Getting a very good capture card for professional use.

[chickens]

I'm trying to get a capture card that is used for professional use and can capture really sharp. I've seen Pinnacle DV500 DVD and it captures video sharply...but I'm wondering if there is any other card that is as good as this one or a even better one. Do add in your opinions. Thank you.

[tito13kfm]

the Canopus MCR1000 is supposed to be a great card from what i've heard. I can't personally comment on the quality as I have never used it.

[MrMungus]

The capture card section has a bunch of professional-level cards. Sort by price, find the expensive ones, and read up on them. You'll learn a lot, then figure out what to get from there.

Which makes me wonder, what things make professional cards better? I see things like comb filters, etc.

[lordsmurf]

I want a Matrox RT2500 ... it's a pro card

[yodel]

I'm trying to get a capture card that is used for professional use and can capture really sharp. I've seen Pinnacle DV500 DVD and it captures video sharply...but I'm wondering if there is any other card that is as good as this one or a even better one. Do add in your opinions. Thank you.

Go for the Canopus ADVC100 ! it connects to your FireWire port
you get the same output as a DV camera .avi I/II
No sync problems, The Canopus site has forums for all it's products.
You have to software encode to MPEG2 though.... or check out the new
ConvertX from Plextor, it encodes straight into MPEG2,DiVx..

[triphop]

Osprey Cards are HIGHLY rated:

http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey.html

Be prepared to pay lots of money for the high end models. These are *just* capture cards. The Matrox mentioned above does more than capture - it also does real-time effects, etc, etc. I also want the RT2500.

[racerxnet]

I have the Canopus DvRex, fantastic capture quality and speed. It costs about half an arm though. Does real time editing quite well and I like the software that comes with it.

[Brainiac]

Hi

I have the Canopus MVR-1000 and can say that without a doubt that it's worth the money. I use it for my video-to-DVD business and have yet to have one complaint.

Brainiac

[SLK001]

I guess that the first question that should have been asked, is "what do you want to do with your capture card?"

The cards listed are all truly fine cards, but some may be inappropriate for your intended use.

[vhelp]

There's no such thing as "professional" here, when asking about capture
cards for pro work. Scars, my man.. you need to develop some real scars.

I mean, experience. If you haven't already started out w/ cheaper cards,
then you need to start small (opinions vary on this) !!

BTW, I have one of those Osprey cards. I got the 210 model. Very good
at high res, though I haven't actaully tested it out w/in the scope of "specs"
and things. If you ask me, they too are pricy, but when I was seeking the
(as you are now) ultimate cap card, I was willing to pay for it. I have no
rigrets on the many cards I've acquired over the years (and there are plenty
of them) because this is my hobby :P

-vhelp

[MrMungus]

If you haven't already started out w/ cheaper cards,
then you need to start small (opinions vary on this) !!

Yeah, you should definitely start with cheap and then get something more expensive IF you need it.

[You_Are_Alive]

I used to have the DVD 500, I liked its quality. But I also used a matrox 2000, and video was about the same but it had even more vibrant colors it seems than the 500. But your looking for an upgrade. So I would suggest you bypass these older models, even the 2500, and go straight to what you wanna do. There are 2 really good alternatives that are priced very well, and they both give you good quality as well as extra features depending on what equipment you now have. They are the Matrox RTX100 Extreme Pro Suite. Use the trade up program to trade in your 500 and you can get it for only 800. The other really good option, especially if you have a fast computer, then really, really look at the Canopus DVstorm2 (Ultra, or Pro), these can be had for a low 1200 with crazy realtime capabilites. But it all depends on your editing style. Stick with these 2 for now, they should work out very well for you.

[BJ_M]

The best -- is really a Leitch/DPS Velocity card ... in terms of quality and industry standards ... other than a AVID system ...

http://www.leitch.com/custserv/products.nsf/Home?OpenFrameSet&Frame=ContentFrame&Src=%2F__8525 6a160051ae1a.nsf%2FNLEForm!OpenForm%26AutoFramed

[You_Are_Alive]

Barrie, is that you? I love my Velocity, can't wait to add a Quattrus to my productions also.

[racerxnet]

Why spend good money for a low end card? Doesn't make sense when I can spend an extra couple hundred or so, and get a mid grade solution, or top end card while learning the ropes. People will not have a better experience based on a low end card. Sounds like you chase good money for bad, and I would prefer to spend the money on a one time purchase on the best I can afford. This may not be the solution all want to take, as I like to experiment as well with other cards. I could not be more impressed with the Canopus DvRex NLE card for the money I spent.

[FulciLives]

How about the somewhat new Canopus ADVC-300

It can convert analog A/V to DV AVI and works the same as the highly touted Canopus ADVC-100 but is even better in that the 300 model adds a 3D Y/C comb filter, DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) and has a built-in full frame TBC (Time Base Corrector).

Unless you MUST have direct to MPEG-2 this sounds like as good as you are likely to get without busting out thousands of dollars.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[FulciLives]

Hi

I have the Canopus MVR-1000 and can say that without a doubt that it's worth the money. I use it for my video-to-DVD business and have yet to have one complaint.

