Trying to capture vhs

[pubmaster]

Hi All
Hope that someone can help me out here as i am a complete novice at this capturing thing.
First off my specs are:

Asus A7N8X deluxe motherboard
Athlon xp3200
512MB pc3200 memory
Radeon 8500LE graphics card
sound blaster live platinum
Maxtor 20gb 7200 C Drive
Maxtor 80gb 7200 D Drive
Windows XP Pro

now i have not had many problems when i have been converting downloaded avi files using Virtualdub or TMPGEnc to make VCD or DVD discs, but i have got a few Vhs video tapes that i want to convert so that i can put them onto disc.

Right reading through the forums i decided to buy a Canopus ADVC-50 card as canopus was getting the most positive feedbacks, i then found out that i could not just fix the card into a empty front bay on my computer and conect my vhs player to it, so i brought the DVraptor card to go with it. This is where i am lost, i thought that the ADVC-50 goes in a empty bay with just the power connector from the PSU going to it, then the DVraptor goes in a empty PCI slot with the DV cable {i think that is what it is} going from the ADVC to the raptor. Now windows says that the DVraptor is there but how do you know if the ADVC-50 is working properly? and if it has been found by windows? as you dont get any drivers with it. Everytime that i try to get it to work through Ulead DVD MovieFactory, VirtualDub, Nero, Windows Movie Maker or anything else it says either Failed to initalize the capture driver, or capture driver not installed properly or no capture card found. i have tried uninstalling and reinstalling about 4 times but still nothing. i have seen other people saying on different post that you need a Firewire card for capturing from vhs? if anyone can help i would be extremely gratefull. and should the ADVC-50 and the Dvraptor do the job that i want.

Thanks to all

Pubmaster.....

[Nelson37]

There may be a VCR with a firewire port, but I've never heard of one.

From what I see on the website, the advc-50 would NOT show up in windows as it is not seen by the system and does not interact in any way, it is just a media converter. Now once you have that, all you need is a firewire card, the Raptor does not seem like what you want.

[Hazza]

pubmaster.

The ADVC50 is basically a analogue->digital converter which will act like a compliant Firewire (IEEE1394) device. Hook up your RCA cables from your VCR to your analogue input on your ADVC and then just open your capture software (Premiere, DVIO, etc) and capture from the firewire port.

This will convert the footage to DV AVI (around 13GB/hour) and then you can edit in your Video Editor and convert to MPEG2 for DVD authoring.

Your Raptor card is much more of a specialized capture/editing card as it will allow you to capture to many types of formats and will allow realtime editing also. You kind of have two cards that do the same job (analogue capture).

I have only used the ADVC type of capture system (although I use my digital handycam not a ADVC) and have got excellent results using this method. I guess you can do both and compare.

Hazza.

[Roundabout]

Another possible option, if you don't want to mess with installing firewire cards, etc. into your PC, you could look into something like the ADS a/v link - it's USB and would probably be much simpler for what you are looking to do. Take a look at this link. http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV_703/intro/usb703intro.asp?pid=USBAV703

[pubmaster]

Hazza

this is where i am getting lost


you say

The ADVC50 is basically a analogue->digital converter which will act like a compliant Firewire (IEEE1394) device. Hook up your RCA cables from your VCR to your analogue input on your ADVC and then just open your capture software (Premiere, DVIO, etc) and capture from the firewire port.


So do i need to get a Firewire card or is the ADVC50 the same thing? {i have not got a clue what this firewire thing is about} i know that my motherboard has a IEEE1394 conection so do i just connect a cable from the ADVC straight to that? and take the DVraptor card out, or do i leave the raptor in and connect a cable from that to the IEEE1394 i know that something has got to connect somewhere it just seems that i am missing something out. and how do you capture from the firewire port? is the firewire port the ADVC or the IEEE1394 all the capture programes that i have got on my computer keep saying that either the hardware is not working properly or no capture drivers installed.

Thanks to all that have replied.

Pubmaster.......

