Any help would be appreciated on what capture device to use

[Jackal_05]

I was just asking opinion about the Canopus 110 or the Hauppauge usb live 2 I can't seem to find the difference between both. I kinda like the usb idea instead of firewire but I'm not sure on which one to buy, I'd appreciate input on this as I'm new at this. 110 vs live 2. Thanks again, I'm slowly getting this. Can't wait to help others in the future.

[jman98]

To be honest with you, a lot of us don't have experience with those specific devices. The USB-live-2 is cheap and I have only used Hauppauge's more expensive solutions. I paid maybe 2 and a half or 3 times what the USB-live-2 goes for to get my Colossus card that they make. We have another thread going on now where a guy who (I think) hasn't jumped into this thread is raving about the USB-live-2 and saying "It can do _____" and the newbie in the thread desperately trying to get help is reporting that it can't do that at all. Don't worry. What they are talking about isn't something relevant to you, but to be honest with you, I have the impression that Hauppauge's cheaper solutions like the USB-live-2 can be a bit more problematic than their more expensive solutions. That was certainly the case in the past. The Colossus card that I use is something I've really been happy with, but I would say that it might be challenging for a newbie to use. You'd have to re-encode EVERYTHING it captures for video and quite probably the audio too to get it into valid DVD format. It's NOT possible with the Colossus to record directly into valid DVD format. It's basically setup for HD capturing. Which is probably part of why you got the suggestion on the USB-live-2. It apparently can capture directly in DVD format.

[usually_quiet]

I was just asking opinion about the Canopus 110 or the Hauppauge usb live 2 I can't seem to find the difference between both. I kinda like the usb idea instead of firewire but I'm not sure on which one to buy, I'd appreciate input on this as I'm new at this. 110 vs live 2. Thanks again, I'm slowly getting this. Can't wait to help others in the future.

The Canopus 110 is particularly advantageous for those who are used to working with DV and already have an established work flow.

The main advantage of the Happauge USB Live 2 is flexibility. It can be used to capture losslessly compressed video, which is great for very picky people who want to attempt to correct every flaw. It can also capture to DVD compatible MPEG-2 for those who aren't so picky and just want to get their conversion project finished as fast as possible and on a DVD.

[Cornucopia]

And once again, it is not just the final stage that determines the quality, but ALL the links/stages in the chain.

For video capture, that includes:
1. Original analog format
2. Analog playback device (including type of color/luma separation)
3. Analog playback format choice
4. Analog cabling choices (refer appropriate for #3) - particularly regarding EMI/RFI rejection
5. Presence or absence of Line and/or Full-frame TBC (for conditioning the signal)
6. Proc-Amp settings (or even lack thereof), same with Dropout-compensation/denoising filter
7. Analog to digital converter type & level of quality
8. Choice of color system/colorspace, and subsampling
9. Choice of compression (none/lossless/lossy), type (dct/wavelet/other), and bitrate (as well as many other codec-specific settings)

An analog capture card could possibly give the BEST type of capture, if many of those items used high quality, professional components & choices (example: Blackmagic series), but is also possible to be lowest-common-denominator and give you just barely acceptable (or NOT) consumer quality. While the difference may not be always noticeable to a non-discerning consumer, something resembling the latter end of the spectrum will be more "fragile", in that it won't hold up well to subsequent manipulation or re-compression, whereas the former will.

A DV box/card is a specialized form of analog capture, where the A/D & compression is done in hardware & preset to DV-type compression. Since it is done in hardware, and there are few options/brands to choose from, the level of quality is quite consistent.

The analog cards can be anywhere from a 1 to a 10 in the scale (with the USB Live 2 being a 2 or 3, and the Blackmagic Intensity devices being an 8 or 9), while the ADVC-110 is more like a 6 or 7, IMO.

And again, those cards will determine 7, 8 & 9 and maybe 4, and you already have 1 in mind, but your choices regarding the other components are just as important (if not more).

Scott

[Brad]

My intention is to do video transfer to dvd for clients who would like this service.

I hope you make it clear in your advertising that you've never done this before.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/editorials/digital-video/vh1-professional-vs-hobby-work.htm

[Jackal_05]

Hey everyone,
I know you use a tbc for Vhs, what other tapes should I use it on?
Thanks everyone

[smrpix]

Hey everyone,
I know you use a tbc for Vhs, what other tapes should I use it on?
Thanks everyone

Any analog tape that benefits from it -- which will be almost all of them.

[Jackal_05]

Thank you Mr Pix,
Much appreciated.
Jacques