Canopus ADVC-100…Tons of Questions

[StrikeFire83]

Okay, folks. I’ve been reading about video capture since Christmas and was about to give up and shell out $1,000 for a Toshiba RD-X2 set-top recorder. Then I stumbled onto the Canopus ADVC-100 reviews on this site and was intrigued. I have a ton of questions and was hoping that somebody could help me out. But first things first…My System:

Win XP Home
P4, 2.2 GHz
512 RAM
Nvidia Gforce 4 MX w/ crappy TV out
80 Gig Hard Drive
Lite On 48X CD-RW

What I Want
I want something that I can capture video with to make great quality VCDs (MPEG 1) now, and GREAT quality DVDs later on when I get a burner. I want something that has superb output to a VCR/TV so that I can print fully edited titles (and regular downloaded video) back to VHS for certain customers. As far as I can tell from reading the reviews, the Canopus can do all of this very well.

Questions
1. I don’t have FireWire on my PC right now…(damn you DELL!!!) What is the cheapest reliable card that I can get that yall have found to WORK PERFECTLY with the Canopus?

2. Everybody says that this Canopus box has no capture software. What is the best no-frills capture utility that can capture DV-AVIs with this unit? What have yall found to be the best?

3. I use TMPEnc to convert WMV and DivX to VCD (MPEG 1) format. How well does it convert those huge DV-avis to high quality DVD-compliant MPEG 2 files?

4. I’m planning to get a new hard drive. Debating external vs. internal. If I get an internal HD and make it a slave, will I have any problems capturing to it? Likewise, if I get an external HD and hook it up via firewire I probably can’t capture to it with the Canopus, right?

Thanks in advance for any answers that you can give. Peace.

[deadmonty]

These are questions that have been covered over and over again. Use the forum search facility, rather than relying on the good will of others to do it for you.

[StrikeFire83]

Thanks alot, really, thanks.

I've been "searching the forums" as you so eloquently put it for the three day grace period that DVDRhelp.com requires you wait before posting. I have yet to read any specific responses to my SPECIFIC questions. Why take the time to respond to my thread if you are only going to attack and flame me?

Must have an abundance of free time on your hands there.

Dick.

[flaninacupboard]

Don't call him a dick.


1) this is not a hardware review website. no one can tell you what the cheapest reliable firewire card to use with the ADVC-100 is. no one has an identical set up to you anyway, so just go buy one that is ohci compliant (my card was £18, that's $27 or so) and you'll be fine.

2) for this one you have no excuse. look in tools on the left there. try DVIO, DVapp and Scenalyzer.

3) obviously this is dependant on your source material. let's just say there are no specific problems with DV.

4) capturing to a slave drive is no problem. why would it be? you should be able to capture to an external firewire hard-drive, firewire supports more than one device per controller, in a similar way to USB.

And as i said, don't call him a dick.

[StrikeFire83]

Don't call him a dick.


1) this is not a hardware review website. no one can tell you what the cheapest reliable firewire card to use with the ADVC-100 is. no one has an identical set up to you anyway, so just go buy one that is ohci compliant (my card was £18, that's $27 or so) and you'll be fine.

2) for this one you have no excuse. look in tools on the left there. try DVIO, DVapp and Scenalyzer.

3) obviously this is dependant on your source material. let's just say there are no specific problems with DV.

4) capturing to a slave drive is no problem. why would it be? you should be able to capture to an external firewire hard-drive, firewire supports more than one device per controller, in a similar way to USB.

And as i said, don't call him a dick.

Thanks for some straight info. I appreciate it. Okay, I'll ask the dude as Best Buy for a firewire card that is "ohci" compliant.

Sorry bout the shout back. But I've been burning VCDs for awhile now and am not dumb. Just figured people would be willing to give me the lowdown before I plunk down some green. We early adopters need to stick together.

And I'll think it, but won't say it.. 8)

[bhutchins]

pc magazine just reviewed firewire cards and USB2/firewire combo cards.... I got the Adaptec Combo for $50 after rebate, works fine with the ADVC-100

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,844063,00.asp

[TheInformer]

#1 is covered by the PCMag article, so I won't bother

2. Everybody says that this Canopus box has no capture software. What is the best no-frills capture utility that can capture DV-AVIs with this unit? What have yall found to be the best?

I've said it before and I will continue to say it - ScenalyzerLive is the best $33 I've ever spent on software. DVIO's ok if you're going the absolute no-frills route.

3. I use TMPEnc to convert WMV and DivX to VCD (MPEG 1) format. How well does it convert those huge DV-avis to high quality DVD-compliant MPEG 2 files?

Actually, capturing using the HuffYUV codec (at the same resolution) will create much larger files. DV files are already compressed a bit (5:1 if memory serves me correctly). TMPGEnc v2.56Plus and Vegas 4.0 both work flawlessly with the DV files that ScenalyzerLive produces, in my experience. One of the things I do with my DV box (mine is a Sony DVMC-DA1) is record the new Enterprise series off of TV and encode it to VCD format. The VCDs look good when watched on a DVD player. DVDs I produce myself (swing dance instructional DVDs - msg me if interested in buying one ) made using a MiniDV camcorder come out fine.

