What hardware do you use for capturing analog video

[Baldrick]

I use my hauppauge tv card.

[The_Doman]

Well it depends on the situation ofcourse..

For analog video (VHS) I use my (PAL) DV-camcorder.
Direct TV/Cable recordings I do with my Pinnacle BT848 PCTV card.
I am also using a Hauppauge PVR-150 for that now.

But sometimes I use them all to record from multiple TV channels at the same time...

[gadgetguy]

Camcorder Passthrough for me. On one of my other machines I record off-air with my ATI AIW128-Pro for delayed viewing of "watch-once" programs.

[redwudz]

ADVC-100 for my primary computer and in my entertainment computer, a DVICO Fusion-HDTV3-T card.

[yoda313]

Hi,

I use my trusty Hauppauge WINTV PVR 250 pci card. Perfect results every time. And a nice burnable mpg file ready to author.

Kevin

[vhelp]

I voted:

(o) Dedicated capture/tv card or device = ADVC-100

Well.., I use my trusty ADVC-100 box. (IMO) it *IS* the Holy Grail
of grails when capturing. Except for the issue with it's 411 (how
it handles the RED's, or "hatching") though you can virtually eliminate
it with a workaround.. it's the best capture card, bar none. Period

* ZERO noise
* ZERO audio sync issues
* ZERO frame drops
* pretty much ZERO anything you can think of.
* Options for IRE 0 / 7.5 settings
* IN/OUT viewing capabilities
* MV switch
* Clean (32k/48k) audio
* un-filtered DV source
.
* Requres DV codec to view

Else, my DVD Recorder is used as a *lazy* alternative

-vhelp 3312

[pijetro]

ADS Pryo A/V Link..

But, when i'm looking for super fast encodes, and lots of playtime on a DVD, nothing beats an ATI VIVO capture, with 352x480 framesize..

[TBoneit]

Depends on need.

I use either Standalone DVD Recorder or ADVC-100 w/Datavideo TBC & Vidicraft Detailer II.

Depends on the condition of the tape and whether or not additional filtering will be required. The standalone Does a good job on DVDs (Apex PAL w/NTSC output conversions and capturing from PVR. The ADVC does a good job capturing marginal tapes.

Cheers
Roger T

[johns0]

Msi tv nowhere.

[Koleman]

I usually point my VHS-C camcorder at my tv screen, and feed that into my Snappy serial capture card.



I then split the file using pkzip to some 5"1/4 floppys (for archival)

Awesome results, everytime.

[dcsos]

Wish I had the ADS, instead I make do with the DAZZLE

[stillmars321]

Sony's DVD DIRECT, no PC req'd.

VCR/camcorder direct to DVD.

Doesn't get any easier!

[Koleman]

Does DVD Direct bypass Macrovision? Can you preview it while it is copying?

[Shocker Milwaukee]

Creative Digital VCR

[Marvingj]

350 hauppauge tv card.

[SLICK RICK]

I use my ADVC-100. I have just ordered a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350, so I'll also be giving that a try.

[Zen of Encoding]

My trusty old Sony model TRV120 Digital-8 camcorder not only plays
analog 8mm and Hi-8 tapes, creating 1394 firewire output from them,
it also creates crystal clear firewire captures from any analog source
"on the fly", by using the s-video or composite input jacks for
Pass-Through conversion to the 1394 output.

I've read that Sony's camera firmware is supposed shut down when
Macro-Vision protection is detected in the analog input signal when the
Pass-Through function is being used. However, in the *many* years I've
been using this method, my camera has never shut down during capture,
no matter what the input source was.

Several times in the last few months, I've seen fully functional Sony TRV120 (used) camcorders sell for slightly over $100 on ebay. But be
careful, not all of the old Digital-8 camcorder models have functional
Pass-Through, as the TRV120 does.

As practical as this method is, the real beauty of it is that one *also* gets
a functioning camcorder (albeit, not the greatest CCD) out of the purchase,
not merely an analog capture card or USB connected conversion box,
which does nothing but A to D conversion.

[dwill123]

ADVC-100

[edDV]

My trusty old Sony model TRV120 Digital-8 camcorder not only plays
analog 8mm and Hi-8 tapes, creating 1394 firewire output from them,
it also creates crystal clear firewire captures from any analog source
"on the fly", by using the s-video or composite input jacks for
Pass-Through conversion to the 1394 output.

I've read that Sony's camera firmware is supposed shut down when
Macro-Vision protection is detected in the analog input signal when the
Pass-Through function is being used. However, in the *many* years I've
been using this method, my camera has never shut down during capture,
no matter what the input source was.