[flaninacupboard]

pubmaster,
Firewire is just like USB. it's exactly the same kind of thing, just called firewire instead of USB, and uses different cables and plugs. It's often also called IEEE1394 and the two names are basically interchangable.

The ADVC-50 takes an analogue signal, converts it to a format called DV, and transmits it down the firewire connection. You need either a firewire card (yours for around £25) or a motherboard with a fire wire connection.
You're quite right in that the ADVC is not recognised anywhere in the system, and there are no drivers.

Mine sometimes plays up, but the method i use now is very simple indeed. i bought a firewire card (as i said, £25) and plugged it in a PCI slot. i put the ADVC in a bay, and connected the power. i connected the video cables to my cable TV box. I then connected the firewire cable to the firewire card, but not to the ADVC. i then boot up. After the system is finished loading, plug the firewire cable into the front of the ADVC, and open DVapp a great free utility which will take the incoming DV being transmitted by the ADVC and save to the hard drive. Once you're finished, simply stop DVapp and open resulting .avi file in whatever editing tool you'd like.

I never had any luck trying to use my ADVC with any ulead products.

[FilthyCherry]

Pinnacle has a version of Studio 8 that lets you bring in the video via USB. The cable has audio left/right/video in at one end and a USB jack on the other. Plug them to your VCR and PC, open Studio 8 (or choose it as an input in Premiere or whathaveyou) and record. Just make sure all your settings are as you'd like them...

[pubmaster]

Thanks to all that have helped as i am now getting a lot further than before. On the back of my computer there is a small connecter with 2 connector points that i think connect to my 1EEE1394 {well it says IEEE1394 headers in my motherboard manual} one is for a small connector {usb one i think} and the other is for a larger connector {i think might be usb 2} What i have achieved so far is: Took out the raptor card and connected the dv lead directly from the ADVC-50 to the small port on the back of my computer, this at least bought up Windows Movie Maker and let me capture about 30 seconds of video {not very good as i did not seem to have any control over the programe} when you get to the part where it asks do you want to Capture the entire tape automatically if i choose that option it just sits there saying rewindng tape but nothing happens. if i choose capture parts of the tape manually it says that it is copying but i can not see anything in the preview and going by the size it does not seem as if it is capturing right as the file works out at about 30mb for 10 mins video, i thought it would be a lot higher. I have tried using Ulead DVD MovieFactory but that is the same as you can't see what is being captured as the screen is so dark. I have also tried connecting straight from the DVraptor and going to the Large connector on the back {usb 2 i think} but all that i get then in Windows movie Maker is that no capture cards are available, same in Ulead DVD MovieFactory so i dont know if the DVraptor is working properly. Is there a way to check if the raptor is working properly? it seems as if i am slowly getting there though thanks to the posters in this forum.

[FOO]

This may sound like a dumb question, but doesn't
the ADVC50 come with any Software or Manuals ?
Does it emulate a Camcorder or what ?
RTFM

[flaninacupboard]

it comes with ulead video studio (which would not work for me) and a sparse manual.

Yes it emulates a DV camcorder.

Pubmaster, follow the suggestions here. Use either DVIO or DVapp (either in the tools section or do a google) they are dead simple one click capture apps. Plug the ADVC into the firewire port on the back of your motherboard, open one of the above, and start the capture. Don't use windows movie maker, i've found it to be very limiting indeed.

Use DVIO or DVapp and then you can use the .AVI file with -anything-. getting the AVI onto your computer is the hard part, worry about using DVD studio after the avi is on your computer, ok?

[pubmaster]

Thanks flaninacupboard

Have found DVapp and opened it up in that, so far it lets me capture great {well i did a couple of mins trial and burned it off} will look for the manual so i can work out what all the different settings are i.e. DV to File {type 1} File to DV {type 1} and type 2. but hey i got something that i can actually get from my VCR to a DVD disc now it is just a matter of putting all the settings right in my other progs.

