1 and burn as VCD, what initial file size will I be looking at per second before I have to re-encode with TMPGE again? Can you pre-set bitrates, CBR/VBR, etc. like you could do with Canopus's Amber ($1999) and MVR1000($699)? I don't have a DVD burner yet so DV really doesn't mean that much to me right now, I just want to get rid of VHS tapes and put them on CDs and save space (got over 700 tapes).

I'm also trying to decide which one to buy (50, 100 or 1394). Since mine doesn't have a firewire card I could just go with ADVC1394 so I don't have to worry about compatibility issue. (Their site does mention about certain firewire compatibility issue) Any comments?

[Laura]

I am new to this (but avidly doing my homework) -- someone else may answer as well. The 50/100 only converts analog to DV, the 1394 is a different animal and I believe houses the mpg encoding codecs as well (unlike the former 2). However, the 50/100 can be encoded to mpg1&2 using TempGenc. And no, I think mpg is compressed size compared to avi. anyone else care to correct me or elaborate?

[Redeye07]

Laura:

Girlfriend, the ADVC-100 comes with NO SOFTWARE of any kind! But don't worry about that. You can get what you need for free or at a very low cost.

I just got one and in spite of the no software thang, it's fantastic!

I capture with Ulead Movie Factory ($40); vdub doesn't work with my drivers. I encode and edit with tmpgenc. I bet you change your mind about editing later (you are a girl after all).

I author and burn with Ulead Movie Factory. I'm just too lazy to use a lot of fancy software; I don't want to learn it. I'm saving VHS exercise videos to VCD mostly and I'm real happy with the results. I hope to get a DVD burner (maybe for Christmas?)

I never read the capture forum anymore - DONT NEED TO! ADVC-100 captures beautifully with any software that works with your rig.

[Redeye07]

Ooops, forgot to mention: I got an Adaptec FireConnect 4300 firewire card ($40) for the ADVC-100 to plug in to.

[bertmartin]

I have had success with the following:

Canopus ADVC-100 for two way analog to digital via firewire port (you need this converter if you don't have DV source) You can output back to analog recording VHS after you edit. Check www.guygraphics.com

Adaptec Firewire card.

Sceneanalyzer for capture. You don't need it if you use Video Studio 6 but I like it anyway.

Ulead Video Studio 6 for editing (I also have Pinacle Studio 7 but it has lot of bugs so I don't use it). I just ordered Smart Sound add-on for Video Studio 6 to get more background sounds for home videos.

TMPGEnc for encoding to MPEG compressed format. You don't need this unless you plan to record video to CD or DVD. You can input-edit-output to VHS without using any compression (MPEG). Also Video Studio has a pretty good compression (to MPEG) with the latest patch. I compared TMPGEnc with Video Studio compression for SVCD and couldn't see much difference but I just used the default setting.

VCDEasy for burning VCD and SVCD cds.

DVD2SVCD package for ripping and backing up DVDs to SVCD. You will need TMPGEnc Plus for SVCD since the MPEG2 encoding feature goes away after the trial period. You may not need this if you plan to get a DVD burner and bypass the VCD/SVCD route.

JVC MiniDV camera. Ok but I would like a little better camera. This was the first miniDV model and I didn't know what I was doing at the time. It has no external Mike option and no passthru feature for on the fly conversion from analog to digital. The focus is a little weak also.

Hope this helps.

[kini mini]

A couple more questions from someone in same position as Laura

1. Digital to analogue - if I want to put some of the MPEG-1/MPEG-2 music videos I've downloaded onto tape, or later output my compressed captures to tape, do I need to convert back to DV first, making a huge file on the hdd or is there a program to do it on the fly?( I suspect not but I can always hope!)

2. Macrovision sensitivity - I don't really see that this is going to be much of an issue for me, but someone mentioned on the forum somewhere that it can be disabled for NTSC but not PAL. Is this true? I'm in Australia so this could be a problem if I want to make backups of old tapes before they wear out...those that haven't worn out already that is!

Thanks in advance people

[xed]

There is theoretically a way you could output MPEG1 or MPEG2 files directly to VHS tape. Here's how:
[1] Open the MPEG1 or MPEG2 file in Windows Media player.
[2] Select ALT-SHIFT to play fullscreen.
[3] Hook up your computer VGA output to a VGA-to-composite video converter like the Averkey gold. These things show up all the time used on Ebay for around $50 or so, so it's not that expensive.
If you don't want to go that route then, yes, you will have to convert your MPEG1 or MPEG2 files to AVI files, typically using software like DVD2AVI or MPEG2AVI. You can also use any of the powerhouse video editing programs to do the same thing -- Ulead MSP 6.0 or Adobe Premiere 6.X or VEGAS Video.
Once you've converted to AVI you would then have to play the AVI file through your Canopus (or other capture card) comopsite video out hooked up your VCR.
---
As for the Canopus ADVC-100 coming with no software, yes, and as mentioned it's not a problem and here's why -- any video editing or capture software that will recognize a firewire card will recognize your Caopus hooked up to firewire. Now, every video editing software on the planet (every modern piece of software, anyway) will recognize a firewire card. Most (but not all -- VirtualDub remains a GLARING exception) video capture software will recognize firewire cards.
This means that the Cnopus will work with at least 90% of the video capture and video editing software available right out of the box, no exotic tweaks needed.

[kini mini]

Thanks

[psycaz]

I bought the Adaptec Fireconnect 4300 and can not get it to work with the Advc-100 using Premiere 6. I checked the chipset and it is a TI. If I install an old TI driver I can get Scenalyzer to see the ADVC-100, but not Premiere. Also tried the ADS Pyro Basic, same results.
Just an fyi. I am going to buy the Compusa card and see if that works for me.