Brainiac

I've heard that the Canopus MPEGPro EMR/MVR have the dreaded "black level" bug seen before (the early models of Panasonic stand alone DVD recorders for instance). The bug is that the EMR/MVR are hard wired to accept video at 0.0 IRE BLACK which is only correct if inputting NTSC from Japan or PAL video. However NTSC uses 7.5 IRE BLACK and when the input is set to 0.0 IRE BLACK this causes many problems with the recorded/captured video.

Now I know that the Canopus MVR-1000 is a step up model from the EMR/MVR products so I would be curious to know if it has selectable input levels or not?

For instance the external Canopus ADVC-100 and ADVC-300 have selectable 0.0 IRE and 7.5 IRE inputs and the newer Panasonic stand alone DVD recorders also have an option to adjust this.

In short if the Canopus MVR-1000 does not suffer from the "black level" bug then it sounds like the highest quality direct to MPEG-1/MPEG-2 card that there is without spending an arm and a leg (not that it is all that cheap).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[rhegedus]

If you want it for professional use, I suggest getting the Canopus ADVC-100. Not because it's the best (I'm sure there are other cards that are better equiped) or the most versatile (AIW cards will capture straight to mpeg) but becasue as an analog to digital converter it can't be beat.

I presume your professional needs will include being able to edit your captures bafor authoring them. For straight to DV, the ADVC-100 rocks!

[disturbed1]

I'm trying to get a capture card that is used for professional use and can capture really sharp. I've seen Pinnacle DV500 DVD and it captures video sharply...but I'm wondering if there is any other card that is as good as this one or a even better one. Do add in your opinions. Thank you.

You won't be using this with your PII350 will you

One of the better mpeg hardware encoders are Optibase ($1500-$30,000+). You can opt for one of the Sonic DVD Producer bundles which include authoring software, and an SDI encoder card.

Canopus has a decent deal on the Let's Edit RT+ package. $400 for an anolouge in/out, DV in/out plus real time editing software.

You really need to let us know what your input is, miniDV, DVCPro, Beta Cam, VHS???

[MrMungus]

Why spend good money for a low end card? Doesn't make sense when I can spend an extra couple hundred or so, and get a mid grade solution, or top end card while learning the ropes. People will not have a better experience based on a low end card. Sounds like you chase good money for bad, and I would prefer to spend the money on a one time purchase on the best I can afford. This may not be the solution all want to take, as I like to experiment as well with other cards. I could not be more impressed with the Canopus DvRex NLE card for the money I spent.

Well, normally I'd agree ("Quality is cheaper in the long run...") but since the cheaper cards I've used produce such good results, I'm wondering what the more expensive ones do that the cheaper ones don't -- and would you even be able to see the difference just looking at the results? Besides, if you're just starting out, you won't know what's important on a card and what's not. And finally, you can always sell the cheaper card or keep it around as a backup.

[MrMungus]

I've heard that the Canopus MPEGPro EMR/MVR have the dreaded "black level" bug seen before (the early models of Panasonic stand alone DVD recorders for instance).

Someone mentioned this in the capture card comments on this site. Thanks for the info on why that happens. Learning so much.

[chickens]

Yes, i've started a year ago with 2 cheaper cards. They are Lifeview Fly Video 3000 and Pinnacle PCTV Stereo. After a long time using them, i think i should get a better one. From all your opinions given, i'm so shocked to see there aren't any recommendations for a pinnacle cards. I always wonder they are good....but now i think there are even better one's out there. I was hoping for a card that has hardware base deinterlace capabilities and able to capture sharply in either raw avi with picvideo mjpeg compressor, mpeg-1 and 2 hardware encoder capture and also able to grab DV. But this card will mostly gonna be used to record tv shows, where it uses composite cable or s-video.

[yodel]

Yes, i've started a year ago with 2 cheaper cards. They are Lifeview Fly Video 3000 and Pinnacle PCTV Stereo. After a long time using them, i think i should get a better one. From all your opinions given, i'm so shocked to see there aren't any recommendations for a pinnacle cards. I always wonder they are good....but now i think there are even better one's out there. I was hoping for a card that has hardware base deinterlace capabilities and able to capture sharply in either raw avi with picvideo mjpeg compressor, mpeg-1 and 2 hardware encoder capture and also able to grab DV. But this card will mostly gonna be used to record tv shows, where it uses composite cable or s-video.

Some one said: if it needs a driver, don't buy it, i guess that's true, capturing should not done so it "leans" on windows or too much or on your CPU, so a box, which converts analog to DV is a good choice,
and there are a few also, but not all perform well, (i use ADVC100, it's great!) making your choice is easy, read the user reports on the web,
most of them started with expensive cards ( i tried also the DC10, sad story....) my 2 cents tip is don't go for a "box" that has allready
hardware encoding MPEG2, because you want to edit your "raw" material,
because later you can encode with a codec of your own choice,
you can "tune" it your self, being in control is al what a pc is i guess.

[lordsmurf]

Everything uses drivers, whether you realize it or not.