Inexpensive Video Converter Box That Keeps A/V Sync?

[fizzicist]

Newbie here. Lots of digital audio experience, very little video experience except making slide shows in iMovie HD 6 and rendering them into DVD.

I have to digitize some old Betamax videotapes for subsequent rendering on DVD. I've got the Betamax player thing solved; I bought a refurbished machine. I'll be fetching the videos from a client today and bringing them back here late tonight. Now I need a converter box to interface the Betamax with my Mac G5 DP 2.5. The Betamax player has composite video output and a separate audio output, each on its own RCA connector.

I've seen converters from ~$100 upward in price. This is likely to a be a one-time project, so I don't need to spend big buck$, but I need decent quality. I've read in some places that the el cheapo units can have problems keeping sync between audio and video. That won't work for me. So far, I've found units costing around $500 that explicitly say they don't have sync problems, but that's more than I want to spend. There are a bunch of units in the $200 – $300 range that fit my budget but apparently have variable results, and then a lot of cheaper units that are silent on the subject.

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive converter box that keeps good sync between audio and video?

Thanks!

PowerMac G5 DP 2.5 GHz, 6 GB RAM, 2 x 1TB SATA 2
OS X 10.4.11

[rumplestiltskin]

Do you have a DV camcorder? Many include an analog-to-DV pass-through in their circuitry.

Otherwise, Canopus makes a good unit.

[tomlee59]

Sync problems are difficult to avoid completely when digitizing old tapes. It's good that you have extensive audio experience, because you may have to use those skills, no matter what box you buy. Tapes -- especially old ones -- will exhibit dropouts and various other impairments that will challenge any capture system. If you're lucky, all will go well. But don't be surprised if there are some discontinuous jumps in sync error (e.g., due to extended dropouts), or a seemingly gradual drift (typically caused by a certain, roughly constant percentage of lost frames). You may end up having to do a little corrective surgery on the audio track when done. If the tapes are in good shape, you might be ok. But expect the unexpected...

Good luck!

[mhar4]

If it's a one-time thing, then borrowing a DV camcorder with an analog-to-DV feature would be the best bet. DV capture is pretty forgiving in my experience, and audio-video sync shouldn't be a huge problem.

I have an old MPEG2 encoder, the ADS Instant DVD for Mac, which had given problems with video frame sync when the tapes were bad, but I added a "Digital Video Stabilizer", into the signal chain, a rather peculiar box that claims to "clean" video signals, but does much more, including removing Macrovision.

[Frobozz]

You could get a standalone DVD recorder and copy the Betamax tapes directly to DVD.

[Valnar]

As what I did, the best option is the Canopus ADVC-110. Buy used on eBay, sell it back on eBay.

There is no better choice for digitizing analog and keeping it in sync. I used to play with BT878 capture cards, HuffyUV and the like. It is not worth it.

[rumplestiltskin]

Unfortunately, the ADS products are poorly designed; lots of heat issues and crippled software.

[terryj]

Any local video shop will be willing to do "dumps" from the tapes
to HD for you on a per minute basis, saving you the cost
of purchasing equipment, but NOT necessarily any cost.
Once on an HD, you simply plug the HD into the mac in an external
FW case and ingest ( import) footage into iMovie.

If you wish to purchase a piece of equipment for less than $150,
which will give you more usage than just this project,
my suggestion echo's rumple's, take a look at the Canopus-ADVC-110.
I even wrote an article on other things you can do with the Canopus
post project here.

Hopefully, since you are doing this for a "client", you are charging
X$ per minute to digitize the footage, and thus at the going rate
currently, you should have enough cash in the job to buy
a Canopus unit.

[pippas]

Canopus ADVC55 - guaranteed audio/video sync, top quality conversions to DV.
Cheaper than the ADVC110, which you only need if you want to do a reverse procedure, of converting digital back to analogue!!

[fizzicist]

Thanks to all who posted their recommendations. They were very helpful, and for the most part they confirmed the results I found in my own investigation—namely that the Canopus units provide rock-solid A/V sync. I narrowed my choices down to three units:

• ADVC-55
• ADVC-110
• ADVC-300

I decided to go with a bi-directional unit in case I need to back to tape for any reason. I have done a lot of digital audio work for this particular client, and it now looks like I might be doing some other video projects for them as well. Bi-directional eliminated the ADVC-55.

So it was between the 110 and the 300. Despite the significantly higher cost, I opted for the 300 because of the age of the Betamax tapes (they were recorded over 27 years ago). They're of variable quality, and I think the video noise reduction and enhancement features of the ADVC 300 will help. I'm not worried about audio noise; I have serious audio DSP tools to handle that. As long as I have a good A/V sync lock, zero (or at least very few) dropped frames, and good video quality, the finished product will be good.

At any rate, I'll soon know whether I made the right decision. I'll receive the 300 within the next couple of days. Thanks again to all for your responses.

[tomlee59]

At any rate, I'll soon know whether I made the right decision. I'll receive the 300 within the next couple of days. Thanks again to all for your responses.

Post back with your results once you've had a chance to play with the box. Good luck!

[fizzicist]

[Post back with your results once you've had a chance to play with the box. Good luck!

Will do.