Several times in the last few months, I've seen fully functional Sony TRV120 (used) camcorders sell for slightly over $100 on ebay. But be
careful, not all of the old Digital-8 camcorder models have functional
Pass-Through, as the TRV120 does.

As practical as this method is, the real beauty of it is that one *also* gets
a functioning camcorder (albeit, not the greatest CCD) out of the purchase,
not merely an analog capture card or USB connected conversion box,
which does nothing but A to D conversion.

I agree but with a caveat. The SONY "pass thrus" that I have tried do just that, they pass through what you give them including 7.5 IRE blacks for NTSC. The DV and DVD specs call for 0 IRE blacks. If you encode a DVD directly with 7.5 IRE blacks (digital level 38/255), the NTSC DVD player will add another 7.5 IRE during playback for composite, S-Video and Y outputs resulting in a washed out 15 IRE black.

I wish Sony would offer a 0 IRE / 7.5 IRE switch like that found on the Canopus ADVC-100. In the 7.5 IRE input position, the ADVC will capture a 7.5 IRE analog black to the correct 0 IRE digital black (16/255 level). When the resulting DVD is played back on a NTSC player, black is output correctly at 7.5 IRE.

Capturing blacks directly to digital level 16 saves an additional digital filter step. Otherwise blacks need to be processed from 38 to 16 before DVD MPeg 2 encoding.

[reboot]

Dual Hauppauge PVR-250's
ADVC-110
BT878 based Pixelview.
Fusion HDTV.

[victoriabears]

so I see folks using an advc and a hauppauge, , so do you use s-video out from the advc to the capture card? because using the advc helps create a better input for the capture card?

You see I have been using my advc 300 to firewire and capturing in mpeg but its very pixelated.

Thanks guys

[edDV]

so I see folks using an advc and a hauppauge, , so do you use s-video out from the advc to the capture card? because using the advc helps create a better input for the capture card?

You see I have been using my advc 300 to firewire and capturing in mpeg but its very pixelated.

Thanks guys

The Hauppauge PVR is an analog (composite or S-Video) to MPeg2 capture card. It encodes MPeg2 at DVD spec in hardware so little CPU capacity is used. The only CPU load is for generation of the preview image. As a result, the PVR-250 will work well with older slower computers. The disadvantage is no provision for uncompressed or DV format capture. It is a dedicated MPeg2 only card. Also the card does only NTSC or only PAL. It is not dual standard.

The Canopus ADVC line captures analog (PAL or NTSC, composite or S-Video) to a DV digital video stream over IEEE-1394. This input stream can be used in several ways at the computer.

1. Direct capture to a DV-AVI or DV-Quicktime file. Simple programs like WinDV will do this with very little CPU overhead. The hard disk system must be modern and robust to handle the ~34 Mb/s continuous data stream (25Mb/s video + audio+ transmission overhead). Data is collected at 13.5GB/hr into the DV file. It is best to use a separate capture hard drive ATA66 or better. Single hard disk systems may loose frames if the OS takes control of the drive for background tasks.

Data stream looks like this:
NTSC or PAL source-> ADVC -> DV stream over IEEE-1394 -> IEEE-1394 interface -> PCI Bus -> HD Disk controller -> Hard Disk

2. Redistribution of the DV stream for display or other tasks. The DV stream can be routed in various ways for computer display, external display (via a second IEEE-1394 port), external recording (e.g. external Firewire or USB2 external drives, etc.). Care must be used to avoid frame drops.

Data stream looks like this:
NTSC or PAL source-> ADVC -> DV stream over IEEE-1394 -> IEEE-1394 interface -> PCI Bus -> Other PCI device including IEEE-1394 ports, USB2 adapters, display cards, network adapters, etc.

3. Direct realtime format conversion to MPeg2, MPeg1 or other format.
The DV stream is directed to memory for realtime computation. This approach is CPU intensive and requires a relatively fast computer (~2.4GHz or better). Software encoders commuicate via the Direct Show API to access the data stream. I realtime encode to MPeg2 with either the Mainconcept PVR application or the realtime Mainconcept encoder version inside ULead Video Studio 8 as I described in your other thread.
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=267156&highlight=

Data stream looks like this:
NTSC or PAL source-> ADVC -> DV stream over IEEE-1394 -> IEEE-1394 interface -> PCI Bus -> Memory and CPU

Realtime encoder performance varies. I've had best results so far with the Mainconcept MPeg2 encoder variations. This approach can be used for on the fly conversion to other formats as well such as WMV (using Microsoft Media Encoder 9), Quicktime, various MPeg4, etc.