4. I’m planning to get a new hard drive. Debating external vs. internal. If I get an internal HD and make it a slave, will I have any problems capturing to it? Likewise, if I get an external HD and hook it up via firewire I probably can’t capture to it with the Canopus, right?

I went and bought a Maxtor PCI RAID card. This gives me two extra primary IDE drives (or two RAID drives), one of which I use for my 60 gig Maxtor capture drive. 60 gigs handles 4 hours of DV footage (13.6 GB/hr x 4hr). I frameserve most everything so there is no need for large temp files.

[b33]

You can also try capture software iuVCR how has a great scheduler.
If your computer is strong enough you can capture directly to Xvid or DivX.

[deadmonty]

A search for "Canopus capture", "TMPEnc" and "hard drive" would have easily answered your questions.

I might be a Dick, but I'm not a lazy one who leeches off other people because I'm too lazy or stupid to help myself.

[rhegedus]

I've got one of these that I regularly use to capture from VHS or DV cam, so I'll try and help.

Questions
1. I don’t have FireWire on my PC right now…(damn you DELL!!!) What is the cheapest reliable card that I can get that yall have found to WORK PERFECTLY with the Canopus?

Like everyone says, just get any card that is ohci compliant. Have a careful look as some also come with capture software so it's worth paying a little extra for that.

2. Everybody says that this Canopus box has no capture software. What is the best no-frills capture utility that can capture DV-AVIs with this unit? What have yall found to be the best?

I've got W2Kpro so I'm not familiar with wondows movie maker and I've never got DVIO to work for me. Ulead do some trial stuff so just dl and see if you feel comfortable with it. I use Vegas Video because of the flexibility that all its options provide. In reality, if you don't want any fancy effects then the capture quality should be the same for all of the software.

3. I use TMPEnc to convert WMV and DivX to VCD (MPEG 1) format. How well does it convert those huge DV-avis to high quality DVD-compliant MPEG 2 files?

Pretty damn well! There are TMPGEnc templates for conversion of capture from VHS/DV to VCD/SVCD/DVD. The quality you get will depend on the bitrate and whether you use CBR or VBR.

4. I’m planning to get a new hard drive. Debating external vs. internal. If I get an internal HD and make it a slave, will I have any problems capturing to it? Likewise, if I get an external HD and hook it up via firewire I probably can’t capture to it with the Canopus, right?

Get the biggest internal drive you can get and use it soley for capture. I've found the IBM deskstars to be reliable and more than up to the job of capturing. Keep it regularly defragged and you won't have any problems

Regards,

Rob

[disturbed1]

..........
shell out $1,000

..................

I want something that has superb output to a VCR/TV so that I can print fully edited titles (and regular downloaded video) back to VHS for certain customers.


Thanks in advance for any answers that you can give. Peace.

If your willing to shell out $1000, why not get a full blown editing card? Have a look at the DVStorm, and or DVRaptor from Canopus. These cards support realtime effects.

Pinnacle has a decent selection of high end cards also, look towards the ProOne

Maxtor has their RT series.

You mentioned outputting back to VHS for certain customers. I'd look for a more professional option than the ADVC.

[StrikeFire83]

A search for "Canopus capture", "TMPEnc" and "hard drive" would have easily answered your questions.

I might be a Dick, but I'm not a lazy one who leeches off other people because I'm too lazy or stupid to help myself.

Still comming in here to scold me? Wow, must have an even bigger dearth of time on your hands than I thought. Well, I cannot harbor you any ill will. You are not a dick, after all. Just have a hostility problem.

I still don't think that I am mis using this board, and there are plenty of other people that are willing to help me with my questions. Thanks.

[StrikeFire83]

I've got one of these that I regularly use to capture from VHS or DV cam, so I'll try and help.

Questions


Like everyone says, just get any card that is ohci compliant. Have a careful look as some also come with capture software so it's worth paying a little extra for that.

I've got W2Kpro so I'm not familiar with wondows movie maker and I've never got DVIO to work for me. Ulead do some trial stuff so just dl and see if you feel comfortable with it. I use Vegas Video because of the flexibility that all its options provide. In reality, if you don't want any fancy effects then the capture quality should be the same for all of the software.

Pretty damn well! There are TMPGEnc templates for conversion of capture from VHS/DV to VCD/SVCD/DVD. The quality you get will depend on the bitrate and whether you use CBR or VBR.

Get the biggest internal drive you can get and use it soley for capture. I've found the IBM deskstars to be reliable and more than up to the job of capturing. Keep it regularly defragged and you won't have any problems

Regards,

Rob

Thanks for your response. You've given me a lot to think about. Now its just a question of how much I want to spend on a hard drive.

[dilligaf]

I got the cheapest firewire card I could find (about $20 US) It came bundled with Ulead Video Studio 6 SE which allows dv capture with no problems, I even tried it to capture direct to vcd mpeg1, a bit blocky but quick with nil dropped frames.

[TheSeven7hSon]

Unless Canopus fixed it, not all firewire cards will work. I think the Pyros will work. I posted before which one may work:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=87784&highlight=

Seven