Analog to Digital video converter

[macoholic]

At the risk of repesting an earlier post... I just bought a dvd burner for my G4 and now I need a converter to plug in my Hi8 camcorder and VCR (and turntable?). Being a newbie at this (but an experienced mac user) my question is what is a good (the best) product? Where is a good place to get one? It seems from what I've read that the only one is a Canopus ADVC-100. A shop in my area has one for $400 canadian. Is this a good deal? Apparently the 1394 is a capture only card and would not work. True? False?
Thanks.

[terryj]

The ADVC-50, which is the 1394 ( aka Firewire) Card,
will only capture yes, but will source back to a DV device
through Firewire. So you could play in your Hi-8, digitize,
then transfer back out to another camera or mini dv deck via
firewire.

The Canopus ADVC-100 will record in from your Hi-8,
didgitize, and then put back out through to your Hi-8 if necessary.
It will also put back out to S-VHS VCRS, and Firewire devices.

The Canopus ADVC 100 is worth its weight in gold.

[jeg_jason]

Formac Studio TVR does everything that the ADVC-100 does and adds TV and radio tuners as well for about $30 extra dollars. It also gives Tivo like capabilities like pausing live TV and recording from a scheduling program. It includes some basic editing, and mpeg encoding. The software does have some bugs in it that need to be worked out as well. You may also want to consider the DAC-100 which does everything that the ADVC-100 does for less money.

http://www.formac.com/p_bin/?cid=solutions_converters_studiodvtv

http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.process?RestartFlow=t&Section_Id=&Product_Id=370802...ls#productTabs

http://www.holdan.co.uk/info/data/dac100.htm

http://vcdhelp.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=772201&found=2&ut=4129b86f...ideo%20DAC-100

[sdm]

I use the advc 100 at work. Although I have nothing to compare it to, I think it works great.
We paid almost $500 Can about 8 months ago. I think 400 is a good deal.

[MacDSL]

I've had a Sony DV-MAC 2 (I think that's the model, I'm not at home right now) converter for about 4 years, and never had a problem with it. Does analog-digital conversion, and can input and output standard RCA, S-Video, and firewire.

[WiseWeasel]

The Canopus ADVC 100 is worth its weight in gold.

And that's about how much you pay for it too. 8) Seriously, though, that's what I use (after having been extremely disappointed by the Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge), and I couldn't be happier with it. Definitely worth the money, but see if you can't find a better price from some US online retailer (I got mine for $250 US a while ago from Harmony Computers). Not sure if that's cheaper or not with the current exchange rate (I'm on a Winblows computer at work, so I can't check with Calculator.app).

[proxyx99]

Buy a new! Datavideo DAC-100 ~180 US with warranty. As good as Canopus but cheaper. Works with Mac too. Can't be happier.

[proxyx99]

PS. Sorry forgot to add magic word : EBAY.COM

[WiseWeasel]

PS. Sorry forgot to add magic word : EBAY.COM

You're insane, man! Don't buy from eBay, or who knows what you'll get (if you're lucky enough to get anything), and you'll be unable to return it if there are any problems. Online retailers will usually meet or beat eBay prices, and give you some purchase protection to boot. eBay is only good for selling, never buying (unless you're trying to buy something not readily available in stores).

[macoholic]

Hey, thanks for all the input, it seems it's between the Canopus and the DAC. The DAC is definately $100 cheaper (at Harmony Computers, thanks for the tip) but the one problem I have is that reading the posts, there is only one guy (Lord Smurfy something or other) who doesn't like the Canopus and loads who love it, while it seems the DAC has a real audio sync problem and some mysterious lines at the top of the screen. Although I love to save money, I'd hate to be kicking myself for cheaping out. (Yah, I think I'll skip ebay on this one).

[WiseWeasel]

I went the cheap route (relatively) a while ago, and bought a Dazzle Hollywood analogue to DV bridge (little external FW module like the others) for US$200. It fried several of my firewire ports (including an internal one, one on a PCI card, and an entire 3 port PCI card). The quality was OK when it worked, but it often went dead, and brought down other FW peripherals with it. I tried to contact customer support, but they never replied to me, by email or on their message boards. Since then, I sold that monstrosity on eBay and bought a Canopus ADVC100. The quality is noticeably better, both picture and sound, and it's as reliable as the sun. It's been absolutely perfect, and it was worth every penny (about US$250 when I bought it). If you want something interesting, and you have a spare PCI slot, you might check out Televio. It can capture analogue too, and even has a TV tuner and sells for about US$150. Unfortunately, it's a 5V PCI card, and so it isn't compatible w/ G5s...

[brett]

i can only imagine the description in your auction!

[proxyx99]

I have DAC and mysteriously mine has no lines and audio is unfortunately always in sync even if pc drops a frame. So no, I cannot recommend it to you. Instead, just follow wiseweasel footsteps.