The Canopus ADVC 100 and 300 are also bidirectional allowing DV streams to be realtime fed from the computer to the ADVC for hardware encoding to analog NTSC or PAL for monitoring or distribution.

The Canopus ADVC 100 and 300 can properly handle 0-100 IRE or 7.5-100 IRE analog inputs and can analog output with either 0-100 IRE or 7.5-100 IRE levels.

The Canopus ADVC 300 also has proc amp and limited TBC functions for processing analog inputs (e.g. from a VHS VCR).

[TheFamilyMan]

I use a graphics card with video input. It was the easiest way to convince my wife that I needed a better graphics card! The results are pretty good for our home camcorder footage that I've converted to justfy my purchase. They look WAY better than the VHS backups that I use to make.

In response to edDV's fine post:

Your data transfer flows are conceptually correct, but not totally correct. I have yet to find any PCI device in a home computer, such as a disk controller, USB or firewire controller, that can get its data directly off the bus from another such PCI device. These types of transfer sequences always go to RAM before they go to another device (for standard type devices). There is a teeny bit of software running on the CPU that commands the input device to write its captured data to RAM, then commands the output device to get is data from that same RAM. I've used PCI devices made to pull data directly from another device, but they are definately NOT the type of thing found in your average home PC.

[mats.hogberg]

I use my hauppauge tv card.

So do I.

/Mats

[edDV]

I use a graphics card with video input. It was the easiest way to convince my wife that I needed a better graphics card! The results are pretty good for our home camcorder footage that I've converted to justfy my purchase. They look WAY better than the VHS backups that I use to make.

In response to edDV's fine post:

Your data transfer flows are conceptually correct, but not totally correct. I have yet to find any PCI device in a home computer, such as a disk controller, USB or firewire controller, that can get its data directly off the bus from another such PCI device. These types of transfer sequences always go to RAM before they go to another device (for standard type devices). There is a teeny bit of software running on the CPU that commands the input device to write its captured data to RAM, then commands the output device to get is data from that same RAM. I've used PCI devices made to pull data directly from another device, but they are definately NOT the type of thing found in your average home PC.

Well true, I over simplified the USB, firewire and network adapter data flows but PCI bus mastering technology introduced with the Pentium II architecture allows PCI cards to pass data through dedicated memory without CPU intervention (other than driver loading and memory allocation). This was commonly done with video capture devices like the Miro-Pinnacle DC series MJPeg cards that passed data streams more or less directly to the RAID controllers of the day separate from CPU direct intervention. This technology still exists in current motherboards and is available to device drivers.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/buses/types/pciMastering-c.html

USB and network adapters use considerable CPU overhead in the real world.

[victoriabears]

Thank you for all your input but unless I missed it, my observation was not commented on.

From what I can see Mainconcept PVR cannot take to firewire/dv input that the advc300 creates and record it/encode it on the fly to mpeg2?
Is that correct.

So if I am right, does using the advc300 just by having a vcr in and s video out to the capture card and using mainconcept pvr to capture to mpeg work/is there any point to it etc?

Thanks for pointing out that hauppauge is ntsc only, for mtsc/pal any suggestions on a mpeg capture card, does the ATI for instance.

Sorry for newbie questions, funnyily enought they come late to my voyage of discovery, firstly I was happy with using the advc300 and capturing use power producer, but then got into the TBC(AVT8710) dvd recorder route and saw how much better it can be, and if a dvd recorder did 4 hours. I'd be avoiding computer capture altogether.Just use it for authoring.

As I said in my other post I will capture in avi then encode if I have to, but lordsmurfs posts indicate this isn;t really necessary for my type of work, taking valuable vhs stuff and getting it to dvd editing out large chunks, eg: commercials.

So in using a computer for mpeg capture on the fly is the advc any use?
if so how, and if not which best capture card for ntsc/pal.

I have not found the problem you suggest of pc underpowered but then I do not use it for anything else whilst capturing/editing/encoding.

Thanks very much guys

[edDV]

Thank you for all your input but unless I missed it, my observation was not commented on.

From what I can see Mainconcept PVR cannot take to firewire/dv input that the advc300 creates and record it/encode it on the fly to mpeg2?
Is that correct.

So if I am right, does using the advc300 just by having a vcr in and s video out to the capture card and using mainconcept pvr to capture to mpeg work/is there any point to it etc?