I know that this next question is a bit off topic {not much} has anyone else got this problem when playing movie files back on the computer avi's, divx, xvid, mpgs they are all very dark {just see the outlines on some} if i play them back in Windows Media Player they are all dark, and if i go into View\Enhancments\Video Settings to bring up the brightness\contrast slide bar, i can never adjust it as it keeps sliding back to the centre. even when i was running WinME i used to get the same thing, on my monitor everything looks great and clear but no matter what program i use to view movie files they are allways dark, the brightness and contrast on my monitor are right up so i cant even adjust them when i want to play a movie file. just thought i would ask.

and thanks again for all the help as this has got to be not only the quickest forum for solving problems but has some of the most helpfull people on the net.

Pubmaster..........

[flaninacupboard]

ok, excellent, glad you're getting somewhere!
In DVapp, set the capture type to "DV to file, type 2"
This will give you an AVI you can open in Vdub and TMPGenc. If you need any more help, just holler!

[overloaded_ide]

So I take it you also got your file size right now too.
I noticed you said one of the captures was like 30MB for 10 minutes!
That would be like 360mb for a 2hr movie, Not quite right of course. At that rate you could fit about 2 days onto a DVD -r

So hows it working now?
And how do you like your Asus A7N8X deluxe motherboard, been thinking of getting one of those myself.

[pubmaster]

Hi overloaded_ide

I think the file size is right now {about 220mb for 1 min capture} works out about 13gig for 1 hour capture. i am still not sure about the asus motherboard as i have only had it about 3 weeks so far {used to have Abit} i have read somewhere about overclocking that this board will not let you overclock but it is suposed to be very stable {not bothered to much about the overclock} but so far it has been stable. i saw it advertised for £80 on ebay so thought i would give it a go as they were selling them for £120 for the basic one where i live. i was fed up of adding different bits to my comp. so conned the girlfriend into getting me a early xmas present, she ended up getting cpu, memory, Dvd writer, motherboard and case. {god knows what she is expecting of me for xmas} i just hope woolworths have got a sale on. This motherboard has got that many features on it that it will probably last me for the next couple of years as all the other boards only went up tp xp2800 or xp3000 and the rate the cpu's are going up we will probably be in the 4000 in another 12 months not quite sure how far this will go though. but so far i am quite happy with it.

Pubmaster..........

[overloaded_ide]

I capture directly to mpeg2 files so I don't know how the size would be for other formats. Depnding on my bit rate I set I get much smaller files though! I just captured about 2hrs 30 mintues at 6000 bits and the size was around 6 gigs.
As an AVI, gosh it probably would not even fit my drive

I normally try to capture right at 4gig size so it will fit a DVD r disk, but I goofed this time, so now after authoring the DVD files I will have to shrink them with something like DVD2ONE or DVDshrink or something.
Low quality vhs camcorder recording or else it would be a good time for me to compare different shrinking programs
I don't think anything could reduce the quality of this disk to any less anyway
Taping was done by someone else and turned out badly, but it was a one shot deal with some funny stuff so I'll still make em the first disk and see if they want more.

Oh I'll be glad to get my camcorder this week

[Rich927]

Firewire is just like USB. it's exactly the same kind of thing, just called firewire instead of USB, and uses different cables and plugs.

I don't belive Firewire and USB are the same. Firewire captures in a different format (DV-AVI, DV Video encoder type 1 or 2). USB, is basically a high speed serial input which can be affected by bandwitdh sharing. You can use different compression settings with USB but Firewall tends to have a better quality. If you want to capture analog, I would get a Analog card that supports MJPEG with compression and a resolution of at least 640X480. Pinnacle makes a Analog capture card that comes with Studio 8 software that works very well when set up properly. I use both and find firewire more reliable and better quality.

These a just my opinions..

[flaninacupboard]

well, the firewire system is very similar to USB, and indeed has a similar speed to USB2. Firewire isn't just used for video, you can get firewire hard drives, cd burners, dvd burners, jukeboxes and even use it for networking.

The point you are trying to make about DV being higher quality than anything you could capture on USB1 is correct. at 28mbps it's out of USB1's 11mbps scope. You could however capture DV over USB2, and i believe some DV cameras are now offering this option.

As for device selection, pubmaster has already bought himslef some kit, i'm just trying to explain what he has bought and how it all fits together.