Formac Studio TVR: any tips from users or the wise?

[broaddd]

I’ve been going over all the capture card options I can find for a Powerbook (I have a G3 400 and a G4 1.67).

My primary purpose is to capture PAL VHS and convert to DVD. I like the sound of DV converters rather than hardware encoders as I prefer flexibility in encoding stuff, even if it takes longer (unless someone talks me into a hardware encoder being much better!).

While I liked the sound of the DAC-100 or ADVC-100 on Ebay ranging from $150-$250, I found a Formac Studio TVR for US$130 second hand which sounds like it will do the same job. I guess the TV tuner is a bit of a gimmick in the sense that you could just plug your VCR tuner into the DAC-100 AV ports and get the same result.

Anyway, I’ve read a lot of hatemail* about the Formac Studio, so I had a few questions for those in the know

- can you just use it as a DV converter in iMovie without installing the Formac software?

- are the Studio’s DV importing results similar to the DAC-100 or ADVC-100

- is the criticism of the Formac related to the TV capture software rather than DV conversion hardware performance?

- did the Studio TVR ever come with firmware 1.05 – I heard that caused audio noise issues and had to be updated at the factory

- does a Powerbook Pismo or Powerbook 1.67 firewire bus provide enough power without the separate power pack – Formac says some Powerbooks don’t, but not which ones.

- how long does it take to encode an hour of DV to MPEG-2 on a Powerbook G4 1.67?

I’d really appreciate suggestions.

Regards,
Bruce

[mhar4]

I have used both the Formac Studio TVR and the ADS Instant DVD for Mac MPEG2 encoder. In my experience, the key advantage of the Formac device is when the source is video tape which is old and damaged. If there are any glitches on the tape, it will just convert away with no problems, while the ADS unit will lose a lock on the frames and not encode properly from the tape glitch onwards.

A few times I have tried the ADS, only to move across to the Formac for those really "tough" source tapes.

Having said that, in all other ways, a hardware MPEG2 encoder is superior. Any DV capture device obviously requires a big and fast hard drive and conversion to MPEG2 is always time consuming and loses image quality. Depending on your software encoder, there are all kinds of annoyances with non-square pixels and interlacing etc.

On the plus side is that if you are doing any kind of serious editing, then obviously DV is the only way to go.

As for the Formac device specifically, its main problem is its buggy and annoying software. I just gave up using it altogether. But, you're right, iMovie will capture from it, or (my choice) BTV with no problems. In that way it is as fine as any other DV capture device.

And to be positive, its most amazing feature is actually its audio capture. As an audio capture device it is truly hi-fi.

In response to your other queries, yes it will run off the Firewire bus of a PowerBook with no problem. In fact, apart from working out the harddrive, it is undemanding of the processor. I have used my old G3 iBook.

All things considered, my suggestion, though, is still to go for hardware MPEG2 capture, like an ADS Instant DVD for Mac. The results look better and it only takes a fraction of the time.

[TheConfuzed1]

After much deliberation, I got the Formac, and I haven't looked back since. If you can get one for $130, jump all over it! I got mine new when they were still $400, and it was worth every penny, and still is.

To be fair though, I have never used any other of this type of device.

I tend to just buy the most expensive of everything.

[broaddd]

Cheers! What firmware is your device? I hear it's in the TV preferences dialog. Formac.com says 1.05 is buggy...

[Frobozz]

In the past many Formac users raved about using the freeware Vidi as the caputre software with their Formac rather than its bundled software. You might check that out.

[broaddd]

Is there a link somewhere that explains the differences between hardware and software mpeg-2 encoding, other than speed?

Cheers,
B