No that isn't how it works. The ADVC-300 is a capture device. You don't need another.

During capture the ADVC-300 has Composite OR S-Video in and outputs a DV stream format over the IEEE-1394 interface. The computer needs a IEEE-1394 input. If you don't have one, get something like this http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ieee-1394_host_adapter_card.html
You can get one at most computer stores. Make sure the interface card is OHCI (open host controller interface) compliant.

Windows (XP Direct Show) will detect the IEEE-1394 DV stream from the Canopus ADVC-300 and make it available to applications. Mainconcept PVR or ULead Video Studio 8 or other programs will detect the presence of the DV input. If you want to attempt realtime encoding, set the software to import the DV stream and set MPeg2 DVD encoding defaults. You can edit the MPeg file with your Power Producer 3 or other MPeg2 editor. You can also edit/author a DVD with Power Producer 3 or other program

Otherwise capture to DV format and save to a DV-AVI file. Then edit the DV file with your software and then encode to MPeg2 with your software. Then author the DVD.

Is this clear?

Thanks for pointing out that hauppauge is ntsc only, for mtsc/pal any suggestions on a mpeg capture card, does the ATI for instance.

If you have a ADVC-300, you can capture PAL or NTSC with that. Hauppauge PVR and ATI AIW cards come in NTSC or PAL models not dual standard.

Sorry for newbie questions, funnyily enought they come late to my voyage of discovery, firstly I was happy with using the advc300 and capturing use power producer, but then got into the TBC(AVT8710) dvd recorder route and saw how much better it can be, and if a dvd recorder did 4 hours. I'd be avoiding computer capture altogether.Just use it for authoring.

As I said in my other post I will capture in avi then encode if I have to, but lordsmurfs posts indicate this isn;t really necessary for my type of work, taking valuable vhs stuff and getting it to dvd editing out large chunks, eg: commercials.

So in using a computer for mpeg capture on the fly is the advc any use?
if so how, and if not which best capture card for ntsc/pal.

I have not found the problem you suggest of pc underpowered but then I do not use it for anything else whilst capturing/editing/encoding.

Thanks very much guys

If you want to use the AVT8710, use it between the VCR and the Canopus ADVC-300.
Then follow the directions above. The reason you haven't stressed your computer yet is you haven't attempted a realtime MPeg2 encode. As said before, it will take at least a 2.4GHz CPU unless you go the Hauppauge PVR route. The ATI AIW falls in between for CPU stress.

In summary,
VCR(PAL or NTSC)->AVT8710->Canopus ADVC300->IEEE-1394->IEEE-1394 interface->software (Mainconcept PVR, Power Producer 3 or ULead Video Studio 8 ). As said before, I haven't attempted this with Power Producer 3 yet.

Is this clear?

PS you can get a free demo of the Mainconcept PVR here.
http://www.mainconcept.com/pvr.shtml

As I stated in the other thread, I get more efficient realtime MPeg2 encoding with the Mainconcept encoder that comes in Ulead Video Studio 8 than with the default settings in Mainconcept PVR.

[victoriabears]

First of all thanks for the help, it is much appreciated and I know how frustrating it is if the helper thinks the helpee isn't getting it-so many thanks.

I cannot see that Mainconcept pvr which i Downloaded a trial version will "capture" from DV.

I think you are saying that using the advc to firewirre then power producer the capture to mpeg is not real time mpeg encoding? As the advc does a lot of the work, whereas using a capture card then using something like Power Producer to encode would stress the PC more?

I have a datavideo 1000 TBC on its way, as I had a 3000 around from a friend and I think it provided better stability than the 8710.

yes I understand the basic premise, but have not found Power producer all that good at mpeg encoding, a dvd recorder does much better, I have the Curtis/RJ machine and it is not the most robust machine but has the chipset that the JVC has that Lordsmurf raves about and , yes I see a distinct improvement over the panasonic I have.

As you may have guessed I am an equipment junkie, and again if I could capture 4 hours in good quality on a DVD recorder I would forget PC Capture.

The advc 300 seems so reliable I just need good capture software to real time encode the dv to mpeg 2, I can not see how the Mainconcept pvr does it, it seems to only recognise my MSI capture card.

Hey thanks again, any more input 100% welcome.

[victoriabears]

Ok OK I have found the way to get mainconcept pvr to see the DV- ok ok!!!

[victoriabears]

The mainconept capture was very jerky, my first experience of that cpu overload you mentioned?