[Bondiablo]

Canopus ADVC-100 $275, firewire card $20, composite A/V cable $15, scenalyzer live for capturing (if you're firewire card doesn't include any software or you don't like the software) $33, TMPGEnc Plus for converting captured files to MPEG1 & MPEG2 $48, VCD Easy for authoring VCDs & SVCDs Free, simple hassle free captures of excellent quality priceless.

[vhelp]

only because I got one, and have tested out pretty well so far,
It's ben great !!

* quality is excellent
* oh, no color washout this time.

Just felt like posting it here...
Actually, I was using the SEARCH button, looking for a thread I started
maybe a year ago. Anyways...

Well, back to my search.
-vhelp

[antisoshal]

Everyone capturing firewire video do yourself a favor and get the Mainconcept DV codec for 49$. All your DV files will suddenly be usable in MOST of the video editing apps out there, and you can stay in the realm of DV for all edits and processing. Vdub loves DV once you have the codec, and playing them back seems to work better as well.

[vhelp]

Morning all.
.
.
and don't forget to set/save your DV, to Type 2 format, as vdub does not like
DV Type 1 AVI files.

..well, it will open with a warning message that it cannot open both video
and audio, hence, it will drop your audio and only use your video.

Though I haven't really tried, maybe if you had NO DV codec installed in the
first place, and THEN installed MainConcept's DV codec, you might
be able to open most of your DV avi files in vdub anyways, but THAT may
very well depend on the app that created the DV avi file. Only a test will
tell on your machine.

-vhelp

[jowel13]

Hi,

Does the Canopus have problems with "TI" Firwire Cards? I just ordered a Canopus and sadly thats what my firewire card uses? Does anybody have a working ADVC-100 with a card that uses that chipset, and if it does work are there limitations to what it can do with that certain firewire card?

Thanks!

[vhelp]

jowel13,

since you didn't mention your system specs, cards etc., I don't know
what else to say, but..

If anything, it'll act up.. or wont work right.. or at all..

If you are that paranoid, why not just prepare for a little bump or
two, and go out and get yourself another card (latest card anyways)
and you're in buisness.

I'm using a SIIG card, and under Windows 98 gold version.
If you're using the same OS version as mine, you'll need a DV driver
in order for it to work - else IT WONT WORK !!
I had a REALLY TOUGH time searching for a driver for <=W98,
too many OTHER DV drivers loaded and so much other nonsense, that
confused my PC system. once I wiped everything out of W98, I and
installed the DV driver (can't remember which one, as I had MANY
diff. versions of DV drivers I D/L'd off the net) but my ADVC-100
was up and running like a little baby, he, he...

If you're using 98SE and higher, then you should have no other problems
other than the firewire card make/chipset ie, TI.

With the right source, this unit cooks, ie, Satalite, DVD, and
I'm sure, LD, etc.
I would be skepticle about VHS source though. That will depend on
YOUR vhs source and it's quality, VCR etc, etc.

Laura,
if you're still keeping an eye out on your thread here, I hope that
you have met w/ success, since we haven't heard anything from ya
last of tail end of Oct.

Good luck.
-vhelp

[Laura]

Hi Gang - I'm still watching! Since my first post I have:

-bought the Canopus ADVC-100 (very excited!) Thanks for all the tips!
-bought the ADS-Tech Pyro Firewire Card ($39 US)
***by the way this IS a TI chipset card and it works beautifully with the Canopus - I just made sure to use the drivers that came with the card. Voila, no problem
-acquired Adobe Premiere 6.0 - WOW lots of homework there.
-downloaded TmpGenc trial version (will probably fork up $$ for mpeg2)

My only complaint about the Canopus is that my composite cables literally fall out of the connections on the box - have to hold them in manually or I lose video. They work fine with my other peripheals (VCR, Camcorder, TV etc), must be the rubber housing. Guess I'll have to hit RadioShack up for another set. Anyone else experience this?

[vhelp]

Laura,

Good to see you are succeeding.

I forgot to mention that the SIIG seems to be a TI chipset, he, he...
But, after opening up my dev mgr, it said it was a TI chipset. So,
I was surprised!! It's amazing how it's working flowlessly, and much
quicker then my first pc's firewire card (Pyro, i think)

My only complaint about the Canopus is that my composite cables literally fall out of the connections on the box - have to hold them in manually or I lose video. They work fine with my other peripheals (VCR, Camcorder, TV etc), must be the rubber housing. Guess I'll have to hit RadioShack up for another set. Anyone else experience this?

just push gently down on the plugs wings, and that may help some.
But do get another set though.

-vhelp
----------------------------------------------
Happy HOLIDAY all.

[crjackson]

Hello,

I'm considering purchasing the ADVC-100 for VHS to DVD conversion. I currently have an Analog capture card that works okay but my routine is TOO slow and too long to explain right now.

I also use my SonyD8 that works just the way I want it too (like the ADVC-100) but I'd like to free up my camera.

What I need to know is if there is a way to work around the macrovision when using the ADVC-100. My SonyD8 ignores macrovision, but I've heard that the ADVC-100 doesn't.

Any information would be appriciated...

[bertmartin]

This is how according to capture card review.

the correct procedure for disabling Macrovision detection is as follows:
1. Press and HOLD the Input Select switch.
2. When colour-bars appear at analogue output, KEEP THE BUTTON PRESSED.
3. Wait until the colour-bars DISAPPEAR before releasing the button.
Macrovision is now disabled until the unit is switched off. You do not have to be playing a Macrovision-protected signal into the box while doing this.

I just copied this from Capture Cards review..see buttton on left for more info.
It may not work on PAL format.

[crjackson]

Great! Thanks for the quick reply. I'll be placing my order after payday then...