2 questions: pinnacle question & card recommendation

[Pixelrage]

Hi,

I realize this probably isn't a good place to ask, but I just can't get my Pinnacle DV card (it's approx. 3 years old) to work with virtualdub. I went on the Virtualdub forums and they are really dead, I couldn't get my question answered. Has anyone gotten this card to work with it?

Secondly, and on the same note, I might have to just get a new card. I don't know where to look, because it seems as though I've read negative reviews for everything out there, especially Canopus. What is your opinion on Nvidia's DualTV tuner card? It looks promising.

Thanks

[harley2ride]

I can't think of any card or solution out there that works with every single software. You will either have to choose the softwares you want to use and find a hardware solution that will fit, or choose a hardware solution, and then choose from the various softwares that will work with it.

As for capture solutions, it all depends on what you want to use it for.
Are you specifically capturing info from TV. Do you need other sources as well.
Do you want to capture as avi , mpeg2, xdiv.

There are a lot of good inexpensive solutions. But we need a lot more details from you.

[Pixelrage]

Thanks for the reply. 99% of the stuff I do is conversions from old VHS tape (15-20 year old footage). I also record live TV from time to time. I'm primarily looking for something that will capture to AVI.

Right now, I use [the awful] Pinnacle studio to capture, but it eats memory so badly that the PC has to get restarted every half hour. Once I create an AVI, I'll edit it with virtualdub.

As for a card, I'd really like an internal PCI capture card, but not a Radeon All-In-Wonder or anything else that doubles as a graphics card. As for price, the highest I'd go would probably be $350-400.

Thanks!

[harley2ride]

A lot of folks on this forum seem to like the Hauppage PVR 250 and up series cards. You might read up on those...

[Pixelrage]

Thanks! Will do.

[sacajaweeda]

For 15-20 year old VHS captures as AVIs I'd just go with something like an el-cheapo BT-8xx chip capture card ($10-$20 on eBay) and capture at half D1 using a codec like the PicVideo MJPEG codec. That or just use a standalone recorder.

[Pixelrage]

I did some reading on the Hauppage PVR 250...I didn't see any mentioning of it capuring to AVI, just MPEG -- is that true? I really need AVI.

I'm a little afraid of those cheaper cards. Even though I have a specific focus in video capturing, I'd still want something that does everything well!

[piano632]

Pinnacle cards are notorious for not being recognized by any other software except Pinnacle's own. Don't you have Pinnacle Studio 8 or something? I think it's been said that SceneAnalyser will work, but it's rare if they will work with anything else.

On a more positive note, Pinnacle does have their own discussion forums with knowledgeable users who can sometimes help.
http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/default.asp

And yes, the Hauppauge PVR 250 only captures to MPEG, but it will go as high as 12000 CBR.

[Pixelrage]

I upgraded to Pinnacle 9, it was a complete waste of money. Unfortunately, you have no choice, because nothing else works with the hardware...

I was recommended the Leadtek Winfast DV2000 (http://www.leadtek.com/multimedia/winfast_dv2000_1.html) on another forum, any thoughts on that one?