[mhar4]

I use a Formac Studio TVR. The quality is excellent, especially the audio. In fact, if you are a hi-fi buff, the Formac unit would be worth it just for audio capture, it's so good. BUT, the software is really frustrating. Lots of small bugs, e.g. in how it handles external Firewire HDs, and general limitations. It has an MPEG-2 encoder, but its very simple (e.g. no de-interlacing).

I use it with BTV, which is a nice and reliable program.

I've also found that getting good results is often quite a challenge depending on the source. With noisy analogue video, I actually convert the interlaced DV to MPEG-4 with OpenShiiva, and then to MPEG-2. It seems counter-intuitive to run through an extra encoding stage, but it really ends up looking better.

[exohw]

I recently bought Eyetv (El Gato) and also Director's Cut (Miglia) via eBay. Both items arrived in excellent condition from Ireland! I'm in Belgium.

El Gato EyeTV
http://www.elgato.com/eyeTV/

MIGLIA ANALOG TO DV DIGITILIZER
http://www.miglia.com/products/video/director2/

I payed $320 for both items (in Belgium both items would have cost me +$700 !!).

Anyway, about Eyetv: I'm very pleased with this (Mac-only) USB-device, software does what it says without problem. It can only capture to MPEG1, so you'll have to stick with VCD. Well, not really, you can always convert to DV to import in iMovie for example, but it will take some extra steps & time.

Therefor, Miglia's Director's Cut firewire-device (no TV) can capture to DV (PAL/NTSC) in case I need to capture directly into DV for editing.

Both can convert your VHS-tapes very easily, though Eyetv has no other option to save than MPEG1. Miglia offers more formats too choose from and has more input/output connectors too.

I'm still playing with these devices...but for now, I'm happy and can recommend both!

I did a small research on what analog/digital converters are available for Mac. There's quite a few:

Televio (acquired by Miglia and it now calls "AlchemyTV")
http://televio.com/

Dazzle holywood
http://www.dazzle.com/products/hw_bridge.html

Formac StudioDV/TV
http://www.formac.co.uk/html/frameset.html

Energy Tvbox
http://www.macway.com/v1/product_info.php?cPath=10_153&products_id=2395&PHPSESSID=fda1...731026cc2844eb

Canopus:
DataVideo DAC100
ADVC50

etc..

ps:There's even 'cheap' Hauppage PC TV PCI-cards that will function on Mac if you have the right software installed

Good luck!

[proxyx99]

Looks like a good choice indeed. I bought my DAC at ClubMac online. I ordered second on Ebay. No issues. It's like with any retailer, check your options and decide wheter the person/business is trustworthy. Call or send an email with questions. I agree, not everyone on Ebay is 100%. Some brick and mortar retailers can give you hard time beyond your wildest dream. It's like with anything else, weigh your options and go with someone you feel good about. Stocks are also not for everone...

[proxyx99]

PS. ClubMac, as I recall cheated me on the invoice (10$ extra to their online price, probably for an honour of doing busines with them, that way you won't forget). Ebay guy was right on the dot with excellent service and shipping.

[Yvon]

I bought Datavideo's DAC-100 at H&B in NY for $199.95

Extremely satisfied with H&B. What a good company!
The order was by internet and arrived in a few days. Datavideo's DAC-100 works beautifully and presents absolutely no problems in audio sync or lines on the monitor or on a tv screen.

Yvon

[italiano]

I buy and sell on Ebay - one of the BEST places for bargains I know of. Buy from REPUTABLE sellers and there's no problems. My wife and I have been buying like mad all month - just got a DVR-104 to replace my DVR-103 (putting it in a Beige) for $80 and the seller threw in 38 RITEK DVD-R's. EBAY gets a bad rap usually from the misinformed.

[proxyx99]

Let's not get too excited. I like Ebay but I conseder it still to be underdeveloped and giving refuge to lots of crooks, with it's flawed protection policies that don't go either far enough or miss the abjective. Ebay, although a great (and one of the oldest ideas beside "the daughters of Corynth") idea has yet to undergo a major housecleaning. For a careful buyer it may be a very good resource for items that are usually not so easily available or at least not at lower price point. But caution is highly recommended, especially for newbies. Better to skip a "great" deal then run into a huge trouble of trying to recover your money. At this point you are on your own and help from Ebay is rather symbolic.

[SuBethJimBob]

The Canopus ADVC 100 is worth its weight in gold.

And that's about how much you pay for it too. 8)

<delurking>

I'm responding to this a little whille after the last entry, but...

I picked one up at Amazon.com for about $200. Try this URL:

http://tinyurl.com/36qzj

If it doesn't work, do a search on "canopus" (without the quotes) and click on the one called "Adv Digital Video Converter ed". It's the educational version - tho I can't figure out what the difference is, if any - and it's $100 cheaper. Can't beat that!

</delurking>

...SuBethJimBob