Need New Card > Canopus ADVC-100 Or Hauppauge PVR-350

[ice_2003]

yg1968

see pm

[Bob W]

I have been thinking lately that maybe capturing to your computer and then messing around converting or editing the video is not the best answer. When you add up the expense of the hardware and software you need plus all the time you will be spending perhaps a DVD recorder is the better solution. Now that the recorders are getting cheap I may just go for one like this Sharp model for $350.
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=137370&options=T

[ice_2003]

what kinda software does the ADVC-100 include with it ?

the Canopus ADVC1394 seems to include Vegas Video LE 3.0 and WinProducer 3 DVD which enables realtime (software) mpeg-2 vids.

though i will mainly be capping to avi, does this card support applications like powervcr II, etc ?

i know everyone reckons this is the best method of converting vhs>dvd/svcd/vcd, but i just wanted to know bit about what comes with the product.

ice_2003


btw

Bob W
nice idea bout the DVD recorder, but that would be too advanced

[spectroelectro]

Either the Canopus ADVC-100 or the Canopus ADVC-50 do a superb job of capturing video. They will only capture to DV files, and you cannot use VirtualDub with 'em. Those are the only drawbacks of hte Canopus ADVC units.
I use a Canopus ADVC-100 myself. However, you might want to consider a third alternative -- a cheaper but equally high quality firewire outboard capture device, the Datavideo DAC-100. Essentially the same thing as the Canopus ADVC-100 wit hteh same hardware sync so that audio never drifts out of sync with video...but the Datavideo DAC-100 costs only $180 US as opposed to the $300 for the Canopus ADVC-100.
Wish I'd known that before I bought my Canopus...
For the best possible quality of DVDs, I would strongly reocmmend capturing to DV and only then converting to MPEG-2 vai TMPG. In my expensive, capturing MPEG-2 in real time never produces as high quality video n DVD as capturing to DV and converting to MPEG-2 outside real time with TMPG.

[rholler]

Either the Canopus ADVC-100 or the Canopus ADVC-50 do a superb job of capturing video. They will only capture to DV files, and you cannot use VirtualDub with 'em. Those are the only drawbacks of hte Canopus ADVC units.

I've been quite satisfied with my ADVC-100, with one exception -- it won't allow me to capture commercially-produced VCR tapes! For example, I have the Special Edition Star Wars Trillogy, and was excited with the idea of converting them to DVD so they'd be easier for me and my nephews to watch (they never get tired of watching them over and over). But when I actually tried to capture them, the Canopus prevented it. <sigh>

I had upgraded from a Dazzle Hollywood Bridge to the ADVC-100, but I wish I'd held on to the old Dazzle unit just for this situation alone.

[Metaluna]

Either the Canopus ADVC-100 or the Canopus ADVC-50 do a superb job of capturing video. They will only capture to DV files, and you cannot use VirtualDub with 'em. Those are the only drawbacks of hte Canopus ADVC units.

You can't use VirtualDub to capture, but you can use it to edit if you have a compatible DV codec. Capturing from one of these boxes is trivial. There are at least three freeware/shareware apps that will do it.

After that you can use VirtualDub all you want, as long as you have a DV codec installed that is VfW compatible, e.g. the Mainconcept codec. At least in my case, the Canopus DV codec doesn't seem to like VDub.

[onetrueday]

isnt the canopus ADVC1394 basically the EXACT same thing as the ADVC-100, except it's internal?

I say this because the advc-100 uses a nec codec chip, which is clearly visiable on the advc1394.

I hope this is the case because I just purchased a advc1394 and assumed that the advc1394 was using hardware encoding for the capture.

[Metaluna]

I was under the impression that the ADVC-100 and ADVC-50 used Canopus' own custom codec chip, whereas the ADVC-1394 was something different. The 100 and the 50 are definitely very closely related, but I'm not sure about the 1394.

[fourthquark]

Ice_2000, here is my recommendation:

If you plan to do any significant editing to the captured video (more than just cut and trim), go with a DV-format solution like Canopus ADVC product or Datavideo DAC-100.

On the other hand, if the only editing you plan to do is cut and trim, and your final target format for long-term storage is DVD-quality MPEG2, then this points to the Hauppauge PVR as perhaps a better solution. The Hauppauge PVR captures directly to MPEG2 which will save you time and hassle.

Essentially, if your primary use will be capturing from TV, I would recommend the Hauppauge PVR. If your primary use will be capturing analog home movies with the intention of editing the video to create a finished product, then I would go with a DV-format solution.

Keep in mind that DV-format eats up 13GB per hour of catured video, so you will likely end up converting the finished video to MPEG2 for long-term storage.

rholler,
is it Macrovision protection that is preventing you from copying from commercial VCR tapes? Not sure if you are aware of this, but it is possible to disable Macrovision protection on the ADVC-100. There are lots of posts on how to do this - just do a forum search on the words ADVD-100 and Macrovision and disable .

[rholler]

rholler,
is it Macrovision protection that is preventing you from copying from commercial VCR tapes? Not sure if you are aware of this, but it is possible to disable Macrovision protection on the ADVC-100. There are lots of posts on how to do this - just do a forum search on the words ADVD-100 and Macrovision and disable .

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I did indeed find the messages regarding how to disable Macrovision protection (just hold the Select button for 30 seconds). Thanks!!

[gab2001uk]

I use a card not mentioned on this post:
Vidac VMagic Plus /Plugin from http://www.vidac.de
This is a real-time hardware encoder to MPEG1 or MPEG2.
It has both composite and s-video inputs, and one model has a TV tuner, but the sound does not work in the UK (Pal I)
It ignores Macrovision
It has an event timer
It has PVR function, so you can time-shift and watch what you are recording
You can set from a number of preset qualities (VCD, SVCD, DVD) or create your own flavour to your liking.

You can transcode ripped .VOB files to a lower DVD bitrate, S-VCD or VCD using hardware. I just encoded Jungle Book 2 to VCD in 55 mins total time from inserting the DVD to removing the finished VCD

The plug-in version works with Adobe Premiere 6 and above as a hardware MPEG encoding plug-in for your Premiere projects

Quality is very good, but not quite as clean as Pinnacle Studio .AVI capture + TmpGENc, but MUCH faster

I mainly use it for capturing Sky and converting VHS tapes to DVD (Adults) or VCD (Children).
If you email vidac in English, they will reply with information and purchase instructions

[Coopervid]

Just for clarification: The Hauppauge PVR250/ 350 isn't reacting to Macrovison at all. Not necessary to do anything. It's just ignored. The card is great. The software is crap and you might want to use 3rd party software for editing etc. with it. I have one and can recommend it with these restrictions.

Vid