Beginner - Copying video to my PC / What do I need?

[Jenny]

Hi.

I'm a very beginner.

What exactly do I need to copy video from an external source on to my computer?

I want to do the following:
- transfer VHS video on to my PC
- transfer video camera recordings (direct from my video camera) on to my PC

Do I need a special kind of card?
Umm...what else?...any help would be appreciated

Thanks for your help!
Jenny

[lowrider]

Save yourself a LOT of headaches. Go buy a mini DV camera, record your VHS directly to the mini DV (or use the DV camera as a bridge, I know some Sonys will do this) and capture to your PC using a Firewire port. By the time you buy a couple of cards and screw around you'll be out a couple hundred bucks (or more) and still won't have good captures. You can get a mini DV camera for $400 these days online. Much easier way to capture anolog.

[Mirror_Image]

Anything from a cheap capture card to a custom video studio....your budget, please?

[Jenny]

Hi.

Yes. I need a video capture card. I'm willing to spend around $200 (max).

Does anyone recommend any specific capture cards?


lowrider,
This mini DV camera you're talking about, what is it exactly?
Is it a normal camera?
How much video can it hold?


Thanks guys,
Jenny :-)

[Mirror_Image]

I'll leave it to others as far as capture card recommendations, although I believe you can obtain a basic capture card, bundled with some basic editing and production software for less than $100 or maybe a bit less. See a few examples here: http://www.bestbuy.com/ComputersPeripherals/GraphicsSound/VideoEditing.asp?m=488&cat=521&scat=1751.

The cheapest DigitalVideo camcorder is roughly twice your budget, and they range from there up to much, much, much higher.

[aguillon]

Your question is rather vague. I guess the type of capture card you buy would have to be bought taking into consideration the output format you are looing for.

You mention you want to keep the captures 'on your computer'. Again, depending on the format, you will find the footprint of your videos to be very different.

Cards like the Matrox Rainbow Runner or ATI All in wonder will capture in MJPEG at something like 1-2 meg per sec depending on compression.
They should be within your budget and replace your existing video card.

More expensive Cards like the Dazzle DVC or DVCII enable you to capture in MPEG1 format, which takes much less space (150k per second) and is still very watchable.

Cheers

[rnwa]

aguillon,

Second time I have seen you around. Anyhow DVCII is more than suitable and recommend.

[Jenny]

Hi. And thanks for the responses.

I'll give you guys some more information.

Software I have: Vegas Video 3.0
Purpose: To make short 2 to 10 min. videos for the web (this is my priority)

I dont care if I can view my videos on DVD players or not. I just want to make video to post on the internet.

aguillon, you wrote:

You mention you want to keep the captures 'on your computer'. Again, depending on the format, you will find the footprint of your videos to be very different.

What do you mean 'footprint' of my videos?


Aguillon, also wrote:

Cards like the Matrox Rainbow Runner or ATI All in wonder will capture in MJPEG at something like 1-2 meg per sec depending on compression.
They should be within your budget and replace your existing video card.

Replace my existing Video Card? Don't I keep the Video Card that my monitor is hooked up to?
Also, I thought a video capture card was different from a Video Card - eeeek.


Thanks for your patience guys.
Jenny

[spidey]

Look to the LEFT under CAPTURE and compare methods.
To rip a DVD look under DVD RIP

[videoalaska]

I use SIIG Firewire Card, it has 3 each FW connectors, it has run flawlessly for months now.

Jim - Alaska

[aguillon]

Thnks.

Been using a DVC II for a couple of years, and even though I had tons of problems initially (IRQ conflicts) - it is overall an excellent piece of hardware, backed by a decent piece of software. Only drawback: it is not WHQL compliant, which means other Windows capture applications cannot talk to it, so you are stuck with the Moviestar software it comes with and a couple of excellent freeware utilities programmed by non-proferssionals.

[aguillon]

Ok - By footprint, I meant size of the video. The higher the quality you are shooting for, the bigger the size you have to store on your HD, sometime requiring a bigger hard disk.

Some video cards like the ones I mentioned do come with capture capabilities. However, dedicated cards might be better suited to your needs.

If you are looking to make videos for the net, Real Video is probably the format you want to shoot for (streaming). Your Vegas Video software is capable of outputting to real audio / real video. You could look for any cheap OHCI compliant firewire capture card and let Vegas Video do the capture and encoding to RM.

Otherwise, you could look at a Pinnacle Studio AV version 7 : for about 130 USD you get a capture card and a decent editing software. It can capture in various formats and output to MPEG1, MPEG 2 and RM.

[Jenny]

Hi aguillon and others.

anguillon, you wrote:

Some video cards like the ones I mentioned do come with capture capabilities. However, dedicated cards might be better suited to your needs.

In dedicated cards you mean a 'video capture cards' or 'firewire cards' right?

========================

If I have an analog Video Camera: I should get a Video Capture Card
If I have a digital Video Camera: I should get a Firewire Card

Does that sound correct?

========================

Also, if I get a Video Capture Card will it replace my Video Card (that's hooked up to my monitor)?


Thanks,
Jenny

[bertmartin]

Jenny
If you get a new video card that also captures video, yes you would replace your current video card that's hooked up to your monitor. There are two types of video to capture. Anaolg and digital. A digital camcorder hooks up to your computer via a firewire card (IEEE 1394). You should get one. It plugs into the PCI slot inside your computer. Directions come with the card and sometimes it comes with a lite version of some software to capture video and maybe edit it. You can capture directly with VegasVideo, however. The firewire card captures digital only. You still need to capture analog for VHS and analog cameras. My personal choice was to get an external analog to digital converter which inputs through the firewire card. This way I don't need to get an internal analog capture card or replace my expensive video card. I did have an internal capture card but had a lot of trouble because the more you add the more you are likely to have conflicts (IRQs). I got the Canopus ADVC-100 DV external converter for $300. A little more that you buget but may be worth it to avoid problems and keep it simple. Anyway thats what I ended up doing to capture both digital and analog. If you have question e-mail me. By the way I don't recommend getting any Pinnacle products. You already have Veags Video so you don't need an editor and I don't like the Pinnacle firewire cards. That elimates Pinnacle. Just get an inexpensive firewire card from a local computer store.

[SingSing]

This mini DV camera you're talking about, what is it exactly?
Is it a normal camera?
How much video can it hold?

A miniDV camcorder can hold 60 mintues of Video.
90 minutes if you tape it in LP mode.

You need a firewire card to download, card and software cost $30.
The DVcam can also use as analog capture too.
Just turn it on as a Camcorder, and feed the VCR signal into the video in.

But really, the capture files are huge. Larger than DVD rip.

[Jenny]

Hi and thanks for the responses 8-)

singsing, you wrote:

But really, the capture files are huge. Larger than DVD rip.

Really? How large?

I only want to capture short 2 to 10 minute video clips.
I have a 20 GB hard drive. Is this OK considering I only want short video clips on my PC?

Thanks,
Jenny

[Jenny]

videoalaska, you wrote:

I use SIIG Firewire Card, it has 3 each FW connectors, it has run flawlessly for months now.

What do you need 3 connectors for?

Thanks,
Jenny

[videoalaska]

Three Firewire connectors will allow a certain amount of versatility. ie... 1) Firewire Camera 2)Firewire "Hard Drive" 3)Firewire DVD writer or CDR is just one example.

Jim