Recomendation of a good capture card to AVI format pls

[Brymagic]

Hello

I need some pointers on Video capture cards that will capture from VHS tape into AVI format. Im a complete newbie to capturing but am very experienced with avi splicing, editing, converting etc etc thus wanting this to be my captured format.
I have read around the forums and see so many articles on cards and external capture devices Im lost for choice. I was going to get a ATI all in wonder card for the job until I read some reviews on it, now Im baffled and could do with some advice from people who have good cards or know what cards are the best to use..

Thanks in advance

Bry

[FulciLives]

Hello

I need some pointers on Video capture cards that will capture from VHS tape into AVI format. Im a complete newbie to capturing but am very experienced with avi splicing, editing, converting etc etc thus wanting this to be my captured format.
I have read around the forums and see so many articles on cards and external capture devices Im lost for choice. I was going to get a ATI all in wonder card for the job until I read some reviews on it, now Im baffled and could do with some advice from people who have good cards or know what cards are the best to use..

Thanks in advance

Bry

You almost cannot go wrong with the Canopus ADVC-100

There is also the DataVideo DAC-100 which is nearly identical but cheaper.

Hoever neither one is really ALL that cheap so if you are on a budget I suggest the AverTV Stereo or the AverTV Studio. Both are about the same except the slightly more expensive Studio has a built-in FM Stereo receiver for RADIO whereas the Stereo model does not.

I have the AverTV Stereo and I like it alot.

One word of caution though ... the AverTV cards only really shine when you do Full D1 AVI captures. They can do MPEG-1/MPEG-2 captures but they are not really meant for that. You can do direct to Half D1 captures but you will get poor quality and aspect ratio problems. So please know ahead of time that you will have to capture Full D1.

However that really isn't a big deal because you can resize to Half D1 if you want and with most sources Half D1 does make more sense.

If you are going to use the AverTV card then use VirtualVCR or iuVCR for capture.

You can pretty much use any program that supports DV video (MANY) if you use the Canopus or DataVideo products.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[DaveS]

Brymagic - sounds like you're not sure about ATI, but if you want more info on them, check lordsmurf's guides on www.lordsmurf.com. He's a big ATI supporter and has lots of good info on using the card(s). However, your profile is blank so it's hard to tell what your setup is, e.g. how hard/easy the install would be - his recommendation is to follow the setup info 'to the letter.'

I'm sure you're get other pointers to your post - this was just to get you started. Good luck & enjoy.

[Brymagic]

thanks for the replies, that was quick lol

Ill put system spec into profile in a minute

To use the canpous I would have to buy a firewire card too and also Im sure Ive read that if your tape is copywritten and has protection on it , it fails to capture in top quality. I dont know if my vhs tapes have protection on them as most are bootleg videos of ancient bands from eon's ago picked up @ the odd car boot sale and so on.

When you say capture in full D1, you mean the final file size is like 40gb file ?

[FulciLives]

To use the canpous I would have to buy a firewire card too and also Im sure Ive read that if your tape is copywritten and has protection on it , it fails to capture in top quality. I dont know if my vhs tapes have protection on them as most are bootleg videos of ancient bands from eon's ago picked up @ the odd car boot sale and so on.

A PCI FireWire card should cost you no more than maybe $25 to $30 tops. I've heard they can be as low as $15

The Canopus ADVD-100 has a "trick" where you can bypass copy protection. I forget what it is now though but there are enough Canopus users on here someone will tell you. It's really simple though like hitting the ON button and keeping it pressed for 5 or 10 seconds extra does the trick (or something silly like that). The DataVideo DAC-100 doesn't need the trick as it totally disregards it right out of the box. Either way no problem there.

When you say capture in full D1, you mean the final file size is like 40gb file ?

I'm not trying to sound rude but if you don't know the difference between Full D1 and Half D1 you still have a lot of learning and reading to do.

Full D1 for NTSC is 720x480 or 704x480
Full D1 for PAL is either 768x576 or 720x576 or 704x576

The Full D1 resolution you use depends on how your capture card works but in the end Full D1 for DVD is always 720x480 for NTSC and 720x576 for PAL

HALF D1 can also be used on DVD and for NTSC it is 352x480 and for PAL it is 352x576

Anyways good luck!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[FulciLives]

I just wanted to add that poor quality VIDEO TAPES often have a lot of drop outs and/or bad edits in them etc.

Often times you very well may need what is called a TBC or Time Base Corrector.

Such units are not cheap though.

I know LORDSMURF has some stuff on his website about Time Base Correctors.

It's a good site you should check it out.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman